He pressed his head against the back of the seat and rocked his shoulders. “Let’s see. Rowdy, angry, full of too much energy, always scrabbling with my twin.”
“And?”
“Hated my father and frustrated with my mother.”
The second half of that wasentirelyunexpected. “Hated your father?”
Cade’s jaw was tight. “Yes.”
She would leave that alone for the time being. Apparently, she’d been wrong. Not everyone loved their parents. “Why were you frustrated with your mother?”
Cade sighed and looked out the window as if conjuring memories of the past. “My mother was… weak. I used to beg her to leave my father. To stand up to him.”
“Stand up to him?” Danielle’s heart pounded.
“He drank excessively. He was violent when he was sober and even more violent when he was drunk.”
Danielle swallowed and shook her head. She’d been around violence. Living on ships she’d seen her share of men and boys fighting one another, but they’d been equally matched for the most part. She couldn’t imagine a grown man being violent with a small child or a woman. How terrified Cade and Rafe must have been. Small, vulnerable, and afraid. She thought about her own father. He’d been nothing but patient, loving, and kind. She couldn’t imagine a child being fearful of his own parents.
“What did Rafe do?”
“He tried to fight my father, defend our mother. She was a saint as far as Rafe was concerned. He stayed there far too long in order to protect her.”
“And you?”
A humorless grin spread across Cade’s face. “I left the moment I could. I’ve always left the heroics to my brother.”
The reticule was forgotten in her lap. “Where did you go? Who did you rely on?”
“I went everywhere. I relied on myself. And a few trusted friends.”
“Friends?” There was that word again.
“I suppose you could say I have a great many good friends.”
“How did you get so many friends?”
Cade tipped up the brim of his hat. “I doubt you’d believe me if I told you.”
“Tell me and I promise I’ll endeavor to believe you.”
He eyed her carefully. “I met my very best ones in gaol.”
“Gaol!” She sat up straight.
“Does that surprise you?” He crossed his arms over his chest.
“No. I… It’s just that…”
“You want to ask what I did to land myself in gaol. Go ahead.” He nodded toward her.
“What did you do?” she asked tentatively. No wonder Grimaldi wanted her to keep an eye on him.
“I stole. Some bread. Because I was starving. I stole some for myself and another starving boy. I don’t regret a moment of it. I only regret being caught.”
“They put you in gaol for that?”
“I’m lucky my hand wasn’t cut off.”
