“But the Black Fox did other things, struck other places.”
Danielle paced away from him. “I had to keep from seeming as if I was after Baptiste. I never knew the papers would begin following my stories. I never expected to be famous because of it.”
Cade shook his head. “If you were the Black Fox, why did Grim allow me to buy the map?”
“I believe that’s when he began to suspect you were on our side. Until then he didn’t know whether you were one of the turncoats, what with your sudden return to England. He wanted to see what you would do with it.”
“I was never a turncoat,” Cade ground out.
“Of course you weren’t.” She returned to his side. “Cade…” she finally whispered. “I’m waiting.”
His head snapped to the side to face her. “For what?”
“For you to tell me you’re happy to see me, that you…” Her voice trailed off and she looked away.
He searched her face. “Can I trust you, Danielle?”
“You can trust me, Cade. And I finally realize that I can trust you.”
“What do you mean?”
“I heard you. When I jumped from the ship. I heard you say you love me.”
A barely perceptible nod was his only answer.
“Did you mean it?” she asked. “Do you still love me?”
He paced away and scrubbed his hand through his hair. “I don’t know how to love, Danielle.”
She held out a hand toward him. “Neither do I, but I’d like to try… with you.”
The hint of a smile touched his lips. He turned back to face her. “Are you saying you love me?”
“If you’re saying you love me.” She stepped toward him and trailed her fingertip up his chest to tug at his cravat.
He crushed her to him and took her mouth in a fierce kiss. “God, yes. I love you madly and I’m never going to let you go.”
“Good,” she replied as they tore at each other’s clothes. “Because I’m never going to let you go, either.”
Cade pushed his fingers into her hair. “You’re going to have to make a decent man out of me and marry me.”
Her eyes widened. “Marry you? I don’t know how to be a wife.”
“That’s perfect because I’ve no clue how to be a husband. We’ll learn together.” His shirt half off and his breeches unbuttoned, he fell to his good knee. “Will you marry me, Danielle LaCrosse?”
She opened her mouth to reply.
“Wait, before you answer, you should know that I’ve been given this exceedingly annoying title of sir by the prince, and I can’t think of anyone else I’d rather share it with. Rafe cannot stop teasing me about it.”
Her eyes widened even farther. “If you’re a sir and we marry, that would make me… a lady?”
“Mylady.” He stood again and pulled her into his arms.
“What will we live off of?”
“Didn’t Grimaldi tell you I was an official privateer for many years? Privateering is a lucrative business.”
“Is it?”
