Daniel shook his head. “No, Johnny. Everything has gone to hell.” He shrugged out of his jacket and threw it across the back of a chair. “Would you mind taking a walk? My wife and I have a lot to discuss.”
Johnny.The boy who had saved Daniel’s life. Kate didn’t know whether to laugh or cry upon learning Daniel had been taking care of the lad.
“Your wife?” Johnny turned his blue gaze in Kate’s direction. “Beggin’ your pardon, ma’am. But does this mean Hawk is still alive, too?”
“Hawk?” Kate stared at the boy in confusion.
“Talon,” Daniel explained, shaking his head bitterly. “It’s always Talon, isn’t it?”
Kate blinked back tears of sorrow and frustration. “Talon is alive and well,” she told the boy. “He’s staying at the Charleston Arms.”
Johnny grinned. “Thank you, ma’am. Do you think he’d mind if I paid him a visit?”
Kate shook her head, thinking of how alone Talon would be without her, how badly he’d need someone to talk to. “I think he’d like that very much.”
The boy darted toward the door. But before he left, he hesitated and met Kate’s gaze again. “I’m real glad you’re here, Lady Kathryn. Your husband has been missing you something fierce.”
After the boy left, Daniel sat down on the sofa. “Have a seat. We have a lot to discuss.”
She nodded and settled in the chair across from him. “Did you really miss me?” she asked, deciding to go on the offensive. “Or were you merely counting the days until you could return to your lover?”
Daniel flushed, his beautiful face crimson with emotion. “Think whatever you like, but I did grieve for you. That week before the storm was the only time in my life I’d ever felt as though I were part of something, as though I had a family.”
She closed her eyes, unable to bear the anguish in his. “I felt it, too.”
“Well, then you can imagine how I felt when I saw the two of you out there on the street and realized you thought me dead, but neither one of you gave a damn.”
“Oh, Daniel. I know how it must have seemed. But we did care. Both of us did. I swear it.” She sagged against the back of the chair, suddenly bone tired. She was too exhausted to cry, too sick at heart to argue any more.
There was silence for a long moment, and then he knelt before her. “I’m tired of being alone.” His words were soft and husky. He took her hand, pressing it to his lips and kissing her palm. “I want to help you raise your child. I want the three of us to be a family. I know you love Talon, but he’s already made his decision. He chose his men over his own child. Surely you don’t want a future with a man who doesn’t put you first in his heart.”
“You forced him to choose!” Kate snatched her hand away, sickened by the warm imprint of Daniel’s lips on her skin and determined not to let him make her doubt Talon. “Why can’t you just pretend you didn’t see us today? Why?”
“Why?” He sat back on his heels, fury emanating from him in waves. “Because I’m tired of never having what I want! I’m tired of losing to Talon, tired of watching him take everything that should have been mine!”
The words echoed for a long moment, and Kate began to tremble. She’d lost everything. There was no reasoning with him. Especially since she knew he was right. She’d betrayed him, and so had Talon.
Daniel took a deep breath and pushed a lock of hair from his burning blue eyes. “We could have had a good marriage. I could have made you happy if only my father had left me alone. But he demanded I give you to Talon. He forced me to give up any hope of a child of my own.”
“Maybe we could have been happy,” she conceded, trying not to shudder at the thought. “Because I wouldn’t have known what I was missing. But it’s too late for that now. I’ll never forgive you if you make me go back to London.”
He stood and paced to the window. “Then I guess we’ll be miserable together. Because I’m not letting you go. Not now. Not ever.”
* * * * *
After leaving Kate and Daniel, Talon returned to his hotel room. He closed the door behind him with infinite restraint and then leaned against it, trembling with suppressed rage and anguish.
His gaze swept the room, noting that the maid had already been in to clean. He’d instructed her to burn their old clothes, so there was nothing left of Kate. There was no trace she’d ever been here except for a brand-new peach nightgown draped over the foot of the bed.
He pushed away from the door and picked it up, sorrow overwhelming him. He rubbed the soft fabric against his cheek, wishing she’d worn it so he’d at least have her scent to sustain him.
With a low moan of despair, he lay down on the bed, staring up at the ceiling in dry-eyed misery. He tried to think of a way to get her back, but he knew in his heart he had failed. Sutcliffe had won. If he pursued Kate any further, his men would die.
I don’t care!The words echoed up from the depths of his soul, hateful and true. Good Lord, he was a selfish bastard because he wanted to forget the danger to his crew, run away with Kate and pretend the men who had once meant the world to him didn’t exist.
It would have been better for everyone concerned if he’d refused his father’s offer and remained in prison where he belonged. But no, he’d dared to hope, dared to dream he could change things.
What a fool love had made of him.
