Page 22 of The Lord who Seduced Me
Cabe
London, England Dec 1812
Cabe spent the entire day with Nathaniel. The two of them reading and re-reading the new letter that the Renegade left them.
Cabe wanted to scream, to fight their fate. Knowing that they would not survive the next time they faced the Renegade on the water.
Cabe hated that he had not been able to see Rose this day and could only hope that she wouldn’t attend a ball, even though he knew she had plans to.
He heard about her doing so, knowing she often went to accompany Persephone.
He needed to not think of her right now, or his stomach would cramp again. He did not like that he would have so much to lose if he faced the Renegade on the water.
Just thinking of leaving her behind, of possibly dying in battle at the hands of that mad man made Cabe wish he were a different person.
All he wanted was to make Rose his wife, plant his seed in her so she carried their child and live a happy life until they died of old age.
And now? Now he would have to leave her. And most likely he would not return. It broke the only thread of sanity he had left.
Hating that he had finally found the one person to make him want more and he had not had enough time with her.
He pounded his fists on the desk in his office and Nathaniel looked up at him.
“We have to do this Nathaniel. If we do not, he will keep hurting more people. More innocent men. I just wish our life was different. That I did not have to leave Rose. I want my life with her. Our future I fought so hard against. I know this will end in our death.”
Nathaniel shook his head, “I know Cabe. I loathe this. Truly I do. Seeing you finally find your happiness gives me hope that I could find mine someday. But this is our life. We have to see this through. I know you are right when you say he will take more innocent lives. It is what he lives for. And you know if we do not face him in the water that he will come after them. I will not let him hurt them. No matter what. We need to finish this.”
Cabe nodded, “I know. We cannot let him touch a single person of that family. I could not live with myself if they got caught up in my mess. But we need to be smart about this. And I think we need to do our best to prepare our ship and our crew for this battle. I will not go into this like a whipped cur with my tail between my legs. If I am going to face him, I will do it the way I wanted to in the first place. With war and blood. He thinks to threaten me? Threaten my woman? He has another thing coming.”
He was breathing hard and Nathaniel stood up straighter, “I would love nothing more. What do you need from me?”
“We need to get the rest of the crew back together again. And we need to find men who know how to fight and can handle themselves on a ship. Can you do that?”
Nathaniel nodded, “I will outfit the ship with everything we need. We were not prepared last time for war like we needed to be. I won’t let that happen again.”
Cabe nodded, “Good, make certain we are outfitted for war. I will pay for anything we need.”
Nathaniel nodded and bowed. “I know we were able to get the crew together on a really short notice before, but in order to get everything we need for this battle it will take some time. A fortnight at least?”
Cabe nodded, “That is fine. I do not care what it takes, nor how long it will take, as long as we don’t go into this next battle blind. Do what is necessary.”
“Consider it done.”
Cabe watched Nathaniel walk out of the office and heard the front door shut.
Then he pulled out a few sheets of vellum and got started on the next part of his plan.
He would need all the help he could get. And the family would need to be protected. At all costs. With or without their knowledge. Cabe would do what he could to keep Rose safe.
He finished writing the letters he needed to write and sent them off.
It was dark outside now, and too late for him to get ready for the ball Rose had gone to.
He could only hope that now that he had claimed her as his own, she would not be dancing with another.
He rubbed his chest again, feeling hollow inside and hating that he had to leave her, but more determined than ever that he would make it back to her.
He had a reason to survive this time. He would be prepared, and he would do anything in his power to do so.
