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  “I suppose she’ll do,” Vince Fiddick hissed the words. He looked at Julianne like she was a tolerable prize. He may have wanted Annabelle Portwood, but he would settle for her. Oh, Julianne knew she wasn’t the man’s first choice, but he would take what he could get.

  “Oh, how wonderful. Lovely news, isn’t it?” Julianne’s father rubbed his hands together, no doubt thinking of the betrothal fee Vince would be paying for the honor of wedding her.

  “No,” Julianne shook her head. She could not do it. She would not consent to marrying the man her parents had chosen for her. She would be his fourth wife, and Julianne knew she would fare no differently than they had.

  “Julianne,” Margaret Rye glared at her daughter. Julianne knew the look well. She had always been a disappointment to her parents. Why should things be any different now? Margaret and William Rye wanted their daughter to wed this man, who was nearly twice Julianne’s age, and they cared naught for their daughter’s opinion on the matter.

  Julianne looked at her mother blankly, waiting for her to say something else, but Margaret simply stared at her.

  “Don’t worry, darling,” Vince said, turning his attention to Julianne. “It’s natural to be nervous before your wedding, but you have nothing to be concerned about. You’ll see.” He shook hands with Julianne’s father, and then the two men retreated to William’s study to make the necessary arrangements for the ceremony.

  Julianne sat in silence with her mother while the men were gone. The sitting room felt stuffy and small. Suddenly, the entire room felt hot. Julianne felt as if her entire life was being decided for her and she had no say in the matter. She should be used to the feeling by now, but somehow, this was different.

  This was her entire life.

  This was her whole future.

  “I won’t marry him,” she said finally.

  “You don’t have a choice. You were raised for this, bred for this.” Margaret did not meet her daughter’s eyes. Julianne stared at her mother, openly gawking.

  “This is marriage,” she said. “Marriage should be to someone you love, to someone you can’t stand being apart from. It shouldn’t be some financial transaction.”

  “You know nothing of the world,” Margaret said, sipping a cup of tea. Her face was wrinkled and she had dark circles under her eyes. Julianne knew her mother was getting older, and restless. While Julianne suspected her mother was battling health issues, Margaret had too much pride to ever admit this to her daughter.

  “I know what the world should be,” Julianne told her mother, suddenly feeling brave. “And I know this is not what it should be.”

  “If only you were more like your brother,” Margaret shook her head. Julianne bit back a cough. Oh, if only her parents knew what her sweet brother was up to. They believed he had gone off to Ellensworth to work as an apprentice. They had no idea where he really was. They had no clue the things her brother did.

  Julianne knew better than to argue with her mother, though. Once Margaret set her mind to something, nothing would sway her opinion.

  After what felt like hours, her father and Vince Fiddick emerged from the study.

  “The wedding will take place on Saturday,” William announced to the women in the sitting room.

  “But that’s in two days!” Julianne jumped to her feet. “That’s-” She stopped. Her parents had made up their minds. There would be no talking them out of this. If she protested the marriage, they would simply lock her in her bedroom until the time of the ceremony, and she couldn’t have that.

  No, if Julianne wanted to be able to have any chance to escape, she would have to play her cards close to her chest. She would have to appear to be compliant. She would have to be clever because there was no doubt in her mind Vince Fiddick had murdered his other wives. She would not end up like them.

  “That’s not nearly enough time to plan a wedding,” she said instead. “Why, how can I have a proper gown made?”

  “Darling,” Vince Fiddick walked across the room to Julianne. He reached for her. Though it sickened her to have him touch her, she swallowed hard and allowed his clammy palms to squeeze her hands. “Believe me when I say you will have the most perfect wedding you can imagine.”

  “Thank you,” Julianne said. She had nothing else to say to the man. She hated him, despised him. He was not a man she would ever choose to associate with, let alone marry, but she had to be careful. If he suspected her of trying to escape before the ceremony, he would do anything in his power to keep her.

  Even if it meant killing her.

  “Such lovely news,” Margaret said, clasping her hands together. “And what a beautiful pairing.” She looked at Julianne and Vince, and for a brief second, Julianne thought her mother looked truly happy.

  Then she remembered that her mother didn’t have a soul. Any emotion she displayed, aside from anger, was a carefully calculated appearance designed for maximum manipulation.

  But during her childhood, Julianne hadn’t simply learned how to run a house or how to sew. No, Julianne had learned more than that. She had learned how her mother worked, how Margaret used emotional manipulation to get what she wanted.

  Julianne realized that if she wanted to escape this marriage, she would have to act quickly. Once she was alone in Vince’s house, she would never be allowed to leave. She would be locked away: another prize he had won.

  But there was something Julianne’s parents didn’t know, something Vince Fiddick didn’t know. There was something none of them knew, and it would be her saving grace.

  Julianne’s twin brother wasn’t in Ellensworth.

  He wasn’t an apprentice.

  He was a pirate, and The Dark Lovely was due to make port tomorrow.

  Julianne would have to act quickly, and she would have to catch her brother alone, but she knew one thing was for certain.

  She would not marry Vince Fiddick.

  Julianne Rye was going to get on the pirate ship with her brother, and she was going to sail away.

  She was going to escape.

  She was going to live.

  1

  Four weeks later

  Julianne knew she should be thankful to be alive, but as she stared at the hard tack in front of her again, she wondered if it might be better to starve. After all, how much more of this could she take? It had been weeks. When she wasn’t busy feeling seasick, she was being feeling hungry. Her stomach emitted a growl, reminding her that for today, it was better to suck it up and eat the food.

  “Thanks, Nelson,” she told her twin brother. She tried to shoot him a grateful look, but it came out pained instead. Nelson was the one who had sneaked her away the night before her wedding to Vince Fiddick was supposed to take place. He was the one who promised to save her. He was the one who kept her hidden and fed, despite the rocky waters and low food supply.

  She didn’t know where the ship was headed or what was going to happen when it got there, but they both knew that this was Julianne’s only option if she ever wanted to be free.

  “You’re welcome. I’m sorry it’s not more.” Nelson shrugged regretfully. Julianne knew that he was cutting his own rations in half in order to keep her hidden and alive. Her twin was nothing if not resourceful. His determination mixed with cleverness was keeping her alive. She wouldn't forget it and she wouldn’t ask him for more. Anytime she was tempted to complain about how hungry or bored she was, she considered the position she had put her brother in.

  He was a pirate, after all. It wasn’t in his nature to be merciful, yet here he was, taking care of his sister when no one else would.

  “When’s the next port?” Julianne asked.

  “Tomorrow. Hold tight until then and I’ll try to get you off the ship for a little while, at least.” He looked nervous, and she knew he was thinking about what a risk it would be to let her out of the little storage room. Crates and barrels surrounded her day in and day out, but there was comfort in knowing this space was rarely used. Most of the pirate
s spent their days on the main deck when they could and in the crew’s quarters when they couldn’t. Even when they needed to access cargo, there were two other rooms they used more frequently than this one.

  Julianne had gotten good at being quiet in her tiny space on the ship, but if Nelson allowed her to leave, even for a little bit, she would risk being seen. What would happen to her brother if he was caught?

  She nodded and wrapped her blanket tighter around herself, cold from weeks of staying in the stores of the ship. Nelson gripped her shoulder for a moment in a soft sign of compassion, then disappeared around the corner. Julianne heard the door close and the lock click in place. She allowed herself to crumple onto the floor with a sigh.

  She was stuck on a ship in the middle of the ocean and she had no idea where they were headed. Rumor had it that Wade Docherty, the captain of the ship, was searching for something. Nelson was tight-lipped about what it was. He always told Julianne he wasn’t sure what the pirate captain wanted, but his eyes flicked away when he said it. She had been his sister long enough to know when he was lying, and Nelson was definitely lying about knowing.

  Was the hunt that dangerous?

  Or was Nelson afraid that Julianne would figure out his secret?

  She knew her brother loved being a pirate. He pretended to hate it. He’d whine and complain with the best of them, but he loved it. He loved the thrill, the adventure. He loved the hunt. He loved the fights. Most of all, Julianne knew, Nelson loved the danger.

  They had grown up in the upper-class area away from the dirty harbor of Gunthry, but they had always sneaked down to peek at the pirates, even as children.

  “That’ll be me one day,” Nelson whispered, but Julianne always made him promise not to tell their parents. There was no telling what they would do if Nelson proclaimed his loyalty to anyone besides the King, especially a pirate.

  She leaned her head against the side of the boat. The wood was hard against her head, but she barely noticed anymore. It had been weeks since she fled from Vince Fiddick and her parents, weeks since she joined the gang of pirates, weeks since she gave up one prison for another.

  She knew her parents had been pressured to wed her off. Socially, they needed to climb. Their wealth had dwindled and their bloodline was in trouble, but they could have picked a better man.

  Any other man in town, she thought, would have been a better choice than Vince. He was cruel and conniving, but more than that, he was calculating. How long would he parade her around town on his arm before he grew tired of her and locked her away to rot in silence and loneliness? How long would he pretend to love her before he grew tired of the charade?

  Julianne worried, sometimes, that her parents had suffered some sort of social ramifications when she vanished. Maybe people would think she had died. When she disappeared, she made sure to tell her best mates she was going for a long walk along the cliffs to clear her mind, to think about how she would be a good wife for Vince.

  Her girlfriends had giggled and laughed, but they had all promised not to tell anyone. What about the next day? When Julianne never came home, did they tell her parents what she had said? Did they think she had slipped? Did they suspect she had fallen from the cliffs into the raging waters below?

  No matter what fate her pals dreamed up, no matter what the townspeople said, nothing could be as horrible as a marriage to Vince. Nothing in the world, nothing in her dreams, nothing. Not even the stale piece of hard tack she was eating, thought Julianne, and she took another bite.

  **

  Wade Docherty was the best captain the high seas had ever seen. At least, that’s what he told himself. He had commanded The Dark Lovely for nearly 10 years, earning quite a reputation for himself. The Saucy Devil was exactly that: saucy. He was sly and cunning, handsome and clever. When Wade put his mind to something, chances were that he got exactly what he had been hoping for.

  And what he had been hoping for, for the last several years, was to find Mad Drake's lost treasure. The treasure had vanished when the evil pirate Drake's ship, The Cursed Hangman, went down many years ago during a routine cargo transport. Though hundreds of pirates and sailors had searched for the treasure, none had ever found it or the ship. Some speculated that Mad Drake had simply taken the treasure for himself. Others thought that the treasure had a more mythical fate, that it had somehow been cursed or stolen by ghosts or sea monsters.

  Wade didn't buy into that nonsense. He knew it was hiding somewhere, just waiting to be found. The right pirate, he knew, could find that treasure. The right pirate could keep that beautiful bounty for himself.

  And then that pirate could use that treasure to retire quietly from a long life of thievery and fighting.

  Though the rumors varied from port to port, Wade had been captivated by the stories from the first moment he heard them. His crew advised him to stop his search and insisted that it was futile, but Wade didn’t care.

  He had to find the treasure, no matter how long it took or how much it cost him. The Cursed Hangman’s bounty would be his. Of that Wade was sure.

  “How long to port, Cap’n?” Nelson asked, silently sidling up to the captain. The boy was quiet as a mouse, and smart. Wade had picked him up in a tiny port town nearly a year ago. While Wade wasn’t the kind to take on strays, something about the weariness in Nelson’s eyes made him bring the boy aboard.

  He hadn’t regretted it yet.

  No other crewmate worked half as hard or twice as long as Nelson did.

  “Dawn, if we’re lucky,” Wade said, eyeing the vast sea before him. He maintained that they were only stopping for supplies and for the men to have a bit of fun, but Nelson saw through that story. He never called Wade out on it, though. He was much too smart for that.

  No, Wade didn’t want to stop for supplies and he certainly didn’t need to find a woman. Though it had been months since he had found anyone to bed, the treasure kept him focused. It required all of his attention, all of his energy.

  And tomorrow, if fate was on his side, Wade would be one step closer to finding his heart’s desire.

  **

  Julianne shifted in her tiny position behind the stacks of trunks and crates. Nelson didn’t have his own room on the ship, of course. Only the most important crew members did. What he did have was access to the captain’s storage room in the hold, which is where he had placed Julianne for safekeeping.

  Though part of her resented the idea that she was a possession that needed to be kept safe, Julianne quickly learned the ins and outs of the entire room. To be fair, there wasn’t much to see. There were barrels and crates full of supplies, along with random items that had been pillaged. At the back of the room was a row of heavy trunks. Nelson and Julianne had quickly pushed them out from the wall to make a small clearing. That was where Julianne spent her time hiding. There was only space enough for her to lie down on her side, but if they pushed the trunks out further than that, someone would notice and ask why Nelson was wasting space.

  Julianne did not need to be noticed, no matter how uncomfortable she was.

  The rest of the room was unimpressive and dull. In addition to supplies, Wade stored many of his treasures and favorite items here. Anything he wanted to keep and hold onto, but didn’t quite have room for in his chambers ended up here. There were other places for cargo on the ship, but this was the captain’s private bounty room. It was small, but carefully kept.

  There were many unusual artifacts and treasures here, but nothing delighted Julianne quite as much as a small gold owl that rested on top of a small table. She spent some time each day touching it and holding it, wondering who had owned the owl before Wade plundered it. Maybe a princess, she dreamed, or a fair maiden from a faraway land. Someone had given that owl to one lucky girl as a gift, Julianne knew, long ago. How wonderful must it be to be loved so deeply that someone gave you gifts just because they wanted to?

  At night, Julianne slept on a soft blanket on the hard wooden floor. Though it was nothing
like her bed at home, it gave her plenty of time to be thankful for all the pleasures she had enjoyed during her short life. And while Nelson couldn’t get away from his duties often to spend a lot of time with her, he managed to come by every day to bring her some food and water. When he brought her meal – and it was usually only one per day – would vary. Nelson had to be careful when he sneaked around. If he raised suspicion, he risked Julianne’s discovery, and no one wanted to be the lone woman on a ship.

  By far the most interesting aspect of life as a stowaway, for Julianne, had been the many times that crew members sneaked down into the hold for some quick fun. Anytime the ship stopped at a port, women were inevitably brought on board to be entertainment for the crew. While most of the men brought their women to the crew’s quarters, some wanted more privacy, and would sneak into this store room to play.

  Julianne always tried to remain quiet from her hiding spot, but it was hard when she was so desperate to see exactly what was happening. She had been intimate with a man before, long ago, but never with Vince. She wouldn’t. He had tried and she had refused, claiming she wanted to be pure for the wedding.

  Nothing could be further from the truth.

  Now, being witness to so many indiscretions, Julianne found it almost impossible to keep herself hidden away. Maybe she was wrong in hiding from all the men on the ship. While some of them were crass and unpleasant to look at, some of them weren’t. Some of them were handsome and rugged. Some of them were strong and stunning.

  During the days when the sailors brought their whores into the storage room to fuck and play, Julianne would silently touch herself behind the trunks, hidden away. She wondered why she herself didn’t wander onto one of these shores and begin a life of prostitution herself.

  Judging from the moans and screams of everyone involved, it seemed like a quite wonderful line of work.

  It seemed like something that made everyone happy.

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