Historical Romance Boxed Set by Brenda Novak

Richard for Lady Anne. What would Nathaniel do with his half sister now? And how would he rescue Richard when he had to flee himself?
    “Mary wanted me to tell ye one other thing, but as far as I can figure, it’s of no account. She said she wouldn’t ‘ave ‘elped ye if ye weren’t so bloody ‘and-some.” Rat spat at the ground, barely missing his own foot. “Women.”
    Nathaniel ignored the remark. Whatever the reason Mary had risked herself to warn him, he was grateful. “We have to leave today. I’ll meet you here tonight, late. But be forewarned. Working for me is not easy. Gaol is the least of your fears. A man could get himself killed. Understand?”
    “Ye provide three meals a day an’ a bit of grog, don’t ye?”
    Nathaniel nodded.
    “I’ll be ‘ere, Cap’n.”
    “Then get yourself a bath as well,” Nathaniel added, tossing the man another coin.
     
    * * *
     
    Alexandra sat still while Trenton bandaged her chafed wrists. Nathaniel had been gone for over an hour, and in the strained silence of their waiting, Trenton had applied ointment to Alexandra’s wounds. Though she wasn’t sure what the unguent was, by its smell she suspected it was intended for animals, not humans. Still, she wasn’t about to complain. At least Trenton had cut her loose, and the pain in her hands and feet had finally ebbed.
    “What happens if Nathaniel doesn’t come back?” she asked when the minutes began to drag like days. Though both Trenton and Tiny seemed like decent men compared to the dangerous Nathaniel, they were all pirates, plain and simple. Alexandra had overheard enough about their business to know that much. And the man called Garth was less kind. The others could be even worse.
    Nathaniel was obviously their leader. Should something happen to him, she had no idea who would gain control. Or what they might do with her. After all, they thought her to be the daughter of their nemesis.
    Trenton shrugged. “He’ll come back,” he said, but Alexandra could feel his anxiety as he turned about the room like a caged animal.
    “If he doesn’t, will you let me go?” Her voice sounded small and frightened, even to her own ears. She cleared her throat and spoke more surely. “I mean, if Greystone kidnaps Nathaniel, or… or something, what will happen to me?”
    “Nathaniel will be back,” Trenton nearly shouted, making Alexandra cringe. “You’re the duke’s daughter, for heaven’s sake. Surely you mean enough to him that he wouldn’t be so foolish.”
    “But you can’t be sure what Greystone will do,” she said, taking a line of reasoning he would understand.
    Trenton ran his fingers through his hair and sighed. “I’m sorry. I know you’re scared. I just don’t have any answers right now. We wait. That’s all. We just wait.”
    Alexandra stood and walked to the window. One story below, the street was jumbled with women selling flowers, gypsies recaning chairs, peddlers plying their wares. Horses and carriages plowed through the melee amidst singsong voices—”Who’ll buy my sweet lavender?”—and she longed to walk freely among them.
    “Why does Nathaniel hate the duke so badly?” she asked.
    Trenton spoke from behind her. “When Nathaniel’s mother bore your father a deformed son, he—”
    “Deformed?” Alexandra glanced over her shoulder. In her mind, Nathaniel was anything but deformed.
    “His arm, of course. Greystone refused to have an imperfect heir. He tried to smother him, and would have succeeded if his housekeeper hadn’t stopped him. Martha Haverson rescued Nathaniel and ran away with him, raised him as her own.”
    “The duke tried to kill Nathaniel?”
    Trenton nodded. “Aye. Your father’s a dark man.”
    Alexandra didn’t reply. She couldn’t imagine a man attempting to murder an innocent newborn, much less one of his own flesh. But then, she didn’t know Greystone.
    Still, Nathaniel’s past didn’t justify his actions now. She was as innocent as he had