Saved By The Pirate (Book One)

27. A Pirate's Fake Wife

I stared at him, frozen in place by the words just spoken. I felt my heart stop, and my face turned white. And just when I believed I was going to be sick, Daniel spoke.

"Who is he?" He asked like he was interrogating me. I could've died. What was I going to tell him? Oh, don't worry, this is all just a big misunderstanding. I'm pretending to be a wife of a bloody pirate so I could help him steal!

No, that wouldn't suffice, and neither would: Oh, I'm just playing dress-up.

"It's true," I sighed, looking at my ringed finger and holding it up. "I'm married. I'm married to a seaman."

His face turned to stone, and I knew right then that I hurt him badly. Since I couldn't go on in this life without a husband, we planned to marry. It was the best way to live so we could stay together and so that I wouldn't get mixed up with an unpredictable man. It could've worked if he hadn't left me and I didn't know where he went.

But the truth was, I didn't want it to be this way. I wished I could have gone without having the choice of marrying my best friend. I didn't have to be his burden, and I didn't have to be his. I loved Daniel, but I wish I could've loved him without the choice to marry him.

The last time I saw him was when I was sixteen. One day he was there, and the next, he was gone. And I wasn't just upset because my one shot of going anywhere in this world was gone, but I also lost my best friend.

But as I looked at him now, with his icy blue eyes and sleek black hair, he was like a different person. He wasn't the sweet, quiet boy I knew once before. He was cold and hard as stone. He wasn't the Daniel I knew.

"I'm sorry, Daniel, but I-"

"Is he good to you?"

I thought about Christopher and the way he was, but then I thought about the truth. If I told Daniel about Christopher, I knew Daniel would step in, and then who knew where that went. I still didn't know Christopher. He killed a man. What were the chances he wouldn't do it again?

Someone could get hurt, and I didn't want to bother Daniel with my problems - especially since this wasn't his problem.

"He is," I said, looking him in the eye. I almost cried. The tears were coming; I felt it. I played with the ring on my finger, reminded of what could happen - of what might happen if I told him.

"You're lying," Daniel said, thinning his lips and furrowing his brows. I looked up at him, confounded.

"What?"

"What man leaves his wife alone walking in the forest with no one to accompany her?" He said. "And you look like you're about ready to cry."

I swallowed the lump in my throat, but it didn't go down. It came back stronger. "H-he had business to attend to, you see. With an old friend, so I just thought I would take a walk, you know? He didn't leave me. If anything, I left him."

It sounded better in my head than when it left my mouth.

"I see."

"Yes," I said. "Look, I'm sorry, but it was what I had to do. I would have married you, but you left me. I didn't have any other choice."

"I apologize for that. I would have told you if I didn't have to leave so early. I wanted to marry you, but I needed a career to depend on to take care of you. I love you, Anne," he said, clenching his jaw tensely.

"I know you love me, but-"

"No," he said sternly. "I don't think you understand me. I'm in love with you, Anne. Ever since we were children, I've loved you."