anyway!”
She dug the woolen cap she’d used before out of her trunk and waved it under his nose. “There! Now will you quit nitpicking and start moving? Let’s go.”
“I thought ye were going tae stop practicing impatience,” he grumbled.
She laughed as she pushed him out the door. “We haven’t sailed yet, Mac. I’ll stop tomorrow. I promise.”
Chapter Eight
S ir Anthony Malory signaled to the waiter for another bottle of port before he leaned back in his chair to stare at his older brother. “D’you know, James, I think I’m actually going to miss you, damn me if I won’t. You should have settled your affairs in the Caribbean before you came home, then you wouldn’t have to return there now, just when I’ve gotten used to having you around again.”
“And how was I to know the infamous Hawke’s demise could be arranged so easily, so that I could remain here?” James replied. “You forget, the only reason I came home a’tall was to settle the score with Eden. I had no idea that he was about to marry into the family at the time, or that the family would decide to reinstate me now that my pirating days are behind me.”
“Presenting the elders with a new nephew in Jeremy helped the matter along, I’d say. They’re so bloody sentimental when it comes to family.”
“And you’re not?”
Anthony chuckled. “So I am. But you will hurry back, won’t you? It’s been like old times, having you around again.”
“We did have some good times in those wild years, didn’t we?”
“Chasing the same women.” Anthony grinned.
“Getting the same lectures from the elders.”
“Our brothers mean well. Jason and Eddie boy just took to this responsibility thing too young, is all. They never had a chance to kick up their own heels, too busy keeping the rest of us in line.”
“You don’t have to defend them to me, lad,” James replied. “You don’t think I hold a grudge, d’you? Truth to tell, I’d have disowned me just as swiftly as you three did.”
“I never disowned you,” Anthony protested.
“Drink up, dear boy,” James replied dryly. “It might help to jog your memory.”
“My memory is in perfect working order, I tell you. I might have been furious with you for absconding with Reggie that summer eight years ago—three months on a bloody pirate ship, and the dear girl only twelve years old at the time! But I worked that out of my system back then, giving you the thrashing you so richly deserved when you brought her back. And you took that thrashing. I never understood why. Care to tell me now?”
James lifted a tawny brow. “D’you think I could have prevented it, three against one, as it were? You give me more credit than I’m due, dear boy.”
“Come off it, brother. You didn’t fight back that day. You didn’t even try. Jason and Edward might not have noticed, but I’d gone too many rounds with you in the ring not to.”
James shrugged. “So I felt I deserved it. I’d thought it a lark at the time, to take her right out from under big brother’s nose. I was, shall we say, annoyed enough with Jason to do it, since he’d refused to let me even see Regan after I—”
“Reggie,” Anthony corrected automatically.
“ Regan ,” James repeated with more force, beginning the old argument he’d had with each of his brothers over what nickname to call their niece, Regina—an argument that stemmed from a longtime insistence on James’s part to be different, go his own way, and follow his own rules. But they both realized at the same moment what they were doing and grinned.
But Anthony went a bit further. He conceded, “All right, Regan for tonight.”
James hit one ear with the palm of his hand. “I think there must be something wrong with my hearing.”
“Bloody hell,” Anthony said with a half growl, half chuckle. “Just get on with your story before I fall asleep. Ah, wait, here’s our second bottle.”
“You’re not thinking of getting me
She dug the woolen cap she’d used before out of her trunk and waved it under his nose. “There! Now will you quit nitpicking and start moving? Let’s go.”
“I thought ye were going tae stop practicing impatience,” he grumbled.
She laughed as she pushed him out the door. “We haven’t sailed yet, Mac. I’ll stop tomorrow. I promise.”
Chapter Eight
S ir Anthony Malory signaled to the waiter for another bottle of port before he leaned back in his chair to stare at his older brother. “D’you know, James, I think I’m actually going to miss you, damn me if I won’t. You should have settled your affairs in the Caribbean before you came home, then you wouldn’t have to return there now, just when I’ve gotten used to having you around again.”
“And how was I to know the infamous Hawke’s demise could be arranged so easily, so that I could remain here?” James replied. “You forget, the only reason I came home a’tall was to settle the score with Eden. I had no idea that he was about to marry into the family at the time, or that the family would decide to reinstate me now that my pirating days are behind me.”
“Presenting the elders with a new nephew in Jeremy helped the matter along, I’d say. They’re so bloody sentimental when it comes to family.”
“And you’re not?”
Anthony chuckled. “So I am. But you will hurry back, won’t you? It’s been like old times, having you around again.”
“We did have some good times in those wild years, didn’t we?”
“Chasing the same women.” Anthony grinned.
“Getting the same lectures from the elders.”
“Our brothers mean well. Jason and Eddie boy just took to this responsibility thing too young, is all. They never had a chance to kick up their own heels, too busy keeping the rest of us in line.”
“You don’t have to defend them to me, lad,” James replied. “You don’t think I hold a grudge, d’you? Truth to tell, I’d have disowned me just as swiftly as you three did.”
“I never disowned you,” Anthony protested.
“Drink up, dear boy,” James replied dryly. “It might help to jog your memory.”
“My memory is in perfect working order, I tell you. I might have been furious with you for absconding with Reggie that summer eight years ago—three months on a bloody pirate ship, and the dear girl only twelve years old at the time! But I worked that out of my system back then, giving you the thrashing you so richly deserved when you brought her back. And you took that thrashing. I never understood why. Care to tell me now?”
James lifted a tawny brow. “D’you think I could have prevented it, three against one, as it were? You give me more credit than I’m due, dear boy.”
“Come off it, brother. You didn’t fight back that day. You didn’t even try. Jason and Edward might not have noticed, but I’d gone too many rounds with you in the ring not to.”
James shrugged. “So I felt I deserved it. I’d thought it a lark at the time, to take her right out from under big brother’s nose. I was, shall we say, annoyed enough with Jason to do it, since he’d refused to let me even see Regan after I—”
“Reggie,” Anthony corrected automatically.
“ Regan ,” James repeated with more force, beginning the old argument he’d had with each of his brothers over what nickname to call their niece, Regina—an argument that stemmed from a longtime insistence on James’s part to be different, go his own way, and follow his own rules. But they both realized at the same moment what they were doing and grinned.
But Anthony went a bit further. He conceded, “All right, Regan for tonight.”
James hit one ear with the palm of his hand. “I think there must be something wrong with my hearing.”
“Bloody hell,” Anthony said with a half growl, half chuckle. “Just get on with your story before I fall asleep. Ah, wait, here’s our second bottle.”
“You’re not thinking of getting me
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