Sinclair and Raven Series: Books 1-3

by Wendy Vella

  “Then he does, Essie.”

  “But he promised to come here and speak with Dev two days ago, and yet did not. And when I went to his house this morning, I was told by his butler that he had left word he was leaving town, and did not know when he would return.”

  Lilly made a humming sound. “You of all people know that what we see or hear is not always the truth, Essie.”

  Essie thought about Max. About the moments in his conservatory when he had made love to her, when they had shared what they held in their hearts, and the secrets he had kept inside him for so long. His words were the truth.

  “Dear Lord, Lilly,” Essie said as she realized how wrong she had been to doubt him. “I have allowed my fear to cloud my thoughts. I was so afraid he had turned from me, deceived me as Tolly did, that I did not allow myself to see that he would never do that. Not Max.”

  “Max is not Tolly, is he, Essie?”

  “No!” She surged to her feet. “He would not hurt me, Lilly. He loves me.”

  “Yes he does, so what do you wish to do about that?”

  “We need to go to Max’s house, Lilly. Will you accompany me, and help me convince my brothers not to murder the man I love... when we locate him, that is?”

  Her sister-in-law smiled.

  “Of course I will. Do you think I would miss this?”

  When they arrived at Max’s house, it was to find her brothers, James, and another man, whom Essie recognized as one of Max’s employees, Edward.

  “I tell you he would not simply have left without telling me,” Edward was saying, and his tone told Essie he was worried about his employer.

  “So you have said, but as my sister is upset, and I hold Huntington responsible—”

  “No!” Essie stepped up behind her brothers. “Max is not responsible for my pain. He loves me, as I love him, and he would not have left if he had not been forced to.”

  She wasn’t sure why she believed this now, but she did... vehemently. Max loved her.

  “You love him?” Dev looked horrified. “You don’t know this man, Essex.”

  “I do know him, and he would not have willingly left London and me. He was to come to speak with you just two days ago and ask for my hand in marriage.”

  “I beg your pardon?” Dev glared at her.

  “I love him, and we are to marry.”

  “You don’t even know him!” Cam roared. “His past could be littered with brutal acts and fiendish endeavors—”

  “It’s not. He has told me some of it, and I care nothing for that, only him.” Essie knew she was right. Knew that Max was a good man.

  “When have you spent time together to come to this conclusion?” Dev’s words were a low growl. “If he touched you, he is a dead man.”

  “That’s my brother you speak of, Sinclair. Have a care.”

  Her brothers spun to face James as he entered the fray.

  “You know nothing of him, and yet you will stand at his back?” Cam looked horrified.

  “He is a good man, Cam, and you said so yourself. He saved my sister, and rescues boys being mistreated on ships. He runs a house for them, for heaven’s sake. Don’t jump to conclusions simply because you believe he has hurt Essie. Especially when she has declared otherwise.”

  Cam and Dev exhaled in unison.

  “Hello, family, have I missed the fun?” Eden arrived.

  “You no doubt heard it all, my love.” James took her hand in his. “But in short, I am attempting to stop your brothers from beating mine to a pulp when we locate him.”

  “I did hear it all, and have to say I side with James and Essie in this. Max is a good man. Anyone who treats our little ones with the respect and kindness he does, could not have hurt Essie, or left her after declaring his love.”

  “Essie does not know her mind!” Dev snapped. “She has been hurt before, and was lured by Huntington.”

  “That will do, husband,” Lilly said calmly. “You sister is no simpleton. She knows her own mind. And Max is not Tolly.”

  “Exactly, thank you, Lilly. Now stop behaving like a caveman, and let us work out where the man I love has gone!” Essie snapped.

  “If I may interject?”

  Essie had forgotten Edward was still standing in the doorway to Max’s house, overhearing the entire discussion.

  “What?” Dev rounded on him, forcing Edward to take a step back.

  “I would like to say something.”

  Essie grabbed her brothers’ arms and forced them to retreat and give the man some room.

  “Let him speak.”

  Edward cleared his throat and adjusted his tie.

  “Well, speak!” Cam demanded.

  “Pay them no mind.” James stepped forward and held out his hand to Edward. “I am the Duke of Raven, and Mr. Huntington is my brother.”

  “Ah… Max is your brother, your Grace?”

  James smiled. “Indeed he is, and I find I like the idea hugely.”

  Edward stuttered out his name as he bowed and then took the hand.

  “My name is James, Edward. If I may call you that?”

  Edward nodded.

  “Please ignore the two Neanderthals at my back and tell me what you wish to say?”

  “Max would not leave London without telling me first. He would also not leave Miss Sinclair, if he has vowed to wed her. He is the most honest, loyal man I know.”

  “In what capacity do you work for him, Edward?”

  “I am his steward, but we are friends. You see, it was Max that saved me when we were crew on a ship. The captain would have killed me, but Max intervened. He then threw the man overboard, and we believed he would drown.”

  “Surely that is not the act of a rational man?” Cam exploded.

  “Captain Rutley had been whipping and beating his crew and most especially his cabin boys for years... among other things. He deserved his fate and a great deal worse,” Edward said softly.

  “Dear God, was it he who did that to Huntington?”

  “It was, Cam,” Essie said. “Max told me about it.”

  “Christ.” Cam lowered his head. “I’m sorry, Edward, I had no right to judge him in light of what I have learned.”

  Edward pulled a letter from his pocket and held it out to James.

  “It is written in Max’s handwriting, but signed from M.C.R. Huntington. Max would never sign anything but Max in a missive to staff or me. It is his way, and always has been. He will not stand on ceremony with those who he believes are his equals.”

  “C. R. Do you believe he was trying to tell you something?” James said, and Essie prayed he was. Prayed it would lead them to Max, because the panic inside her was growing.

  “I do. I believe that he was taken by Captain Rutley.”

  “And you believe he has had him for two days?” Dev questioned in a surprisingly calm voice.

  “Yes.”

  “We will help you look for him. That will be the only way we can ascertain whether you are right, and whether he has mistreated my sister. But if he has, even his lofty brother will not be able to save him.”

  Max had lost count of how long he had been chained to the wooden pile. His hands were bound around the wood, and his feet shackled together. High tides had reached his neck, and he’d managed to stay upright, but he feared his strength was waning, and the next one would drown him because his legs were threatening to give out. Cold had seeped into his bones, and shivers wracked his body. His eyes kept closing. In short, he was running out of time.

  He’d yelled so much his voice was hoarse, and still no one came. Only Rutley, every few hours to look down on him and laugh.

  “Essie,” he whispered. He focused on the vision of her in his arms that night in his conservatory.

  “I love you, Max.”

  Did she believe he had deserted her? Did she believe he had run from her love? Surely she knew he would not do that. But then, someone had hurt her before; why would she believe his words now, so many days after he had p
romised to call on her brother? His disappearance would be seen as a sign of his perfidy in her eyes.

  Thirst clawed at his throat, hunger gnawed at his insides, but still he felt hope. He could not have found his first and only love just to have his life snuffed out, not now.

  “Help me!” He roared the words with the last of his strength. “Dear God, help me, please,” he whispered, slumping against the wood.

  The aches in his body were nothing compared to the pain in his heart. He felt the muscles in his legs quiver, and then suddenly they gave out, and he was sliding down the pole and into the water below. It enveloped him as he struggled to keep his head above.

  “Essie,” Max whispered.

  “It came from over there, I tell you.”

  Max heard the words, and struggled to speak. “Help.” It was a pitiful rasp.

  “Over there!”

  The sound of running feet made him fight to stay upright. Looking up, he searched the wharf above.

  “Help!” he managed again, and seconds later he was rewarded with a face appearing, and then several more. He tried to focus, but could not make out the features.

  “Down here,” he rasped.

  “Christ!”

  “Max!”

  It couldn’t be. “Essie!” Please God, let him not be dreaming.

  “Hold on, Max, we’re coming!”

  He struggled to his feet, using his arms to work his way back up the pole. Essie was here. Dear God, he was weeping like a babe.

  He saw a pair of legs dangling over the platform above him, and then they were followed by a body, and he saw it was the duke, his brother, being lowered into the water.

  “It’s all right now, Max, I have you.”

  A jacket was lowered around his shoulders, and the warmth was bliss.

  “Drink this. Just a sip.”

  Max allowed James to drizzle some brandy into his mouth, and it burned down his throat, but the warmth was bliss.

  “Shackles,” Max whispered. “Keys.”

  “We will get you out, no matter what it takes.”

  He squinted through gritty eyes into his brother’s face.

  “D-don’t want to d-die.”

  “You’re not dying when I’ve just found you,” the duke snapped.

  “Essie.”

  “Yes, and she loves you, so focus on that while I work out what we’re going to do. Also on the fact that you have to convince those two idiots she’s related to, to agree to letting you marry her.”

  He couldn’t focus, and he struggled not to let the darkness consume him. He had to stay strong for her.

  “Focus on my voice now, brother.”

  The duke was looking at the shackles on his hands.

  “He’s shackled!”

  Several curses rained down on them from above.

  “Let me down there now!”

  Max heard Essie’s cry, and the sound of her distress had him struggling.

  “No!” He managed to put some force into the word.

  “Yes, or I’ll jump in!”

  “God save me from hardheaded Sinclair woman,” the duke said.

  Several more curses were heard, and Max slumped back against his brother as his legs gave out again.

  “Get down here, Sinclair, I need your help!”

  Max heard another splash, and suddenly Lord Sinclair had arrived.

  “My sister is being restrained,” he gritted out. “By Edward.”

  “How are we to get him out, Sinclair?”

  Max slumped against his brother; even talking was beyond him now.

  “The pole is too high to lift him over, and we could hurt him if we tried to break the shackles. I don’t suppose any of you Sinclairs can pick a lock?”

  Sinclair cursed.

  “What?” the duke said.

  “Send her down, Cam, we need locks picked!”

  “No!” Max tried to lift his head.

  Lord Sinclair bent so his face was level with Max’s.

  “Your beloved is a master lock picker, Huntington, so be on your guard, and don’t bother locking drawers with things you don’t want her to see.”

  “Essie?” James questioned.

  “Hard to believe, isn’t it. The gentlest among us could have a career as a criminal. She learnt from a man in Crunston Cliff. He made a living out of stealing, but when she saved his dog from an infection, he was devoted to her.”

  Max couldn’t believe they were standing waist deep in water discussing this. “Do something,” he whispered as Essie’s legs appeared above him. “St-top her.”

  “Lower her,” Sinclair said, ignoring him. “One thing you need to learn very quickly, Huntington, is that you can’t stop my sisters from doing anything.”

  “I— Please sh-she should n-not be here. S-see me like this.”

  “Be still, brother, this is the only way.” James said the words into his ear.

  Max watched Essie fall into her brother’s arms. Felt his heart leap that she was so close.

  “Essie.” Her name was barely a whisper now.

  “Max.” His name was torn from her, and he could do nothing to hold her, nothing to ease her fears. She moved as close to him as she could, and pressed her face into his neck. Max closed his eyes and inhaled.

  “Essie, I-I love you.” Through the long hours alone, he had thought only of her. His fight had been for her, them, and the life they would have together.

  “I love you too.”

  Her lips touched his cheek, and then she pulled away, and he bit back the words to make her stay. He felt her hands on his face. “B-be strong for a little longer.”

  “Pick the locks on his hands, Essie, and then we can lift him out, and you can do the ankles later. He is cold, and needs attention quickly,” James said.

  Max focused on her, saw the worry in her sweet face. His woman, he thought as she pulled a pin from her hair. He concentrated on that thought alone.

  “Sh-she... c-cold,” Max stuttered out.

  “She’s a Sinclair, they have nine lives, brother. Don’t worry.”

  He felt the shackles give, and suddenly he was free and Essie was in his arms. He pressed his cheek to hers, listening as she soothed him.

  “Come, now we will get you up and out of this place,” James said.

  It was not an easy task, as he was a big man, but eventually they managed to get everyone back on the wharf and Max was soon wrapped in several coats.

  “Someone’s coming!”

  The duchess said the words, even though Max heard no voices.

  “Everyone behind that wall,” Devon said, and they hurried to do as he said. In Max’s case, it was more a stumble, with James on one side and Essie on the other, tucked beneath his arm.

  “Rutley,” he managed to say as he heard someone speaking.

  “Essie, Eden, you two stay here with Max.”

  The sisters did not argue, he was pleased to note. However, it did not sit well with Max that he was unable to help. He watched, helpless, as the other men drew their pistols and stepped from behind the wall.

  “L-let me see,” he said.

  They helped him move around the wall, and it was in time to see Rutley raise his pistol. Max’s heart kicked as he saw it was pointed at James.

  “No!”

  Rutley turned at his hoarse cry, and the distraction allowed Edward to fire. Seconds later, Captain Rutley was staggering backward, clutching his chest. He fell into the water below, and his men fled.

  “Ch-check he is dead,” Max said, just before his legs gave out and darkness followed.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  He woke slowly, rolling to his side. Moaning as his tortured muscles protested, Max managed to lever himself upright and swing his legs over the edge of the bed. His first and only thought was for Essie. Where was she? He ached everywhere, but the need to see her surpassed that.

  Enough light filtered into the room to tell him he was not in his own bed. Where was she? As if she’d sensed his
thoughts, the door opened and she walked in with a tray in her hands, and Max fought the urge to weep again. His emotions were raw and near the surface, making him vulnerable, but he cared nothing about that, only her.

  “You are awake.” She hurried to place the tray on a small table.

  “Essie.” His voice was weak. “Come here.”

  She did, her steps tentative as she approached him.

  “Are.... Do you hurt, Max?”

  “I ache for you.” He took her hand and pulled her between his legs. Slipping his fingers beneath her hair, he kissed her. Max drank from her lips. He wanted to consume her. She was like a fever in his blood.

  “For so long I needed no one.” He pressed his face into her neck. “But from the first night, you filled my head and heart.”

  “Oh, Max.” Essie cupped his face, kissed every inch. “I was so scared when I realized you had been taken by that man. I love you so much.”

  He took her hips and pulled her closer, needing to feel her body pressed to his.

  “Did you doubt me?”

  He read her guilt, but she did not look away.

  “I did, especially after being betrayed by Tolly. But then, when I allowed myself to think clearly, I knew that you would never leave me. That you were loyal and true, and that I had been wrong to ever doubt you.”

  He sighed as she gently raked her fingers through his hair.

  “I knew then that you had been taken against your will.”

  “I would never leave you.”

  “I know that now. Forgive me for ever doubting you, my love.”

  He didn’t want to let her go, but she insisted he do so.

  “You need to eat now, Max, and let me rub some ointment into your sore muscles.”

  He watched as she walked to the tray, and then back to him. This would be his life now. She would care for him as she did others. The thought was humbling.

  “You kept me alive, Essie. Thinking of you gave me the strength to stand in that water. Had it not been for you, I don’t think I would have cared.”

  She urged him back against the pillows.