*Thank you for the reviews on the last chapter. THey were greatly appreciated thank-you all so much*
"Where's the Mrs.?" Asked Dean as Roman walked into a cabin where the guys of the ship hung out drinking booze and smoking tobacco.
"She's resting," said Roman as he took a seat next to Dean. "She had an eventful night and an eventful morning," he said with a smirk on his face as he lit a rolled cigarette.
"I get it so you are just going to give up the tramp life to be with one woman the rest of your life?"
"Cecily's sole purpose is to bear my children. I will take as many mistresses as I wish," he said inhaling his cigarette. "But as my wife I want Cecily to remain comfortable which means there are a change of plans. She will no longer be told to take care of us. The only man she will be taking care of is me. She won't be in the kitchen making our meals and she will not be cleaning up after us. That's what the servants are for. Cecily is not a servant of anyone else but me."
"I'll make her as comfortable as possible, Captain and I will alert the others to do the same."
"Thank-you, Ambrose. I want her to be provided with a meal as soon as she awakes. I need her to put on a little more meat onto her body. She hasn't been eating like she should. I don't think her father allowed her to eat."
"Old Man Giuseppe treated her like a prisoner, Roman. Cecily was never allowed out of his home without him and she was never allowed out of his sight."
"I've heard a bit from Cecily," he said.
"I would imagine her life hasn't been easy for a while now. She's a beautiful girl."
"A rare beauty," said Roman.
"How is the married life treating you?"
"It's not a marriage it's just a business transaction between Giuseppe and me. He got his gold, I got his daughter and hopefully soon she bears me a child or more," he said.
"It's just a business transaction?" asked Dean. "Is that why you're so worried about her being taken care of? Is that why you want her to be so comfortable?"
"I need her in good health," he said, "she can't bear me a child if she's not in good health."
"I see is that all it is, could she be softening up the hard hearted pirate?"
"Not a chance," he said taking a puff of his cigarette. "That will never happen."
"Okay," said Dean, "now let's discuss other business."
"What's on your mind?"
"We're going to be coming in contact with another ship in a couple days. A nice ship that set sail from America, lots of valuables. We could invade the ship and commandeer it take over it you know what I mean?"
"I'm listening," he said. "You know for a fact there's a lot of valuables on the ship?"
"Americans leaving America to move to England of course there are a lot of valuables on the ship but there's another pirate ship in route."
"Captain Rollins' ship?" he asked.
"Yes," he said with a nod.
"Bastard," said Roman. "He's out for blood. He's coming for us."
"That may be so but we can't be sure we just need to be prepared in case he tries to overtake our ship or is planning some type of attack. We need to be prepared."
"He holds a grudge against me," said Roman. "He would love nothing more than to attack this ship and end my life."
"You slept with his wife," said Ambrose, "And you stole from his ship. I think that holding a grudge is an understatement. He wants you dead."
"Or to hurt someone close to me, his wife came to me. I didn't go to her. I never deny taking a woman to my bed. She wanted it I gave it to her. It's very simple and I got gold out of the deal. Rollins should be more protective over what is his. I didn't ask for his ship to be left unattended just like I didn't ask for his wife to come to me. She sought me out and I took her to my bed. Do you think he would make Cecily a target?"
"Since you took his wife to bed there's a possibility he is going to hurt you in the same way but your marriage is just a business transaction. Why would you be worried of him making Cecily a target if you didn't care about her?"
"I didn't say I didn't care about her. She serves me a purpose," he responded. "But that doesn't mean I don't care about her. If I don't have her I don't get what I want," he said. "If you see his ship coming in any proximity of ours I need you to alert me right away. I will take Rollins down if he gets anywhere close to Cecily or my ship. I want you to make the others aware. I want the ship from America and then I want to take care of Rollins and his crew."
"Of course," said Dean. "I take it you will be pretty occupied from now on with Cecily?"
"Cecily and I will entertain ourselves, you just make sure she's comfortable on the ship and you keep a look out for Rollins and his men and keep watch for the ship from America. "
"You don't have to ask me twice," he said, "but if I were you. I would heavily protect Cecily she's your greatest asset in Rollins' eyes. If he is coming after you, he's coming after her and any other enemy you may have. They are coming after her too."
"I realize that," he said. "She's a target because of me. I have so many enemies they're going to start coming from all sides."
"How many wives have you slept with?"
Roman let out a chuckle and said, "it isn't all about taking someone's wife to my bed. I have done a lot of things that rubbed people the wrong way. I did a lot of people wrong, I've stolen from a lot of people and there are a few people that have grievances against me because of other things I have done. I have made a lot of enemies over the years and if they are all going to start coming at me I need to get Cecily prepared."
"I wouldn't want to be you," he said, "but I have your back, we all have your back. We will do our best to make sure Cecily is protected as well."
"Thanks, Man," he said giving him a handshake before finishing his cigarette. "I'm going to check on her."
"Okay," he said. "I'll go inform the others. Would you like a meal prepared for Cecily?"
"Yes and brought to my cabin," said Roman. "Thank-you."
"You're welcome," said Dean before Roman took his leave to his cabin to check on his wife.
A lot of thoughts ran through Roman's mind as he walked back to his cabin. Over the years Roman had gotten into a lot of trouble with many people, many people that held grudges against him. He had done a lot of things from taking their wives to his bed, destroying their wives, stealing from them and even murdering some of their loved ones. Roman never cared who he hurt in the past but the fact his past was starting to catch up to him and put his future in danger he was starting to get concerned. Word would travel that he had married Cecily and the one way to get to him would be through her. The day Cecily and Roman married she became the target of his enemies. Although he didn't love her, he still didn't want anything to happen to her because of his past. They had a present and a future to live together. He cared about her but that's where it ended. He would never be able to love her, he would never be able to love anyone. He didn't know what love was. He'd never felt love. He never had someone tell him that they loved him. His father was a miserable man that made Roman's life miserable growing up. Roman felt he wasn't capable of being loved and wasn't capable of feeling love for someone else and although he did not love Cecily he would stop at nothing to protect her.
Roman walked into his cabin's bedchamber and smiled as he saw Cecily sleeping peacefully in their bed. She looked beautiful even when she was sound asleep. Her dark hair was tangled in a knot below her shoulders, her bare shoulder exposed in the sunlight shining through the window. She was hugging onto his pillow as she breathed softly. He walked over to the bed and covered her up with the counterpane and took a seat next to her on the bed. He ran his fingers through her hair, playing with the soft and thick strands of hair. He brushed a piece of hair out of her face she gave a soft smile making him smile. Her hand caught his as her green eyes flickered open. "Hey, Beautiful," Roman said with a smile.
"Hey," sleep filled her voice but it was sexy nonetheless. "When did you wake up?"
"I never went to sleep. I went to visit Dean for a while."
"Oh," she said.
"How did you sleep?"
"Well," she said with a smile as Roman traced her lips with his thumb. "I haven't slept this well in a long time."
"I'm glad that you're comfortable," he said helping her sit up next to him. She wrapped her arms around him, resting her arm on his firm abs and her head on his firm chest. "I need to talk to you about something."
"Okay," she said snuggling closer to him as his arm wrapped around her waist and he kissed the top of her head. "Did I do something wrong? Am I being a bad wife? Do I need to go cook dinner?"
"Relax, Cecily. You didn't do anything wrong. I was the one that was wrong for treating you like a servant rather than my wife. You don't need to cook dinner or take care of the men on the ship. I want you to enjoy yourself as much as you can the only man you need to worry about taking care of is me. You just need to launder my clothes, draw me a bath and take care of my needs. I will do the same for you. I will take care of you the best that I can. You're my greatest prize. And you haven't been a bad wife at all a much better one than I deserve."
"You mean you don't want me to take care of the men on the ship?"
"You're not a servant you're my wife, you deserve that respect. The only man you need to worry about taking care of is me."
"I will," she said, "do you need me to get you anything, or is there anything I can do for you?"
"Just listen to me for now," he said stroking her spine with his soft fingertips.
"I'm listening," she said.
"I'm going to teach you how to defend yourself with a sword," he said.
"A sword, defend myself but why?"
"I'm not a popular man, Cecily. I have done a lot of wrongs in my life. I have done a lot of wrongs to other people I won't go into detail but you should know that I have a lot of enemies."
"My papa has a lot of enemies too," she said.
"I don't doubt that but with my enemies my biggest fear is you became a target for them the day you married me. I believe they are going to get to me through you. I can't have you in danger. I need to know that you can protect yourself in the event that I am unable to. I will do my best to make sure you're protected as will the men on my ship but if we're not around I need to make sure you're capable of defending yourself."
"Roman, why would your enemies want to go through me to get to you?" she asked.
"Because you're my wife; that alone makes you a target in their revenge. I'm not proud of the things I have done. I have hurt a lot of people and they want to hurt me. Making you a target and having something happen to you is how they believe they can bring me the same pain I brought them. I can't allow you to be hurt because of my past. I will do everything in my power to protect you but I'm not always going to be there. I need to make sure you can take care of yourself so I need to teach you how to defend yourself, teach you how to use a sword and a knife."
"Is it true what they say about you? Have you killed people?"
"Cecily," he said, "I just want you to know that I have a lot of enemies. You don't need to worry about my sins."
"Okay," she said as his hand rested on her hip. "I'll learn to protect myself."
"Of course you will." He leaned down and kissed her forehead softly. "You're my greatest treasure. I will stop at nothing to make sure you're safe."
"I know you need me to bear your children, if you don't have me you lose your future," she said, "how many children do you wish to have?"
"3 or 4 will do," he said. "I want a beautiful lot of children. I would even go for 6 children. I can imagine our children running around on the ship." Roman smiled thinking of the possibility of his and Cecily's children overtaking the ship, imagined them looking like their mother. He would teach the boys the trade of being a pirate and she would maintain teaching the girls how to take care of cleaning and cooking. She would also educate them daily so if they chose a life off the ship they could survive in a society neither Roman nor Cecily understand.
"I hope that I can give you what you wish for," she said softly. "If I can't then what is my purpose as your wife?"
"Don't think negatively, Cecily. I'm sure when the time is right you will begin increasing we have already put enough effort into it."
"YOU put enough effort into it," she said, "Why so many children? Did you grow up with brothers and sisters?"
"I had one brother," he winced thinking of how his brother hated him. "But we don't get along. I did some terrible things to him. He's one of my enemies out for revenge for my sins against him. He despises me and I can't say that I don't despise him."
"Why do you two despise each other so much?"
"When I was growing up my father wasn't the nicest man. My father hurt me in ways I don't wish to discuss right now. I was a whore's son. I wasn't anything but his servant and my brother's servant. He was my father's pride. He got everything he desired while I got nothing. He would make sure I was punished by our father. He would laugh every time I had my punishment, he would beat on me and push me around there was nothing I could do. I couldn't fight back. I just took it. I didn't have a choice but he made my life hell on this ship. When our father died unexpectedly I sought revenge on him. I wanted to bring him the same pain and misery he brought me when we were growing up so I stole from him and took his wife to my bed. He owned this ship first, he kicked me off after our father's death but I overtook the ship. He has been after me since."
"I understand the animosity now, is he one of the men after you now?"
"Yes," he said. "He's one of many but he's the worst because I know what he's capable of doing which is scary in itself."
"I see," she said holding him tighter. "Will he come after me?"
"I don't doubt it," he said, "but you have nothing to worry about, I will kill him before he hurts you," he said making her shiver. He had determination in his voice which frightened her.
"I had a sister once," she said, "but she was smart, she ran away from our father. I envy her for running away. I wish I had the power and the freedom to do so but after she left my father changed. He grew more protective. I wasn't allowed to do anything. My father kept me close. I could never leave his sight. I miss my sister terribly. We were close until she ran away. I haven't heard from her since. I wish to find her some day and have a relationship with her. I wish she had taken me with her but she left me behind with our father. It was terrible."
"You're safe now," he said soothingly. "No one will ever hurt you again," he said, "I'll make sure of it. Someone will have to die first before they hurt you," he kissed her forehead and held her tightly in his arms. He had no idea what she had gone through with her father but from the small pieces she had told him he knew that it wasn't good. He couldn't let her down like her father had. He couldn't let her get hurt at his hands or on his watch. His goal was to keep her safe and look out for her well-being the rest of their lives.
*A/N: Do you believe that Cecily could be softening up the hard-hearted pirate? Why do you think it's so important for Roman to protect Cecily even if their marriage is just a business transaction as he puts it? Do you think there's more there than just care for her? What do you think of Roman's enemies possibly making Cecily a target? Is he just being paranoid? What do you think of the animosity between Roman and his brother? Do you think they will ever tell each other about their pasts? What are your thoughts on Roman wanting a lot of children? Is Roman capable of being loved and loving? What about Cecily? Do you think their pasts are more similar than they know? Please review and thank-you for reading.