Astonished eyes filled with awe and shock as if seeing the dead come back to life, stared at him as he sat at his desk.

Justin sat patiently silent as the familiar old eyes of Hugh, his father and his uncle's solicitor; sat before him, turning pale and lighter as the minutes passed.

"Breathe, Hugh," Justin sighed sitting straight in his chair to face the man who held the key to both his future and his past. Literally.

He watched as Hugh swallowed a few times before withdrawing a cloth from his coat pocket to dab at the beads of sweat on his forehead.

"I...I thought you were....," he began.

"But you're... ," he slouched in his chair sucking in deep breaths.

Deep down he understood Hugh's shock. He understood what he witnessed was not easy but knew well not to say a word.

"I thought Cuthbert killed you as well," Hugh looked up sadly at Justin.

"The bastard didn't have the heart. Ironic as it may seem," Justin scoffed before looking away from Hugh.

He felt in some way at fault for all that happened the day Cuthburt killed his uncle. He was supposed to return to Cuthburt to avoid all that happened. But the desire for revenge surpassed reason. He left Cuthburt and his crew in the dead of the night stealing something that belonged to him. Something he discovered that held secrets that included him.

But now that he has returned and Cuthburt was no longer a threat, he intends to find out what those secrets are.

The sudden oath and noise coming from the halls pulled him to the present as he and Hugh turned to watch Bellamy and Big John hauling a large chest into the study. Their eyes landed on the weathered box covered with sand and mud as it was unceremoniously dropped before him.

Slowly Justin stood and walked around the desk to kneel before it. His hand quickly shot up to test the rusty lock that kept it closed.

He turned then to Hugh. With an expectant silent gaze, Justin extended his hand; waiting for Hugh to retrieve the key. The key he stole from Cuthburt one that he long ago ordered Hugh to guard with his life.

Frantically, the solicitor searched in his desk drawer and pulled it out then handed it over to Justin.

They stood by and watched him kneel before the chest and slowly unlocked it. With one quick shove, the lid was lifted and was tossed open with wet dirt flying everywhere. His eyes lowered over all of its contents.

Parchments, letters, and scrolls lie on a heap of Rubies, Diamonds and Gold coins. He scoffed with a grin as he heard his men behind him whistle then poor Hugh breathlessly whisper 'Sweet Mother of Jesus.'

Justin stared briefly at the fruits of Cuthburts pillaging labor. One he killed to keep from him. He frowned. Why kill for this if he had dozens if not hundreds of these below in his ship? He favored only this one.

Perplexed and wary with his thoughts, he pulled the bundle of letters nestled between the coins and brought it up to look at the writing. He pulled the first letter from the top with Cuthburts name. He opened it not at all feeling wrong for the invasion of his privacy. And with good measure, he should not ...because the letter was written about him.

His heart slammed in his chest as he read it slowly and suddenly noticed its what could have been instructions for his murder.

His throat tightened with the plot written out clearly to have him disappeared so he could not inherit anything from his father. He was just a boy. Bile rose slowly in his throat with each word ordering Cuthburt to make him disappear far out at sea. To be tossed overboard.

He suddenly had to force his eyes over the words to continue on reading to the very end when the letter ended with the name of that bitch that will someday pay.

Charlotte...

In recompense for his deed, she would continue to be with him.

They were....lovers!!! he stumbled back in shock.

How could this be? None of this made sense. His father's wife was...Cuthberts...mistress!!!

Enraged he tossed the letter back in the chest, briefly looking up at the worried glances of Hugh and Big John. They said nothing. They dared not.

He forged on rummaging through the letters until he crossed one in particular that chilled his blood. He frowned as he read his name on it. Justin's heart fell into his stomach as he stood slowly and began to read the letter he opened in haste. He walked towards Hugh's desk, not aware of the men behind him that stopped talking. The air around him thickened with an eerie silence as he read the letter from his.... mother.

My Dearest son...leaped off the page at him as he read carefully his mother's final good-bye.

His chest tightened reading of her hardship and suffering being married to a man she did not love.

'Despite my misgivings, I eventually met and fell deeply in love with an Earl.' she wrote.

He leaned forward and rested his elbows over the desk; lost in his mother's words.

'Our love was star-crossed from the beginning. He was a married man and I was a married woman. But, regardless our love knew no bounds.'

His gaze swept across the letter anxiously looking at each word until it finally caught him. The moment of truth. It was there before him. In his own mother's words.

The abuse for her infidelity. The abuse that would follow leading to her death, later leaving him at the mercy of his father's wife.

Lady Charlotte Winstead

And it was all here in the letter. His mother confirmed it all. It was his father's wife that called out her affair and conspired with his mother's husband for her to lose her child because he refused to father a child from another man. She confirmed it all word for word the painful truth, leaving no details untold. But his mother took the blame, of course. She admitted her wrongdoing in seeking her comfort in another man's arms that was not her husband. As if to justify her actions, should he feel some sort of resentment towards her?

How could he? She was his mother. Above all else she was his mother, he had no right to judge her. But he would point the finger and blame his father's wife for her malicious deed. For ordering Cuthburt to kill him. But suddenly he felt confused. Why didn't he?

His jaw tightened. Instead of death, Cuthburt chose to mold him into what he is now. And living the miserable unbearable life of a pirate. In that instant, he saw red. His face heated with rage.

He had her now and he would seek her out if it was the last thing he did. He felt honor-bound to never forget what she had done to his mother. He would seek revenge in her name, to right the injustice that bitch of Charlotte and the bastard of his mother's husband had served her. and ultimately, upon Cuthburt. Unfortunately, the plague took him and Cuthburt is left to face his fate on Tortuga. He felt cheated out of the opportunity to watch the life drain from all of their faces by his hand. He looked at that as another injustice, a knife to the gut and it angered him. But in truth, it was not the way to it. as much as he craved to squeeze the life out of her with his bare hands, he could not. He was given a reprieve at the moment in his tormented black desire to have vengeance in bloodshed.

His hope of exacting revenge was all that he lived for until he met Tempest.

He has found another purpose of living and it was her. He will reclaim what is his, seek justice, and live out his days in peace with her. But all of that would come soon enough.

Now is the chance to go forward with his plan now that one of his prey got away. He would seek retribution by making her and everyone in her family's life miserable.

*******

Here we go my lovelies...

Please forgive me for posting this so so late.

But here it is. I hope you enjoy it.

For those of you who don't know. I have decided to post Book 3 of A night to remember here on Wattpad for your reading pleasure during the summer.

Please comment and share my stories if you do nothing else it's all I ask. Help a girl out. Thank you to those that have tagged me on Twitter when sharing my stories every share gets me closer to a larger fan base of eager readers.

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pitufina8177

Again, thanks a lot