The Bride Goes Rogue (The Fifth Avenue Rebels #3)(64)

She tried to put her thoughts into words. “I just hadn’t expected to encounter the two of them as a couple so soon. It’s upsetting to see him with someone else.”

“Understandable, but perhaps he’s trying to get you used to the idea.”

By surprising her? On tonight of all nights? “Then he should have warned me. Would it have been so hard to let me know he was bringing her, so I might have prepared myself?”

“As your father, he might not believe it’s necessary to ask for permission.”

“He doesn’t need to ask for permission, but some consideration would be nice. I don’t care for secrecy and deception. I thought he and I were close, especially after my mother died, but it turns out we aren’t.”

Preston was unnaturally quiet, as if he didn’t know what to say, so she tilted her face and kissed his chin. “Thank you for staying when they arrived.”

He pressed his lips to her temple. “Of course, reinette.”

She stroked his rough skin, loving how different it felt from hers. “You’re not a bad man, either.”

A scoffing noise escaped this throat. “You have no idea how wrong that is. I’ve spent years doing whatever it takes to build the business back up. It hasn’t been pretty. No one in this city plays fair.”

“Still, that doesn’t make you a bad man.”

“It does if I enjoy it and have no plans to change.”

More pieces of the Preston Clarke puzzle fell into place. “Was this why you insisted I would hate being married to you? Why you said you were doing me a favor by refusing to honor the betrothal?”

“Yes. You’d be ashamed of me if you knew half of what I’d done.”

“Preston, I could never be ashamed of you. Whatever you did, it was because you felt you had to, that it was the only way to save your family. There’s honor in that.”

“Rose-colored glasses,” he murmured. “This is why you belong with someone idealistic and upstanding, a man like Lockwood. You two can wish on rainbows and rescue puppies together.”

Was that what he thought about her? “You make me sound awfully naive.”

“Are you hoping to marry the duke?”

She paused, unsure how to answer. Her relationship with Lockwood wasn’t any of Preston’s concern, so why should she give him the truth? “I don’t know,” she lied. “Why?”

“The two of you look good together, like you belong. He seems to fancy you. Want me to speak with him? I could lean on him to make a commitment.”

A lump, huge and unrelenting, wedged in her throat, making it hard to speak. Was Preston so eager for this to end, then? “No, that’s unnecessary.”

Preston wasn’t finished, apparently. “Are you sure? If you want to marry him, then I’ll help move it along.”

Why wouldn’t he drop it? “I don’t need your assistance with finding a husband, Preston.”

Her tone came out sharper than intended. Sounds from the street filled the room—drunken laughter and wheels clattering over cobblestones—while she tried to make sense of her reaction. Preston was attempting to take care of her, as he did with most everything and everyone else. So, why had it hurt her feelings?

He hadn’t led her on or lied to her. His position on marriage had been clear from the meeting in his office, and he’d never wavered. Had she expected him to change his mind?

The truth hit her like a physical blow.

Oh, no. No, please. She hadn’t developed serious feelings for him, had she?

Because nothing would be more foolish. This man didn’t want to marry—and even if he did, it wouldn’t be to her, the daughter of a man he hated. A man who’d turned his back on Preston’s family when it was most needed.

But what else explained the burning sensation behind her sternum at the moment? The fierce need to cry that prickled behind her eyelids?

I fell in love with him.

Sweet heavens, how stupid was she? This man ignored her for a year, refused to marry her, yet she gave him her innocence and her heart.

He doesn’t want my heart.

Good, because Katherine was about to do all she could to reel the wayward organ back in. Starting tomorrow. She would remember her purpose, which was to take control of her life. To open a museum and forget about marriage and Preston Clarke.

The devil dragged a hand over her hip. “It’s all right if you wish to marry someone else.”

“I’m aware.”

They were silent for a few minutes until he asked, “May I smoke now?”

“Yes,” she said instantly, more than eager to put an end to this conversation.



Preston exited the carriage and put on his hat, then waited for Kit to do the same. His friend frowned as he stepped down to the walk. “Tell me again. Why are we all the way up here?”

“We’re seeing a piece of land.” Preston began walking along One Hundred and Fifty-Ninth Street and Broadway. John James Audubon’s estate was just slightly south and to the west, with twenty acres right on the river.

“Does this land we’re seeing happen to be lined with gold?” Kit asked. “Because enduring a carriage ride all this way north cannot be worth it otherwise.”

“You didn’t have to come.”