Page 59 of One Dangerous Desire
Her father retreated with Mr. Graves. They both looked on, their expressions somber, as May and Rex waited for the journalist to get his shot.
One tug on the lever and the camera man seemed content. “Got it, miss.”
After the photograph was taken, several gentlemen shook her father’s hand. Several more shook Rex’s, offering well wishes for the start of a new business and the start of a new marriage. Then, one by one, the ladies and gentlemen began to file away. Some proceeded up Oxford Street. Others climbed into carriages or hailed hansom cabs.
Suddenly, the four of them—May, her father, Rex, and Mr. Graves—were left alone to stare at each other. Every time Rex and her father so much as exchanged a glance, May felt a knot of tension tightening in the pit of her belly.
“So, Leighton, you mean to marry my daughter, steal my limelight, and defy me once and for all.”
Rex stepped closer to her father, and May released his arm. “May will be my wife. You can keep your damn limelight. As for defying you, I am up to it, Sedgwick.” Rex held out his hand, not looking back at May, as if he knew she’d come forward to grasp it. She did, and he laced his fingers through hers. “I’ve asked her, and she said yes. I won’t back down this time.”
“I want my daughter’s happiness.” Her father spoke to Rex but fixed his gaze on her. “I want her to have choices.”
Rex took another step toward her father, towering over him. “You never gave her a choice six years ago.”
Her father whipped a finger in the air, pointing it at Rex’s chest. “I don’t regret keeping you apart six years ago. She was too young, and you had no means of supporting her or giving her the life she deserves.”
When Rex curled his hands into fists, May rushed forward to keep the two men from coming to blows. “I’ve made my choice, Papa.”
Rex stepped back. “I meant what I said, Sedgwick. I’ve no interest in May’s dowry. Keep it, gift it, do whatever you like with it. I won’t take money for marrying your daughter.”
Her father straightened his cuffs, tugged on his jacket lapels, and approached Rex.
“I accept that she loves you, Leighton. Maybe she always has.” Her father leaned in toward Rex and quieted his voice. “But my daughter has another choice now. A chance for something of her own. Sedgwick’s is her birthright.”
For a long moment the two men stared at each other and said nothing. Some silent communication seemed to pass between them. Then Rex turned to May with a stark expression, his mouth tight. His gaze signaled worry, but he said nothing.
Her father stepped around him, approached May, and took her hands in his.
“The store is yours, my girl, if you want it. Douglas will shepherd you through every step, and you’ll have freedom to innovate and decorate as you see fit. I know how you like to spruce spaces up.”
May’s whole body vibrated with energy. Her mind spun with possibilities.
“Choose wisely, my girl.” He touched her cheek, the tenderest touch of fatherly affection he’d offered her in years.
“Choose, Papa?” What choice was there to make? He was giving her the sort of opportunity she’d only imagined in fleeting daydreams.
Her father lifted his gaze from hers to glare at Rex.
“Sedgwick’s or Leighton,” he said, his voice as hard and unrelenting as she’d ever heard it. “You can’t have both.”
Chapter Twenty
“COULD BE Adangerous business, Jack.” Rex said the words over the clatter of horse hooves dashing against cobblestones.
“Are you attempting to warn or entice me?” Sullivan held his revolver steady as their hired hackney cab careened around a corner. A series of metallic clicks sounded as he rolled the cylinder of his gun, ensuring every chamber was full.
The detective’s self-possessed smirk emphasized the futility of warning him about the potential perils of seeking George Cross in his East End haunts. Sullivan had served in the Rifle Brigade of the British Army, been a Metropolitan Police officer for several years, and, for reasons he’d never fully explained, left the Yard to start his own private inquiry agency. The man had seen his share of danger. The prospect of hunting a two-bit criminal probably struck him as child’s play.
“I believe I understand your reasons for our expedition this evening, sir, but tell me anyway.”
“Resolution. That’s what I seek.” To put an end to Cross’s meddling, to stop the man’s attempts at intimidation and extortion. Rex knew how that worked. Giving his father money would only encourage the man to come back for more.
“To warn Cross off?”
“To convince him to stay away. For good. I told him to forget me, but the two thugs he sent to the hotel didn’t look very forgetful.”
What if May had wandered into the alley behind the building? What if one of those ruffians had laid his hands on her? The questions swarmed in his mind like angry hornets, their venom souring every thought. He couldn’t allow the shadow of George Cross and his cronies to poison their lives, no matter what May decided to do about her father’s ultimatum.
