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Turning toward the back exit, she squeaked in surprise when she ran into something solid. It was a man in a black tux, his fingers flying over the screen of a smart phone. An apology was just about out of her lips when she looked up at his face and felt her breath leave her lungs.
Her father, Henry Knight, stood in front of her. He resembled her brother in many ways. The same strong jawline and athletic figure. But time and experience had weathered his skin, grayed his hair, and given him a permanent frown. His broad shoulders were always held high with a stiff spine, his dark brown eyes quick to narrow at a target.
“I see that modeling stint in Paris did nothing for your grace,” he said sternly, finally looking up at her. Rachel opened her mouth
to speak, but couldn’t get a word out. He frowned and sucked in his cheeks. “I suppose you’ve given up on the whole modeling thing?”
She felt her cheeks grow pink. The last thing she needed was a lecture from her father.
“Yes, the modeling thing is over, Dad,” she said angrily. “Sometimes, no matter how long you work at it, the money runs out and you fail. It’s a fact of life for normal people.”
If only she was back in Paris now, having coffee with friends or auditioning for another shoot. If only she didn’t have this gaping hole in her chest.
“No, you never did like to devote yourself to any one task,” he said matter-of-factly. “That’ll never get you anywhere in life, Rachel.”
She wasn’t going to sit around for another lecture. Not when she had better things to do — like cry into her ice cream.
“If you’ll excuse me,” she said, trying to push past him, “I’ve got somewhere to be.”
“Like the job you just quit?” He cleared his throat and stepped in her way. “I heard your little outburst in the ballroom. I’m certain everyone within a hundred miles heard.”
She recoiled from his words and ground her teeth together. “You have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Oh, yes, I do. You lost your head over a boy and lost focus. Typical Rachel behavior.” He flared his nostrils with a deep inhale. “I thought I taught you better. Emotion is a handicap. Divorce yourself from it and maybe you’ll finally find success, instead of flitting from hobby to hobby and never settling down.”
“Emotion is a handicap?” She spat the words out as a sour taste filled her mouth. “Are you kidding me, Dad? Because of your little philosophy, your children grew up emotionally stunted. It’s a miracle Michael ever found love. And it’ll be a miracle if I ever find someone as well. Tell me, did you even love us?”
The wrinkles in Henry’s forehead smoothed and he watched her for a long moment before frowning deeply. “I fed you, put a roof over your head, sent you to the best schools available. If that isn’t love, I don’t know what is.”
Rachel felt as if her heart was going to burst from her chest and flop and die on the floor right there. Her worst suspicions were true. Her father didn’t know what love was. He lived in a world where wealth and competition ruled. Where your children added to your numerous assets or they were discarded as useless. It would’ve been the same type of life with Logan. A sad, cold, unfeeling life. She couldn’t stand it anymore. She had to get out of there.
“I’d like to say it was good to see you, Dad, but I’d be lying,” she said through her teeth. Turning toward another exit, she gave him one last, hard look. “One day, I hope you realize all that you’ve missed. What you could’ve had.”
She made it two steps down the hall before her father’s voice halted her in her tracks.
“Take care of yourself, Rachel.”
Her shoulders stiffened. There was so much more she wanted to tell him, but now was not the time. She needed to peel this dress off of her and crawl into some warm pajamas and forget about the rest of the world. Shaking off the feeling, she continued her retreat, the sound of her heels clicking in her wake.
LOGAN LED MICHAEL OUTSIDE and into the darkened lawn behind Whitmore Mansion, under the soft yellow glow of an old-fashioned lamp post. If they were going to have this conversation, they were going to have it away from the masses of potential Madison Park customers inside the ballroom.
“I’m going to ask you one more time and I expect a straight answer.” Michael had one finger pointed at him and the other hand shoved deep into his tux pocket. “What did you do to my sister?”
“Nothing.” He held up his hands in surrender. “I’m not sure why she was so upset in there. I need to go find her and see what’s going on.”
“No, no, no.” Michael shook his head, his lips curving into a frown. “You’re going to explain exactly what she meant by saying I quit us. Have you been seeing my baby sister behind my back?”
It felt like a bucket of cold water dropped on his head. He closed his eyes for a moment, waiting for the right words to pop into his head at any moment. This was exactly what he’d been dreading and the reason why his brain had been screaming at him not to get involved with Rachel. Michael was his oldest friend. He’d betrayed him.
“She and I came to the gala together,” he said in a low voice, drawing out each word. “It was our second date. We were going to tell you tonight. I swear, Michael. I wasn’t trying to go behind your back.”
Michael took a step back and let out an exasperated sigh. Anger burned in his eyes. “But you did. I asked you to protect her. To keep her from getting distracted. She was doing so well and now she’s quit. All because you couldn’t control your urges. I thought you were better than that.”
“That’s not fair.” Logan advanced toward him, his hands splay out to his sides. “I tried to fight it, all right? Tried to keep her at arms’ length. But these last few weeks, Rachel and I grew close. There’s something about her. We really get each other.” He punched at empty air, remembering Rachel’s recent outburst. “At least, I thought we got each other. Now, I’m not sure what’s going on. Everything is collapsing in on itself.”
Michael studied him for a long time, stuffing both his hands in his pockets. Logan stayed silent and begged him with his eyes to consider his side. He hadn’t meant to cause any problems. It was just a date. A harmless date. If you could even call it that.
There were bars constricting around his heart at that moment. It seemed like he might lose both Michael and Rachel in the same night. He wasn’t sure he could handle it.
