Page 16 of Mr. Billionaire's Second Chance

Her expression softened, and I could practically see her fighting the urge to turn right back around, heading inside until I left, but instead she took me up on my offer.

“Just to be clear, this doesn’t mean a thing, okay? I’m hungry, and I’ll be paying for my brunch. Got it?”

“Whatever floats your boat, Kat,” I said, chuckling as I held the passenger side door open for her.

I made my way around taking the driver’s seat when she glanced over at me, absolutely bewildered.

“Now isn’t this a sight? I didn’t even know men like you even knew how to drive.”

“Haha. Funny.”

We arrived at the rooftop brunch restaurant nestled in the heart of Brooklyn that was pretty busy for that time of the day, but I didn’t mind. I headed inside first to secure a table and make it clear that the staff’s discretion would be appreciated before the hostess led us to our table. I watched as Katherine took in the sights, much like she always had whenever we went out together, but there was something different about it this time. She wasn’t as excited or as happy to be there with me as she once was, and it wasn’t until that very moment that the guilt began to hit me. It wasn’t something that I felt very often, but I didn’t care. I found myself wanting to get close to her again, to remember what it felt like to feel her skin brush against mine. There was an intense electric current rushing through us both whenever we were together, and I gave that all away because I wanted to get back to life as usual. All work and no play. That’s what Father always expected of me, and look where I am now. I didn’t dodge a bullet by leaving Katherine the moment I started to feel something for her. I walked right into the crossfire.

Her hot French toast and my omelet came out only a little while later and we ate there together, chatting like old friends for the first time in a while. It was refreshing and yet incredibly confusing because I could see it in her eyes that she was still trying to protect herself. She was purposefully being as distant as she could because she didn’t want to get wrapped up in this again, and I couldn’t blame her. You’re not exactly making this any easier for me either, Kat. I can’t seem to do anything anymore without thinking about you. You will probably betray me in the end like all the others, but…

“So, how long do you think this is going to go on for?” she asked.

“As long as it takes for you to either find something or not and for the press to catch wind of it. Until then we’re going to have to lay low. William’s supposedly got things under control. After today, we can at least assume that the office is going to be somewhat of a safe space again,” I told her.

“Quite a difficult life being a Clarke, huh?”

“Is that sarcasm I hear?”

“I mean, it’s not like you have to do much to get what you want, do you, Preston? You’re flying under the radar and you can still assert your right to get a table just about anywhere, clear the sidewalks at your office, and I mean it’s hard to believe that you aren’t also involved in the very same things that many other businessmen like you are. You can save us both a lot of trouble if you just told me the truth,” said Katherine. My eyes widened.

“You really think that I would jeopardize my own company like that? My integrity?”

“I don’t know what to think. Everywhere I turn I’m hearing something different. I just wish that for once, you’d be honest with me. You at least owe me that.”

“So, William was right. You did find something that piqued your interest, huh? Well, whatever it is, I had no part in it. I may not be the best man, Kat, but I would never do something like this. I care about my companies, the legacy that I’m building, the one that no longer belongs to my father. Out of everyone else, I wish you would just see that,” I confessed.

Later, I dropped her back to her apartment that afternoon as she thanked me for brunch.

“I had a nice time,” she said, with a warm smile.

“I did too, Kat.”

Right before I turned to head back to the car I saw someone approach from behind her. It was a tall, strawberry blonde girl practically towering over Katherine, staring at me like I just committed the worst possible crime. Katherine nudged her, trying to drag her back inside, but I decided to introduce myself. I guess there are quite a few people who aren’t my biggest fans right now, huh?

“Hello, it’s nice to meet you. I’m -”

“Preston Clarke, yes, I know. Thanks for dropping Katherine off but we better be going. See you!”

She got ready to shut the door in my face but before she got the chance I caught a glimpse of Katherine’s apologetic eyes. I smiled, feeling good that she had people looking out for her, and it made me want to get to know her all over again. There was a sort of me that desperately wanted to learn more about her life, listen to all of the stories she didn’t get to tell me because I went and screwed everything up. Maybe I’ll get to make it up to her for real, or maybe once this is all over she’ll go back to wanting nothing to do with me. I guess only time will tell.

I made it back to my apartment building to find Richard in the lobby waiting for me. He had that look in his eyes that told me I was about to be in for some serious news, and I invited him up to the penthouse so we could talk privately. I tossed the baseball cap over to the chaise lounge on the other side of the room, waiting for him to tell me what I had to be worried about now.

“It seems Katherine has been looking into the Laurier account,” said Richard.

“That was my father’s last one before he died. How the hell did she even find that? I could’ve sworn I had all the paperwork regarding anything my father did remove,” I spat.

“She got her hands on it somehow, and judging from how much more information she’s been gathering on it, she seems like she might be onto something. What would you like me to do?”

“I’m going to need you to keep an eye on her for now. If she so much as contacts her boss or that mysterious client of hers with any new information, I want to know about it. Is that clear?”

“Crystal.”

You couldn’t just leave in peace, could you, Father? Still making my life a living hell, I see. What the fuck did you do?

---