“Aye. And using my money, an inheritance from my mother’s mother that he took control of when we married. Oh, I did not mind, we’d planned it together and it was the beginning of our, his, fortune. I just did not expect him to take over all of it. Then the disagreements began. He began shutting me out.”
“He made his gentleman’s agreement with me.” She nodded. “Does Caro know? Or Nairn?”
“I do not think so. Nairn might have known more because... well, Father and even Jonathan may have confided in him at the time.” She sighed. “By the time of the accident and his death, we were estranged, even though I could never admit it. All because I was too stubborn to listen or realize I’d made a huge mistake.”
“Then he died,” he whispered. “And it was all yours.”
“Aye. And everyone praised him and our efforts. And his memory and our love.”
“So you kept up the charade.”
“The work I carried on was not a charade. I want to help the less fortunate.” She smiled then. “The plans I made were actually larger endeavors than he would ever agree to. But all to his credit. I could not admit I’d followed him and allowed what I thought was our mutual love to blind me.” She shook off her melancholy. “So now you know that I turned my mistake into a shrine for my late husband.”
He muttered something that sounded like one of the filthy epithets he’d taught her during that night. Then she realized the worst part was coming for her.
“I know that whatever happened between us was a manipulation, Iain. After you discovered who owned the property you were actually entitled to buy and she refused you, you ingratiated yourself into her family and business associates. You enticed them into helping you without them even knowing. So nothing that has happened between us is real or true.”
“You are wrong, Clare. You knew exactly what I was doing.”
“I did indeed and could not stay away.” He preened for a moment, a purely male reaction to her admission.
“It may have begun as my plan, but it took less time than you think to go awry.”
“How long?” she asked. “How long until I was a worthy adversary for you?”
He laughed then and she remembered how it felt to be in his embrace when he did that.
“I believe it took exactly three-and-one-half minutes after I pushed into your school and mistook you for a servant. It was not my last mistake or misjudgment of you, but it was the first one.”
“I’m glad of that,” she said. And she was. No matter that they would part, she knew he would remember something about her.
“And now?” He began walking towards the main entrance that opened onto the same street as his office, so she walked at his side. A hack would be easier to hail there than in the alley where she’d entered.
“You have what you should have had, and I am moving most of my endeavors back into Edinburgh. Leith harbor will be the new headquarters of the Buchanan & Sons empire. I will establish the school and training center, but just not here.”
“Will you be content, Clare?” He faced her and watched her intently.
“I think so. I have accepted that we did good work, and I will continue to.” She watched him then. “And I do wonder what a Caribbean island might be like. I think I might travel a bit more.”
“I know some ships that travel there regularly and they have cabins for passengers, if you are interested.”
As much as she longed for such a voyage, a clean parting was the only way. “I will keep that in mind.”
They walked in silence until they reached the large doors that were wide enough for wagons to come and go through. He reached to lift the bar to open one and stopped, turning to her and leaning against one of the doors.
“You were an obstacle until I fell kicking and screaming in love with you, Clare. What I said at your house, about being the last man for you? I meant that.”
Words were hard to say as her eyes burned with tears and her throat tightened at his admission. She needed to get away from him, from the weakness she felt around him.
“I think it’s best if we part as friends, Iain. Or at least—” she paused and swallowed several times against the need to cry. “As business associates.”
“Do you think you could love me, Clare? In spite of what you know about me? In spite of knowing I will never truly change?”
“It does not matter—”
“Does not matter?” He took her hand and pulled her closer. “Love does not matter to you.”
“Love matters. But I have been fooled by love before. I thought I was in love and it turns out I was simply infatuated.” She tugged her hand free. “Please let me go. You have what you wanted.”
