Bidding On The Billionaire (The Sherbrookes of Newport Book 8) (22 page)

“What’s his problem with me?”

They both knew her dad didn’t like him, but they’d never talked about it. “Beats me. He’s never said. I just know he doesn’t like your father and I guess he extends the dislike to you.” Calling it dislike was a gross understatement. She saw no need to repeat some of the things her dad had said about Derek and his family.

“Doesn’t make any damn sense,” he grumbled, putting his head down alongside hers again.

“Agreed.” There were individuals in her life she liked more than others, but none she hated. Whatever had happened between her dad and Mark Sherbrooke must be huge. “Maybe if he stops shouting long enough when I tell him about us, I’ll ask.”

“Yeah, right. Like that’ll happen,” he said with sarcasm.

Her apprehension grew, causing tension to creep into her shoulders. “I don’t want to think about my family anymore. Let’s talk about something more pleasant.”

“This weekend your wish is my command. Is there anything special you want to do tomorrow?”

She considered how they’d spent much of their time here already. A boldness she hadn’t expected took over as heat began to gather in her stomach. “I really enjoyed how we spent tonight. Let’s repeat it tomorrow. We do have a lot of time to make up for.”

“I love your plan, sweetheart.”

Hand in hand they walked away from his car and toward the stairwell door. They’d spent the entire weekend alone at Rosewood, but unfortunately the rest of the world was knocking. Tomorrow they were both expected at the office. The first thing he planned to do when he got there was check his calendar. As incredible as the weekend had been, he wanted a full two weeks just the two of them and no interruptions. Brooklyn had already agreed to do the same in the morning.

“Let’s play hooky tomorrow. Fly out to Vegas and get married.”

Brooklyn stumbled and he caught her around the waist before she hit the ground. “I have a trial starting tomorrow. I can’t play hooky.”

“Okay, we can visit city hall when you break for lunch instead. Fill out all the paperwork for a marriage license, and my dad can marry us tomorrow night.”

Brooklyn stepped away from him, her eyebrows furrowed and her mouth hanging open to her knees. “You’re serious?”

“What do you say?” He failed to see the problem. She loved him. They’d known each other for a long time. Why wait years doing the whole long engagement followed by a big wedding media frenzy thing. His way, they could marry and start the next phase of their life without the annoying paparazzi and gossip mill getting involved.

“Derek, we can’t get married tomorrow,” she said incredulously.

“Why not?”

“Um, well, first of all, don’t you want your family there? You Sherbrookes are all about togetherness and family celebrations.”

He shrugged a shoulder, still not seeing a problem with his suggestion. “We can have a party and celebrate later. If we do it my way, we can escape without our wedding photos showing up on every magazine cover and Internet site. We’ll avoid months of fabricated articles in trashy magazines. Do you remember what it was like leading up to Trent and Addie’s wedding?” When he’d woken up, getting married hadn’t been on his to-do list. Sometime between when they left the Cape and arrived in Providence it had entered his mind. Now it was a permanent resident there.

“And the media had Sara and Christopher calling off their engagement every other month until their wedding. I don’t want to deal with all the BS, and I know you don’t either.”

“Derek, I’m not getting married on my lunch break.”

“It wouldn’t be on our lunch break.” Obviously she hadn’t been listening to him. “After work we can drive to Barrington. My father has the authority to marry us. We can put off a honeymoon until later in the summer.”

“Nope. I don’t need anything crazy like my sister had, but I do want a wedding dress, maybe some flowers, a sweet chocolate cake, and Cheyenne as my maid of honor. If I married you tomorrow, I wouldn’t have any of those things.”

“There’s no way for me to change your mind?”

“Sorry. I love you, but I won’t marry you tomorrow night.” Brooklyn reached for his hand and gave it a tug to get him moving again. “Besides, do you really want to get married without Allison there? She’d never forgive you.”

Brooklyn had a point. Allison would rip him a new one if he got married and she wasn’t there. He’d be pissed too if Allison and Rock decided to get married and not invite him. “How long will it take to plan the wedding you want?” When they reached the stairwell door, he pulled it open, but Brooklyn didn’t enter.

“Is this your idea of a marriage proposal? If it is, it stinks.”

He thought they’d already established he wanted to marry her.

“People usually get engaged somewhere nicer than an underground parking garage. There is often a ring involved too, in case no one told you.”

Perhaps his timing and location stank, but it didn’t change the facts. He wanted to spend the rest of his life with Brooklyn. “We can shop for a ring tomorrow. Or if you’d rather wait until the weekend, we can head to New York or Los Angles Saturday.” Raising her hand, he kissed the top of it. “So will you marry me?”

Brooklyn opened and closed her mouth a few times. Finally she broke into a wide grin and threw her arms around him, the momentum pushing him back into the railing. “Yes.”

“You had me worried there for a minute.”

“Yeah, right. You knew the moment you spoke what my answer would be.” She released him and retrieved her overnight bag, which he’d dropped on the ground when she launched herself at him. “Let’s go upstairs.”

He’d let her believe he’d known her answer. However, he hadn’t. Agreeing to marry him would cause even more turmoil with her parents. While he recognized her relationship with her family was nothing like the relationship he shared with his, she did love them.

Dion sat at the security desk when they entered the lobby, and he called out a friendly greeting when they passed by.

“So do you want to go ring shopping after work?” Derek asked as the elevator door opened at Brooklyn’s floor. “Or would you rather wait until we can visit somewhere else?”

“Maybe it’s silly, but I’d rather have you pick it out for me. Have it be a surprise.”

“Really? If that’s what you want, I’ll go alone.” Derek watched her unlock the door and push it open. The lights on inside immediately caught his attention. “Did you leave—”

“About damn time you got home.”

Donovan Novak’s voice brought them both to a standstill.

“Where the hell have you been? I called you all week, and I’ve been sitting here since two o’clock this afternoon waiting for you to come home.”

All the color drained from Brooklyn’s face and Derek put a reassuring hand on her waist.

“Dad, how did you get in?”

“Milan still had the key you gave her when she stayed with you.” Her father advanced on them, his eyes darting from Brooklyn to Derek and finally to the overnight bag he’d carried up for her. “What’s he doing with you?”

Derek thought Novak’s lip actually curled in disgust when he spoke.

“We were out together and he drove me home.”

From the corner of his eye, he saw her rub the bridge of her nose. Then she cleared her throat and spoke. “I’m sorry I didn’t call you back. I was busy. What did you want to talk about?”

“Like you don’t know?” her dad snapped. “Lawrence called me. I know you told Trevor you wanted nothing more to do with him after you promised to make it work.”

“Dad, I never—”

“Trevor was happy, so his grandfather was happy. Everything was arranged. We planned on a late September wedding. All you needed to do was cooperate. But you couldn’t manage that.” Color filled Novak’s face and he undid the top two buttons on his shirt. “Do you have any idea what you’ve cost me? And then you walk in here with him, of all people.”

Derek had never wanted to hit someone more than he did right now. Both his parents had instilled better manners in him, so he refrained from saying what he actually wanted to. “Mr. Novak,” he began, but Brooklyn squeezed his hand. He took the gesture as a request to remain quiet.

“Can I say something now?” She didn’t wait for an answer before going on. “I never said I’d marry Trevor. I said I’d get to know him, which I did. It wasn’t working. Forcing us together wouldn’t change the fact we’re not right for each other. And I don’t appreciate coming home and finding you waiting for me like this. Just because you had a key doesn’t mean you had the right to use it.”

You tell him.
Admiration for Brooklyn grew. He sensed her nervousness but she wasn’t letting it stop her.

“If you’d returned my calls, I wouldn’t have had to.”

Derek had seen a lot of his friends interact with their parents. He’d never seen any of those parents speak to their children the way Novak was addressing Brooklyn.

When Brooklyn planted both hands on her hips, he knew Novak had gone a little too far.

“We”—she nodded in Derek’s direction—“went away for the weekend. I didn’t return anyone’s calls.”

Not the way he would’ve dropped the news, but at least the truth was out there.

A vein in Novak’s forehead bulged out and his eyes narrowed. Derek expected the man’s head to pop at any moment.

“Christ. I knew it. You tossed aside Trevor for this—”

“Don’t say whatever it is you’re thinking. Do. Not. Say it, Dad.”

“I’m your father. I’ll say whatever I want.”

Derek had a few comments ready to launch himself, but he suspected voicing any of them would only make the situation worse. Not that it could get much worse.

“Dad, really, I’m sorry you don’t like Derek, but he’s part of my life. He always will be. We’re engaged.”

“Engaged,” her father shouted and Derek thought he saw spit fly from the man’s mouth. “You were told the night of the fundraiser he’d never be welcomed into the family. And I meant it.”

She’d not shared that tidbit with him, but it didn’t surprise him either. Donovan Novak was turning out to be more of a jerk than he’d believed.

“Marry this spoiled punk and you’ll never be welcome in my house again. And forget about the rest of your trust fund when you turn thirty. I’ll do everything I can to make sure you never see a dime of it.”

He heard her sharp intake of breath and wanted nothing more than to pull her into his arms and assure her everything would be fine. How could the bastard disown his daughter because she wanted to marry someone she loved? Normal people didn’t do things like that.

“What’s it going to be?” Novak demanded.

Rather than answer her dad, Brooklyn turned toward Derek, her eyes glistening with tears, and his stomach dropped to the floor. She wouldn’t cave to her father. She couldn’t.

“Derek, it might be better if we talk alone. Maybe you can go up and visit Trent or Gray.”

“And leave you alone with him? No.” Judging by Novak’s current state of mind, he didn’t trust the guy not to lay a hand on her.

“Are you insinuating I’d hit my daughter? Who the hell do you think you are?”

Novak advanced on him and Derek expected the man’s fist to fly toward his face. Brooklyn jumped in front of him, creating a barrier between them instead. “Please go upstairs and give us a chance to talk. I’ll be fine.” Urgency filled her voice as she remained planted in front of him.

His gut told him to stay. She might trust her father, but at the moment he didn’t. His head said something different. If he refused her wishes, he wasn’t any better than her asshole father. “Damn it. Fine. But I’ll wait outside. Just yell if you need me.” Upstairs with his brothers, it would take him too long to get to her if she needed him.

“Thank you. But really, I’ll be fine and this might take a while. Go on upstairs.”

“Brooklyn, I’ll be right outside the door.” He met Novak’s glare then walked out, slamming the door behind him.

She waited until the door slammed before she turned back toward her dad. She’d expected a blowup from him. And she’d remembered his warning about Derek not being welcome. She’d assumed he’d been referring to not allowing Derek in the house for the holidays. The idea of him disowning her had never entered her head. Not to mention it didn’t make any sense. This was the twenty-first century. Fathers didn’t dictate whom daughters married—well, at least not in this country.

Yelling wouldn’t get her anywhere. Besides, one of them needed to act like an adult tonight, and it wasn’t going to be her dad. Putting on her best courtroom face, she said, “Dad, I realize you wanted a relationship between me and Trevor to lead to a wedding. We just weren’t right for each other. I’m sorry if that caused issues for you.” A white lie now wouldn’t make the situation any worse, though truthfully she didn’t care what kind of problems she’d created by refusing to marry Trevor.

Her dad slipped a finger under the collar of his undershirt and tugged. His face remained bright red and perspiration dotted his forehead. She was about to ask if he wanted to sit, when he spoke.

“I’m serious, Brooklyn. If you marry Derek, I’ll disown you. You’ll never be welcome in my house again, and you’ll be written out of my will. And I will do whatever I have to, to make sure you never see the rest of your trust fund. Is that playboy and his no-good family worth losing
your
family over?”

Enough was enough already. If he insisted on insulting Derek and the other Sherbrookes, at least she had a right to know why. “What’s your problem with him? He’s never done anything to you. Neither has his family. Yet you’ve always disliked him.”

A muscle in his cheek twitched and he remained tightlipped. Brooklyn didn’t think he planned on answering, which was just too bad because she’d keep asking until he did.

“You don’t know anything,” he snapped, and once again she didn’t recognize the man before her. “I went to prep school with Derek’s father and Warren. Mark and I were in the same class together.”

Nope, she hadn’t known that. Then again, she’d never considered where Derek’s father or uncle had gone to school. Even if her dad and Mark Sherbrooke had been classmates, they’d graduated over thirty years ago.