Nessa Read online

  His room was small but bright. He enjoyed his time there, and though he had to restrict himself to the back of the house, other than his room it was spacious and had every comfort a person could want. When he’d worked for the Dobbs family, he’d not had running water, but here he did. When he’d worked for the Dobbs family, he and one other had rooms above the stables. The rooms were comfortable and suited him just fine but were nothing like where he lived now. He lay in bed and stared at the fancy plastering on the ceiling, thinking that despite all the comforts—having access to the kitchen, having running water, even having nicer cloth for his clothing—none of it compared. He’d gladly return to the Dobbs’ if it meant he’d be able to see Nessa again.

  He often dreamed of her. He closed his eyes, trying to conjure her face before him. But a knock on his door startled him. “Yes?”

  George burst into his room. His cheeks were flushed bright red, and he was talking really fast as Henry sat up and went to get out of bed.

  “Did you hear? I can’t believe it. I mean, I thought it might happen at some point, you know, being who they are and everything, but on such short notice and everything. I can’t…how are you sleeping at a time like this!”

  Henry did his best not to laugh. George was young. He’d only recently started as yard help at the mansion. He and Henry were the closest in age, so they’d often been paired together for various jobs.

  Henry finally got to his feet. “I wasn’t asleep. I just came in here. What has you all flustered?”

  “The Strauses!”

  Henry knew whom he was speaking of. Everyone did. They were the wealthiest family in all of New York, maybe in all of America. He’d never met them, though he’d read all about them in books and in the papers. “What about them?”

  “They’ll be paying a call this evening! Can you believe it? They’ll be in the same house as us!”

  Henry couldn’t stifle his laughter anymore. He reached out and settled his hands on the boy’s shoulders. There was still so much for him to learn. “George, dear boy, they won’t be in the same house as us. We may share a few walls with the McCarthy family, but we by no means live in the same house.”

  Chapter Four

  With no clue what to expect, Nessa had ridden to the Strauses’ home to pay a call. She’d spent the morning with Lillian, talking about everything that had happened while she’d been gone. Lillian had cried when she’d told her about Kara and Aedan marrying. Nessa softened a bit toward her when she saw how much missing that part of her sister’s life had bothered Lillian. It was hard though. She felt like she didn’t have a friend in all of New York.

  She was terrified to contact her old friends. She wasn’t even sure which of them would still associate with her. There surely had been no good explanation for why her father had been in Five Points other than the true and obvious one, which meant that everyone in town, both in Five Points and Fifth Avenue, knew that her father had been a less-than-reputable businessman. She still had no explanation for how the house was still theirs.

  They had fewer household expenses now though. She’d gone over those with Lillian as well. There were no stable hands and only one man to work the land, and he wasn’t around every day. Lillian had been paying him from what little she had saved, and she’d been caring for the house herself. Nessa had promised to find a way to repay her for her kindness and ability to keep the house looking the way it needed to, inside and out.

  No matter how lovely the Dobbs’ home was, it was nothing compared to the mansion the Strauses had built. The large ornate building took up the entire corner of Thirty-Fourth and Fifth, climbing higher than any other building around it. She felt a tad awkward dismounting her horse and handing the reigns to the footman. In Creede, it had been a matter of necessity for her to ride. Here in the City, it just wasn’t done. Ladies walked or rode in carriages, but for all the things Nessa had learned in Colorado, how to hitch and drive a carriage wasn’t one of them. She tried to calm her heart with deep breaths as she took the steps slowly to the front door. She’d never been to the mansion before. She wasn’t even sure how she’d be received, especially being unannounced.

  A man in a smartly tailored suit answered the door. He was stiff and moved mechanically as he led her into the house proper and instructed her to wait in the parlor. Nessa complied after giving him her name. The room she’d entered was like nothing she’d ever seen before. She’d spent hours upon hours and days upon days with Genevieve at their home, and at one time she’d thought it to be the grandest place in all of New York, but now she had to change that opinion.

  The ceiling looked like pure gold, and the fireplace took up an entire wall. The wood casings around the door and windows were breathtaking. They must have taken months to carve by hand. Nessa explored the room, looking but never touching. There was so much for the eye to see.

  “It’s a little grand, I know, but I thought it best to overdo this one room. Impress our visitors, you know.”

  Nessa turned at the sound of a man’s voice. She froze in place. She had seen him before. More than once. He’d come around to the house. Her father had never introduced them but had shuffled him right into his study. They’d be in there for hours, and then he’d be gone. He was an attractive man. So much so that though she couldn’t place his age, it didn’t matter. He was timeless.

  Nessa gathered her courage and took a breath. “I’m sorry to have disturbed your evening, sir.”

  He shook his head. The perfect curls of dark hair that swept across his forehead bounced when he moved. She watched them, entranced. She was suddenly overwhelmed by feelings of loss. Not just for her father, but for the life she’d once had. In that time, she’d have swooned over the man in front of her, just like any other eligible Deb would. She wouldn’t have been thinking about how she was going to pay bills or keep a house running, nor would she be thinking about the fact that, though this man was attractive, the only man she thought about for more than a second was her Henry. She missed him terribly.

  “You haven’t interrupted a thing, and I’m very glad you’ve come. We’ve been told to keep an eye out for you.”

  Nessa was confused. “You’ve been told…to keep an eye out?” A pit formed in her stomach. She may be on Fifth Avenue, but that didn’t mean the Whyos didn’t have influence here. She hoped she hadn’t made a terrible mistake. “By whom?”

  He stood stately in the doorway, watching her watch him. “My father, of course.” He smiled, and Nessa could feel the shock waves it sent through a room. If only Genevieve were there, she’d be a puddle on the floor.

  “I’m sorry, your father?”

  He stepped into the room and nodded. “I’m Oscar. Oscar Straus.”

  Nessa relaxed. She exhaled in relief. She returned his smile with one of her own. Of course that’s why he looked so young. She knew very little about him other than he was well past the age most men in his circle married. Before she’d left, the rumor had been that he had been looking but hadn’t found the one he’d been searching for. His parents had tried to make him many matches, but time and time again, it had not worked out. “It’s lovely to meet you, Oscar.”

  He stalked over to her from his place just inside the door. He picked up her hand and brought it to his lips. He kissed it softly as he held her eyes, trapped with his jet black ones. “Lovely is far too diluted a word to describe meeting you.” He winked and set her hand back at her side. “Please…sit.”

  Nessa sat with the back of her hand burning and her eyes stinging, threatening tears. The most eligible, handsome man in all of New York had just kissed her hand and all she could think of was Henry. How had she ever thought she’d be happy with anyone else? Her father had been so insistent that he choose a match for her. She would have been miserable. She blinked the tears away before they could fall and sat across from Oscar.

  “What took you so long to come around? We’ve come calling. We attended the funeral. Father’s written letters. We’ve been doing a
ll we could to contact you and your sister.”

  Lillian had told her there’d been a small funeral. Nessa’s heart hurt when she thought about not being there. But instead of expressing any of that, all she said was, “It’s complicated.”

  Oscar sat back in his chair, a smirk on his face. “Humor me.”

  Nessa couldn’t help but shake her head. He was very confident, almost too much. “Why don’t we start with why he was trying so hard to find us?”

  Oscar stared at her for a long moment before rising from his chair and heading to the fireplace. Once there, he pulled a long chain that dangled there. Mere seconds later, the same man that had let her into the house was standing in the doorway. “Yes, sir?”

  “Please prepare another place for dinner. Miss Dobbs will be joining us.”

  “Oh, no… I…” Nessa started to stand and protest, but Oscar silenced her with a look. He was very commanding. She hated it.

  “Yes, sir,” the stiff man responded and left them, alone once again, though Nessa was glad to know that a short tug on that chain and they wouldn’t be any longer. “So, as I said…we’ve been looking for you. Why haven’t you come around sooner?”

  Nessa straightened her back. “And as I said, it’s complicated.”

  Oscar returned to his seat. “Enlighten me.”

  Oscar was a frustrating man. Nessa had finally caved into telling him that she and Kara had left New York and traveled west. She didn’t tell him where because she didn’t trust him, Dutch’s words still ringing in her ears. Thankfully it hadn’t been long before they were called to dinner, where she was introduced to both his mother and father. Nathan Straus was a dashing man. Equally as handsome as his son, and his wife, Mary, was obviously smitten with him even still. They shared a pleasant meal, where she got to know a little about them and their business holdings, all of which confused her position even more. She’d initially assumed that Nathan lived more on the wrong side of the law than the right, but she now knew that not to be true. Which begged the question, what business dealings did he have with her father, then, if her father truly were a gangster?

  She was relieved when, after the meal, Nathan had suggested she join him in his study to discuss why she’d come. Oscar had tried to follow after Nessa had thanked Mrs. Straus for the meal and her hospitality, but his father had sent him off. She settled comfortably in the chair in front of his wide wooden desk in his dark study.

  “I’m sorry about him. He tends to try to test females rather than getting to know them.”

  Nessa shook her head as Nathan sat across from her. “You needn’t worry. He’s no bother. It’s more than obvious his bark is bigger than his bite.”

  Nathan smiled and shook his head. “He certainly needs to find a female that believes as you do. Most he scares off these days. The money and his face may attract them, but he’s been burned too many times. He no longer trusts. His distrust and callousness certainly do not help him keep them.”

  “No. I suppose they probably don’t.”

  Nathan picked up a cigar from a tray on his desk. “So, I’ve been waiting months to have this conversation, but I suddenly find myself at a loss for words.” He looked at her curiously. “And to be honest, I more thought it would be Kara I’d end up talking with. You don’t seem as your father often described you.”

  Tears welled in her eyes once again. She choked them back and swallowed the lump that formed in her throat. She shook her head. “We had to flee the City. Kara has married and won’t be returning to New York. I’m sorry to have disappointed you.” She wasn’t really sorry. She was irritated. Everyone thought her such a delicate flower. She wasn’t. Well, maybe she used to be, but she’d lived now. Done things. She’d been to the Wild West and returned to tell the tale. She’d even been kidnapped!

  “On the contrary. You haven’t disappointed me in the slightest. I do believe that you’ve grown immensely since I last had the pleasure of speaking with your father.” And then his voice got quiet. He switched from businessman to something else entirely and said, “I was, and am still horribly upset over your father’s passing. He was a great man and a dear friend.”

  The tears were back, but this time she couldn’t catch them. A few slid down her cheeks. “Thank you, sir. I too miss him greatly.”

  The room was silent, heavy with the sorrow in the air. Until they both gathered themselves. Nathan pulled a few puffs off his cigar, and Nessa blotted her cheeks. “Now, where were we?” Nathan smiled. “Right…why you’re here.”

  Nessa nodded. “I found some papers in his study. Your name was on several of them. Mostly friendly things, but it felt like more.”

  Nathan smiled even wider. “Right you are. You really are a sharp one, aren’t you?”

  His praise seemed to pull her spine straighter.

  “There was much more to your father than meets the eye. You were right to come here. I have a lot to share with you. The first being that your father and I were business partners.”

  Nessa felt her eyes pop. She instantly hoped he hadn’t noticed.

  He shook his head. “Not those kind of business partners.” He shook his head as her eyes narrowed in confusion. “Yes, I know all about his dealings in Five Points, but as I said, there was more to him than meets the eye.” He took another few puffs off his cigar. “He wanted out, you see. He saw which way the wind was blowing, and he was a very smart man. He’d saved and saved, working with the Whyos for most of his life. He had a bit of money. He and I had met years and years ago when we were just boys. He came to me asking for advice but left my partner.” Nathan was watching her closely. She tried hard not to react.

  “He was trying to get out. That’s why things happened the way they did. Though we both thought I’d be able to get to you two before something happened, we were obviously mistaken. He had planned to leave. Move you and your sister further up town and not frequent Five Points again. We had everything in place. But when he went to that last meeting…” He trailed off, his voice becoming somber and quiet once again. “Well, we don’t need to go into that. You know how it turned out. The part you don’t know is that if anything had happened to him, he’d set things so that we’d make sure to take care of you and your sister. Your father wanted the two of you to hold his half of our business dealings.”

  Nessa was in shock. They hadn’t needed to leave New York. They could have stayed. They could have stayed and been part of the social elite. They’d have almost been better off than before, with one notable exception. In any case, no matter the outcome, the catalyst would have always been his death. Therefore they would still be living without him. So many thoughts flooded through her, timelines, her sister’s marriage, and the things that Nessa had learned. The fear they carried. All of it. Everything that had happened flashed before her in seconds, even the realization that her father had been a gangster. She never would have known that. Which meant she never would have known just how sturdy she could be. She wouldn’t have become the person she was in that moment, sitting in a chair in front of Nathan Straus, discussing business. She and Kara would both probably be well on their way to be married so their husbands could have controlled their portions of the business. No. She shook her head. It was better this way. She was better this way.

  Nessa used her new resolution to sit a bit straighter and make her voice a little louder. “All we can do now is move forward from where we are. Kara isn’t returning. She has no desire to, but I’ve been working and have learned how much I enjoying doing so. Plus, I’ve discovered I have a head for numbers. If it’s at all possible, Mr. Straus, I’d like to take my father’s place as your partner. I realize that it isn’t conventional and that even my father would probably not have agreed, but as sad as it is, my father never knew the person I am today. I can do this.”

  Nessa held perfectly still. She breathed slowly in and out, not wanting to let her emotions take over. She needed to show this man that she could have a level head and be a strong negotiator. They
sat in silence for a long time while he puffed and twirled his cigar. Finally he sat up and leaned forward over the top of his desk. He set his cigar in the tray and folded his hands in front of him. His eyes were very like his son’s, but slightly lighter. “Under one condition.”

  Nessa exhaled slowly, keeping her calm and not acting surprised or concerned at all. She swallowed. “Name it.”

  He hadn’t even blinked. She did the same. If there was ever a person to emulate when it came to a business deal, the man across from her was him. She followed his lead. “Teach my son to trust women again.”

  He held her gaze strongly as a pit formed in her stomach. She couldn’t teach him anything. She was wholly and completely in love with another man. Granted, he was a man that she hadn’t seen in months and could even have married by now. She didn’t even know where he was. She thought about all the ways to go about such a task as well as all of the ramifications. She thought of her dear Henry and what it would mean if she found him again. She also thought about how in order for Oscar to trust women again, he needed to befriend one, one that wanted nothing to do with him romantically, one that didn’t actually want anything from him at all other than his friendship. She could be that one.

  Nessa reached a hand across the desk and held it out to the wealthiest man in all of New York, possibly all of America for all she knew, and said, “Deal.”

  Chapter Five

  Irritating. The one word that continued to pass through her mind over and over again as she sat in the Strauses’ study with Oscar. One minute he’d be staring at her with a wicked grin on his face and the next he’d be chatting with her hospitably about his friends and their pastimes. She wanted to shake him. Everything about him screamed for her to stay away from him, but as she thought about all that was on the line, all that she could become if she could manage to keep her end of the deal she’d made with his father, she swallowed all she wanted to say. “Oscar?” She tried to look doe eyed, though she wasn’t sure it was working.