“Are you okay?” I ask.
He raises his shoulders and drops them unceremoniously. “I thought I’d be happier.”
I frown. “You’re not happy?”
“I feel more relieved than anything,” Henry says with a hollow chuckle. “It was like a weight hanging over me, and I can finally move on from it. I can build the business I finally want, get out of that stuffy boardroom.”
Bile threatens to rise, and I give a stiff nod. “Everything you’ve ever wanted,” I say with a curt tone.
“Yup,” he notes, grabbing the whiskey again and downing the shot. His eyes are still downcast on the counter.
“So that’s the plan then? You’re going to leave and start your business?”
His eyebrows furrow, his finger tracing the rim of the glass. “Hasn’t that always been the plan?”
I can’t swallow the hiccuped sob that slips out, so I slam my hand over my mouth and rush out of the kitchen, hoping he doesn’t catch me until I’m upstairs if he even cares to follow me.
I shut the door, wiping at the tears that have fallen on my way up the stairs. My heart is actively breaking in my chest. I don’tknow why I expected him to feel any different when I’d been suspicious when he confessed his feelings.
Henry slams the door open, and I turn to face him. My chin trembles as I hold back the sobs threatening to take over. His chest rises and falls in quick pants. “What was that?”
I shake my head. “Just leave me alone.”
He shuts the bedroom door, sealing off any chance I could ask him to get out again. “No. We were having a nice celebration, then you ran off like I hurt you.”
“Just like you ran off!”
Henry sighs. “I wanted a moment to myself.”
I scoff, wiping away a fallen tear angrily. “You mean you wanted a moment to plan what to do since you couldn’t stop talking about how you can’t wait to get away from here and start your business. Oh yeah, that’s such a nice celebration.”
Henry’s head jerks back, and then he frowns. “If that’s how I came off, then I’m sorry. Natalie, I don’t want to leave you or our baby, ever. You two are the most important things to me. I still want to start my business. I like working with my hands and fixing cars. I may switch to more luxurious cars, but I need to find someone to mentor me. But it was never to get away from you.”
I study his face, not finding any lies and hope blooms in my chest, chasing away the ache from before. “You mean that? You want to stay with us?”
Henry moves to me, cupping my face and staring down with intense affection. “I want more than to stay. I want to build afamily with you, fill this home with our children, and give them more than one legacy path to choose.”
Tears spill down my face, and he wipes them away.
“I told you I was falling in love with you,” he says with a slight scowl.
I swallow down the emotion still growing in my throat. “I wasn’t sure if you were just saying that because you wanted the money.”
His eyebrows raise, but he doesn’t take offense to it. “I’m not the one who came up with the whole scheme to keep all the money.”
A laugh huffs out of my mouth. “The opportunity simply presented itself and I took it. I’m not an evil mastermind.”
He hums, leaning down to kiss me. “No, you’re not. You're mine.”
I kiss him back with all my might before pulling away. “I love you. I really do. I don’t know when it happened over the past few months, but it did.”
Henry smiles against my lips. “Good, because I love you too. We may never have a conventional relationship, but know behind these doors, you and our children are everything to me.”
I giggle. “Children? You’re already planning for more? How would we explain that?”
He kisses me again, his hands exploring my body before pulling away to speak again. “I want as many kids as you’ll give me. Itisplausible that I helped raise mylittle sisterand fell in love with the woman who birthed her. Perhaps we can encourage the public to refer to me as her father so as not to confuse the child.”
My mouth drops open in awe. “And you call me the mastermind.”
