“What’s that supposed to mean?” my dad growled. “That she’s only half a whore?”
“Richard!” Vivian warned sharply, and for the first time, I thought I might actually like her. She sighed in frustration and rubbed her forehead, as if plagued by the same pounding headache I was. “Tell me how things started between you and Kate, so I know what I’m dealing with.”
I had little desire to analyse my love life with Vivian and my dad, but I also didn’t want to start another fight. I just wished they could see Kate through my eyes and not through Randell’s lecherous perspective. “We met in St. James’s Park. She was homeless at the time. I wanted to help her, so we went to get something to eat,” I said. I left out the bit about the stolen phone. It wasn’t important, and it would only give my dad even more reason to dislike Kate. “We got on really well. I liked her from the beginning, but after that meal, we went our separate ways—until that bad storm.”
Vivian nodded, as if she remembered it.
“I couldn’t bear the thought of her being alone out there, and I was afraid something would happen to her, so I went to the parkand brought her back here. It wasn’t my plan for her to stay at the hotel long-term. But we talked, and after everything she said, I couldn’t, in good conscience, send her back onto the streets. So I gave her a room and a job.”
“Did you pay her for sex?” my dad asked, his nose wrinkling in disdain.
I almost laughed. How could it be that the concept of sex work disgusted him more than the idea of forcing himself on a woman? If he had only chosen to go to a sex worker back then instead, we’d have far fewer problems today.
I walked over to the drinks cart. Though it was still early, I poured myself two fingers of whisky. “Like I just said, Kate isn’t a sex worker. She used to pick pockets—that part is true. But she doesn’t steal anymore, not since she started working for The Darlington.” I sat down at my desk, wanting to create a barrier between my dad and me, and undid the top button of my jacket. “Regardless, I like Kate, and I’m not going to abandon her. So save your breath.”
Vivian sighed again, this time with resignation. “Henry, I don’t know Kate, and I’m sure she’s a wonderful woman, but this isn’t the best time for this kind of drama. You should really think about whether she’s worth all this.”
“She is. A hundred times over,” I replied without hesitating.
My dad shook his head in disbelief and started pacing the room, just as Vivian had done earlier. “Are you aware that you’re putting the hotel, our reputation, and your own future on the line for sex?”
I took a sip of my whisky, and it burnt my throat like fire. “No, Dad.Youput those things on the line for sex. Nonconsensual sex, to be precise. I’m putting them on the line for love.”
My dad swore.
Vivian’s eyes widened. “You love her?”
“Maybe,” I admitted. Kate was the first woman in a very long time who had made me even consider the word.
“All the more reason to let her go,” my dad retorted. “Do you have any idea what you’re doing to that girl? She was anonymous. A nobody. And now she’s being dragged through the mud for the whole world to see. Because of you.”
“That’s why I want the injunction.”
“I’ll handle it,” Vivian said to my surprise, a newfound determination in her voice. “It’ll probably take a few days, but I’ve got good contacts at theINsider. I might be able to convince them to take Randell’s interview offline, but it’s going to be expensive.”
Finally, a good suggestion. I nodded. “I don’t care how much it is. I’ll pay.”
She nodded. “OK. I’ll get to work.”
“Thank you, Vivian,” I said. And I meant it.
She smiled and left my office, her phone already in her hand. My dad stayed and stood in front of my desk with his hands shoved into his trouser pockets. He stared at me as if he could change my mind through the sheer power of his authoritative presence. It might work on others, but he couldn’t intimidate me anymore. As a child, I had respected him, finding him imposing in his expensive suit. Today, that respect was long gone.
I met his gaze defiantly and raised a weary eyebrow. “Is there anything else you want to say?”
“It was a mistake to let you run The Darlington. I should have trusted my gut feeling instead of letting Vivian and the others talk me into it. I knew you weren’t ready for it.”
I stared at him incredulously. “Are you saying it’s my fault that the hotel is doing badly?”
His nostrils flared. “Who else’s fault would it be? I trusted you with The Darlington, and you’ve run it into the ground in just a couple of months. We’ll have to close at the end of next year if you don’t get your act together.”
He had to be joking. “IfIdon’t get my act together?”
“You’re not at university anymore, Henry. This isn’t a game, or some project for one of your classes. This is your life. Your legacy. And you should take that seriously instead of wasting your time with some homeless woman who’s beneath you.”
“You can’t be serious.”
“Of course I’m serious. Do you see me laughing?” my dad demanded. It would be more fitting if his blue eyes were black, like his soul—there was no understanding or kindness in them, only pure contempt. They fixed themselves on me icily. “You’re gallivanting around with that woman while the hotel goes under, letting her take advantage of you at every turn. You’re just a means to an end to her—a way to get money.”
