“I’m sorry,” I said quietly.
“Kate...” He said gently, sitting down so close to me on the sofa that his leg pressed against mine. He took my cup and put it aside—probably for the best, as my hands were shaking, and I was at risk of spilling tea onto his expensive suit. “You have nothing to apologise for. It was Randell who gave that interview, not you.”
“But it’s my fucked-up life that’s now affecting you.”
“Don’t say that.”
“Why not? I heard you arguing with your dad and Vivian.”
“I argue with them all the time.”
I felt tears well up in my eyes, but I didn’t want to cry. There was just as much at stake for Henry as there was for me, if not more. At worst, I would lose him, whereas he would lose his life as he knew it. “But they were right, this time. The Darlington can’t be associated with my past. You asked me yourself not to tell anyone, because you knew it would damage the hotel.”
Henry looked at me, his pupils dilated—presumably from the adrenaline still coursing through him. “I asked you to do that because I didn’t want you to get dragged into this mess my dad made. For me, it was always about protecting you, so please, let’s not fight about whether or not the interview is your fault. It happened. We can’t change that. All we can do now is come up with a strategy to contain the damage.”
I nodded. Since overhearing Henry’s argument with Vivian and his dad, all I could think about was how the last thing I wanted was to hurt The Darlington. If it hadn’t been for the bad press elicited by Henry’s dad, Randell’s interview alone probably wouldn’t have damaged the hotel’s reputation. But under the circumstances, my past was another blow of a hammer to an already cracked pane of glass.
“You could release the statement Vivian asked you to,” I said, even though doing so revealed that I had been able to make out some of their conversation. “Distance yourself from me. Tell everyone that you didn’t know those things about me and that you can’t be with me anymore because of them.”
“No way!”
“I wouldn’t mind.”
Irritation flashed in his eyes. “But I would.”
“It would just be for the press.”
Henry’s irritation turned to anger. He glared at me as if he couldn’t believe I would suggest such a thing. “It’s out of the question! We’ll get through this together. I don’t want to lose you.”
My heart clenched. “You wouldn’t lose me, Snowflake. It would be a white lie, just until everything has calmed down and the hotel has recovered.”
“How do you envision that working?” Henry asked, still agitated. “If I were to make that statement, we couldn’t be seen together. No one could know about us. If it came out that we were still seeing each other, it would start all over again, and it might be even worse because we lied. I won’t hide you away for years and treat you like some dirty secret, Kate. You mean too much to me for that.”
“Henry—”
“Your past won’t just disappear,” he said, cutting me off. “We have to face it—together. As long as you want that.”
My heart wanted to shout from the rooftops that it was exactly what I wanted. We hadn’t known each other for long, but I could no longer imagine life without Henry. But this wasn’t just about what I wanted. This was so much bigger than us. For the first time since we’d met, I wished that Henry wasn’t a Darlington, but some poor nobody. Then we could be together without the constant scrutiny of the press. I didn’t need a luxurious room, fancy events, or more money than I knew what to do with. I only needed Henry. But it wasn’t that simple.
“Can I ask you something?”
He nodded.
“But you have to promise you’ll be honest with me—and more importantly, with yourself,” I said. He held my gaze, and I interpreted his expectant silence as agreement. “Do you really think we have a future together?”
Henry pulled away from me—it felt terrible. He furrowed his brow as he looked at me, as if that was the last thing he had expected to hear. “Don’t you?”
“Honestly? I don’t know,” I admitted. My voice was heavy with sadness, and I felt a sharp pang in my chest. “You’re important to me, Henry. And there’s no one I would rather have been with over the past few months. But you have to admit that we come from very different worlds, and I will never belong in yours. I’ll always be the outsider. Your parents—and the people they surround themselves with—will never fully accept me.”
“I’m not interested in what those people think.”
“Those peopleare a big part of your life.”
“They’re not,” Henry countered gently. “Most of the time, I never think about them. Whereas you’ve been on my mind constantly. So don’t think they’re better than you. You’re far more important.”
They were the most beautiful words spoken in the ugliest moment. I reached out and stroked Henry’s cheek, his stubble tickling me as he kissed the palm of my hand. A shiver ran down my spine. “I just don’t want you to look back on today a few months from now and wish you had made a different decision. What if you lose the hotel because of me? What if I’m the straw that breaks the camel’s back?”
Henry shook his head. “I don’t care about the hotel.”
