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And now I’m not British enough. Not aristocratic. Not her.

“Georgia?” Barbara says.

I blink at her, realizing the whole kitchen has gone quiet. The staff have all stopped what they’re doing. Barbara is staring at my face like she already knows something terrible happened. A gentle hand touches my shoulder.

I spin around to see Caleb behind me, concern in his eyes.

“What happened?” Barbara asks, her gaze sliding from me to Caleb.

“Nothing,” I whisper. “It’s all…” My voice cracks.

I have to get out of here. I don’t know these people. I don’t want them watching me fall apart. And I’m going to, I know that. I’ve never been more humiliated before, being accused of something I didn’t do.

And Theo barely stuck up for me.

So I push past the last of the wait staff, make my way down the hallway, past the straggle of lingering guests, and out into the icy night.

“Georgia,” Caleb shouts. “Wait up.”

He catches me easily, his hand closing around mine as I reach the top of the steps that lead down to the driveway.

All I can think about is the look in Theo’s eyes when Kate and Alex were showing him my notebook, whispering their lies.

He didn’t shout at them. Didn’t tell them to leave. Just let them make their accusations even though he knew it wasn’t true.

And it hurts. Way too much after everything that happened. It had felt like it was him and me against the world. Until this.

“Hey,” Caleb says. “Ignore them, they’re assholes.”

“Which them?” I ask. “Because I don’t give a damn about Alex and Kate.”

He presses his lips together. “Theo is under a lot of pressure tonight,” he murmurs, as though that makes up for everything. “You know what the article says.”

I nod, because Caleb read it all while we were waiting for Barbara to make us coffee. Told me the details. The child, the money, the implication that it came from the business when it shouldn’t have. Siphoned funds to support a second life for Theo’s father that nobody knew about.

“And you have to know the implications for Theo,” Caleb continues. “He’s not thinking straight. If he was, he would have told Alex where to go before he even opened his mouth. That man’s in love with you. You know that, right?”

I let out a ragged breath. It turns into mist in front of me as it mingles with the icy cold air.

“He didn’t stand up for me,” I point out.

“I know. He was a dick. And you can explain to him exactly how that made you feel. But right now you’re shivering,” Caleb says. “Come back inside.”

“I’m not going back in there,” I tell him. “I just want to leave.”

“Where are you going to go? It’s the middle of the night.” He looks over his shoulder as one of the last guests walks out of the front door. An older woman and man. She takes one look at us and lifts a brow, then whispers something into her husband’s ear. “Come on,” Caleb urges. “Your things are inside. Your clothes. Your work. You’re not leaving without that, right?”

I want to. I want to stride down that gravel driveway and out of here. Theo was right all along, it’s a den of snakes in there. All of them, fighting each other like they’re not from the same blood.

“I’m staying out here,” I whisper.

He runs his hand through his hair as the door opens again. It isn’t a couple this time. It’s Theo, his tall body haloed by the light streaming out of the doorway as he scans the driveway.

His eyes alight on us. Caleb goes still beside me as I turn away. I can’t look at him. Not when my heart feels like he’s squeezed it in a vice grip.

“Georgia,” Theo says. I hear his footsteps on the stone staircase. For a second I squeeze my eyes shut, but all that does is force the tears out. When I open them again, my vision is blurry.

Then he touches my arm. I feel the heat of his fingers against the ice of my skin.