Chapter One
Henry
A chilly breeze nipped at my skin as I stepped out of the car and onto the gravel outside Hareford House, my sort-of home away from home for the next six months.
Or at least, it was the place where I’d be spending most of my time.
I wasn’t actually sure where I’d be staying, but as long as it had a bed, a bathroom, and wi-fi, I’d be fine.
I didn’t expect to get much downtime, especially considering how hectic my filming schedule looked.
The location they’d chosen to film Llewelyn was a gorgeous country house on the coast of North Yorkshire that just oozed gothic charm, and I couldn’t picture anywhere more perfect.
Especially because its clifftop location would allow me to stare pensively out to sea while I pined for my artist love and wondered whether he was suffering the same emotional turmoil as me.
It still hadn’t sunk in I was getting to live out my period drama dreams or that we were finally going to start filming, but just looking up at the castle-esque facade of Hareford House sent a wave of joy rushing over me, one I hadn’t felt in a long time.
“Nice place,” Cas said as he climbed out of the car and glanced around at our surroundings. “Very fancy.”
Cas was the bodyguard the studio had forced me to hire last summer while I’d been filming in LA.
A man had been following me quite closely before being apprehended, and he’d apparently been armed with both a knife and a gun, so despite my protestations both the studio and Celeste had put their foot down.
Cas had been my first choice and we’d struck up a good friendship in the past ten months built largely on deadpan sarcasm, dry humour, and Cas’s supernatural ability to see through any attempted bullshit, both from me and anyone I spent time with.
My brother and his boyfriend, Lewis, adored him and thought he was very good for me.
Although that might have had more to do with the fact that Jason didn’t want me getting stabbed. That had become painfully obvious after he’d lectured me for an hour the first time I’d gone to visit him with Cas in tow.
Apparently not telling your little brother you almost suffered grievous bodily harm at the hands of a crazed fan was a very bad thing, even if I’d argued that I hadn’t wanted Jason to worry. Which I hadn’t. He had enough on his plate without worrying about me as well.
“I am playing a lord,” I said with a grin. “I’d hope I get a fancy house. I am glad we’re shooting on location, though, instead of in a studio or in front of a green screen.”
“Bit hard to get the right vibe for this with a green screen,” Cas said, gesturing out towards the gardens, which ran down towards the edge of the cliffs and beyond that the endless expanse of choppy grey-blue sea that stretched out as far as I could see.
There were a few boats bobbing on the water and gulls wheeling and cawing overhead as thick clouds skittered across the late March sky.
I wondered if it was going to rain and tried to remember if I’d packed an umbrella.
“True.” I turned back to the car to grab my suitcases, hoping that someone from Production would see us and send someone to fetch our bags and deliver them to wherever they needed to be.
“You know, you didn’t have to come. I highly doubt anyone here is going to try and stab me, and it’s not like I’m going to get much time off to go wandering round. ”
Cas gave me a wry smile like he thought it was cute that I was trying to get rid of him. “Well then, if you’re busy I’ll have plenty of time to read.”
“Aren’t bodyguards supposed to be obsessed with guns and training or something? Shouldn’t you be going for long runs across the moorland with a backpack that weighs more than you? Or is that Special Forces?”
Cas chuckled but didn’t say anything. I knew he had a military background because I’d seen his CV, but so far I’d never managed to get out of him what he’d actually done in the army.
Every question I asked was just met with a blank stare or a change of subject, and my attempts at googling him had turned up zilch.
If I ever found myself roped into one of those ridiculous action thrillers again, I was going to use Cas as my character base.
“Don’t get your suitcases out,” Cas said. “You don’t know if we’re staying here or not. Waste of time to get them out and have to shove them back in again.”
As if on cue, someone finally noticed us and came bustling over. “Hi,” she said, giving me a beaming smile and fiddling with the walkie-talkie on the waistband of her jeans. “You must be Henry. I’m Alice, the production manager. Nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you too,” I said, sticking out my hand to shake hers. “And this is Cas, my security detail.”
“Perfect,” Alice said as she turned to greet Cas, seeming completely unfazed by him. “Do you want to follow me? We’re getting everyone together for a bit of a meet-and-greet, then someone from the house is going to do a tour. Then it’s lunch, read-throughs, rehearsals, last-minute fittings, etc.”
“Lead on then,” I said with a wave of my hand. I knew Cas had the car keys, so he’d make sure it was locked. “When did you all arrive?” I asked as I followed Alice towards the open front doors of the house, ducking around two men hefting sound equipment.
“Let’s see, it’s Wednesday today, so most of us came up Monday afternoon and a few yesterday. We’ve been doing some initial test shots and shooting some external footage before it gets too chaotic.”
We walked up some wide stone steps into a large hallway with high ceilings and various mounted skulls and taxidermied heads hung high on the walls.
The English nobility definitely had some strange ideas about what constituted nice décor.
It was probably why they’d insisted on stealing things from the rest of the world to make up for their lack of taste.
“We’re all in one of the dining rooms today,” Alice continued as she led me along corridors lined with portraits, up grand staircases, and past dozens of rooms I didn’t even get to peek in.
“They usually use the space for wedding breakfasts, but it’s perfect for our needs and we’re not going to damage anything.
Some of the furniture we’ll be using on set is authentic, but some is just very good replicas because we don’t want to break anything, especially since some of it is worth an arm and a leg. ”
I chuckled. “Noted, don’t flop on any of the chairs.”
“Not unless you’re prepared to pay for them.”
Eventually we reached a large wooden door that was propped open with a fabric doorstop shaped like a dachshund, and from inside I could already hear the sound of voices.
I’d met most of the cast, the directors, the producers, and the head writer when we’d all met in London for the early read-through before Christmas.
We’d originally been supposed to start filming last November, but there had been some issues casting the second male lead.
The casting director had found someone perfect in the form of former boy band member turned actor Jude Kane, and I’d clicked with him from the first moment we’d met for a chemistry read.
Everyone had agreed he was perfect. Then it had come out that he was dating the incredibly popular adult film star Austin Carter, and all hell had broken loose.
Certain people higher up in the production company had been worried that the streaming service they’d sold the rights to would pull out and that having one of their lead actors closely associated with someone who did porn was tantamount to blasphemy.
They’d tried to find someone else to fill the roll, but nobody else had come close—at least in my opinion. I’d wanted to work with Kane, and nobody else would do.
So I’d done what every Hollywood diva had to do at least once in their life. I’d thrown a strop.
I’d threatened to pull out of the production very loudly and publicly and take the whole thing down with me if they didn’t give Kane the part.
Celeste had warned me I’d probably never work again if that happened, but at that point I’d been in too deep to care—I wasn’t having my first new project as an out, queer actor derailed before it’d even gotten started.
I’d unleashed the full force of my charm and stardom upon them and casually pointed out that if anything, this sort of drama was more likely to attract viewers, and anyone who said or wrote nasty shit about Kane and Austin, or even myself since there’d been plenty of vile people spouting off on Twitter since I came out, were probably the sort of people who’d hate a sexy, queer period drama anyway.
Homophobes were homophobes, and if they hated Kane for his partner, they’d hate him for his part in Llewelyn. Might as well take the rubbish out now.
They’d agreed, although nobody had told me which of my arguments or threats was the winner, and now here we were.
Speaking of Kane…
“Hey, you made it!” He appeared through the crowd and walked straight up to me, pulling me into a hug.
He was shorter than me with a lithe build and pretty features that had made him incredibly popular in his boy band days.
They also made him the perfect dreamy, artistic type for the show. “We wondered if you’d gotten lost.”
“I’m going to at some point,” I said. “This place is fucking massive. It’s worse than bloody Nate and Kayden’s place in LA.”
“I don’t even know them, so I’ll take your word for it,” Kane said. He waved at a couple of people, beckoning them over.
“Next time they’re in London, I’ll introduce you. You’ll love them.”