Chapter 11
Natalie
“I think I’m going to throw up,” I say, moving to the trash next to the desk.
“Sit down,” Henry orders, snapping his fingers at the chair to his side.
He’s taken the one behind his father’s desk.
He’s outfitted in a tailored button up and slacks, hair combed back and facial hair neatly trimmed.
Even with the tattoos peeking out under his sleeves, every inch of him has the sophistication one would expect to come with the Dansworth name.
I swallow down the bile, carefully sitting and rubbing at my belly. We’re getting closer to the end of my third trimester, and it is starting to feel so real that I can barely comprehend we’re going to have a baby soon.
Henry reaches over, cupping the swell of my stomach. “Everything will work out as it should.”
I nod, wanting to cling to that hope. Even if we don’t get the full estate, we’ll be well off, but I don’t want to lose anything.
I’ve come to love everything about this place, even the people who work for us, but I don’t know if it’s something I could afford on my own.
My father would want me to sell it for profit.
Allen walks in, stalking straight to the large table and setting his briefcase on it. I glimpse at Henry and then back at the pompous lawyer. He holds our fate in that ugly brown case.
“Do you usually walk into rooms without acknowledging the occupants?” Henry says, his voice hard and tense.
The lawyer startles and turns to us. “My apologies.” His cheeks turn a bright red. “Mr. and Mrs. Dansworth, I hope you both are well.”
I smile, rubbing at my belly. “As well as we can be, I suppose.”
He nods, glancing at Henry who waves him off. I reach over to pinch Henry’s thigh. We don’t want to piss him off.
Allen clears his throat, pulling out a stack of papers. “Let’s get straight to it then.”
Henry grabs my hand, twining our fingers together, and I know he can feel how wildly my heart is beating. He squeezes once in comfort.
“Ahh, here it is,” Allen says, presenting us with a document. “Since we opted out of detecting relationships so we don’t find any other living connections, we do have a familial match. It’s enough to release the estate, uncontested.”
I nearly collapse right there, and I squeeze Henry’s hand so hard that my nails make indents into his skin.
Henry blows out a large breath in relief. “What’s next then?”
“I’ve brought all the paperwork to sign it over to Mrs. Dansworth, and then we go from there.”
I clear my throat. “And if I wanted to share some with Henry? I know his father disowned him, but he’s been such a tremendous help. I feel his father would be proud.” I flash Henry a smile, but he doesn’t return it. His jaw clenches, and he pulls his hand from mine.
It creates an ache in my chest, but I turn back to the lawyer with a fake grin.
He nods. “We can start the process. Have you already spoken to your lawyer about possible divisions?” I haven’t spoken to anyone because I couldn’t chance them reporting us for fraud, or demanding money to keep silent.
“No, not yet. I’ve been a little scattered since the funeral and finding out I’m pregnant,” I say weakly. It’s mostly the truth anyway.
Henry shifts in his seat. “Do you need anything else from me?”
Allen shakes his head, so Henry gets up and leaves us in the office without sparing me another glance. It takes a lot of strength to shut out my wild emotions, the questions of why he seems upset, and threatening fear he wants to leave me now.
“His temperament hasn’t changed much,” Allen mutters.
I force a laugh that even sounds fake to my ears. “At least he’s toned down the cursing. The first week here it was like every other word.”
He laughs back and nods as if I made the greatest joke. I won’t miss the schmoozing part of this world, the niceties that are never actually nice, and the side glances that may as well be daggers.
“I’ll explain each paper before having you sign. Is that okay?”
I nod before pulling out my phone. “You don’t mind if my lawyer listens in? He’s out of the country right now or he would have made it. We could probably get someone from his office to come if you prefer though.”
He shakes his head. “Of course not. Whatever is easiest for everyone.”
I call up Martin, and he walks me through the process. It’s straightforward, just a lot of signing, and about an hour later, we hang up while Allen is packing up. When he stands, he holds out his hand for me to shake.
“I’m sorry for your loss, Mrs. Dansworth. I’m glad this is resolved though. Now you and the little one are taken care of.”
“Thank you,” I say softly, not yet feeling the relief that the whole ordeal is over.
He nods, and I follow him out the front door. My heart is still heavy when he leaves, and the house is eerily quiet, as if it knows what we’ve done. My daughter is technically a Dansworth heir, even if she isn’t Jeoffry’s.
“Henry?” I call out, frowning when he doesn’t respond after a few seconds. Lingering in the foyer, I wonder where I should check first, almost too nervous to go to our bedroom and see him packing up. Like a coward, I choose to look elsewhere first.
I find him at the kitchen counter, a piece of cake before him and a fifth of whiskey in his hand. When I enter, his fingers push at the plate.
“For you,” he says before downing the rest of the alcohol.
Moving closer, I don’t touch the cake that I practically begged Sarah to make yesterday. I’ve had chocolate cravings lately, but the more velvety taste, not chalk-like candy bars.
“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’t know 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 a family 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. It is plausible that I helped raise my little sister and 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.”
“Your deviousness rubbed off on me.” He winks.
I shake my head, pulling him down to kiss me again. “Make love to me.”