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“Leave,” Henry ordered as he walked into his mother’s sitting room. Her personal secretary, maid, and Matthew Nash sat in with her, but Henry did not give a fuck.
“Henry,” she scolded as her team scurried out of the room. “How rude of you to barge in and make demands, especially considering that meeting regarded your charity.”
“The charity belongs to Bre,” Henry reminded her. He knew without a doubt, his mother’s involvement was meant to undermine his fiancée, and fake engaged or not, Bre belonged to him, and he did not allow anyone to hurt what was his. Not that his mother understood that.
“Ownership is subjective,” she told him before offering him a seat and a tea. Henry declined both, not in the mood to allow his mother to play happy hostess. “Ms. Reynolds does not have the experience to run the charity on her own, and you don’t have the time,” she told him.
Henry felt his hackles raise, but made a pointed effort to present a calm veneer. “Bre helps run the PR for this household, “ he reminded her. “Last night proves she is more than capable of running this charity.”
His mother raised an eyebrow, “Ms. Reynolds runs social media, not PR, and last night’s mediocre attempts to raise funds shows that she’s ill-prepared to take on the enormous task at hand.” Henry’s face remained blank at her words. Sure, he’d praised Bre, but he knew that the funds raised were indeed dismal considering how much disposal income was in the room last evening. “Being apart of this family requires one to have certain…qualifications,” Priscilla said. “Bre is a sweet girl, but she does not belong.”
Henry gnashed his teeth together. He wanted to explode at his mother’s ridiculousness. He wanted to point out the many flaws in her argument, the largest one being neither Henry or his sister exactly fit into aristocratic society,
“Mother, listen to me carefully, this is Bre’s project, and you will allow her free reign over it,” he said. Priscilla opened her mouth to rebuttal, but Henry was quicker. “I’ll concede that Bre might need your assistance, but ultimately she’s in charge. If you cannot remember that, if you do not make Bre feel as welcome into this family as possible, I’ll strip you of your suite here, and I’ll be certain to make Bre patroness of all the family’s charitable endeavors.” Henry played his hand.
Priscilla gasped, “You wouldn’t!” she yelled as her relaxed demeanor broke.
“I’m the Duke of Rochester, mother, I’ll do whatever I see fit. I’ve allowed you run off this estate because frankly, I’m not certain I cared in the aftermath of losing father, and it seemed to be the only thing you cared about, but hear me when I tell you, if you continue to disparage Bre, I’ll strip you of everything,” Henry promised not staying to see Priscilla’s face.
* * *
Henry needed to make another stop for the day before he resumed his work. When he told Bre, he’d handle his mother and Sienna, he meant it. She might have told him to let it go the night before, but he knew what Sienna Marlborough’s real personality, and he did not want Bre to end up her victim the same way his sister did.
“I was shocked to receive your call,” Thomas Marlborough said as he joined Henry at the bar of a local pub. Henry considered asking him to London, for fear of Bre catching wind of his plans, but he didn’t want to risk being photographed with a Marlborough. He wanted the rumors of him and Sienna to die down, not be reignited. “I assumed you’d sooner call my sister than myself,” Thomas said chuckling.
“I’m not sure who I detest more,” Henry growled into his pint his patience wearing thin. He’d never liked Thomas, the wanker, but he especially hated him for the way he allowed Sienna to ruin Henry’s sister.
Thomas rolled his eyes used to Henry’s crappy behavior, “Oddly, your opinion of me matters very little. I lose no sleep over your obvious disdain.”
“Do you lose sleep over Astrid’s?” Henry asked, throwing his most significant piece of leverage at Thomas. Thomas Marlborough and Astrid Rochester dated all through University. Everyone expected them to marry, until the day Astrid up and left to deliver aid in Africa with no explanation. She did not return, not even to bury their father. Only Henry knew the reason for his sister’s departure, well Henry, Thomas, and the lovely Sienna.
“What do you want, Henry?” Thomas asked, exhausted.
“Reign Sienna in,” Henry told Thomas gruffly. “Apparently, she’s taken a position on Bre’s charity, a position offered by my mother, and I do not want her upsetting my fiancée.”
Thomas sighed at Henry’s words. “You and I both know no one control Sienna, if I could, I’d be married to your sister now and not a miserable, lonely man,” he said.
The one thing Henry continued to respect that about Thomas was his absolute honesty. He didn’t appreciate how he allowed his sister to rule his life, but he appreciated that Thomas spoke the truth. “Why did you even let Sienna into your life? You had to know how this would end?” Thomas questioned, confused.
Henry considered that last night as he held his crying fiancée in his arms. At the time, Henry wanted to destroy Sienna and the Rochester name. On his death bed, Henry’s father revealed how a young Sienna Marlborough destroyed Astrid’s life with Henry’s father’s help. She’d somehow caught pictures of the old Duke inflagranti with a socialite young enough to be his daughter. Sienna wanted Astrid away from her brother Thomas and threatened to release photos of the Duke’s discretions if he did not do it. The Duke destroyed his daughter’s happiness to keep his precious family name. Henry wanted to trap her in a marriage, so he could destroy her the way he destroyed the only person Henry ever felt close to.
“I had my reasons,” Henry answered honestly. Bre presented an unexplainable obstacle to his plan. She’d bulldozed into his life at the absolute worst time, and her zest for life and smart-aleck mouth, and his desire to upset his mother and Sienna’s perfect world went to the back burner as he figured out how best to tie Bre to him.
“Astrid said you always enjoyed starting fires,” Thomas relented.
“She wasn’t incorrect,” Henry told him cordially. “Too bad, my strong suit is letting them burn, not putting them out. Thankfully, my father never saw fit to push me towards fire service.”
“I’ll talk to Sienna about taking a breather,” Thomas told him. “I doubt she’ll heed my warnings, but all I can do is encourage her away from whatever ridiculous plan I’m sure she’s cooking up,” Thomas chuckled thinking about the likelihood of his sister giving up her desire to be Duchess of Rochester. “In the meantime, I suggest keeping Bre as far away from Sienna as possible.”
Henry had been banking on what he knew of Sienna’s unstable nature t, but now that her behavior affected Bre, he wanted her gone. Henry only enjoyed the chaos that he could harness himself. Having Sienna Marlborough attempting to derail his life was not Henry’s definition of controlled chaos.
“Noted. Do what you can,” Henry told Thomas before laying several pounds down to cover their pints.
“Henry,” Thomas called from the bar. Henry turned back, giving his attention to the man at the bar. “If you care about Bre, tell her, really tell her, and don’t let Sienna, or your mother, or your ego ruin something good for you. Love might only come around once in a lifetime, and if you let it go, you may not be lucky enough to find it again.”
Thomas’ words stuck with Henry as he exited the pub and began making his way back to Rochester House. He wasn’t sure how he felt about Bre. He knew he enjoyed her company, and sex between the two was explosive, but love was a whole new concept.
What Henry did know was that Bre belonged to him, and he did not plan to let anything take what was his.
