Page 31 of The Duke's Contract

“Woo! Time to party!” Nathaniel yelled.

* * *

Years ago, before he became Duke of Rochester, Henry often crashed at Nathaniel’s flat after a rough night of partying. Even when Henry owned a flat in London, returning to Nathaniel’s flat meant the party continued. Last night proved to be no exception. The group started at the club doing shots, drinking scotch, and sipping on expensive bottles of champagne. Within an hour or two the group returned to Nathaniel’s completely knackered. Nathaniel and the ladies continued the party while Henry decided to call it a night, not wanting a raging headache in the morning.

As he walked out of the guest room to glasses and various articles of clothing littering the living space, going to bed felt like the correct move.

“Quite the evening you missed,” Sienna Marlborough said from her perch at Nathaniel’s breakfast counter. Wearing last night’s dress, with smudged makeup, and sipping a glass of water, Henry marveled that Sienna Marlborough might be human after all.

“Appears so,” Henry said, pouring his own glass from the tap. His stomach roiled as he took a sip of the liquid, and he regretted not sticking to his usual diet of expensive scotch. Tequila shooters in pints of Dom were the most ridiculous idea.

“Are you heading back to Rochester?” she asked.

“I planned to wait till Nathaniel woke himself up, but I have a feeling he’s out for the afternoon,” Henry told her marveling of the mundaneness of their conversation.

“Would you mind giving me a lift back to the club” Henry hesitated. From what he remembered, Sienna and her crew were tolerable last evening, some might even say fun, but he also knew she hated Bre and the feeling was mutual. He also knew her true colors. Sienna might play nice with him, but he knew it only lasted because she wanted something.

“I swear I simply need a lift. I would call a cab, but being pictured looking hungover and leaving Nathaniel’s apartment might not bode too well for my reputation.”

Henry chuckled. Sienna managed to keep her reputation as pristine as a diamond and given how she drank last night, she’d certainly been living like the rest of them. “You’ll have to tell me your secret,” Henry said. “I need to leave shortly, but if you can be ready to move in the next few minutes, I’ll drop you to the club.” He left out the part where he needed to leave because of Bre. They made plans to meet for breakfast, and he needed to shower the previous night from his skin. Showing up to an irate fiancée smelling of liquor and expensive perfume probably would not help.

Last night provided him with an odd sense of clarity. Sure, he enjoyed cutting loose once more and drinking himself into oblivion, but in the light of day, he realized the days of irresponsible excess were behind him. He didn’t enjoy the partying the way he once did, and most of last night was a reaction to him missing Bre. He wanted to come home to her and make amends.

“Are you ready?” Henry asked Sienna taking in her clutched shoes, purse, and jacket. She nodded. “Fantastic. I need to return home,” he said his tone returning to its previous brusqueness.

Chapter Twenty-Two

The evening alone did not soothe Bre’s soul the way she thought it might. As she eneterd Rochester House’s Public Relations Office, she felt lonelier than ever. Last night she attempted to call Henry several times but he never picked up. She knew he felt miffed at her for asking for a night away from each other, but she didn’t expect him to ignore her calls. That coupled with their canceled breakfast made Bre’s heart ache. The chasm between them felt like it grew ten times overnight, and without talking to Henry, she wasn’t sure how to fix it.

“Good morning!” she said cheeruly as she entered the office. Matthew seemed to be getting in earlier and earlier as he covered down on her previous job. He continued to ask her to go over resumes with him, but she continued to shy away from the task knowing that eventually, she needed to either tell Matthew she would not actually be leaving, or take a chance and get him some extra help.

“Morning…” Matthew said his tone giving Bre pause.

“What’s wrong?” she asked as she emptied her bag onto her desk. Matthew wore his expression on his face, and currently, he appeared both stressed and concerned.

“Have you been online?” he asked her. His words made Bre’s blood run cold.

“No,” she said cautiously as she pulled her phone from her pants pocket. The pictures littering her phone made her stomach turn. Photograph after photograph of Henry at some sort of London nightclub littered her alerts. Images of Henry at a club were terrible enough, but as Bre scrolled through, she felt her eyes water as she took in various photographs of Henry with Sienna Marlborough, the most damaging photo being her leaving his car sometime this morning. Each headline swirled in front of Bre’s eyes, and each one took a shot at her reputation, ignoring that her supposed fiance was out with another woman.

Bre must have looked devastated since Matthew left his desk to guide her over to their office couch. “Let me get you some water,” Matthew told her as she sat stunned. “I’m so sorry,” he told her as he returned. “I shouldn’t have sprung such a thing on you.”

‘No’ Bre thought, ‘You shouldn’t have.’ Instead, she absolved him of his guilt. After all, the only guilty party appeared to be Henry. “How are you minimalizing this?” Bre asked as she compartmentalized her pain and anger.

Matthew looked taken aback as her words lingered in the air. “I’m not certain there is any way to minimize this. The pictures are bad. The papers also interviewed other patrons of the club who’ve made claims about Sienna and Henry’s…conduct.” Bre read the articles, and no one was calling what allegedly happened between the two of them conduct.

But Bre knew something like this was going to happen sooner or later, but she assumed her shame would not be so public. “We need to spin whatever is being said to our advantage. Parliament members just stopped whispering about yanking Henry’s seat during their next vote, and something like this might cause a huge setback in our progress. Our latest charity endeavor is also working to tie itself to the Royal Family and Ascot, a scandal between Henry and one of our board members is the last thing we need.” Bre continued to rattle off ways these pictures might harm Henry and the Rochester family ignoring all the ways this affected her relationship because fake engagement or not, Bre and Henry were screwing, and she did not appreciate him fucking someone behind her back.

“Bre, you might consider taking a step back from this. Perhaps take the day off and work at home. I can handle things in the office,” Matthew told her his face masked with pity. Bre was not a masochist. If she thought wallowing at home would help her feel better about things she might head back to her flat, instead, she hardened her heart and switched her brain into gear.

“I can handle this,” Bre told him. Matthew appeared hesitant. “Honestly, I’ll be fine. Working will help me not lose my mind,” she said honestly.

* * *

Bre considered reaching out to Henry multiple times throughout the early morning but decided against it. A confrontation between them was brewing, and she wanted time to cool down before things came to a head. Even if Henry made it clear she did not have the right to be mad, considering they actually weren’t engaged, the public level of embarrassment she was currently experiencing at least deserved an apology. Considering her phone was littered with calls from just about everyone but Henry, she assumed he either did not care what his night of debauchery meant, or he was not aware that his exploits made front-page news.

“Those pictures simply show His Grace enjoying a stag night with some very close friends,” Matthew had been fielding calls from press all day regarding Henry’s exploits. They’d developed and agreed on a statement: “Henry and Sienna’s relationship is nothing more than a friendship, and he engaged in a stag party to celebrate his upcoming nuptials.” Of course, the mention of nuptials brought about the question of when said wedding would take place. Not having a wedding date over a month into their engagement opened more problems than it closed, but Bre and Matthew could only minimize the damage Henry created, not clear it up altogether.

“Ms. Reynolds currently does not have a comment,” Matthew said into the phone. All of the calls began to blend together, as Matthew fielded question after question. Bre’s phone rang, and as she saw the ID, she groaned. The morning became even worse as Bre saw her mother’s number populate the phone. She’d assumed that also if the new hit the states, her parents wouldn’t hear about the situation until things died down. Apparently not. Bre’s shock multiplied over the fact that with a six-hour time difference, it was the middle of the night in the States, which meant that her mother was planning to freak out.

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