“She had asked him to reconsider, yes. After you left, she went to see him. She thought it didn’t go well, but she was obviously wrong.” Mary studied him. “It was the right thing to do, and she knew it. Marrying you would solve the issue, but it wouldn’t help her country in the end.”
“Jesus,” he said, pinching the bridge of his nose.
She’d actually told him to leave, then sought out George behind his back. Asked him to marry her. He didn’t know why it hurt so much, but it did.
Mary slammed a book shut. “You can’t possibly be upset about this. You’re free from any and all obligations you felt toward her.”
“Maybe I wasn’t trapped in the first place.” He crossed his arms. “I like her. It’s not the worst thing in the world for us to be together.”
“It is for her country. For her, too.”
Gordon laughed, and it sounded harsh. “How so?”
“She needs a man like George on the throne with her and so does her country. This isn’t just the lives of you and her. This is a whole country of people, counting on her to make the best
choice for everyone. If she chose you, and went for a long shot at love, then she’d regret it later. She’d know she made the wrong choice.” She paused. “And in the long run, she’d hate you for it.”
Gordon swallowed hard. For the first time, the old hag made sense. Belle probably would resent him in the long run, if he convinced her to choose him. She knew she could do better than him. Hell, he knew it, too. He was a fucking wreck—just a normal guy, with normal amounts of money in his account. He lived a normal life in a normal house. Nothing about him was extraordinary…but everything about her was.
It only made sense that she chose someone else.
Someone more like her.
Glancing away from the bedroom, he nodded once. “I’ll back off, if it’s what she truly wants.”
“It doesn’t matter what she wants, personally. It’s bigger than that.” Mary smiled again. Just the simple gesture made him feel dirty. “Her country is hurting financially. Without Prince George’s coffers, it will fail. He will save her country, and she can, too, if she chooses him.”
Well, shit. Now he really couldn’t mess with her.
If she only had one way to save her country, how could he fuck with that? She’d hate him for sure. He couldn’t do that to her. And he couldn’t do it to himself, either.
“I didn’t know you guys needed money,” he said.
“We do.” The PR rep cleared her throat. “We need the story about the photoshopping to ring true. We need to know you won’t come out and sell a story proving she was with you.”
Gordon stiffened. “I would never do that to her.”
“We’re willing to offer you compensation, if you’re interested,” she continued, as if she hadn’t even heard him. “We’re offering—”
He blinked at the exorbitant amount of money she threw out at him. He could pay off his mortgage with how much money she’d offered him. Curling his fists tight, he shook his head. “I thought you were hurting for money.”
“This is from Prince George himself.”
He shook his head. “I don’t want his fucking money.”
“We need to ensure your silence,” Mary said, her nostrils flaring. “Prince George has offered this as a show of good faith.”
“I. Don’t. Want. Money.”
“Suit yourself.” She cocked her head. “But you’ll stay quiet anyway?”
He nodded once. “Even better than that, I’ll disappear from your lives for good. She leaves tomorrow, and we’ll never see each other again.”
“Perfect. She’ll be back here with her fiancé soon.” She paused. “You should go home, before there’s an awkward run in with them.”
“Yeah. Of course.”
Gordon took one last look at the room, lingering on the door to the bedroom, where he’d felt so close to her the other night, and then left.