In that moment there was no doubt in his mind that she was his as much as he was hers.
Kitty placed her fork down, unable to finish the simple dinner that she and Harrison were taking in his rooms after their dalliance in the parlor.
Confessing her love for him in the heat of passion wasn’t Kitty’s idea of romantic. It had erupted out of her like a dormant volcano, and now all she wanted was to tell him about his son.
Christopher.
Taking a deep breath, Kitty rose from the small table overlooking the gardens. Squeezing her fingers, she gazed out into the cold winter evening.
Behind her, Harrison was finishing his meal of roast chicken and boiled potatoes, his eyes sparkled anytime he gazed at her, the corner of his mouth quirked in a knowing smile.
All that would change once Kitty told him the truth.
She tightened the belt of her dressing gown, deciding it was now or never. If everything changed between them at least she’d had four glorious days with him. It was the happiest she’d been in eight years, and Kitty would always cherish the time they’d shared secluded together in his townhouse.
Her feet led her over to him. “Harrison, I have something to tell you.”
Setting down his fork, he reached for her hand. His thumb circling her skin. The small contact of their flesh touching gave Kitty the courage to continue.
“It’s not important. All I care about is you.” He shook his head, a lone red forelock falling into his eyes.
Tears clouded her vision as an image of Christopher filled her mind. His wisps of downy red hair plastered to his small head, his clear blue eyes that had stared at her for three breaths before he stopped breathing in her arms.
“I have to tell you the truth … about your son.”
Everything stopped. Harrison’s face forming an array of emotions in mere seconds.
Confusion.
Fear.
Realization.
He jumped up, the chair wobbling vicariously from side to side.
“K-Kat.” He swallowed several times, the movement mesmerizing Kitty. “Where is he now?” Harrison whispered, his voice barely recognizable.
The room was eerily quiet as if every single thing was listening to their conversation.
Kneading her skin, Kitty tried to relieve the tightness in her chest, but there was no relief to be had. The pain that assaulted her transported her back to that fateful day nine years ago.
It had been difficult at first to move on with her life. First, she’d lost Harrison, and then she’d lost Christopher. Nothing else had mattered to her. Pleasure House saved her from grief and melancholy.
Opening and closing her mouth, Kitty played the words over in her head, finding them difficult to say even after all this time. “He died,” she rasped out, struggling to breathe past the lump that was currently sitting in her throat.
Harrison fell on the chair, nearly missing his seat, his now limp body shaking with grief.
“Harrison!” Kitty called out, rushing over to kneel in front of him, her hands enclosing his in a warm cocoon.
“W-when?” His red-rimmed eyes tore Kitty into a thousand tiny pieces.
This was what Kitty had avoided all those years. Destroying him the way that she had been destroyed when Christopher’s lifeless body laid in her arms.
It had taken both Lilias and the midwife hours to finally convince Kitty to release the babe. “Minutes after he entered the world. Christopher took three breaths and died in my arms.”
“Christopher?” His hunted gaze slammed into her.
For years she’d dreamed of hearing their son’s name on his lips. Of witnessing the emotions of knowing Kitty had honored him in the only way she knew how.
