"Now, we can focus on Narcisse," Mary says. "He's been watching me."

"What, since when? Why didn't you tell-"

"Enough, Francis, I'm tired of your questions already and they're not even directed at me," his mother chides, rubbing the side of her temple. "What do we do about Narcisse?"

Francis leans back in his seat, crossing his arms. "Mother, you could... seduce him."

"What?!" Everyone cries out, excluding Catherine who laughs, incredulous.

She sighs wistfully, shaking his head. "Oh, you three don't know," she says, turning to Bash, Mary and Kenna. "Stephane and I had relations back in the day. He had divorced wife number three and I was practically a single woman."

"Disgusting," Bash states, cringing.

"Narcisse won't fall for my charming self again," Catherine tells them. "It was hard enough the first time."

Mary raises her brows. "Anyway, what can we do?"

"We have to ask ourselves what he wants in the first place," Kenna pipes up.

"Francis and I taking the blame for Eduard's death," Mary says. "He'll plead manslaughter at best as camera footage showed that he ran into my car and tried to bump me off before losing control and well... dying."

"Is that what he only wants?" Catherine asks. "Because we've taken his competition down ourselves in favour of... well, ourselves."

Francis sighs heavily, fingers through his hair. "There must be more to this. Stephane barely cared about Eduard. Why is he doing this?"

"Lord knows," Mary mutters tiredly. "I'm sick and tired of going around this over and over again. Can we just sleep on it for now? And deal with the money situation first?"

"Okay, I have selected seven paralegals with no calibre," Kenna says, slapping down a sheet of paper from her folder. "Who will take it upon themselves to fire them?" She pointedly looks over at the three named partners.

Francis chuckles wryly. "I'll do it."

"Right, there's your first job as a named partner," Kenna says, giving him a wide smile. "Another is accepting my resignation with immediate effect."

Mary's face falls. "What?"

"I'm going to Sweden. I need to start over," Kenna breathes out.

"But Henry's-"

"This is my choice," Kenna says, cutting her off as her eyes meet Bash's eyes. "I've been doing a lot of thinking. I've got a lot of weight on my shoulders, it's suffocating me to the point that I need to leave."

Catherine sighs. "We're sorry you feel that way. If there is anything you need, SVM provides a wonderful care package-"

"We'll miss you," Francis says, cutting his mother off and standing to hug her tightly. "Thanks for everything you've done for us."

Kenna smiles, patting his back as she moves to hug Mary as well. "It's nothing," she says, glancing over at Bash who doesn't make any move to hug her when Mary lets her go. Okay... "Look after my paralegals, yeah?"

"We will," Mary promises tearfully. "When are you leaving?"

"Tomorrow," Kenna says, biting her lip. "I just did it on a whim - booking my flight ticket. I've got a friend of my family there so she'll set me up. Then, it's smooth sailing."

Bash opens the door. "Kenna, a word about-"

"The annulment?" She finishes. "Sure."

Not what I was thinking, but if it will get you out of the room... "My office," he mumbles.

Entering his office, he closes the door and shuts the blinds for more privacy before he turns to face her.

"Hi," he says, making her furrow her brows as she smiles in confusion and amusement.

"Hi," she replies, chuckling softly. "So, when I get an address, you can send the papers over to me and I will-"

"I don't want an annulment, Kenna," Bash quickly cuts her off. "I want to say something because I might not get the chance to again."

Kenna crosses her arms as she blushes. What do you want to say then, she thinks. "Okay..."

"You said that you thought you loved me-"

"I was emotional, Bash," Kenna says, bowing her head, her cheeks staining red.

Bash frowns. "But that time when Mary disturbed us, you were going to say-"

"It's best if I left everything behind in France," Kenna cuts him off again, meeting his eyes.

Bash falters. "Everything? Like me? Us?"

Kenna scoffs, rolling her eyes. "There is no 'us', Bash," she reminds him gently. "It's not going to work between us, there are so many things between us, from our pasts-"

"I can make you happy, Kenna. Treat you better than my father did and-"

She steps forward, placing her hands on his cheeks as she rests her forehead against his. "I wish," she starts, her voice breaking. "So desperately to start something new with you. Something safe, wonderful, stable... But I can't move on if I'm being reminded of my past, the same past I'm running away from."

Bash places his hand on her waist, slipping her hair behind her ear so he can see her eyes. "I think I love you too."

Tears slip down her cheeks and she swallows hard. "We'll make each other miserable."

He laughs. "Seriously? In what way?"

"We're both volcanoes, Bash," she continues on. "We'll burn each other down. We'll be so worn out. The novelty will wear off, we both are feeling the motions because... because we've spent so much time together in intimate spaces. We might be in love, but it's too soon and it might not work out and I can't take that risk." She sniffles, wiping her tears. "I'm sorry, but I can't."

"What if we both left together? To Sweden?"

Kenna's eyes widen. "You don't... like Sweden."

"I'll like it for you," is his easy reply.

She cups his cheek, pressing a soft kiss on the other, just beside his mouth. "You are better than every other guy I've been with," she says into his ear. "But I can't bring you down with me."

Kenna lets him go, gives him a small smile and opens the door before disappearing down the hall.

He sighs heavily, sinking onto his sofa and running his hands down his face. It's all Henry's fault. He's losing her and it's because of Henry.

Getting up, he opens up his laptop and scrolls through all the statements he's received from past lovers of his father. He compiles them together, including the last security videotape of Kenna and Henry. Then he thinks better of it and leaves out the video, bringing all the photos of the things he did to other women into the file instead.

He reaches for the burner phone locked away in his drawer and turns it on before sending Henry a simple text.

{To Henry: Thought this was over?}

Taking a deep breath in, he presses 'send'.

...

"Open your eyes."

Mary opens her eyes and gasps when she sees the stunning nursery in front of her. From the warm yellow drapes to the pale yellow walls... Everything is warm and cosy. The woods for the dresser, changing table and cot are coated in a shiny auburn colour and Mary walks up to the crib first.

"Francis, I don't know what to say..."

Francis enters the nursery, a smile playing on his lips. "I wanted it to be neutral but a big part of me thinks it's a girl."

Mary chuckles, turning to him. "Really?"

"I wouldn't mind," Francis says, wrapping his arms around her waist. "I just want you to think about this and not about work or Narcisse or whatever we've got to deal with."

Mary cups his cheek. "It's working."

"Good," he says, pressing a kiss onto her lips. "I put everything up together."

"Oh, really?" She asks with a grin. "How did you even get the time to do this? I've been at home-"

"I had the orders sent to Bash's place and I've been using the lunches we didn't have together coming back home to set it up," Francis explains.

Mary's eyes light up even more and she slaps his chest lightly in disbelief. "I must be so oblivious!"

"Well, since you've been pregnant, you sleep heavily. And you've had no reason to come into this room yet so it was quite easy," Francis replies, leading her back out. "I can't wait to see our baby."

"Same here," she breathes out, stopping in front of their bedroom door. "I love you so much, Francis."

Francis kisses her deeply. "I love you so much too."

She sighs wistfully, her fingers playing with the hair on the nape of his neck. "Promise me you'll never leave me."

"I, Francis Valois-Angouleme-de Medici," he starts, making her laugh when he uses his full surname. "Promise to never leave you." His hand goes to her bump. "And our baby."

Mary beams in relief, nuzzling her nose against his. "Thank you."

"Are you ready to see James?" He asks. "I noticed you rebooked your tickets for another date."

Mary sighs, biting her lip. "I'm just a bit nervous," she admits. "I don't want to cause any more issues between him and me so I'll tread carefully. Just be moral support and not tread on his toes."

He cups her cheeks. "You're too good for this world."

She blushes. "Want to order something in? I'm feeling lazy and to be honest, Baby wants something spicy for some reason."

Francis chuckles, slipping his phone out of his pocket. "Well, I'll order in a curry. And a mild one just in case you burst into tears and start throwing up over the hot one."

Mary snorts. "You know me too well," she mutters, heading to the kitchen.