A lot of Katherine's comfort that evening flew out the window when Harrison was forced to leave her side to make a speech to the entire gala due to him being CEO of King Enterprises. But the pride she felt watching him up there more than made up for it. Happiness completely engulfed Katherine as Harrison spoke so freely and confidently in a room of hundreds of people. He was eloquent and funny and engaging with his words.
He even spotlighted his father in his speech, speaking words that were mostly just for show, like how much he admired his father and how much he had appreciated the opportunity he was given to run the company while his father was recovering from a devastating heart attack. His father smiled and clapped for his son — which was also primarily for show.
Katherine almost hated being privy to such private information. It was like pulling back the curtain to see that the Wizard of Oz was just a man. But thus was life.
Harrison ended his speech before enthusiastically thanking the supporters for donating to such a special cause. And just before he left the stage, he announced that King Enterprises would match every dollar that was raised that night, which wowed the crowd instantly.
Katherine knew immediately, by the look on Michael King's face, that it wasn't something that usually happened, that Harrison had thrown it in on a whim. Maybe to provoke his father, she didn't know. All she knew was that it was above and beyond generous since the gala had already pulled in nearly a quarter of a billion dollars.
"250 million dollars. Are you mad?" Michael shot at Harrison as quietly as he could when he returned to the table.
"I'm hoping to raise quite a bit more than that, father," Harrison said, looking happy and smug at the same time.
"You will pay for this," Michael threatened, causing Joyce to pat her husband's arm and whisper something to him to get him to calm down.
"No. I think it will be King Enterprises paying for it," Harrison countered, sending his father a complacent smile.
"Mm," his father seethed, his eyes piercing daggers at his son.
"I always knew you were benevolent," Katherine said quietly, smiling over at Harrison.
He turned to look at her with a wide, bright smile on his face. He was so beautiful in that moment, she almost couldn't handle it.
"Dance with me," she suggested and he nodded immediately.
Harrison led her out onto the now nearly packed dance floor as a full orchestra played the soundtrack of the night. Katherine felt like she was in a dream as Harrison expertly spun her around the dance floor. She had been so nervous at the thought of dancing at the gala, but when it came down to it, she knew it didn't matter if she messed up because Harrison would be right there to help her along.
By the time she and Harrison had left the dance floor and went to the bar for more drinks, Harrison was being pulled away by the head chairman of UNICEF. Katherine stood on the sidelines, sipping on her champagne, people-watching as she waited for Harrison to finish networking.
"It looks like you need a partner to dance with," Katherine heard and looked up to see Michael King standing next to her.
"Uh..." She stammered, feeling almost paralyzed by the thought of having to dance with him.
But she knew it would not be acceptable to turn down a man as affluent and prideful as him, and there were quite a few cameras in their midst that might catch the slight. It just wasn't plausible.
Katherine nodded once and plastered a fake smile on her cherry-red lips.
"Brilliant," he cheered celebratorily as he grabbed her champagne flute from her hand and set it down on the nearest surface.
When he took her hand next, she silently hoped for Harrison to step in and save her from the hell she was about to be pulled into. The moment the senior Mr. King placed his hand on the small of her back, feelings of unease spread through her, remembering he groped her the first time they met. Katherine reluctantly took his other hand in hers and placed her free hand on his bicep as he began to lead them around the dance floor. She silently hoped she would mess up and step on his foot or something.
"You look quite lovely," he commented as his vision met with her cleavage.
Katherine smiled curtly at him, trying to be as pleasant as she could, but finding it hard to act as such.
"I wasn't aware that you and my son were sleeping together," he commented next, which caused her stomach to turn with disgust.
Of course that would be his first topic of conversation. The smile immediately dropped off her face as her body went almost rigid. Somehow she was able to hold her tongue though. What was that saying children are taught at a young age? If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. She had to repeat it in her head like a mantra as he continued to speak.
"Harrison needs a good woman to meet all of his needs," he continued, which only raised the bar on how misogynistic Katherine knew this man to be.
"I'm not here for your son's amusement," she snapped back at him, her eyes narrowing slightly, unable to bite her tongue any longer.
"Aren't you?" He asked with a complacent smile, which only added to the anger and irritation she was feeling deep down.
She pressed her lips into a tight line and vowed to ignore him for the rest of the dance he had forced her into.
"You know, my son has certain needs," Michael spoke lowly, "...sexually."
"That is enough," Katherine snapped immediately, her eyes narrowing at him.
He let out an amused chuckle that was like nails on a chalkboard to her.
"Have you had that conversation yet? My son is a deviant, a fiend," Michael snapped maliciously.
"Stop," Katherine growled under her breath.
"He's probably slept with half of New York by now. You understand that, right?"
Katherine slowly breathed in through her nose and out through her mouth as she avoided looking at him altogether.
"If you were my maid, I'd fuck you too, you know. Not sure why he's limiting his options to just one woman now though," Michael commented, like he was pouring salt in the wounds, "Though, you never know, right?"
Katherine's jaw began to hurt from clenching her teeth so tightly. His implication that Harrison was unfaithful to her was unwarranted and completely untrue. She just needed to be strong and ignore his words for another few minutes. She silently prayed for the end to be near.
When the song finally ended, and everyone clapped around them, Katherine found the opportunity to remove herself from the situation. She quickly pulled her hand out of his and nudged his other hand away, but not before he had the chance to graze it across her ass, giving it another squeeze.
Tears immediately burned in the back of Katherine's eyes. Not because of what he did, but because it physically pained her due to the stinging flesh from Harrison's spankings earlier in the night.
"You are a vile human being," she snapped at him before turning on her feet to walk off the dance floor.
She had to get out of there. She needed to compose herself, so she quickly walked to the restroom to take a moment for herself. Although she wasn't alone in there, she was still able to calm herself down enough to check her makeup for any imperfections before walking back out in hopes of finding Harrison.
"Katherine," Harrison said, stopping her immediately as he stood directly outside the restroom waiting for her.
"Harrison," she said breathlessly as she looked up into his concerned dark eyes.
"What did he do?" Harrison asked through gritted teeth.
"What?" She choked out, looking at him with wide eyes.
"I saw you with my father but I couldn't get away. I'm so sorry, mon ange," Harrison explained, looking plagued over the situation.
Katherine wondered how much of it he saw. He was angry, but it didn't seem likely that he saw his father grope her once again. She was sure he would be seeing red if he had.
"Are you okay? What did he say to you?" Harrison asked, furrowing his eyebrows in concern.
"Nothing. Nothing. It was just... uncomfortable," she lied, not wanting to cause a scene in the middle of a charity gala.
"Katherine," he said impatiently.
"It's okay, Harrison. I'm okay," she tried to assure him, leaning up to leave a light kiss on his lips before she had to reach up and wipe away the lipstick stain she left on them.
"I don't believe you," he said quietly, his eyes turning sad in a matter of moments.
"Can we... Can we just talk at home?" She asked of him and watched as his jaw clenched tightly and his nostrils flared, which were tell-tale signs that he knew something happened between her and his father.
"Just dance with me. Let's enjoy the night while we can," she offered, plastering a smile on her face as she led him back to the dance floor.
"Breathe," she whispered in his ear once they were dancing.
"I wish you would just tell me what happened," he insisted, his saturnine eyes penetrating hers.
"Harrison..." She sighed, but kept tight-lipped.
"Katherine," he growled lowly.
"I love you," she cooed, sending him a small smile.
Harrison licked his lips, but was unable to keep from returning the smile, which made her giggle.
"I think that's my new superpower," Katherine said, feeling a bit giddy in the moment.
"What is?" He asked as his eyes continued to watch her.
"The ability to make you smile even when you're angry," she said as a wide smile grew on her lips.
She felt an overwhelming sense of satisfaction when another brilliant smile made its way onto his face.
"Ah, she strikes again!" Katherine joked, giggling happily, which caused Harrison to let out a laugh.
"You make me feel a lot," he murmured before leaning in to gently kiss her lips.
"Lipstick," she giggled, reaching up to wipe the red from his lips.
"Fuck that lipstick, Katherine," Harrison growled, playfully annoyed by it, causing Katherine to guffaw unexpectedly.
Harrison chuckled before he leaned in to kiss up her neck, instead of going for her lips again. Katherine giggled happily and wondered when Harrison became a person who unreservedly exhibited public displays of affection. It was then that she realized they were both in brand new territory when it came to relationships— him being an absolute novice when it came to it.
But like everything he did, he was absolutely excelling.