Because of His Past (13 page)

“I operate how I damn well please.
 
When you’re at home playing Lego’s, you
don’t see me coming in and getting involved, do you?”

“Really funny,” Liam growled.
 
“Maybe you’ll find it even funnier if I
put your big fat head through this wall.”

“Try me,” Easton said.
 
His smile widened.
 
“I’d love nothing more than to pay you
back for yesterday afternoon’s fun you had in my office.”

“Don’t,” Grace said, walking over to them
and trying to get between them.
 
They felt like two buildings.
 
She couldn’t separate them.

“I will break your neck if you so much as
raise your voice to her again,” Liam said, pointing at Easton now.
 
“I’m serious.”

Easton nodded.
 
“Good luck with that,” he replied.
 
“Lots of us in the normal world have
voices raised at us on a daily basis.
 
Now why don’t you go back to the castle and play with your Lego’s?”

Grace grabbed Liam’s hand and pulled him
away.
 
“Come on, it’s not worth it,”
she told him.
 
On the way out, she
grabbed her purse and kept Liam going.

He turned on his way out the door and
extended his middle finger.
 
“That’s
what I think of your precious office!” he yelled.

Easton stood his ground, nodding,
watching as they left.

When they got outside the building, Liam
was still fuming, his fists clenched.
 
“I should’ve knocked that arrogant fuck out when I had the chance,” he
said, stalking along the street.

Grace walked quickly beside him.
 
“No you shouldn’t have.
 
Do you really want to go to jail over a
petty argument?”

He stopped and looked at her with those
blue eyes, as everyone passed by them on the sidewalk.
 
Streams of people walked by on either
side.

“I won’t ever let another person hurt
you,” he said, his voice calm now.
 
“Ever.”

She smiled.
 
“I appreciate it, Liam.
 
But I also need to be able to stand up
for myself.”

He sighed.
 
“I just know the man too well,” he
said.
 
“Easton Rather was the
skeeviest perv of all time, and he has no right to judge you or me.
 
Or anything we did in his office.
 
That dude was the king of fucking chicks
in every public place he could manage for years on end.”

Grace made a face.
 
“That’s just gross.”

“No, he’s just gross.
 
Arrogant fuck.
 
Now that he’s married he’s suddenly the
fucking pope of office professionalism.
 
Give me a break.”
 

They started walking again, slower now.
 

“It’s over,” she said.
 
“It’s fine.”

“You hungry?” Liam asked.
 
“Arguing with douchebags always works up
my appetite.”

She had to laugh.
 
“I’m starving.
 
I haven’t eaten all day.”

“There’s a good burger place on the
corner.”
 
He took her by the hand
and walked her to the restaurant, and they went inside.

Once they were seated, Liam had calmed
down enough, and after ordering, asked her to tell him exactly what had
happened that day.

As she told the story, they both ended up
laughing about it more than anything.
 
Yes, it was embarrassing and slightly humiliating, but it was over and
she hadn’t been fired.
 
The whole
thing was starting to fade away, to feel more and more okay.

Regardless
of what happens with Easton and my job, I’m just happy being here, in this
place, in this city, with the man I love.

And
I do love him.

She smiled at Liam and he smiled back.

The waitress brought their burgers and
Liam immediately took a huge bite of his, chewing, and even with his mouth full
of food, he was gorgeous and sexy.

His brown hair was mussed just the way
Grace liked it.
 
He looked at her
with those piercing blue eyes and swallowed.
 
“What are you thinking right now?” he
said, curious, as he picked up a fry.

She laughed and shook her head.
 
“I know this is crazy with everything
that’s happened in the last twenty-four hours.
 
But I’m just so happy right now, being
with you.”

“That doesn’t sound crazy at all,” Liam
replied, grabbing her hand across the table.
 
“It sounds like the sanest thing I’ve
ever heard.
 
And I feel the same
way.”

They looked at one another, falling
silent, and Grace just wished there was a way to freeze this moment in time, to
always feel this way, this good, this happy, this right.

She told herself that if they could be
happy with all of the madness going on around them, then that meant they truly
did belong together.

This
is real.
 
This is something worth
fighting for.

And then Liam’s phone started buzzing,
and later, Grace wouldn’t be able to recall whether the awful feeling had
overtaken her before he’d even answered it, or if she was just confusing things
later on.

“Hello?” Liam answered, a confused look
on his face, as he put his free hand over his other ear to block out the
restaurant noise.
 
“Speaking,” he
said.
 
“What’s going---what?
 
Could you repeat that please?”

Liam’s face was growing paler, and paler
still, and his eyes had taken on a strained, far away quality.

Grace stood up, everything turning unreal,
almost transparent.
 
“Liam?” she
said, so softly that nobody could even hear her.
 
She hardly heard herself speaking.

Liam listened intently and then closed
his eyes.
 
“Are you…are you
certain?
 
Please tell me…” his voice
faded out.
 
Something in his face
seemed to
crumble,
some light in his eyes was
extinguished. “Okay,” he said, a crushed sound.
 
“Okay.”

He hung up the phone and looked up at
Grace, and then he stood up as well.

“What is it?” she asked, hands clenching
into tight fists, bracing for the worst.

“My mother’s been in a car accident,” he
said.
 
He sounded too
calm—stunned.
 
He was clearly
in a state of shock.

“Oh God, no,” Grace cried, horrified, and
other patrons turned to stare.

“She’s gone,”
Liam
said, his blue eyes haunting her with the look of hopelessness she saw
there.
 
“My mother’s dead,” he
intoned, each word like a stake through Grace’s heart.
 

The world was starting to spin now.
 
Spin out of control.
 

Voices were getting further and further
away, and Grace felt herself sinking into darkness.
 
Both she and Liam, she realized, were
sinking into blackness so complete, that she wondered if either of them would
ever find their way out again.

THE
END OF FOR HIS PLEASURE, BOOK 24

Stay tuned for
book 25 in the For His Pleasure series, coming soon!

Kelly Favor’s other hit series’ include
The Debt and Naked.
 
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