“And what exactly have I done?” Her voice was deadly soft.
A year ago she ignored his taunts. She thought he was just some rich, prejudice asshole. Now she knew better and she refused to let him intimidate her any longer. In the past he cornered, insulted and battered at her confidence whenever he caught her alone. How many times had she tried to talk to Mitchell about these encounters with Ray which Mitchell dismissed? In the past she endured these confrontations with stoic eyes. Not anymore.
“You’ve been driving him crazy. He hasn’t been the same since you left him.”
“You wanted me to leave him. You made sure you told him about my background, how I would try to trap him. You made sure he knew all about my mother, didn’t you?” Her voice was harsh with anger.
He took a step back. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I always wondered how you knew so much about me and now I know,” she breathed and closed the difference between them. “You told Mitch all about my mother but you never mentioned my father. Why not? Why not tell him the whole truth?”
He stiffened.
“I’m not planning on getting involved with Mitch so you can get it out of your head that that’s why I’m here tonight. In fact, why don’t you do me a favor and convince him to let me buy him out so I can move on? Do what you’re good at- putting words in his ear to make his decisions for him.”
Ray was obviously dumbfounded by this unexpected attack and Grace felt a spurt of satisfaction. She had the upper hand now and he knew it.
“You’re just like Vicky,” he hissed.
“If I was like Vicky I would be
blackmailing you too and believe me, Ray, I don’t want anything you have.” Her voice was full of scorn. “I want nothing to do with you or Mitchell. If you want me out of his life, convince him to let go of my boutique. Otherwise, stay out of my way.”
She tried to walk away but he jerked her back
with a bruising grip on her arm.
“You can’t talk to me that way,” he hissed, towering over her.
She wrenched out of his hold. “I can talk to you anyway I want,” she retorted and then paused deliberately before she nailed her point home. “Dad.”
His hands clenched and unclenched at his sides
in helpless anger. “She tricked me.”
It was an echo of Mitchell’s words
to her and she shuddered. She looked into her father’s eyes and felt absolutely nothing for the man whose blood she shared. Grace was Ray’s worst sin in the flesh, parading in a world that he dominated. Ray couldn’t stand seeing her with his godson. Ray would never forgive Grace for being born… and neither would her mother.
“Go back to your wife and if you want your life
to go back to the way it was, get Mitchell a new woman.”
His face worked furiously. “Vicky will pay for this.”
Grace paused and felt a thread of pity for her mom. “You’ve been making her pay ever since she got pregnant.” It terrified her to think of how close she’d come to repeating her mother’s mistake.
“How does she suffer?” Ray demanded. “I pay for everything she wants.”
What could Vicky buy that would repair a heart that had known nothing but hate from the one man she had ever loved?
“Just leave me alone, Ray,” Grace said wearily and left him spluttering in the hallway.
Grace didn’t have time to compose herself before she turned the corner and came face to face with Landon. His eyes moved over her face and then peered beyond her into the dark hallway.
“What happened?” he asked in a low voice.
“Nothing.” She beamed up at him and tried to hide her anger.
“Are you ready to go?” he asked.
“Yes,” she said in relief.
They said their goodbyes to Macy before they left.
Landon’s car was at the curb when they walked out into the night. Grace was too exhausted to make small talk and ignored Landon’s gaze during the short ride to her building. When the car stopped Landon insisted on walking her up to her door and took her arm. She gasped when he touched the arm Ray had bruised. Before she could pull away, Landon pulled up the sleeve of her dress and stared down at the nasty purple blotch already forming.
“What the hell happened? Did Mitchell-”
Landon thundered.
“No! It’s nothing,” Grace said and pulled away.
“Someone told me he followed you outside but by the time I got there both of you were gone. If you’re covering for him-”
“I’m not,” she said flatly. “It wasn’t Mitchell. I promise.”
“I thought I saw somebody in the hallway,” he said, eyes narrowing.
She grabbed the front of his jacket and shook him slightly. “It’s nothing. I’m accident prone.”
He didn’t look convinced.
“I can take care of myself,” she insisted.
He cupped her face and leaned down and kissed her. She stiffened in surprise but didn’t pull away. On a night when her shields had been destroyed, she was desperate for touch, for comfort. When he pulled away they stared at each other for a long minute.
“You worry me,” he said.
“You make me feel safe,” she replied.
“If you need help, you call me.”
“I will,” she said and received another kiss.
She rode the elevator up to her floor and walked quickly to her condo. As soon as she closed the door she let out a long breath and leaned against the door for support. She couldn’t stop the tear that worked its way past her defenses and curled around her chin.
Grace woke before her alarm the next day and knew even without
looking that her arm was in bad shape from Ray. She didn’t let that slow her down as she got ready for work, checking emails while she brushed her teeth. She was a hustler. It was tenacity and her determination not to be like her mother that forced her to push herself. She’d come this far and she was damned if she would let Mitchell take everything she worked for.
She went to the gym in her building and worked out while she watched the news and set up meetings for the
day. By eight that morning she talked to people in eight different countries and spent several hours on the computer before she headed to lunch to meet Amy. She wore a thin long sleeved shirt despite the warm day. Amy was at the restaurant early, as usual. She and Grace could have been sisters; they looked and acted so similar. Amy had been through the ups and downs of business with Grace and stuck by her side when she should have looked for another job. Grace and Amy embraced and were admired by many of the males taking in quick business meetings.
“Gosh, it feels like months since we’ve done this. It’s always emails and phone calls,” Amy said as they sat.
“I think we need to do this more often for my own sanity,” Grace said, still feeling unsettled by her encounter with Mitchell and Ray last night. Strangely, she was more disturbed with her encounter with Mitchell. She didn’t like the emotions he evoked in her. Just because she had loved him once upon a time did that mean that he would always have some power over her?
Amy shot her a pointed glance. “You could have warned me.”
“About?” Grace asked, knowing exactly what Amy was referring to.
“
You went to Macy’s party last night with Landon Gingrich.” Amy took a moment to savor her mental image of Landon. “And then Mitchell comes and things get heated between the guys. I heard it would have come to blows if you hadn’t stepped in.”
“People exaggerate,” Grace said.
Amy leaned forward. “
Did
you go with Landon Gingrich?”
Grace folded her hands primly in her lap. “Yes.”
Amy’s eyes were wide. “Why?” When Grace didn’t answer Amy tapped her lips thoughtfully. “You couldn’t avoid going to the parties any longer so Macy’s are usually the most influential so it would be a good intro back into society. You need a date to let people know you’re moving on so you go with Landon. Did you think he would keep Mitchell away? Even I could’ve told you that was the wrong move! Mitchell’s as possessive as they come.”
Gra
ce raised a brow. “Next time I’ll consult you.”
Amy clucked her tongue. “Getting involved with Mitchell has been the best and worst thing you’ve ever done.”
“I think I’m going to keep a low profile for the next couple of weeks.”
“So
are
you dating Landon?”
Grace rolled her eyes. “
Landon’s just like Mitchell. I think the only reason he asked me out in the first place was to irritate Mitchell.”
Amy wagged her red brows.
“And it worked from what I hear.”
“
He just won’t give up.”
The
anger in Grace’s voice wiped all amusement from Amy’s face. Amy was the only one who knew the true reason behind Grace’s break up with Mitchell. Grace spent more time than she cared to admit crying on Amy’s lap, incapable of doing even the simplest tasks because for the first time in her life she had been completely and utterly lost.
“It’ll pass,” Amy reassured her.
Her temples throbbed. “When? It’s been over a year. And Ray was there.”
Amy tensed. “What did he want?”
“The usual. For me to keel over and die,” Grace said dryly and inwardly winced when she gestured with her injured arm.
“He’s a horrible man,”
Amy said darkly and faltered.
Grace shrugged. “It’s true. Neither of my parents are saints. Why do you think I never had kids? What if I turned out like my parents? I can’t take the chance.”
“You know you’re nothing like either of them,” Amy interjected.
A little voice inside her said that she was
identical to her mother in that they had both fallen in love with men in a different social bracket. Vicky had never recovered from the heap of scorn Ray heaped on her when she accidentally became pregnant. Her mom had never moved on from Ray. Was she going to be like her mother? Was she destined to live the rest of her life with a broken heart because she couldn’t get over Mitchell Price? She refused to live that way. She would get over Mitchell. She would move on.
Amy
didn’t like the pensive look on Grace’s face so she changed the subject. “How’s Casey and Evie?” Her heart warmed when Grace’s grim look vanished.
“They’re doing well. Casey called me last night. She wants me to fly out there.
She doesn’t like being alone and I don’t want her calling Vicky.”
Grace
paused as their salads were served.
Amy
grimaced. “How is Vicky?”
“Haven’t seen her
since the day I moved Casey to Texas.” Grace’s voice was hard with bitterness.
The uglin
ess of her past washed over her. She remembered the last time she saw her mother. The memory was so vivid in her mind that for a moment the restaurant and Amy disappeared and she stepped in front of Casey, nineteen years old and pregnant who hunched over to protect her stomach from their mother whose fists rained down. Grace’s breath caught as she remembered the pain as her mother punched her in the face. Grace shoved her mom back and told Casey to gather her stuff because she would never come back. She hadn’t talked to her mom since. Grace shook away the memory which was a far cry from her present surroundings. Piano music played and her hands brushed over the linen tablecloth. She took a healthy gulp of wine to wash away the bad taste in her mouth.
Amy shook her head in sympathy. “
You can’t help Vicky.”
“I know. I
like Texas though. Did you see Evie’s baby pictures?” Grace perked up and rifled in her purse and pulled out her phone.
Amy gushed over the pictures of
Evie and Grace relaxed. She wasn’t staying just to prove to Mitchell that she could move on without him, she was staying to make her business a success for Evie, for Casey. That’s why she worked so hard. Towards the end of the lunch, Amy went over finances, products, employees and clients and they planned for Grace to go to Europe to attend several fashion shows so she could bring back clothes to sell in the boutique. Grace and Amy hugged at the end of their business lunch and Grace went back to her condo and headed straight to her office, computer and phone.
She was in work mode where every hour was taken up by business.
Figures, managers, employees, vendors, clients. She changed since she came to the city. Gone was the naïve girl with admiring eyes. She poured everything into work so she didn’t have time to think about Mitchell or worry about Casey and Evie. In the business world she didn’t have time for doubts, for weakness. There were decisions to be made, connections she needed to solidify. This was her life and she enjoyed it…before. Now the rush of success was gone and she felt as if she were just going through the motions.
Mitchell sent her an email, requesting an update on how
things were coming along with a designer he recommended. She forwarded the email to Amy, asking her to call Mitchell. She didn’t want to talk to him. Amy phoned an hour later.
“He wasn’t happy,” she informed Grace.
Grace got a text from Mitchell.
When I want to hear from Amy I’ll send emails to her.
Grace didn’t respond but she heard the warning.
Throughout the week Grace received a stream of pictures and texts from Casey. The pictures made it harder to focus and cracked the ice around her heart. She stared at the pictures of her niece and felt her heart melt. She would do whatever it took to make her happy. She wanted to see Evie’s first steps, hear her first words. On that thought, she sent an email to Mitchell, asking him what he thought of the boutique idea in Texas. She hesitated when she saw his name pop up on her cell less than five minutes later.
“Hello?”
“So when you want something, you contact me directly,” he said evenly. “I’m surprised you didn’t have Amy call me instead.”
She felt the hit and her spine straightened. “The update you wanted was being handled by Amy.”
“Are you scared of me, Grace?”
“Yes.” She was. She was scared how much power he had over her. He had his hand in her business and her personal life. He was capable of
making her life heaven or hell. So far, he’d put her in both worlds and now she was in limbo.
There was a pause on the other end of the line and then,
“You’re serious about the boutique in Texas?”
His voice was deep and commanding, making her shift uncomfortably in her desk chair. God, even his voice had the power to make her want him and she hated him for it.
“Yes,” she bit out.
A pause.
“I don’t like it.”
She sat forward. “I can make this work. If you’re worried about the money,
don’t. I can use my money to open the boutique. I won’t take a penny from you-”
“It’s not the money,” he cut in.
That much was true. He was a millionaire. The profit he made from the money he invested in her boutique had been paid back to him several times over. He didn’t need anything from her. The boutique was a drop in the bucket compared to his other endeavors. She knew the only reason he was so involved in her business was because of her. She turned to look out at New York City with its towering buildings and minimal greenery. Everyone was in a hurry. Taxis honked at other cars while pedestrians walked past each other without a glance.
“What is it? Whatever it is, I can do it,” Grace said, tense with the need to get away from the city and the man she was forced to
interact with. She was torn between business and family. If she moved to Texas she could do both.
“I don’t like you being so far.”
Her heart stuttered. “Mitchell, this is business.” Her hand clenched on the arm of her chair, nails digging into leather.
“It’s not just business, Grace. I know you
’re doing this to get away from me. It won’t work.”
She tipped her head back to look at th
e ceiling. “If you know that, then let me go.”
“No.” His voice was resolute.
She surged to her feet. “I don’t need your permission! I can do this on my own.”
“You think not?” his voice was coated in ice. “I can make it impossible for you to find a place to lease. Don’t push me, Grace.”
“I haven’t come this far to let you dictate my life!” she snapped.