by April Hunt
Corelli paused. “She’s at the dinner.”
Grace couldn’t believe her ears. “I told you to watch her! Letting her get gussied up to play the part of the dutiful daughter is not keeping an eye on her.”
“She is being watched. There’s a detail around her at all times,” Corelli said defensively. “Look, I tried doing what you asked, but the vice president’s not exactly receptive when it’s something he doesn’t want to do. For what it’s worth, he did send her to someone who cleared her.”
Grace scoffed. “After what? One meeting? The girl’s been brainwashed to justify all actions done in the name of the Order. That means she’s deceptive enough to lie convincingly when she needs to. She probably has a better chance of faking her way through a polygraph than you do.”
Realization flickered in the agent’s eyes.
“Follow me.” He hustled them through the halls of the White House, shouting into his radio. “I need updated positions on Papa Bear and Baby Bear. Right now.”
Cade touched Grace’s elbow as they followed hot on Corelli’s heels. “We better be right about this, or else you can forget about that promotion, and I’m going to be sentenced to Leavenworth.”
“First, you’re not in the Army anymore, Rambo. They won’t send you to Leavenworth. And Vance isn’t going to fire me.”
“So sure of yourself, are you?”
“As a matter of fact, I am. Promotion, remember?”
They stopped outside the State Dining Room while Corelli barked orders to his team, but Cade didn’t take his eyes off her. “Look, I didn’t say anything the other night because I’m an asshole, but…congratulations. I know you’ve worked hard for this, and there isn’t anyone who deserves it more.”
The pained look on his face told her what she needed to know.
“That means a lot to hear you say that,” Grace said truthfully, barely suppressing her nerves. “It comes with a lot more responsibility, and relocating is always a pain in the ass, but that part won’t last forever. And I have four built-in personal movers. Actually, six. You and Tank aren’t escaping manual labor.”
“No. You’re right, it’s…wait.” Cade blinked. “Relocating?”
Grace took his hand, and their gazes collided. “Relocating. Permanently. To DC.”
Corelli cleared his throat and tossed open the door. “Look alive, kids.”
Grace reluctantly pulled her attention away from the man she loved and onto their surroundings. “Oh. Wow.”
Dignitaries galore spread throughout the room, dressed to impress in glittery gowns and fancy suits. Her ripped shirt and yoga pants, not to mention the multicolored bruises, made her stand out like a sore thumb.
Those nearby cast them curious glances.
“Guess I’m a little underdressed,” Grace murmured.
Corelli waved to someone on the other side of the room. “The vice president’s on the private balcony with—” His eyes snapped toward the balcony in question and cursed. “Clear the room and get the president to her safe room. Now!”
Both suited and plain-clothed Secret Service leaped into action, causing more than a stir among the guests. People panicked from the flurry of activity, some running to the nearest exits and other freezing like statues. Across the room, the president was whisked away.
“Is that the balcony?” Grace noted six armed and serious-looking Secret Service agents stealthily approaching a set of French doors.
Corelli nodded. “Sarah’s on the landing with her father…and she’s armed.”
“Tell them to stop their approach.”
“Are you fucking serious? Did you not hear me say that she has a gun?”
“Grace.” Cade touched her hand. “Maybe you should let them—”
“No. I know she’s not herself, but I know she’s not as far gone as my mother. So far she hasn’t done anything wrong except want to be cared for. She’s desperate. I can work with that.”
Corelli frowned. “You’re asking me to risk the vice president’s life.”
“I’m asking you to trust me.”
Corelli looked to Cade, who shrugged. “Brandt trusted her enough with his daughter to bring her into this. I’d do what she says, but that’s just me. Well, and the VP.”
“Fuck,” Corelli cursed, then nodded. “Everyone hold,” he spoke into his mic. “I repeat, make no moves toward the target.”
He turned toward Grace. “I really hope you know what you’re doing.”
“So do I.”
Chapter
Thirty
Grace stood outside the balcony doors and took a deep breath. Behind her, Cade talked to one of her cousins on the phone and hung up. “Roman said that Vance took Rossbach into custody about five minutes ago. Evidently our buddy Todd sang like a canary when threatened with jail time.”
“Good. I can use that to our advantage.”
Corelli stepped over. “Here.”
“A flak jacket?” She glanced down, accepting the heavy black vest.
“Before the vice president sealed the door, Agent Reed caught a glimpse of Sarah’s gun. It’s 3-D printed, but the bullets sure as hell aren’t. It’ll do as much damage as one bought straight from the assembly line.”
“That’s how she was able to sneak it in?” Cade spun Grace toward him and double-checked the buckles on the vest.
“Looks like. I can’t tell you how pissed I am that we didn’t take this more seriously. I thought we had her covered.”
Grace felt a little sorry for the Secret Service agent. “Failure isn’t an option for her. She would’ve found a way around whatever security you could’ve put in place.”
“Still doesn’t make me feel any better.”
A thought struck Grace. “Wait. You said Brandt closed the door on his detail? Before or after she showed the gun?”
“After. Why?”
“Did she order him to do that?”
Corelli thought about it before shaking his head. “I don’t think so. He just did it. Why?”
“Because even though she obviously intends to hurt him, he’s protecting her.” Pieces of a plan slowly formed in Grace’s mind. The rest she’d have to make up as she went.
“Grace.” Cade squeezed her fingers, pulling her attention to him.
“Don’t tell me not to do this, Cade,” she warned.
“I’m not. Just…” He cupped her cheek and dropped a hard kiss to her lips.
Grace slid her fingers around the nape of his neck and into his hair and poured everything she had into that kiss. Every intention. Every promise. Every last breath.
When her chest ached from lack of oxygen, Cade rested his forehead to hers, panting as heavily as she was. “Be careful. Please.”
“I’m always careful. Besides, I have a lot to look forward to when I step back into this room. At least I hope that I do.”
“You do.” Cade flashed a nervous smile and reluctantly stepped back. “Now go perform your magic.”
Grace took a cleansing breath and gently eased down the door handle. “Wish me luck.”
“You don’t need luck.”
“Do not come out here!” Sarah’s voice screeched.
“Sarah.” Grace softened her voice. “It’s me. Grace. Mother Rebecca’s daughter. You remember me, right?”
Sarah scoffed. “I don’t think I’ll ever forget the person who carried me away from my home.”
“Technically Cade did the carrying, but…yeah. I’m sorry about the way things played out,” she said truthfully. “I wanted to talk to you about it…about what you’re about to do.”
“The time to talk was in Sanctuary. Now it’s time to fulfill my duty.”
“It’s your duty that I want to talk about, Sarah.” Grace turned back to Cade and got a supportive nod. “Please?”
“F-fine. But you b-better be alone…and unarmed.”
“I am. I promise.” She waited a beat and then opened the door wide enough to step through. Unlike Brandt, she didn’t clos
e it all the way, giving the agents inside a backup plan if this one exploded in her face.
“You can’t stop me.” Sarah Brandt stood in the center of balcony, aiming a white plastic, although no less lethal, 3D-printed gun at her father with a shaky hand. The vice president stood stock still, eyes wide with concern as he watched his daughter. “I have to do this. For me. For my New Dawn…and for Father Teague’s.”
“I know you feel like you don’t have any other choice, Sarah, but you do,” Grace began carefully. “Think about what you’re doing right now. Think about how this could end.”
“With me and Father Teague getting our New Dawns. Everyone deserves their New Dawn.”
“Even at the expense of another’s life?” Grace stepped forward one slow step at a time. Pierce Brandt shifted nervously on his feet, for once wisely remaining quiet.
“That’s far enough.” Sarah’s hands trembled.
Grace stopped, lifting her hands. “Okay. Okay. Just…can you answer that question? Why is one person’s life more important than another? Why must your father die so that Father Teague can be happy?”
“Because everyone—”
“Deserves a second chance. You’re right. They do. But this isn’t the way to go about it, Sarah. You can’t take away someone’s second chance to give someone else theirs. That’s not how life works…or happiness.”
Tears ran down Sarah’s cheeks. “It has to! There has to be some kind of payback system! Otherwise someone—”
“Will always be hurting.” Grace’s heart ached for the other woman. Confused. Desperate for something she didn’t think could be hers. “Lethal retribution isn’t the answer.”
Sarah’s hands trembled more.
Grace calmed her voice despite the fact that every muscle in her body was prepped to move. “Can you lower the gun a little bit for me? Just a little. And take a deep breath. You don’t have to look at me, but take a deep inhale and let it out slowly.”
It took a moment, but the other woman listened, and her trembling abated.
“Good. Now, I want you to help me think through something, okay? We’re just going to have a little think tank…you and me.”
“O-okay,” Sarah said reluctantly.
“You think, that by harming your father, you’d not only be that much closer to your New Dawn, but you’d be helping Father Teague, right?”
She nodded. “Mother Rebecca said it was a sign that my Dawn was linked to his—that once I overcome my Obstacle, everything else would be a smooth road to the life I deserve.”
Grace mentally cursed her mother out all over again.
“That’s a nice thought, but that’s not reality, Sarah,” Grace said gently. “Life is never a smooth road. It’s full of swerves and surprises. Some good and some maybe not so good.”
“But she said—”
“I know what she said, but you and me are the only ones here right now, remember? We’re putting our heads together.” Grace waited for Sarah’s slow nod. “So what happens if you or Teague face another Obstacle? Does that mean that you both have the right to hurt someone else to make it go away?”
“No…it…I-I don’t know.”
“Then where does it end? Where does the cycle stop?” Grace took a small step closer, and when Sarah didn’t recoil, she took another. “What happens to the loved ones, Grace? If you hurt your father, what happens to your mother? In the name of her New Dawn, is it acceptable for her to eliminate the persons who took her husband away?”
“I…”
“Causing pain is never the way to a life of love. The only path to a life of love is to live your life with love.” Grace stepped within grabbing distance but made no move to snatch the weapon. She slowly placed her hand on Sarah’s shoulder.
“Grace,” Cade warned, watching from inside the building.
Tears poured down Sarah’s face as she looked Grace in the eye. “I want that…I want a life with love.”
“I know you do. We all do. But this isn’t the way to get it.” She slid her gaze to the vice president where he stood frozen into position, his face pale and forehead sweaty. “Really look at your father, Sarah. He wants you to be safe. He protected you by closing the door and separating you from the agents inside. He wants you to be happy. He loves you. Unconditionally.”
“I do,” Pierce Brandt choked out, his words roughened by emotion and a healthy dose of fear. “Your mother and I love you so much. I know I disappointed you somewhere down the line, and I promise…with all my heart…that I’ll do whatever it takes to make it up to you.”
Sarah stared at her father.
“I love you, Sarah.”
Grace counted to five, then ten. Every second that ticked by, she prepared to lunge for the gun…but then the vice president’s daughter melted. On a heavy sob, she dropped the gun to her side and sunk to her knees.
A dozen armed Secret Service agents stormed the balcony. Grace inserted herself between them and Sarah, gently easing the gun from her hold moments before Vice President Brandt rushed forward.
“I’m so sorry, Daddy,” Sarah sobbed into her father’s chest. “I’m sorry. I don’t know how…I just…”
“It’s okay, sweetheart. I know. We’re going to get you the help you need. I promise. We’ll make it all better.” He cradled her against him, tears dripping off his chin. His gaze caught Grace’s from over Sarah’s head and mouthed a silent thank-you.
Her body still buzzing from the run of adrenaline, Grace shimmied past the relieved security detail and back into the ballroom. It was easy to spot Cade. The only person in the room other than a few other guards, he leaned heavily on a cocktail table, his head bowed so she couldn’t read his expression.
Grace approached him even more carefully than she had the vice president’s daughter. “So…mission accomplished. Bad guys taken care of and a family reunited. Everything else will fall into place with time.”
He looked up, his heated gaze nearly knocking her back a few steps. “You realize that could’ve backfired in a stupendous way, right?”
“It could’ve, but it didn’t.”
He pushed off the table and stepped closer. “You were so close to her that your flak jacket wouldn’t have done a damn thing if she’d have fired.”
“I know.”
“And yet you did it anyway.”
“I knew I could get through to her.”
“And what made you so damn sure, huh?” Cade demanded.
“Because in any other time or place, she could’ve been me. She has people who care about her, who genuinely want what’s best for her, and for whatever reason, she couldn’t see it. She just needed reminding. We both did.”
Cade’s face lost its hardness as he studied her. “And what made you come to this grand realization?”
“Knox and Ryder and Liam and Roman. Zoey. Aunt Cindy and Gretchen. You.” Grace walked closer until her shoes bumped into his, and she looked up, refusing to pull her eyes away from his. “Ask me why I requested Vance turn my promotion into a transfer to the DC office.”
Cade’s throat worked overtime, and he swallowed loudly. “Why?”
“Because I love you. I’m in love with you and I have been since I was a surly thirteen-year-old who thought the world was against her. You didn’t tell me to stay the other night because you didn’t want to take my choice away from me, but this is my choice, Cade. You are my choice.”
For a second, he didn’t move, and Grace questioned her people reading yet again. Nerves rolled her stomach, making her feel like she was going to puke. But then he cupped her chin between his fingers and held her hostage with every emotion that showed on his face.
“What was it that you said to Sarah?” Cade asked, his blue eyes bright with unshed tears. “The only path to a life of love is to live your life with love.”
Grace nodded, barely able to form words or even breathe. “I did say that, didn’t I?”
“You’re my path, Grace Steele. You’re my life. You’r
e my forever.”
She smiled through the barrage of happy tears pouring down her cheeks.
Grace had spent years denying her heart what it really wanted, and having it right in front of her was more than a little surreal. Sliding her hands up Cade’s chest, she ignored the swarm of people around them. “I really hope you know what you’re getting yourself into. I have it on good authority that us Steeles are a decent-sized handful.”
He chuckled. “Try two handfuls.”
As his mouth descended onto hers, Grace knew she wouldn’t change a thing about her past even if she had the opportunity. It all brought her to this moment. It brought her Cade. It brought her the life that she was always meant to live.
It brought her unconditional love.
Epilogue
Christmas music played in the background, mixing in with laughing conversations and good-natured insult swapping, one more outrageous than the next. Add in the sweet smell of cinnamon, and it was a typical Steele-Wright holiday.
Typical…except for the fact that once the festivities were over, Grace wasn’t hopping on the next plane back to New York.
Female laughter drew Cade’s attention across the room to where Zoey howled at something Jaz said, which was no doubt aimed at one of the guys. A feast was in the process of being laid out. Liam and Ryder were already circling the table, eyeing the goods, and Grace stood off to the side with Knox and Rhett. But Rhett seemed to be the only one listening to what the eldest Steele brother had to say.
Grace watched Cade, her lips twitching mischievously. He was dying to know about the midnight surprise she’d teased him about before they’d walked through the door.
“I like that look in your eye, son.” Hogan Wilcox grinned, making his way over.
Not long ago, Cade would have walked the other way, but with Grace’s help and her talent for knocking his head on straight, he accepted his father’s hand.
“Glad you could make it,” Cade said sincerely. He caught Zoey’s smile from across the room and winked at his sister.
“I was glad to get the invitation…and doubly glad to see what I expected for a while now.” Hogan glanced toward Grace. “She’s a good woman.”
