Stepping into the kitchen after his morning run, he was ready to go find his girl and see how creative he could get waking her up, but the hushed tones when he stepped over to the fridge made him go on high alert.
He grabbed a bottle of water and turned to look at his brothers and Donnie sitting at the dining table in silence, and noticed Nicola glaring at them.
“Why do you guys look like you have been caught with your hands in the cookie jar? What they do, Grandma?”
“Marc…” Donnie looked at him. Something about the pathetic way he was looking at him made him stand straighter.
“What is it? Lexi?”
“No,” Garrett answered, and he couldn’t help but frown.
“Have you seen Grace this morning?” Bryan sullenly asked.
“She was sleeping in my room here at the house when I left for my run,” he told them as he placed the bottle on the counter.
He took in the unsure way Nicola stood, her eyes not meeting his. Turning, he soaked in Donnie’s worried expression, the way Bryan ran his fingers through his hair, and the smug look on Garrett's face, his hands clasped together in front of him. “Why?”
“You need to talk to her,” Donnie blurted. The grin on his oldest brother's face made his blood start to warm over.
“What did you do?” he asked Garrett, stepping closer, and the smug son of a bitch’s face grew.
“I didn’t do anything. You did,” Garrett said. Donnie and Bryan immediately stood between them.
“I’ll kick your ass if I find out—”
“Please, pretty boy, I’m a fucking soldier and you think you’re going to kick my ass? Fuck you! You didn’t deserve her anyhow. She at least knows that now."
“What did you do, Garrett?”
“What did you do, Marcus?” Nicola asked, and he looked at her.
“Grandma—”
“Tell me this nitwit was lying, Marc.”
“It’s not…” he started to explain, but she shook her head and hobbled out of the kitchen without a second look at them. Her disappointment flooded the room, and his shoulders slumped for a second.
“What did you do, Garrett?” he asked again, the anger flowing right through him, whirling and swishing inside.
“I enlightened her.”
“About?” he growled. His body shook as he looked at his older brother. The kid he’d grown up with, admired, had trusted, was no longer the man who stood in front of him.
“What kinda man you are.” Garrett shrugged, and Marc lost his shit. He stepped forward and raised his fists, feeling Garrett land one at his cheek. Bryan and Don fought to pull them apart. Bryan was holding Garrett, and Marc could feel the warm blood dripping down his own cheek.
“Relax, Marc,” Donnie huffed as he held him back from going after Garrett.
“I love her, you fucking idiot! Do you give a shit? Do you even remember what loving someone feels like?” Marc asked, completely out of breath, wiping the blood of his face with his shirt as panic started to set in.
“Fuck you,” Garrett spit out as Marc watched blood trickle down his brother’s lip.
“I love her, like end game, this was it for me.”
“Fucking liar. I know you. She has a kid. You wouldn’t want that kinda baggage.”
“I couldn’t love Lexi more if she were my own blood, asshole! Why the fuck would I want her to meet any of you, if she didn’t mean anything to me, huh!” He could hear the way his own voice trembled with fear and anger. Had he lost her? Stuck in his own head, he didn’t see Garrett pale, or realized how he was suddenly pin-drop silent.
“Shit!” He paced and cursed, “Fuck.”
Running his hands through his hair, he felt Don’s hand on his back. “Go talk to her. Clear everything up.” With a game plan in place, he stepped out of the house, not looking back at his idiot brother.
The moment he slammed the kitchen door, he didn’t run, he sprinted to the cabin. Stepping in, he realized he didn’t know what he was going to say. He had no idea what to expect.
He walked into the room they shared and saw her step out of the bathroom, dressed in a pink tank top and jeans, her hair thrown up in a tight ponytail. His entire being wanted to rush over to her, but he didn’t.
He stayed put, eyes trained on her, and she didn't look at him. She walked past him, stopping at the bed, where he noticed her open luggage.
“What are you doing?” He heard the nervousness in his voice. His breathing was off. He wiped at the warmth running down his face. But she didn't look at him. She just kept adding shit to her bags.
“Grace?” Her shoulders slumped slightly. He watched her take a deep breath before she grabbed a manila folder from her luggage and walked toward him.
“Here.” She handed him the envelope without looking at him.
“Grace?”
“Take it,” she whispered, her eyes to the floor.
“Baby?” He took a step forward, and she put her hand up and stepped back, slightly gasping and frowning when she caught sight of his face.
“Don't,” her soft voice warned, worry in her eyes. He probably looked like a mess, but he needed her to listen to him. He opened his mouth, but she knocked him to his knees with her words.
“Just take it. You more than earned it.” His stomach rolled, but he stood straighter.
“What is it?” he asked, his heart thundering in his chest.
“It’s what you were working so hard for.” She shook her head and looked him dead in the eyes. Now it was him who wanted to look away. There was no sparkle or sass. No glimmer or mischief.
“What?” His mouth was dry.
“I got up and you weren't here. I went looking for you.”
“I went for a run.”
“The guys were talking in the kitchen. They didn't see me.” He felt like he couldn’t breathe as she looked at him, emotionless. “Your brothers, no, Garrett told me everything.”
His body stood still, watching her, his heart hammering against his chest, his fucking tongue too big for his mouth. “I get it. You wanted what you wanted.” She placed the envelope she had in her hand on the chair by the bookshelf, and without a second look at him, she went back to the bed and quietly kept packing her things.
He should have told her! Why hadn’t he told her?
“You know what’s funny?”
“I don’t think any of this is funny,” he spoke, and she shrugged.
Speaking over her shoulder, she said, “You didn’t have to go through all the trouble.” She laughed humorlessly. “I mean, I’m flattered and glad I could get your dick wet. Help you lay pipe, I think is what your brother called it. In front of your grandmother.” She shook her head. “I mean, we’re both adults. We both got off.” She shook her head, her back to him, and he took a step forward but stopped when she continued, “All you had to do was give me some time to think about it. I would have sold you the rights. You didn’t have to play me.”
She zipped her bag. He noticed his hoodie, the one he’d given her to wear the first night after they’d made love and went to the living room. She’d worn that hoodie, and only that hoodie, as they cozied up in front of the fire. She had smiled brightly at him when she’d told him she was never going to give back.
“Is that what you think?” he asked, without thinking, and the moment her eyes hit his, he regretted speaking. But regret turned to self-hate when she started to speak.
“Did you take me out thinking you could seduce me into me handing you the rights over?” The question in her eyes hurt him. “Did you bet them five thousand dollars each that you could get in my pants and have me sign the story over?”
The questions burned him.
Not because she was looking at him like she was holding on to hope that Garrett had lied to her.
No. They burned because he had done that. He’d been arrogant and cocky and so damn fucking stupid.
“Grace…” His voice cracked.
“Don't perform for me,” she
whispered, her dark eyes closing slowly, and he felt the disappointment he’d caused. “Ya no…not anymore.” It was so soft that he almost missed it, and a wave of emotion swept over him.
“I didn’t. Please…” He couldn’t say anything else, because he saw the pain in her face, pain he'd caused. “Please…”
“Donnie sent me the paperwork after the photo shoot. Gloria and a co-worker of hers looked it over. I signed it.” She tilted her chin toward the chair. “There’s a flash drive in there. You don’t have to use what’s on it. I’m not really sure why I … umm…”
A knock came at the door, and they both looked at Bryan standing there. “Your cab is here, Grace.”
“Thanks.” He watched Grace give Bryan a fake smile and take her luggage off the bed, pulling the handle up.
“Cab? You’re leaving?” he stupidly blurted out, the panic too much for him.
He wanted to beg her to stay and talk to him, but he’d hurt her. He watched her grab his hoodie and drape it over her purse that was now over her shoulder.
“I am.” She stood straight, but with how tiny she was, especially next to him, she had to look up. He fell even further in love with her.
She was so strong.
She met every challenge life threw her way, head-on. Never wavering. “I booked a flight home. You can have your people send my check. Take care of yourself.” She extended her hand as if he was some kind of fucking stranger. He didn’t want to take it.
If he did, he’d fucking lose her.
“Don’t go.” His voice came out rough and gritty.
“The cat’s out of the bag, Marcus!” Her cool was snapping, fiery anger shining in her eyes. “Que quieres de mi? What do you want from me? Come on, let’s be freaking real. This…” she pointed back and forth between them, “was just a means to and end for you, right? God.” Her eyes widening, she looked at him like she didn’t even recognize him. Her hand covered her lips. “Did you tell Katie about this?”
“What? What the…”
Taking a deep breath to calm herself, she looked past him and stayed quiet as if collecting her thoughts. All while his were too tangled to see straight.
“Was any of this real?” He looked down at her, and the tears in her eyes gutted him. His jaw clenched. “It’s just, I know I shouldn’t ask, but… it felt real.” He opened his mouth to tell her when she kept going, “But then again, you are a very good actor, Marcus. One of the best, right?” She looked at him, and he knew he’d lost her.
By the cynical way she looked at him he could tell she was shielding herself from him. Building wall after wall. He hated it. But he only had himself to blame.
“Forget I asked.” She shook her head, and her arm went down.
Everything in his body was yelling at him to stand in front of her, kiss the daylights out of her, and beg her to stay.
But he didn’t.
He didn’t deserve her.
Instead, he looked down at her feet. She was wearing a worn pair of black Chucks that disappeared from his sight when she walked out. His eyes remained on the hardwood floors until he heard the front door close. His hands clenched in fists.
He walked over and looked out the window. He watched her speak to the cab driver, who smiled at her and nodded then took her baggage. She looked back at the cabin, and for a second he wondered if she was hoping he’d go after her.
He fought himself from doing that.
She pressed her lips together and held on to his hoodie and her purse, and slipped into the cab. The driver came around and closed the door. He watched her look down at his sweater, and from where he stood, he couldn’t see her clearly. But he knew they were there.
He knew she had tears rolling down her face, and it was all his fault.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Grace
I thought he would have come after me.
That just maybe what Garrett had said had been some kind of really crappy misunderstanding. But the way Marc stood there and never, not once, denied it told me what I needed to know. And the way he didn’t try to touch me or hold me put the last nail in the coffin.
I should have been named Hope instead of Grace. Because as I waited for my flight, I hoped he would storm through the small airport while yelling his undying love in an attempt to stop me from leaving. To make me forgive him. To give him another chance.
But he didn’t.
He hadn’t tried when I was three feet away from him. Why would he come to the airport to stop me from leaving? He had what he wanted now. I should have known better. I should have listened to Gloria and signed at the first moment, and closed the door. But I let myself be swept up in the magic and beauty that was Marcus Wright and had been burned.
I knew better, but I let myself fall.
I’d been reminded that life wasn’t a movie or a romance novel.
I hadn’t been able to book a direct flight from the small airport, so I had two layovers until I got home, and the cost of the ticket had been ridiculous. I’d charged it to my emergency credit card.
The one I had saved and pinched pennies to pay off, and now would have to pinch and save again to have it back to a zero balance. I knew I could do it. I’d done it before. I could do it again. Besides, I’d have a heavy nest egg of a check soon.
Sitting in the crowded airport, waiting for my last flight, I noticed a woman pointing in my direction. I looked down, hoping no one recognized me.
A means to an end, Katie Wells’ voice replayed in my mind, and I shook my head. Anger started to boil inside of me. She’d known. He had probably told her his idea from the start.
It hadn’t been enough for Marcus to involve me in his games to get the story rights, but he had to throw me into the limelight as well. Looking down at my phone, pretending to read on my Kindle app, I could hear the camera clicks of people taking pictures.
I tried to look like I couldn’t hear a thing, when in reality my heart was shattering in my chest.
***
It was a little past three in the morning when I got home, and I wasn't sure if I had ever been more exhausted.
Unlocking the front door, I turned the lights on and jumped, in complete shock that Gloria was there. I had called Gabby to let her know I would be back early, and she’d sounded worried about me. Gloria sat up from lying on the couch and took three fast steps to me, stopping in front of me.
I opened and closed my mouth, not knowing what to say, just glad my big sister was there. The damn broke, and sobs wracked my body. Tears flooded out, and her arms pulled me tightly into her. She hugged me close, stroking my hair, whispering reassurances that everything would be okay.
I'd held every tear in on each flight and between layovers. Now I was sobbing uncontrollably, and I wasn't sure they would ever stop. She guided me to the couch, where I lay down, my head on her lap. Pulling a throw over me, she stroked my hair.
After a while, silence surrounded us as my tears slowed. It was then she spoke. “What happened?” I shook my head, looking around my small house, hating how he was in every space here as well.
Every memory was brighter and sweeter than the last, invading my mind. Tangled together in the sheets in my bedroom. Making out on the couch. Waking up together. Disappointment, heartache, and stupidity were all I could seem to feel.
“I should have listened to you. You were right about him.” I sniffed and looked at the rug on the floor. Her hands in my hair soothed me.
“Graciela,” she said in a soft whisper.
“I was a game to him, just a means to an end.” I wiped my face and nose. “He lied to me, Gloria.”
“About?”
“He never wanted me. It was just to get me to sign. You were right. Why didn’t I listen to you? Porque no te hice caso?”
“You didn’t listen to me because I was wrong.”
“What?” I asked, sitting up. She immediately took my hand
“Te quiere. He cares about you, Grace.” I shook my head.
&n
bsp; “No he…”
“He does. The way he looks at you…”
“He’s an actor, Gloria, a very good one. He fooled all of us.” I stood up and ran my hands through my hair. They stopped on top of my head as I looked at the kitchen.
I could see Lexi, Marc, and I cooking, laughing. Lexi and Marc spouting off hero facts and asking one another random things. All of us laughing at silly jokes. Like some sort of family.
I was such an idiot.
“I have to go to sleep. I’m going to pick up Lexi from Gabby’s in a couple of hours.”
“Grace, you look exhausted. Rest. Get your head together. Maybe call him after you cool—”
“No,” I clipped, frowning. “You’re my older sister. You should be on my side, not his.”
“I am, Grace, always,” Gloria sincerely said, and my lips wobbled as I nodded.
“Go get ready for bed and get some rest.”
“You staying?”
“Of course,” she shared with a playful roll of her eyes. I smiled weakly.
“Okay,” I whispered and with one last hug went into my bedroom, closing the door behind me.
I took off all my clothes except for my panties and pulled on his hoodie before I went to bed, where I cried myself to a dark, dreamless sleep.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Marcus
He sat in his rental car across the street from her house and waited. He wasn't sure if she had made it home and needed to make sure she was okay. Donnie had done all he could, but he’d had to wait till the next morning to fly out.
He walked to her door, knocked, and waited. He heard shuffling and knew she was standing on the other side.
“Grace?” With his eyes shut tightly, he leaned his forehead against the wooden door. “Please, Grace, open up.” He heard the lock unclick, but when the door opened, it wasn’t her.
“Marcus,” Gloria clipped as she stepped out and closed the door behind her.
“Gloria, I need to—”
“You need to go,” she informed him coldly. He shook his head.
LIE (Right Men Book 1) Page 27
