Losing Grace (Falling Away #2)

by Allie Little

  “As the innocent or the liar, Dad? I know which road I’d prefer to take. Unlike you, I actually have scruples.”

  He snickers in Riley’s face then turns to me. “Finish your tea Grace and Annie will take you down to the guest quarters. I have something to discuss with my son. Privately.”

  I swallow down the last hot mouthful of sweet tea, gulping at it to meet his demand. Riley gives me a withered look, motioning for me to do as his father requests.

  Annie sets her cup and saucer down on the tray and does the same with mine. “Follow me, darling,” she says. “I’ll take you down.” She reaches for my arm, linking it with her own. “You’ve had a dreadful time, Grace. Let me look after you for a while. Settle in and stay as long as you’d like.”

  She pulls me along a beautiful corridor, the white interior lined with stunning examples of modern art, and a glass exterior wall facing into a tropical paradise. We pass through the loveliest kitchen with patterned marble benchtops and white panelled-timber cupboards, then on into a living area more expansive then Gemma’s entire apartment. The sheer scale and luxury of the home was more than I could ever have imagined.

  Annie gives me a warm smile. “The guest quarters are just out here.”

  We exit from enormous glass doors to a shimmering lap pool reflecting light from the burnt-orange sky. Annie leads me to a quaint white building separated from the main residence, nestled into a low area of the property, closer to the ocean. Almost beneath the pool, the room is set neatly into the cliff, with interior sandstone walls brush-polished to perfection. I let the ambience sink in, the cosiness of the room in stark contrast to the house behind it.

  “Oh, Annie. It’s lovely.” The tribal rugs and Aboriginal art offset the white linen on the enormous bed, with the cutest little eat-in kitchen nook. I glance around, exhaling in relief. Apart from the tension between Riley and his father, I could settle in here nicely. “It’s very kind of you to have us. This is a beautiful room. Very relaxing.”

  Annie places her hand on my arm. “Now while I’ve got you alone, I’d like to let you know that the longstanding dispute between Riley and his father has been brewing for years. Riley’s a strong character, just like his father. And despite what he might have told you, Richard is a good man. After all, he saved me a long time ago. Saved me from a life of misery. I was sixteen when I met him and in a terrible situation. One I’d endured for a very long time, since I was a very young girl. Richard saw my pain. He helped me escape from a family situation that wasn’t good for me. It took a very long time, but eventually I recovered. And I owe my recovery to Richard. Without him, I’m not sure I could’ve saved myself.”

  I absorb her words, unsure how to respond. If she was alluding to what I thought, it must have been a hideous existence. “Annie … I … I think everyone has an inner strength; has resilience. But I guess it’s hard to draw on when you feel emotionally vulnerable or weak.”

  “That’s very true. But I’m not telling you this for any other reason than to show you that there are always two sides to people. We all have a dark side, the underside of our personality we’d prefer didn’t exist. Sometimes that dark side is difficult to shift, especially if it’s been present for a while. But that doesn’t necessarily make you a bad person.”

  I think briefly of Daniel. The dark energy he appeared to be consumed by would be difficult to shift. I give Annie a wan smile.

  “You seem tired, dear. I’ll leave you to relax. Riley won’t be long. Why don’t you have a rest?” Annie pulls me into a warm hug, wrapping her arms around me. “I’ll call you for dinner.” She draws back and pats me lightly on the arm, then leaves me all alone, waiting for Riley.

  27

  Riley

  “I’m not here by choice. I’m here by necessity.”

  “You can justify this any which way you like, but the fact remains. You’re here.”

  “Only for a few days. That’s it, then we’re gone.”

  “But not before you repay my kindness, son. My generosity of spirit. I have, after all, forgiven your quarrelsome outburst.”

  This scenario is killing me. Killing me. The arrogant bastard has me over a barrel with his haughty self-importance.

  “Be part of this one final transaction and I’ll agree to let you go. You’ll be well compensated for your efforts, son. This is the deal of a lifetime. Catherine Bancroft is a wealthy woman and our fee will be phenomenal. And if at the end you choose to go, I’ll let you leave. No pressure. No duress to stay. But know that I won’t have you back. You’ll be out on your own, with your showy restaurants and your whimsical dreams. Your vagary will be your downfall, Riley.”

  “And if I don’t agree?”

  “I’ll throw you to the wolves.”

  “What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Anger rises like a swelling tide, threatening to capsize me on the spot.

  “You and Grace can leave. As of right now, this evening. Help me this one last time or leave my home tonight. I need you by my side, Riley. Catherine Bancroft expects it.”

  “You’re an asshole,” I seethe.

  He shrugs, impervious to the insult. “It’s not like I haven’t heard that before,” he sneers. “So, are you in?”

  “Do I even have a choice?”

  “The choice is yours.”

  “With threats hanging over my head? Hardly fair.”

  “Fairness doesn’t cut it in this world. You play hard for what you want. I always have.”

  “You paint life as if it’s there for the taking.”

  “And isn’t it?”

  I simply turn my head, inviting him to stop. “Not like that. Not in the way you pillage for your own gain.” I walk away, desperately needing Grace. Needing to feel her arms around me. Wanting to cry in her embrace.

  “Tomorrow afternoon,” he calls after me. “Catherine will be meeting us here at home. Be here, Riley.”

  Without turning back, I leave, feeling like a twenty-five-year-old failure. Feeling far less of a man than when I’d walked through that old oak door nearly an hour ago.

  I find Grace serenely asleep in the bed, her face the image of a peaceful seraph; angelic and beautiful, with dark hair splayed over the crisp white pillow. I snuggle in beside her and she stirs, instinctively wrapping an arm across my body from behind. I hold onto it tight, snug around my waist, then after a while turn and burrow my head into her chest. Her soft comfort soothes me, erasing the strain of familial duty and burden.

  “You okay, babe?” she murmurs, swathing the sheet around us and enfolding me in her arms. “I’m so tired.”

  “Me too, baby. Me too.”

  She huffs out a breath of understanding before resuming her peaceful slumber. Listening to the rhythmic cycle of her steady breathing sends me off to sleep too. Quietly. Quickly. Allaying the fear.

  ***

  “You two skipped dinner!” Mum scolds, folding her arms accusingly across her body. “I called for you, but you were both out to it. Dead to the world, you were!”

  “There’s been a bit going on, Mum.”

  Grace nods before apologising profusely. “Gosh Annie, I’m so sorry. I thought I’d just lie down for a quick rest, and when I woke up the sun was rising.”

  “Oh, that’s quite all right, darling. No harm done. But you must be absolutely ravenous this morning.” Mum bustles around the kitchen, clinking glasses and opening and closing the fridge several times to retrieve various food items.

  “I am,” Grace affirms, clutching at her stomach. “But please don’t go to any trouble.”

  “Just the usual. I do like a hot breakfast before I go to work.”

  “Mum, it’s really not necessary. Cereal will be fine.”

  “Now don’t prevent me from doing what I love, Riley. Scrambled eggs and bacon coming right up. Let me look after you. How often do I have the privilege?”

  With a dramatic eye roll I give her a hug and let her fuss. “Where’s Dad?”

  “He left f
or the office very early this morning. Said he had a few pressing matters to attend to. He did say he’d be back this afternoon for an important business meeting, here at the house.”

  “I can’t do it, Mum. I can’t work with him. Or stand beside him. Don’t you know that it’s killing me?”

  Her eyes widen in alarm. “What are you talking about, Riley? What can’t you do?”

  “Work with Dad. It goes against every fibre of my being. It’s corrupting my soul.”

  She halts her progress with the breakfast and stares straight into me. “Your beautiful soul could never be tarnished, Riley Atherton. No matter what happens, the essence of who you are will never leave. Do this one last thing, and he’s promised he’ll never ask again. It’s the deal of a lifetime. Walk away when it’s done. Until then, be unified. You have no idea how happy that would make him. And me.”

  “I don’t care about making him happy. When has he ever cared about my well-being? Not ever, that I can recall.”

  She moves to stand in front of me, placing both hands on my forearms. “When you were a little boy, Riley, your father would hold you in his arms when you cried. He’d play Monopoly and hide ‘n go seek, and told you repeatedly he’d never let you down.”

  “I don’t recall any of that.”

  Grace looks uncomfortably horrified, seated at the kitchen bench. Holding her tongue for the sake of family unity, she gives me the look, indicating she wants me alone.

  “You need to do this, Riley. Just look around.” Mum gestures at the grand house, casting her eyes to the cathedral ceiling above. “He’s given us all this. We have this to be thankful for.”

  “You think this was thanks to him? You think this house actually belongs to you? This house was bought with dishonesty and shady, criminal dealings. That money was never his. He siphoned it, Mum. He stole from his clients, and I’d bet my life on the fact he’s still doing it today.”

  “Riley, hush,” she commands quietly, indicating with an eyebrow toward Grace.

  “She knows, Mum. Grace knows everything.”

  Mum drops onto a kitchen stool, defeated.

  “Dad is immoral. The blood of the innocent drips from every pore in his iniquitous skin.”

  Mum closes her eyes against my words, silencing them so she won’t have to acknowledge or hold them to account. The colour has drained from her face. Had she known all along? Or was this news to her? Did she honestly believe that Dad was a stand-up guy? That he was all good?

  “I need to get ready for work,” she explains, hastening from the room. She turns at the doorframe, offering us a weak half-smile. “I’ll see you for dinner.”

  Once she’s gone, Grace places a hand emotively over her chest, pleading with me. “Riley, you can’t. You can’t do it. It’s wrong, on so many levels. I won’t let you.”

  “Sweetness, I have no choice. He won’t let us stay unless I do. It’s this one last time, I promise. The one and only time I’ll give in to him, and then he’ll let me go.”

  “Do you truly believe that?”

  I shake my head and shrug, unconvinced.

  “Let’s pack our things and go. It’s not worth it, Riley. It’s not worth your conscience. Or your soul.”

  “It’s not as simple as that, babe.”

  “It is as simple as that, and you know it.”

  I haul her against me, willing her innate goodness to transfer into me, soul to soul. Heartbeat to heartbeat. To morph into a more virtuous version of myself. God knows, I need the transformation A mass of self-loathing was stacking up by the minute.

  “I don’t want you to do it.”

  “I have to, babe. You don’t understand.”

  The hurt in her eyes says more than the harshest of words. She wrenches herself away, leaving me soulless and empty, standing alone.

  28

  Grace

  Riley’s unfaltering determination to take a stand against his father has disappeared, severing every filament of respect we’d interlaced between us. He’d been proud of who he’d become. I had been proud. He’d become the man he was supposed to be. Independent and strong. Honourable. But bowing to his corrupt father’s directive allows the scraps of Riley’s conscience to scatter like shrapnel at his feet.

  The day passes with silence the widest blockade between us. The three o’clock meeting looms like an imminent train wreck. Riley strides back and forth in front of the guest quarters overlooking Curl Curl beach, the blue sea beyond. Impatient. Fretful. Willing it to be done. At five minutes to three he turns tail and leaves without even a single word.

  Ten minutes later my phone buzzes. Fumbling for it at the bottom of my bag, I notice Gran’s number on the illuminated screen.

  “Gran?” I answer quickly. “I’m so sorry I haven’t been in touch. Are you okay?”

  “Come and see for yourself, darling.” Those deep throaty words run circles in my head, and all I want is to shake them away, because they can’t be real.

  Not him.

  Not Daniel.

  With Gran?

  I breathe in sharply, holding air in my lungs.

  “You have my permission to speak, Gracie.” He laughs hollowly, quietly, the remnants of decency sucked from his soul. My mind makes it to the edge of reason and back again before he speaks once more. “Resist the temptation to hang up the phone. I need you here, Gracie. You’re the only one. The only one, who can help your grandmother.”

  “What have you done Daniel? Where is she? Why are you there?”

  “So many questions, Gracie. I thought I’d pay her a little visit. I know how close the two of you are. She is, after all, the only family you have since you threw away our marriage.”

  “Put Gran on the phone. I need to hear she’s okay.”

  “No can do, darling. You’ll need to visit us. It’s been an age, my darling, since I’ve seen you. Why don’t you stop on over for a cup of tea? I’m sure Granny Bess would love to see you, particularly now. She looks a little – how would I put it? – uncomfortable.”

  The strangest sensation of ice washes through my veins, both foreign and intolerably cold. Without warmth, I can’t think. Or see. Or hear.

  “I’m coming,” I say remotely.

  “We can all hang out together. Just the three of us, for old times’ sake.” A brief pause hangs between us. “You have one hour.”

  I peel off my sweater, then haul it back over my head again. Mindlessly. Seizing my jacket from the end of the bed, I snatch for Riley’s keys, glinting in the late afternoon sun. He’ll be mad, furiously worried, but what choice do I have? He’s in there, caught in the dark lair of his father, innocence and naivety no match for the dark side of misdeed.

  Making my way to the front of the house, the glass-walled corridor separating the green haze of paradise outside is stippled with late afternoon light. Palm fronds shiver delicately in the breeze, and all I want is to get to Gran. To make sure she’s fine. To make him leave us alone.

  Murmured voices creep from under the office door, faint and indistinguishable. The female voice is recognisable in an undefined way, due to the low, muffled volume. Barely audible yet keenly familiar, I shake it off as coincidence, unable to place the voice. Once outside, Riley’s car sits in the drive, the throaty engine kicking over with ease.

  The road from Curl Curl to Fairy Bower passes in a blur. The ocean a deep turquoise, steely in the dimming light, is all I see. Not the houses with their lawns and tastefully painted exteriors or the procession of creeping cars along Harbord Rd, circling right at the roundabout leading into Manly. Not the throng of people exercising, the Corso awash with the buzz of life. I don’t see any of this. Not mindfully, just as a haze of distorted shadow.

  Tears sting my eyes. I’d tried so hard to end my marriage decently. Fought daily the anxiety in my apprehensive heart. Told myself everything would be okay. And yet the coward inside chose to run rather than face his anger, giving into weakness. The times I’d hidden so deep inside myself because it wa
s easier than facing our issues head on. I’d caused this … whatever this was. I’d deserted him in the worst possible way. Emotionally. Physically. A quitter.

  God, Riley. What am I doing?

  Pushing that thought away, the car pulls into Gran’s drive on auto-pilot. I heave a shoulder against the weight of the car door and push out, thudding it closed behind me.

  The front door swings open. Daniel stands as tall as he ever did, all six foot two of him, dressed in jeans and a dark hoodie. The smile on his face spreads ear to ear, but a sinister edge lies within it. A disturbing expression, one I am unacquainted with. He leans his body nonchalantly against the doorjamb.

  “Where is she? I want to see her.”

  His head tilts nastily. “Is that any way to greet your husband? A husband you haven’t seen in months? Tut-tut, Gracie.” A malevolent smile curls his lips into a sneer.

  “Let me see her,” I say, straining to push past.

  His large frame blocks the way, and he casually places one hand on his hip making the passage more difficult.

  “Move,” I demand, desperate to see Gran. “Let me see her!”

  In half of a heartbeat his hand moves powerfully around my throat, forcing me roughly against the wall. The dim hallway is cold, grey, and I hear nothing but the lack of breath from my lungs. The absence of the familiar clink and ring of Gran bustling in the kitchen is deafening. The lack of deliciously-scented warm scones baking in the oven is equally stomach-turning. Clawing my fingernails at his large hand ripping air from my lungs, my feet rise slowly from the floorboards.

  His other hand shoves the front door closed with a bang, deadlocks it firmly and places the key inside the deep pocket of his jeans. The smile never leaves his face. “You want to see your Gran?”

  “Yes,” I croak out inaudibly.

  He lowers me to the floor, releasing his grip. “Lead the way.” Shoving me forward, he forces me toward the kitchen. There on the kitchen floor lies Gran. Lifeless, like she’s already gone.

  I drop to my knees, tears falling from my eyes. “Gran? Are you okay? Oh, Gran.”