Chapter 20
Mason
It has been three days since Grace managed to turn the tables and caused me to lose control.
That day, when I walked into her room, I had no intention of taking off any clothes. I had no intention to present myself in front of her like that. And I certainly had no intention of rubbing one out in front of her.
She made me do this. She saw a chance to take control when she was supposed to be the vulnerable one between us—and she took it. I can’t forgive that.
Her punishment was harsh and hard to bear for her. I could tell in the way she moved her body when I shoved her under the shower. She looked at me through those deer-like eyes, her lips quivering with despair and her back always a tad hollowed, always inviting me to charge between her legs and end her predicament. She craved me to take her so badly, she even begged for it, the need flickering in her eyes as she scanned my body.
It drove me insane, and if I hadn’t come all over her chest, I’m not sure I would have been able to withstand. I’ve been on edge ever since she has been in my possession, my mind hazed with desire and my cock twitching painfully every time I’m around her.
I was rough with her, my hand digging into her upper arm with such ferocity that she mewled in agony, pulling her by the hair as I forced her to look up at me while I cleaned her delicate body.
And then I tied her to the bed, all fours securely stretched apart so she wouldn’t be able to touch herself in my absence.
She cried after me when I was about to leave the room, reminding me about the deal we made—and rightly so. I’m a man of my word, and I intend to keep my promise, eventually.
But first I had to calm down. I was so unraveled by what happened that day, that I couldn’t trust myself to be near for too long. I kept my distance, providing her with food and water, but little to nothing else, even though I saw what it was doing to her. She aches for company, for distraction, for any kind of closeness, and I’m the only one who can give her that. And I will. I will continue to go down the dangerous road I chose for us, but I needed these three days to realign myself.
Besides, I still have a business to run. I no longer need to invest a lot of time in it, ever since I stepped back as the CEO and am no longer involved in everyday business, but I still need to be available for big picture questions.
And the ward, of course. As the registered proprietor I asked to be kept informed about any development regarding their missing patient. The police have been called in, but are working with zero leads as it seems. Much to my surprise, it took Grace’s family two whole days to get back to the ward after they’d been informed that Grace had gone missing. And it wasn’t even the father who called them, but one of Grace’s brothers. The youngest brother, Tyler, called them all up in arms, so aggravated at the disappearance of his sister that he even made threats to the staff, asking to see the manager of the facility.
That’s when I stepped in. It may be a crazy idea, but I decided I needed to talk to this young man. I need to learn more about Grace and her family, and so far, my PI hasn’t given me much. The fact that he was unable to find out anything about them so far can only mean that they have something to hide. Something that may or may not have to do with the man who called about Grace after she went missing.
We set up a meeting at one of the private visitors rooms at the ward, and Tyler is already waiting for me there when I walk in. He bears little resemblance to Grace, tall and strong, his hair wild—and a little too long, if you ask me—and in a darker tone than hers, while his eyes appear to be a bit lighter. He looks as young as he is, despite the dark stubble around his jaw, and his face is stern when he gets up from his chair to greet me. He’s wearing ripped jeans and a casual shirt, a casual look, topped with Nike Air Max sneakers. There’s no lack of money in her family, I already knew that much.
“Tyler Reid,” he introduces himself, reciprocating my firm handshake with a squeeze that could almost come across as aggressive.
“Mason Morgan, it’s nice to meet you,” I greet him. “Please, have a seat.”
He nods and follows my gesture to sit back down where I found him, pushing the chair weirdly far away from the white table between us, before he crosses his legs.
“Can I offer you something to drink, or-”
“No, it’s fine,” he cuts me short. “The lady offered, I declined, all good.”
‘The lady’ is my secretary, and I don’t like the way he moves his hand when he mentions her, waving as if he was trying to get rid of a pesky fly.
“What can you tell me about my sister?” he asks, jutting his chin forward as he crosses his arms in front of his chest. “They didn’t tell me anything, said everything was normal and she was doing well and all that shit. As if you guys had no fucking responsibility for this.”
“I’m very sorry this has happened, I assure you, we all are,” I tell him, trying to convey empathy rather than the disdain I feel for him right now. “And we’re doing all we can to find her-”
“Fuck you are!” He interrupts me. “It’s your fault she’s gone! Who the hell decided it was okay to give her a day pass so she can roam around all by her fucking self?”
I did. I was the one who wanted her to be able to leave the premises for a day when we discussed her case a couple of weeks ago.
“Her physician and her psychiatrist both gave the green light when her case was last discussed,” I say. “And we stand behind that decision. Grace was showing great progress and she deserved to-”
“Why did no one contact us about this?” He cuts me off again, almost jumping up from his chair. “The family has to be informed about such things, no?”
“We did let your father know,” I retort. “We always kept him in the loop about Grace’s progress and her treatment.”
Tyler lets out a disgusted scoff and shakes his head.
“That man is fucking useless,” he utters, not looking at me. “They should have told us.”
“Us?”
“Her brothers!” he enlightens me. “We never would have agreed to this if-”
“Why not?” I jump in, sensing a chance to shed a ray of light on my questions.
My question seems to catch him off guard. He sighs, his gaze wandering over to the only window in the room while he chews on his lips.
“She’s troubled, helpless,” he says in a low voice. “I mean, that’s why we brought her here in the first place, goddammit. She can’t be trusted to be by herself. She may have jumped to her fucking death!”
“She hasn’t harmed herself since her admission,” I say. “We’ve had our eyes on her, trust me. And she’s shown some good progress in therapy. Her medication was dialed down to almost zero and we-”
“You don’t know her,” he hisses, now turning to look at me. “You have no fucking idea who you’re dealing with.”
I lean back, reciprocating his intense stare when I say: “Why don’t you enlighten us then. Is there anything you can tell us that might help us find her?”
My pulse speeds up while I wait for his response, but I can tell by his face that he’s unwilling to enlighten me the way I crave.
“You know about the jumping, don’t you?” he asks. “That fucking cliff jumping that almost got her killed before.”
I nod. “Yes, of course we were aware of that.”
“She can’t let go of it, that damn thrill she seeks with that,” he says. “It’s fucking stupid. She has no idea what she’s doing, not taking into account that she could die from this. We’ve told her a thousand times to stop with that nonsense.”
“Do you know why she does it?” I ask. “Have you ever asked her?”
Indignation graces his features when he looks at me now.
“Of course we have!” he barks at me, but I doubt he’s speaking the truth. “She just needs that damn thrill. She’s bored. Bored and fucking stupid.”
“I’m afraid it’s not as simple as that,” I add for consideration.
“Well, you psychology people always say that,” he mocks, rolling his eyes. “Always saying that there’s some deeper shit that needs to be dug up. It’s how you make your money. Fucking sick, if you ask me.”
I force a smile on my face, trying to remain calm, when all I want is to smack some sense into him.
“Then why send her to us?” I want to know. “If you think our work is so useless?”
“Because we thought she’d be safe here!” he yells at me.
“Safe from what?” I probe.
His eyes widen as if I’d just caught him doing something wrong. He parts his lips, moving as if he was trying to speak, but unable to voice his thoughts. There’s something he doesn’t want to tell me. Something that worries him so much that he drove all the way out here to speak with me, but that he still refuses to share with me—for whatever reason. What is the fucking deal with this family?
“Safe from herself, of course,” he says eventually. “You’ve seen her file, haven’t you? They said you were involved in her therapy.”
“To a degree, yes,” I say. “I’m not a physician.”
“Then what the hell are you?” he asks. “I thought this ward belongs to you, man? Shouldn’t you be the guy who knows, like, everything around here?”
He uncrosses his legs and sits up in his chair, looking like he’s ready to jump at me when he adds: “I swear, if anything happened to my little sister, you’ll fucking pay for this.”
“Mr. Reid, are you threatening me?” I ask, speaking in the calmest manner possible. “We are just as worried about Grace as you are, believe me. And we’re doing everything we can to find her, you can trust me on that.”
“I don’t trust you motherfuckers with anything anymore,” he snaps, getting up from his chair. “Find her, and soon! Or you’ll fucking regret it. You have no idea who you’re dealing with.”
He makes a move to run out the door, but I hold him back by jumping up and grabbing him by the arm—a move he didn’t see coming, as his face tells me.
“Listen, Mr. Reid, I understand that you’re worried about your sister, as anyone would be, I get it,” I say, narrowing my eyes as I pin him down with a cold stare. “And I was hoping you could tell us anything that would help us find her. But instead, you come here and dare to threaten me, after insulting this facility and my staff? Who do you think you are?”
He glares at me, his eyes just as narrow as mine and his mouth twitching furiously.
“Just find her,” he snarls. “We have to fucking find her.”
With that, he yanks himself free of my hold and marches toward the door behind me. I don’t try to hold him back this time.