Chapter 17 #2
She drains her glass and flashes our server a meaningful look. "So, now you know," she says, smiling brightly. "You can't go far in my family without tripping up on some dull historical nonsense that Mommy thinks is important.
"Anyway, back to the story. Grayson and Marina were going through a difficult patch at that point.
You know, the sort of thing… they both had their work stressors, and they would bring it home and fight about it.
Then they'd not speak to each other for the next day or so, and they basically did all that petty stuff couples do when it's not going so well.
At the same time, Marina and George were working together on a merger, and they were getting closer and closer. "
Oh God. A pit starts to form in my stomach, and I have a bad feeling that I know where this story's going.
"One thing led to another, and Marina and George started sleeping together behind Grayson's back," she says.
"Bitch." The word tears out of my chest with enough heat that it makes Stephanie smile.
I try to restrain my reaction. I mean, I probably have no right to judge her. I wasn't in a relationship with them, and I'm only hearing one side of the story.
But I always have a visceral reaction to cheaters. For me, it's one of the most cowardly acts (outside of abuse) you can commit in a relationship.
"Yeah, not good," Steph nods in agreement with my outrage.
"I was the one who caught them, actually.
They were fucking in his office. Right there, across his desk.
Tacky as hell. George tried to convince me to keep it a secret, but I wasn't about to do that.
I went straight to Grayson. He didn't believe me at first. He thought Mom had put me up to it, or that I was just messing around.
It wasn't until I showed him the video I had taken of them that he believed me.
I was videoing at the time. I'd bought him a gift and I burst into his office to surprise him.
I wanted to capture the look on his face when he saw my gift.
Well, I certainly captured the surprise on his face.
" She says it flippantly, but her smile looks forced, like it's a painful memory for her to recall.
She puts her glass down, her finger tracing the stem thoughtfully.
"I'll never forget the look on Grayson's face when I showed him it.
His face just drained of all color. His whole expression shut down.
It was like someone stabbed him in the heart, and since that moment, I don't think he's ever truly recovered from it.
" She sighs. "You didn't know Grayson how he used to be, but he wasn't like he is now.
Yeah, he was still annoying and a workaholic, just like he is today.
But he was a lot more playful, too. He had a wicked sense of humor and would pull almost as many pranks on me as I did on him, except he would more often get away with it because he's a whole load smarter than me. "
I try to imagine a playful Grayson but fail utterly. Boy, he must have really changed.
"After Marina's betrayal, all that playfulness went away. She killed a part of him that day, and I almost wish I'd kept the whole affair a secret. Sometimes I wonder if he and Marina would have worked out their differences if I'd never intervened."
"No," I say instantly. "You can't think like that. It wasn't your fault, and it wouldn't have been better to keep him in the dark. You did the right thing."
"Maybe." She shoots me a bitter smile. "It's just hard, you know… seeing him like that and knowing I contributed to it."
"You didn't do anything you shouldn't have done." The regret in her eyes awakens my protective instincts, and for the first time, I feel like maybe there's more to Stephanie than meets the eye.
Maybe her flippant, snobby nature is only a shield, a coating for the guilt she lives with.
Or maybe I'm reading too much into it, and psychoanalyzing someone I don't know. Yeah, stop that.
"So, how did your mother react?"
"Oh, Mom had a fit. She was mad at Marina, George, and Grayson, too."
"Grayson? What did he do but get cheated on?"
"She was mad that he let 'that kind of woman' into their home in the first place. Did the whole we-told-you-so routine on him. NAow, they were stuck with her and couldn't get rid of her. Mom wanted Marina gone, but George insisted. Dad got caught in the middle and ultimately sided with George.
So George took Marina with him to London, and now they're getting married and she's officially joining the family. That's what mom's mad about, that Marina gets her way. You're going to be collateral damage to that anger."
"I don't care about that. My thing is, why is she mad at Grayson? It's not Grayson's fault."
"Yes, but it's easier to blame Grayson than anyone else.
She'll tell you that she warned him several times and he should have listened to her, and that's why she's mad.
But really, it's because Grayson is the only one who will care that she's mad.
George doesn't care what mom thinks, and Marina, well, she doesn't care either.
" She takes a deep breath. "Anyway, that's the story of my brother's broken heart.
Ever since then, Grayson hasn't done anything except bury himself in work, and I know part of that is working to regain my parents' approval.
In a way, the fact that he chose Marina shows a lapse in judgment, at least in their eyes it does, and he's never gotten over that.
That probably hurts him as much as the heartbreak. Maybe more."
"You think he's not over her?"
"Whether or not he's over her is one thing. It's whether he's over his choosing her that's more the issue," she says. "Anyway, I'm telling you this because I've heard that George and Marina are moving back from London. Dad is supposedly training George up to take over the CEO role from Grayson."
"Are you serious?" I explode again. "It's not enough that that bastard steals his brother's fiancée, now they're going to hand him Grayson's company on a silver platter too?"
"Yeah. The thing is that my father is old-fashioned and thinks that no matter what, the company should pass from father to son. of course, Grayson's not married, so he doesn't have any son to inherit from him. Whereas George is getting married and he's keen to start a family as soon as possible."
"I see."
She grins. "So you see, for all these reasons, I really don't think you can win over my mother. I think the person you should go after is not my mom but my dad."
"Really?"
"Yes. I think he already likes you, at least a little bit, or at least admires you. Then maybe he can work on mom's approval."
"Why do you think he'll like me any more than his wife will?"
"Because I like you and he and I tend to share the same taste in women.
" She leans forward, her eyes dropping seductively.
"A part of me was hoping this was a date.
You know I did briefly consider stealing you from my brother, but given his history, I wasn't sure he could take that happening twice. "
I snort and shake my head. "Didn't you just tell me you had a girlfriend?"
"It's an open relationship."
"Yeah, right. I'm gonna fall for that one." I take my wine glass, sipping. "One Wolfe is more than enough for me. I don't think I can cope with a whole pack of you."
At this, Stephanie giggles into her champagne glass, sending her drink cascading down her arm to the table below.