Chapter 31
Grace
”You”re out of your fucking mind,” Zephyr snapped at me two days later.
”Mind that tone, sha,” Nick warned.
”Henri is like a father to us,” Zephyr protested.
We were at Jazz Sessions in the cramped office. It was the safest way for us to meet, even with eyes on us. People came in and out of the kitchen, and it wasn”t easy to track who went where.
”I”m with Z,” Blaze barked.
”Grace, we trusted you, and you”re—” Zephyr shouted.
”Don”t,” Rome cut in. ”I agree with Grace. I agree with Nick. You see how it”s the Doucets versus those who are not? That say something to you?”
Gaia stroked her belly. She was sitting on a chair next to Nick. I was standing by a bookshelf. Rome was next to me. Blaze was towering over his fiancée, and Zephyr sat at the head of the desk.
”You have any evidence?” Zephyr demanded.
”This afternoon, I received an anonymous package that helps me nail your mother”s ass for several lifetimes for first-degree attempted murder,” I informed everyone. ”And that happened right after Joshua Brady let Henri know that Camille was in custody. He may have dropped a hint or two about her singing like a canary.”
”I don”t understand the connection.” Blaze was playing with his wife”s hair as he spoke. He was pissed with her, but he was still touching her. Since Rome and I had talked about Henri and our suspicions regarding him, Zephyr had shut me down. In fact, he”d been downright rude and insulting.
”He”s getting rid of Camille,” Rome filled in.
”Why?”
”Because he thinks he can get his hands on Zephyr. Based on BBH by-laws three members of the board are needed to have financial statement, credit lines, and all that good stuff approved. In the past he had Hugo, Camille, and Yves.” Imran and I had spent time piecing all of this together by looking at past paperwork until our eyes hurt. ”Now, he believes he will have Hugo, Pierre, and…Zephyr.”
Nick held Blaze”s hand and kissed his knuckles as if preparing him for what she was going to say. ”Pierre has always been a weak link, but now, with Lucien gone and his money problems, he”ll do pretty much anything. You know that, Blaze.”
”And Camille is afraid since Rufus died. And Henri knows she”s getting cold feet,” I interjected.
Zephyr ran a hand through his hair. ”This is bullshit, Grace. Fuckin” bullshit. He embarrassed you in front of your boss, and that wasn”t okay, but that doesn”t mean you should be a prissy little bitch about it.”
I felt the world around me fall. He couldn”t have said what he just did. Rome put a steadying arm around me.
”Z,” Blaze admonished and looked at me with concern.
I dug deep down and reached for one of those masks I”d thought I was done wearing around a man I cared for, a man who I”d fallen in love with. It was a mask Liam would”ve been familiar with.
”Zephyr, that”s not okay,” Gaia burst out.
”What?” Zephyr was angry as hell. He”d told me he didn”t lose his temper often, but when he did, it was epic. Now appeared to be one of those times. ”That man is the only fucking father figure in my life, and she”s hurling insults at him. Do you think Henri would ever want to hurt any of us? Gaia?”
Gaia shook her head. ”I don”t, but…I trust Rome. I trust Nick. I”ll blindly walk off a cliff if they ask me to—I don”t know if I”d do the same for Henri.”
”That man has been my rock. Hell, Rome, he”s been yours, too,” Blaze seethed. ”I can”t believe you turned on him.”
”You believe in him so much?” Grace challenged. ”Fine, tell him about our operation. Go right ahead. I”ll dissolve this fucking task force.”
I”d had it with men who thought they could run their mouths off. I was tired of men who thought they could abuse me verbally, emotionally, or in any way. How dare Zephyr talk to me like this? Ultimately, all that love talk was just talk. He didn”t trust me, not over that horrible bully of a man. It wasn”t my fault that the Doucets were so blind.
”Nick, I”ll call a meeting with the Captain tomorrow, and we can end this charade.”
”Grace,” Nick pleaded, ”you went to bat for this. You end this like this…your career….”
”Fuck it. This isn”t worth it.” I looked at Zephyr and then Blaze. ”Y”all keep saying, ”Oh, Grace, you”re family now,” and all that is horse manure. By the way, Blaze, since you”re your mother”s counsel, I”m letting you know that we”re charging your mother tomorrow with attempted murder thanks to all that evidence that fell into my lap, which we verified, by the way.”
Rome pulled me into a hug. ”I”m so sorry,” he whispered in my ear.
I walked out of that small office, my heart hammering.
Fucking rich boys.They were all the same.