Chapter 17 #3
“That’s not really a deal though.” Oh, God. Why do I sound like that? I can’t crumble into a needy, wanton submissive around him.
The grin that overtakes his face is predatory.
“If you agree to let down your walls, I’ll get you through this mess unscathed. I’ll get rid of the DeVanes and the Ashfords in your life once and for all. You’ll have a fresh start without any baggage dragging you down.”
The sad part is, I know he’s capable of doing those things. But the thought of who I’ll be without the pressure of fighting for every scrap of my life scares the shit out of me too—I’ll be forced to figure out who I am without the weight of bad decisions and self-loathing.
“Can you step back? I can’t think when you’re mauling me like a demented sex-starved dom.”
“Oh, Monroe, you haven’t seen anything yet.” He takes one step back. There’s less than a foot between us, but it feels like a mile.
“And if I…what? Become your good little wifey, what do you get out of it?”
“Wherever our ending takes us, you’ll agree to one of two things.”
His eyes flash like my own personal red flags.
“What things?”
“You’ll either stay my wife for real, or you’ll become my surrogate. Either way, we’ll both get exactly what we’ve always wanted.”
My mouth drops open. This asshole is seriously going to use my childhood dream to extort me into doing exactly what he wants me to do.
“Whoa. Is this another I’m getting a baby type thing?” Madi asks.
Damn. How long has she been standing there?
Greyson doesn’t even acknowledge her. His laser focus is still burning a hole through my face. The only indication that he’s annoyed is the slight pinch in his jaw.
“You’re out of your mind,” I say.
He nods, not even bothering to contradict me.
“But…why? You’ve spent nearly a year hating me, fighting me, discounting me at every step.
Why on earth would you want to marry me or have me carry your child?
” I lower my voice, knowing it will come out in a hiss of syllables, but not caring anymore.
“And did you hear anything I said about not knowing how to be a good mom?”
“Maybe I have more faith in your abilities than you do. Maybe I’m ready to settle down, and since you’re the one who makes me feel alive, even if it’s with thoughts of murder, it’s better than settling for a life with no color.”
“Or maybe,” Sage says, joining our little circle with Braxton at his side, “you’re realizing that you’ve been avoiding love for so long that you no longer knew where the line between love and hate was until Savvy erased the line completely, one insult at a time, and that terrified you.”
“I didn’t ask for a fucking family meeting. This is between me and Monroe.”
“Grey.” Braxton places a hand on Grey’s shoulder, and he flinches. “I know you go through life issuing commands that most people follow, but this, a marriage, is different. First you wanted a baby, now a wife. What’s going on with you, brother?”
I bite my bottom lip as Grey removes Braxton’s hand from his shoulder.
“Monroe and I have a mutual problem. I’m simply fixing it while giving us both what we truly want.
End of story, it’s not up for discussion.
” His gaze pierces through me. “You have twenty-four hours to decide, Monroe. I’m going home.
I’ll meet you at the Hideaway tomorrow, and when I arrive, make sure you have the right decision for me. ”
He stomps away as though his word is final, as though he has no idea who he’s dealing with.
“How dare he make such an outrageous demand?” I attempt to sound offended and fail miserably.
“Is it though?” Clover asks.
I spin to find her leaning against the siding. “Yes. He’s lost his damn mind.”
“But he’s giving you everything you’ve ever wanted. Freedom—”
“Freedom? He wants to marry me. That’s not freedom, that’s a chain around my neck.”
And an invitation for someone else to let me down.
“He’s going to fight the demons who haunt you,” Madi says.
“They’re not his demons to battle, and Riley’s family is actually dangerous.”
“So was Greyson’s. More so than you’ll ever know,” Braxton says quietly, as though the admission cost him something.
“Grey is more than a name for him—it’s the line he’s walked since he was old enough to know right from wrong.
His heart pulls him into the light, but the weight of his father tethers him to the dark.
He spends every waking hour trying to fix shit because he thinks it keeps him on the right side of a moral compass that’s always been skewed. ”
“He’ll go even further than Ace to protect you,” Sage says. “And he’ll do it because he cares more than he knows how to admit.”
It’s then that I realize every single person I love is looking at me as though they’re expecting me to take his deal.
As though it’s not completely irrational.
As though it’s my only option.
As if it’s something Grey truly wants.
“Come on.” Madi loops her arm through mine. “I think it’s time for some wine and a pros and cons list.”
I snort. This will take something stronger than wine to sort out.
Become his wife or his surrogate? How did my life boil down to those two options?
And why is my pulse fluttering like a girl about to be kissed by the boy of her dreams?
Sage hooks my other arm with his. “For what it’s worth, I’ve always known that Uncle Grey doesn’t hate you. He may not have known how to categorize his feelings, but it’s never been hate.”
“Could’ve fooled me.”
“Fireworks, I tell ya,” Pops shouts from the porch as we round the corner, startling Clover so much that she trips and falls into Braxton. Thankfully, he’s acclimated to her Clover-isms and catches her easily.
“The thing about my uncles is that they’ll never let those they care about fall,” Sage whispers at my side.
“The fact that Grey is already in fix-it mode with you tells me he cares more than he has about anyone else in a very long time. He may not show it the way most people do, but it’s there, Sav.
Let that count for something. You both have trauma in your pasts.
It would be a shame if it blurred your vision for something that has the potential to be… life-changing.”
He kisses my cheek, then takes off toward his car.
It does count for…something. I just wish I knew what that something was.
Either way, Greyson Reyes has just declared my life is about to change. Maybe he’s more than the architect of my desire. Maybe he’s the puppet master of my whole damn universe.