Chapter 11 Duke
Duke
Icast a lethal glare at my brothers, hoping to vaporize them on the spot. Grace had been so close to taking my hand. Damn it. Was that too much to ask?
I’d wanted to take her in my arms from the moment she stepped into the office. I wanted to pull her into me when I’d seen Oliver Chambers with his arm around her. I’d also wanted to punch him.
It brought back memories of the night Grace and I met.
It was no coincidence that I’d stood next to her at the bar, staking my claim on her before she’d even given me a second glance.
I’d arrived at the Exemplar prepared to do the bare minimum to fulfill my family duties before sneaking off.
I didn’t want to talk to anyone, and I certainly hadn’t been seeking out female company until I’d stumbled upon Grace.
Accusing her of being an escort had been the perfect way to find out more about her.
People tend to overshare when you give them a label they feel obliged to disprove.
And after hearing how her ex-husband had treated her, I’d been furious on her behalf.
I told myself not to get involved, but I wasn’t going to stand by and let someone else treat her just as badly.
I’d scared off most of the men who attempted to hit on her with little more than a snarl, but it had taken all my self-control not to rip off the arms of that one guy who put his hand on her knee. Grace was mine. She is mine. And I fucking hate the way my brothers are looking at her.
Those two fuckwits have already picked up on the charged energy they’d walked into. Their matching expressions guarantee I’m going to be even more pissed once they open their mouths.
“Sorry for the interruption,” says Rory, his grin widening as if he hasn’t registered my scowl. He doesn’t take his eyes from Grace. “I don’t think we’ve met. I’m Rory, and you must be the reason my brother’s become so invested in renovation.”
“I’m Grace Hamel,” she replies far more politely than Rory deserves.
I can’t see her expression while she’s turned away, but the skin around her neck and jaw deepen to scarlet. She was already too hot in her oversized sweater that hides too many of her curves, but now she’s scorching with embarrassment.
She can’t read Rory, but I can. He’s fishing for information, or a reaction. From me. “Rory, can we–”
“And this is Calder,” Rory continues, cutting me off. He tilts his head to our brother. “Unless you’ve already met?”
Fuck. My big brother is too sharp for his own good. I’d slipped up mentioning to Noah that I’d met Grace in Philadelphia as part of my sales pitch to get her here. He must have told Rory, and now Rory’s making connections I wish he wouldn’t.
But that’s the least of my concern as I watch Calder step forward. If he fucking dares…
He takes Grace’s hand and presses her fingers to his lips as he bows. “I’m sure I would remember someone as beautiful as you,” he drawls.
When Calder keeps hold of Grace’s hand, I prepare to launch myself at him. I don’t notice Rory circling towards me until he puts a hand on my shoulder, forcing me back into my seat.
I want to punch Rory too, but it’s been bred into me to show my older brother a certain level of respect, whether he deserves it or not.
Calder is closer to my age, still older but not enough to require the same kind of deference.
The bastard lets go of Grace’s hand and it’s his gaze that crawls over her next.
“But you do look familiar, Grace,” he says.
Calder’s putting Grace in an awkward position. She knows what he’s getting at and she won’t want to lie…
“I’m sure you see lots of people in your line of business,” she says with more confidence than I’ve given her credit for. “You run a nightclub, don’t you?”
“Judging by the state of him,” I add, “I’d say he’s been there all night.” My gaze swivels back to Calder. “Shouldn’t you be in bed?”
He scratches his head, making his hair stick up at alarming angles. “Rory wanted me here.”
Because Calder’s the only one to have seen the woman who breathed new life into me back in Philadelphia. I’m excluding Max because Rory’s already tried and failed to get information out of my bodyguard.
“But to answer your question, Grace,” Calder continues, dropping into the chair next to her while Rory settles into the seat next to me. “I own several clubs, including Heatrush. It’s my newest baby.”
“Olly’s told me all about it,” she says and my jaw clenches harder. “It sounds like the launch went really well.”
“We still have queues outside every night.” He sits back and does what he does best. Peacocking in front of a beautiful woman. “It’s invitation only, but you’ve just put yourself at the top of the VIP list.”
No. Fucking. Way. “She’s not going.”
Rory and Calder keep silent, avoiding the daggers Grace aims at me with one look. “Noah’s already mentioned I should visit some of our completed projects. The work I’m doing might be different to what the team did with Heatrush, but I presume you want some consistency across the Moncrief brand.”
“Not when it comes to the shit Calder gets up to,” I answer. “Our hotel guests don’t normally get their arms broken for upsetting the wrong person.”
My brother lets his body slant toward Grace. “Nothing to do with me. I’m a puppy dog,” he says, extending his arm so it rests on the back of her chair. “Some people just react badly when a man touches what’s theirs.”
“Calder.” Rory says it as a warning before I can react.
Calder removes his arm and takes an orange and red card from his inside pocket. He places it on the table in front of Grace. “I’ll just leave this here,” he says. “It grants open access to our VIP area for you and… Would your husband be joining you, Mrs. Hamel?”
“I’m divorced.”
Calder glances at Rory. The question was planted. “I see.”
Rory slaps a hand down on one of the project files. “It might be a better use of your time to visit Brimstage. Corbyn House is going to be one of our most prestigious destinations, and Duke must rate you very highly to go to such lengths to get you on board.”
It sounds like a compliment and maybe I’m being paranoid, but this pincer movement from my brothers has put me on edge. “She’s more than qualified.”
“It’s going to be challenging,” Rory continues. “I swore to Maddie the renovations would be sympathetic to its history, and that the spa would have a positive impact on the small community of Brimstage.”
“She’s connected to the Griffins, isn’t she?” asks Grace. “They sound…interesting.”
“Interesting is one way of putting it,” he says with a chuckle.
“Each of the brothers has their own individual quirks,” adds Calder with a smirk. “The broken arms Duke mentioned, that was Mace, and those guys got off lightly. There was this one time–”
“They occasionally deal with bad people who do bad things,” Rory interjects, firing a look at Calder to shut the fucker up, for which I’m grateful.
Grace has enough to process. “Ash is the oldest and he and I go way back. I’d trust him just as much as I would a brother.
” His gaze flicks to Calder. “In some cases, more.”
Calder stifles a yawn, like the insult is old news. Which it is. “I sometimes wish they’d adopt me.”
“So do we,” I add, cocking an eyebrow.
“They sound scary from what Duke’s said,” Grace admits.
Rory nods as he digests what she’s implying.
I’ve trusted Grace with our family’s secrets.
“They’ve helped a lot of struggling communities over the years, and rescued vulnerable women from unspeakable dangers.
They refuse to be recognized for their good deeds.
In fact, they’re only really known for their whiskey label. ”
“Whiskey?”
His chuckle is an indulgent one. Whiskey is his favorite subject. “It’s a passion Ash and I share. You must have heard of Griffin whiskey. We stock it at all our hotels, including the Exemplar. Maybe you saw it when you were there.”
Which brings us back to why Rory and Calder have ingratiated themselves into my meeting.
They know she’s the girl from Philly. “About Corbyn House,” I say.
“Rory, I’m aware of our commitments to Maddie, and I’ll go through everything with Grace.
You don’t need to be here.” My gaze flicks to Calder. “And he most definitely doesn’t.”
Calder looks far too smug for his own good. He came in here wanting to press my buttons and he succeeded.
Rory’s got what he wanted too. He’s had his suspicions confirmed about Grace and now it’s time for them to fuck off, but Rory hasn’t finished with me yet.
“I was speaking to Hunter earlier,” he says. “He and Maddie are making a whistle-stop visit to Brimstage this week. They’ll be dealing with paper mill business during the day, but I’ve persuaded them to extend their stay into the evening so you can meet them. Both of you.”
“We haven’t discussed visiting the site yet.” Grace says, eyeing me with suspicion. She thinks this is a set up. If it is, I’m not party to it.
“No, we haven’t,” I agree. “But…” Escaping Chicago and my fiancée sounds damn near idyllic. I just need to persuade Grace and my twitching cock that I’ll keep my promise about not hitting on her. “We do need to get out there.”
Grace doesn’t look convinced and it’s Rory who nudges her in the right direction. “Maddie won’t be able to return to Brimstage for a while. There’s a Griffin baby due very soon and none of them will want to be away from home for a while.”
The baby in question isn’t due for another couple of months and Brimstage isn’t so far away that the family couldn’t be recalled at a moment’s notice. It’s an outright lie, and I think I might just love my big brother a little more than I did two minutes ago.