Chapter 13 Duke #2
“If I’d tried, Max would have dragged me back down. My family had made him my permanent minder and he stayed glued to me, keeping me alive until I was able to accept the light shining a path out of the darkness,” I say as I lift Grace’s hand and press a kiss to her fingertips.
“Just resting your lips?” she asks, playful words skittering over her nervousness. She knows what I’m about to say.
“You were the light, Grace. You brought out a version of me I didn’t know still existed,” I whisper.
“I’m not saying all my problems were solved overnight, far from it.
Some persist to this day,” I admit, thinking of my non-existent relationship with my sister.
“When I parked outside your house, I wanted to knock on your door and take a chance, but if I was going to introduce myself to you properly, I needed to know who I was. I needed answers and that’s where Ash Griffin came in. ”
“How could he give you answers when no one else could?”
“The Griffins made their fortune out of taking things apart and rebuilding them into something better. Ash especially.”
It’s an oversimplification of what amounts to Ash Griffin’s genius and misses out the shadier part of their dealings, but it’s no less true.
“After the accident, Rory had the wreckage placed into storage, along with every scrap of evidence from the police investigation. The only piece of the puzzle missing was me. And as limited as my memory was, I was still the vital piece Ash needed.”
I rest my chin on top of her head. “It was only after meeting you that I agreed to return to Scotland and it took a while before we could all get back there. Ash and his brothers had been dealing with a crisis of their own, but finally this spring, Ash made it happen.”
It had been awe-inspiring to watch him work. He took the Range Rover apart and scrutinized each and every piece of physical and electronic evidence. He examined photos and casts of tire tracks, and he made me go through every fragment of my memory, over and over again.
“It wasn’t looking good,” I admit, “and I could see my future slipping through my fingers.” I could see Grace slipping through my fingers. “But the day before Ash was due to leave, he found the tiniest tuft of hair beneath a layer of mud on a wheel arch. Fox hair.”
“You hit a fox?”
I huff out a bitter laugh. “Clipped its tail more like. If I had hit it, the evidence would have been clear from the start. Or better still, I wouldn’t have gone off the road at all,” I reply.
“But that little tuft of fur triggered a memory I’d discounted, a flash of coppery red.
I thought I was recalling Meri, but no. I’d swerved to avoid a damn fox.
” I heave out a sigh. “It was just a freak accident.”
Grace rubs her cheek against my chest. “Why do you make it sound like that’s a bad thing?”
“Because even though I’ve stop beating myself up over it, it won’t make Meri feel any better.”
Grace raises herself up so we’re eye to eye. “You haven’t told her?”
“I know my sister. She needs to blame someone or something and a fox isn’t enough,” I reply. “I’ll tell her when the time’s right, so please don’t say anything to her, however tempted you might be to leap to my defense.”
Grace rolls her lips. “We don’t exactly move in the same circles.”
Tugging my hand from her grasp, I cup Grace’s jaw. “You will,” I say with absolute certainty. “I thought I made myself clear last night. When we get through this temporary blip, you’re in my fucking life forever, Grace. Make no mistake about that.”
Her eyes are glassy as she meets my hard stare with a frown.
“I’m still not sure I forgive you for making this far more complicated than it needed to be.
There must have been an opportunity before Katarina arrived on the scene for you to pay me another visit instead of laying your elaborate trap to get me here. ”
“What can I say? I’m a sucker for romance. I didn’t want to spoil our serendipity moment.”
For that I receive a glare. Yeah, I fucked that up anyways.
I’m still pissed that our first meeting didn’t end the way I’d pictured with Grace on my desk, ankles on my shoulders while I… I blow out a breath and cut the scene before she notices my cock hardening beneath her.
I stroke her cheek with my thumb. “When you came to my hotel room, I saw a woman who felt empowered to do whatever the hell she wanted.” Grace swipes her tongue over her lips, leaving them glistening – much like my cock would be if I freed it from my pants.
“If I’d simply turned up at your door and things had turned out how I hoped they would… ”
“Which was?” Grace fights a smile as she wriggles her ass against my crotch. She can feel me.
I close my eyes and try to hold onto my self-restraint.
“If we’d begun a long-distance relationship, at some point you would have had to choose between the life you had in Philadelphia and the one I could offer here.
” My arms cord from the effort of trying to keep her still.
“You loved your house and got on well with your boss, and I didn’t want to pull you away from that unless you wanted the move for yourself first.”
“So you left breadcrumbs to see if I’d follow you all the way to Chicago,” she surmises.
I fight a smile. “My plan was perfect. It was just the timing I fucked up.”
Her gaze drops to my mouth. “You’re sounding very sure of yourself.”
“You didn’t correct me when I said you were in my life forever, Angel,” I point out. My eyes narrow. “And that kiss was not meh.”
The corners of her mouth tugs, but she fights the smile. I roll my hips and she groans.
“Or are you going to tell me you have a thing for your new co-worker?”
Rationally, I know she and Maddie were baiting me and Hunter when they’d swooned over Oliver-fucking-Chambers, but the situation with Katarina has made me every shade of insecure. I’m relieved to see the confusion on Grace’s face. She’d remember a truth easier than the lie.
I continue staring until her eyes widen. “Oh.”
“Yes, fucking, oh,” I repeat, but that one little noise from her mouth has my balls contracting. “Say it again, Angel.”
“You want me to tell you Olly is hot?”
She winces at my growl. “No, Grace. I want you to make that ‘oh’ sound again.” My voice drops when I add, “Only this time, go a little deeper. Like you’re going to do when I finally perch you on the edge of my desk and push my tongue deep inside you.”
Grace clenches her thighs together. “Duke,” she warns with a whimper. “You’re the one who’s supposed to be strong for the both of us.”
Her words hit me like a bucket of ice-cold water. I have to protect her. I can’t fail. When I wrap my arms tightly around her this time, it’s me I’m restraining. “No fucking. No kissing. No dry humping,” I say, adding to our list. “But I need to hear you come, Angel.”
“You want me to fake it?”
“No, I damn well don’t,” I say through gritted teeth. “I want a copy of our recording.”
Grace quirks an eyebrow. “Is that wise? Could someone find it?”
Yes, is the simple answer. “Put it on a flash drive so I don’t have to download it. It’ll be safe in my office.” I glide my hands over her hips. “As are you apparently.”
A lopsided smile rounds her pink cheeks. “We can still make our lists,” she says, wriggling more than necessary as she unwraps herself from my embrace and climbs off my lap. “And it sounds like I have a new one to add. Something about the edge of your desk and your tongue.”
“That’s my list,” I correct. “You work on your own.”
“Oh, I intend to,” she says as she straightens the dress I don’t get to unbutton today.
After unlocking the door, I want to kiss Grace goodbye. I hate that I can’t do that either. My hand goes to the small of her back as she leaves my office. “Thank you for your time, Mrs. Hamel,” I say loudly in case there’s anyone within earshot, but there’s only one person close by.
Ed’s wearing a wide grin as he tips his head to the two coffee cups on his desk. “I thought you might have worked up a thirst,” he says innocently.
I scowl at him. “I made Grace coffee.”
“You did?” she asks, her hand going to her hip. “I don’t remember that.”
I open my mouth to defend myself, then remember. “Shit, they’re still sitting by my coffee machine.” I had them ready, adding the hazelnut creamer to Grace’s just as she likes it, but one look at her in that green dress and the coffees had gone completely out of my mind.
Ed hands Grace her to-go cup. “At least I know how to treat a woman.”
The bastard thinks he can play me, but he’s given me an idea. Forcing myself not to watch as Grace disappears with her coffee, I hand Ed something from my pocket and wait for his reaction. His eyes widen.
“Why are you giving me this?”
“You say you know how to treat a woman. Well, I want you to treat my woman,” I say, keeping my voice low as I tip my head to the black Amex card clutched in his white-knuckled hand.
“Grace’s apartment is getting a security upgrade tomorrow and I’d rather she didn’t spend her weekend with some dick contractor trying to hit on her.
I want you to take her out. Do whatever you like. Buy whatever you like.”
I can literally see the dollar signs flashing in Ed’s eyes. “You shouldn’t say things like that to me, Duke. There’s the most stunning pair of red leather Prada boots I’ve been drooling over for weeks.”
I roll my eyes. “You might have mentioned them once or twice before, but try to remember you’re meant to be entertaining Grace.”
“They’re unisex. We could get matching pairs.”
I sip my coffee. “Do what you like,” I repeat, knowing I can trust him.
“Just look after her for me. She’s new to the city and she needs friends.
And please keep her away from sleazy nightclubs, including Heatrush.
” I haven’t forgotten Calder’s open invite.
“Take her to a spa or something. And if she complains about spending my money, convince her it’s for research. ”
“Oh, don’t worry. I’ll give our girl a crash course in overindulgence.” He slips the card into his pocket. “It’s just a shame you can’t come with us.”
I can’t help but laugh. “No offense, Ed, but if I were able to spend the weekend with Grace, you wouldn’t be invited.”
Ed huffs at that. “You love me really.”
“I’d love you more if you take another pair of my suit pants to the dry cleaners.”
He cocks an eyebrow as he glances down at my crotch. Grace may not have made me come in my pants, but I still made a mess. “That settles it, I’m definitely buying those boots.”
I’m about to head back to my office when Max rounds the corner and heads right for me, grim-faced.
My guess is he’s been speaking to the Griffins.
He’ll want to know why I didn’t tell him how Katarina’s latest power play had caused our abrupt return from Brimstage last night.
I can feel the anger radiating off him. That’s why I didn’t tell him.