25. Chapter 24
Chapter 24
Griffin
Kaitlyn curls into my arms quietly. I know how she is. Once her mind is set, changing it will take an act of government or force. I don’t want either. I guess I’d compartmentalized so hard with this not to feel what I’m starting to feel, I didn’t consider what it might do to my mother later. Seeing the crushing emotion radiating from Kaitlyn’s eyes, I think I would’ve done anything at that point to take her hurt away.
“Mum, is the cake on the rack? Kaitlyn and I have something we want to talk to you about.”
After a moment, she appears in the doorway. “If you’re telling me you’re getting married or I’m getting a grandchild in that manner, I hate to tell you that I pictured a grander gesture than this.”
“Oh God,” Kaitlyn says. “No, no. It’s nothing like that.”
I motion to my mother’s chair. “Will you please come sit? It’s rather important.”
“You’re scaring me a bit, Griffin.”
She said my name. She never calls me anything except Griffy. She hasn’t in years.
“Don’t be scared. It’s important, but not something to be scared of,” I tell her.
Kaitlyn looks at me with worry and relief in her eyes and mouths, “Thank you.”
Once she’s seated, she folds her hands on the table and waits. “All right, I’m listening.”
“This may be hard to understand, at first, but I promise we’ll try to make it as simple as possible. Father is involved.”
She rolls her eyes and scoffs, “Why am I not surprised?”
“Mum,” I sigh. “As you know, I’ve been working toward taking up the mantle at Orion since Joseph passed. Father hasn’t made that process easy. He tells me constantly that my flippant, playboy attitude could ruin what he so carefully built.” I see her eyes go wide, but she doesn’t interrupt me. “A few weeks ago, he sent me a contract with stipulations. One of which was that I needed to be in a serious relationship, or married, or he wouldn’t allow me to take my position.”
She sits very still and silent on the opposite side of the table. When my mother is silent, one of two things is happening. She’s either about to melt down in tears or she’s getting ready to burn something, or someone, down. Either way is not what I want.
“Mum? Did you hear what I said?”
Finally, she looks up from her thoughts into my eyes. “I should have grabbed a bottle of wine for this. Quel figlio di puttana. Lo ucciderò.”
“Holy shit, Mama. Non parlare così."
“I hate to say this, but English please,” Kaitlyn says. My mother gets up from her chair, wandering into the kitchen, muttering to herself in Italian as she works through her obvious initial anger. “What did she say? I thought I heard the word for bitch.”
I chuckle a little, to my surprise. “Don’t tell me you speak Italian.”
“No, fluent Spanish. The languages are very similar. I know swearing when I hear it.”
“Well, she called my father a son of a bitch and said she’d kill him.”
Kaitlyn puts her face in her hands. “We haven’t even gotten to the worst part yet.”
“Hey.” I pull her hands away so I can see her eyes. “I’m sure she is putting two and two together.”
My mother walks back into the dining room with a bottle of wine and a very, very large glass. It’s not even for wine. It’s a proper stout glass, and she’s filling it with very expensive wine.
“Let me make sure I understand.” She pauses to take a long pull from the glass. “Your father is threatening you into a relationship before he will sign some arbitrary contract with you? And I take that to mean that…” She looks at Kaitlyn. “You’re involved.”
I open my mouth to speak, but Kaitlyn does so first.
“I am, but Griffin and I had many lengthy conversations about this, and I wanted to do what I could to help him. What his father is doing isn’t fair, and I was in a position to do this for him.”
“So this,” she motions between the two of us, “is fake? Is that what you’re saying?”
Kaitlyn nods immediately, and I feel a deep stab in my gut at her quickness, even though I shouldn’t.
“Well,” my mother continues, “you’re better actors than I could’ve imagined.”
“Mum, please. Kaitlyn and I really do enjoy each other. Do we play up for the cameras? I suppose. What I can tell you is, this woman is selfless, honorable, smarter than I am, definitely can tell someone off better than I ever could. If this is the path I’ve been given, I wouldn’t want anyone else by my side.”
I look over at Kaitlyn as I feel her hand squeeze mine. Her eyes are glazed over with tears. I didn’t think telling the truth would gain that response. I lean over to place a gentle kiss on her forehead. Her eyes gently close before reopening to find my mother regarding us both.
“When Griffin and I met, he was brash, arrogant, and even a little, dare I say, cocky.”
My mother cracks a small smile for the first time. “You could say that.”
“After I really looked, I could tell he was full of pride, high standards, a moral compass I only thought was written about in old romance novels, but yet he never makes me feel less than in any way. In fact, if anyone, including myself, attempts to be unkind to me, he swoops in because he’s not having it. I enjoy spending time with him. I enjoy him”
“Then I have to ask,” my mother replies. “Why hasn’t this evolved into something real?”
Kaitlyn
Her question is one that I’ve asked myself time and time again over the course of the last few days. We clearly care for each other in a way neither of us seemed to be prepared for, so why are we still faking it when the connection is real?
Griffin answers before I can process a response.
“That’s something I’d like to discuss with Kaitlyn at a later time… and privately, Mum.”
Oh. My heart leaps.
Bianca rises from her seat and circles the table until she’s at Griffin’s side, and she pulls him into a hug, kissing the top of his head. “Thank you for telling me the truth.”
“It was going to be hard. Fucking hard. I felt like it was the only way. Now,” Griffin looks down at me, “maybe not so much.”
Spending the afternoon with Bianca was everything I needed it to be. Once everything was out in the open, walls came down, and my heart suddenly opened wide. She told story after story about Griffin as a child as we walked the grounds surrounding her spacious cottage, while he took a phone call with Tobias in the kitchen. The countryside stretched on for miles around us. It felt like I was at home with my father. It was home.
I could see where Griffin got his smile, his personality, and definitely his moral compass. He is her mini-me. While Tobias is his mate, I can tell she is his person. While Griffin takes another call, Bianca pulls me in closer to her on the sun-filled couch. “I can’t remember the last time Griffin introduced me to anyone. He certainly found a match in you.”
“I haven’t allowed myself to think about it. I mean, don’t get me wrong, he’s very intelligent, which is a must, and he’s very attractive…I mean, look who his mother is.”
“Oh stop.” Bianca giggles like a young girl.
“It’s true. I didn’t even think about it when we were staying with my father this past week.”
“Griffy met your family then? Wow. He does have true feelings for you.”
I look down to play with one of the stitches on my dress. “I’ve only had the last hour to even realize that could be possible. It was a contract before that.”
“I don’t know you that well, darling, but I do know my son. I’ve never seen him look at any woman the way he looks at you, in pictures or otherwise.”
“I wish I knew how to properly process what you’re telling me, but I feel like I’m on a Tilt-A-Whirl at the carnival. I’m overwhelmed by my feelings, his feelings, and now this, and the fact that it could be real.”
“Sweetheart.” She stops me and takes my hands. “All I can say is you should follow your heart and chase what makes you feel good. Don’t question it or overthink it. That’s how you end up with regrets. Trust me.”
Unexpected tears prick my eyes. “Thank you so much for being so amazing to me. You don’t even know me and you’re so nice.”
“If Griffy loves you, then so do I.” She wraps me in a hug.
Love? Does he love me? Oh my God, now I’m spiraling again.
The sun has long since set and we are still spending time with Bianca at her home. She has a fire burning while she knits on the sofa, and Griffin is sipping on a scotch in a large, leather chair while I relax across his lap. His hand lies protectively on my thigh and I rest my head on his shoulder, watching the flames in the fireplace flicker and dance.
“Are you getting tired? We can head back to my place,” he whispers in my ear before kissing the lobe.
“I’m perfect.”
“You can stay here, loves. It’s not often I have company stay a while. Your room is made up, Griffy.”
“We didn’t really bring a bag, Mum.”
“You have clothes here and I’ll find something for Kaitlyn to wear. You know I have a thing or two.”
I look up at him. “Can we? You did promise me an authentic experience. What could be more authentic than returning the favor from sleeping in my childhood room? I won’t be offended by all the soccer and Harry Potter paraphernalia.”
“Baby, it’s football and there’s no Harry Potter anywhere.”
Bianca clears her throat. “At least not anymore, my dear Gryffindor.”
“Mum!”
I giggle. “It’s okay. I hope you won’t mind sharing your room with a Ravenclaw.”
Griffin’s arm pulls tighter around me. “It will be a stretch, but I think I’ll survive.”
His bed is so tiny compared to the one at his apartment, but it has given us no choice except to sleep half lying on top of each other. I’ve slept in worse situations before.
I’ve never felt so… content… in a relationship in my entire life. I’ve gotten things that I needed from other men, of course. Every relationship has its bright moments in my life, but Griffin is different. He’s special.
He’s long asleep now, after participating in a good, old-fashioned make-out session with me, ala high school… and now I’m just staring at him.
The lines in his face are relaxed, and he looks so much younger like this. He almost has a constant scowl when he’s awake, and trust me, it’s hot, but this is different. It makes me want to wrap him in my arms and protect him from the world.
I don’t even mean to speak out loud, but the words leave my mouth before I can stop them… and even in a whisper, part of me hopes he can hear me.
“I love you.”