CHAPTER SEVEN

Mia

“Grayson—” I say, determined to make him listen.

“Don’t,” he says. “I know you still know that look and that plea on your lips makes me give in, but not this time. Not when it comes to you and Ri.”

“I’m here because I caused this, because I care. You don’t have to tie me to your bed. I’m staying. I’m not leaving. Please, just tell me you’ll hear me out.”

“Quid pro quo. I hear you out. You hear me out.”

We’re going down this path of the past. I can’t stop it from happening. I’m not sure, if I’m honest with myself or him, that I want to stop it. “On one condition. We deal with us after him because I don’t want either of us letting the past get in the way of shutting Ri down.”

“Then we operate just like we did at the funeral. Nothing is off limits.”

“Grayson—”

He cups my face and kisses me, a deep slide of tongue that has me biting back a moan. “God, I missed kissing you.”

I missed it too, so very much, but I don’t say that to him. I can’t.

He rests his forehead against mine. “I need to go talk to Eric and Davis.”

“Yes,” I agree, pressing on his chest and forcing him to look at me, “you do. Be open-minded to what they say. I want to help.”

“You have. You’ve motivated me to destroy him once and for all.”

His voice is hard, the glint in his eye pure evil genius that actually comforts me. You don’t beat Grayson Bennett when he’s in this state of mind, but that also means he won’t listen to reason on my influence over Ri. “I just packaged a convention center deal in Japan. There are a few legal issues on that project that are time-sensitive. I have to deal with that today. I have no choice.”

“A convention center. Wow. That’s huge.”

“It is. It’s going to double our worth.”

And make Ri hate him all the more. “I’m not going anywhere, Grayson. Take care of your business. Just make sure Ri is part of that business.”

He presses his hands on the island on either side of me. “You didn’t cause his attack, Mia. I did. I let this misunderstanding between us go on too long, but no more.” He pushes off the counter. “Do you have a bag in the car?”

“Yes. I was afraid I couldn’t get to you tonight.”

He studies me a long moment. “I’ll get your bag.” He starts to move away.

I catch his arm. “It’s light. I’ll get it. You go take care of business.”

“Take it to my room. That’s part of the deal. We put the past on hold.”

My lashes lower and he cups my face. “Mia. Look at me.”

I open my eyes. “My room,” he says.

“Yes,” I say, finding the idea that I would pretend I’d end up anywhere else a waste of energy at this point that would border on the kind of games I don’t like to play. “Your room. I’m going to take a walk, though. I need to clear my head. I’ll take my phone. You know my number.”

His hand comes down on the island beside me again. “Yes. I know your number, just like you know the gate code to this house when no one else does. There was never a time when you couldn’t get to me, Mia. You just didn’t choose to find out until now.” There is anger in his words again, in his voice. He pushes off the island and walks away and that anger is what I focus on.

He’s angry, like I betrayed him, and for the first time since right after the funeral, I let myself consider the option that he’s not guilty of at least one of his sins, the unforgivable one, but I shove that naiveté away. I know what happened. I swallow hard and quickly push off the island and start walking, my path leading me to my car, where I open the trunk and remove a hoodie from my suitcase. I pull it on and then head down a walkway at the side of the house that leads to the beach. Once I’m there, I walk to the edge of the water and turn and stare at the house.

This was his father’s place, but we were here more weekends than his father. This is where we came after the funeral. This was where our final goodbye took place. Memories of that day charge at me and I turn away from the house and start running, the way I used to run this beach. I don’t stop until I’m two miles away at the lighthouse, which I didn’t just come to with Grayson. He bought it because I loved it so much. The sun is dimming, soon to begin fading into the horizon, the way Grayson and I faded into the horizon.

I start climbing the winding steps until I’m at the very top where Grayson and I had setup cozy reclining chairs, side by side. I claim the one that was mine, and I painfully wonder if any other woman has been here with Grayson when I have no right. We aren’t together. We haven’t been together in a long time. I pull my knees to my chest and I think of his father, who is now gone. I think of the funeral, as I have so many times since he left this world. The way I did the night I pissed off Ri. It was almost a new beginning until Grayson left his phone on the bed, and I saw the number on his phone…

***

Grayson

I’m not a man who builds his success on other people’s destruction, but I have limits, and Ri is going to find out that he’s pushed me too far. I walk out onto the patio and sit down with Eric and Davis. “Go,” I say, which is what I use as an invitation for them to hit me with their thoughts, of which I’m certain they have many after hearing Mia’s reasons for being here.

“She’s always had good instincts,” Eric says. “If she believes that conversation was about you, I’m betting on her.”

“Agreed,” Davis says. “I trust her, and I don’t trust anyone. I still think we need a criminal attorney in on this.”

“What we need,” I say, “is an attack plan. I want Ri to go down once and for all. Make that happen and I don’t care what resources, including money, it takes. Pay whoever, as much money as you have to pay them, to get the right dirt on him, to shut him down.”

“Mia’s already on the inside,” Davis says. “She—”

“No,” I say. “Mia will not go back to Ri. End of subject. What else do I need to know right here and now?”

“Reid and Carrie are headed back to Japan to take care of the challenges with the convention center takeover,” Eric says, of the brokers who brought the deal together. “The other ten things on my list can wait.” He eyes Davis. “We need a minute.”

Davis gives him a nod and stands up. Eric waits until Davis enters the house and then leans closer. “I don’t know what happened between you and Mia, but not only did it change you, it clearly hurt her. Despite that, she was there for you when your father died and she is here now. Considering the pain I still see in her eyes, I know two things: a) she still loves you, and b) she believes this threat is serious.”

“I’m not discounting the threat, Eric. I said ruin him.”

“You have thousands of employees, including me, counting on you. You don’t have the luxury of leaving her out of this.”

“Find another way,” I order.

“Protect her, but keep an open mind. She could be the only person who can tear him down.”

“Find another way,” I repeat, and this time I stand up. “I will not have her feel as if I’m using her for my own gain or that I’m putting my well-being over hers.”

He stands. “Not yours. Thousands of employees.”

“And I damn sure won’t risk hurting her again,” I add as if he hasn’t spoken. “I love you, man, and you’re the brother I never had, but don’t push me on this. Not on Mia.” I step away from the table and head for the walkway down to the beach, with one destination in mind. The lighthouse, where I know Mia will be right now.