Chapter 25
Kate
Kate left Grant to pick up the broken pieces of the dishes. She hurried into the study to try to calm Walter down. She didn’t understand—she hadn’t seen him like this in months. She’d thought having Grant in his life would help balance Walter, but it seemed to make him more unstable. She cringed as her boss picked up a crystal decanter and threw it at the wall.
Stefan stood several paces away with Kate while their boss raged.
When he ran out of things in easy reach to throw, Stefan asked, “Mr. Holbrook, what has happened to cause this anger in you?”
“That horrible woman. She showed up at the office. I know she was waiting there for me. Said she’s heard about Grant and wanted to meet him. The cameras were there, and she was going on and on about how she had to have her baby back and how it was a blessing.”
“You should probably tell Grant about her,” Kate advised.
“No,” Walter said. “And neither of you say a word. She sees him as an obstacle between her and my fortune. If she gets near him, she’ll manipulate him just like she did me and probably kill him just like she did our children.”
“Grant is a strong man,” Kate said. “He’d probably be able to see through her easily.”
“We can’t know for sure, and he’s vulnerable right now. I’ll tell him in a few weeks after he’s out of the Marines.” Walter sighed and buried his head in his hands. “Why is this happening to me? Why couldn’t she have died in the fire? This world is so unjust.”
Kate rubbed his shoulders soothingly. “We can’t worry about it right now. She’s not going to shoot him in the middle of Times Square.”
“I’ll increase security on the property,” Stefan said. “That’s all we can do. But you must talk to Grant. Secrets aren’t good.”
“Yes, yes, I know. Kate, can you go see about him?”
“Yes, but you need to talk to him at some point.”
Walter looked at her sheepishly. “I don’t think he likes me very much.”
“That’s because you don’t spend any time with him,” she retorted.
“Tomorrow. I’ll do it tomorrow.”
“Oh, his clothes arrived today,” Stefan said. “Would you take them up to him, please?”
Kate nodded and collected the package from the butler’s pantry.
As Kate went up to Grant’s room she thought, Yeah, right. Walter’s not going to meet with him tomorrow.
The two were supposed to have a nice dinner and start to become more comfortable with each other. Instead, Walter pulled a gun on Grant, yelled at him, and dragged him to the emergency room. Kate hated to admit it, but Walter was not making a good impression. She hoped Grant was patient and forgiving. If she were in his position, she probably would have skipped town.
She truly hoped he didn’t leave, though. They couldn’t be boyfriend and girlfriend—she knew that—but maybe they could be friends with benefits. As long as no one found out about the benefits part.
Kate arrived in front of Grant’s door. She peeked through the doorway but didn’t see anyone there. Did he leave? Was he outside? She looked out in the darkness through the windows. The bathroom door opened, and Grant stepped out. Gus ran over to her. She picked up the dog and snuggled him.
“There you are,” she said. “Sorry about Walter.”
“You need to stop apologizing for him,” Grant told her. “He’s a grown man.”
“He’s been through a lot,” Kate said lamely.
“So have I. That’s not an excuse to be a bully.”
“He’s not—never mind,” she said. “We’re going out tomorrow. Don’t worry. You don’t have to stay cooped up here anymore.”
She had already emailed one of her contacts on the Saucy Socialites show for Danielle’s schedule. They were supposed to be in the Bahamas, filming a series of episodes in conjunction with a cruise and resort marketing push. She should be clear to take Grant out and show him some more of the surroundings and meet people besides her grandmother.
“What do you have in mind?” Grant asked her.
“How about a polo match? There’s a charity polo match your aunt Nancy always hosts this weekend. It’s usually pretty fun. It’s a couple hours’ drive away. My grandmother is going, too, so you’ll have to be able to put up with her.”
“I don’t think she likes me that much, so I won’t be the problem,” he said dryly, trying to ignore the fact that he might be meeting another family member.
Tucking her hair behind her ear, Kate said, “I’ll make sure she’s on good behavior.”
“What’s that?” he asked, pointing to the package on the table.
“Your new clothes! You can wear them tomorrow.” She pulled them out of the package and hung them up in his closet.
As she did so, he casually stood behind her, sliding a hand between her legs, slowly rubbing his fingers back and forth. Her breath hitched, and she tried to ignore it. When she was done, she pulled his hand away. He grinned at her. She got up on her toes to kiss him.
“I have to go.”
“Do you?” he asked playfully, pushing her against the wall and kissing her.
She moaned softly then pushed him away. “Yes. I have to talk to Stefan about bringing stuff, and I have to choose my outfit.”
Grant was giving her a smoldering look. She felt the wetness between her legs, and she bit her lip as he continued to stare at her.
“Okay, just a quick—”
She didn’t finish the sentence. He pushed her against the wall, tearing at her panties and hiking her skirt up. Then he was in her. She moaned as he pushed himself into her. She arched her back as she felt the heat of him as he took her. It was quick and dirty, and he made her come in minutes.
“You’re insatiable,” she said to him.
He bit her bottom lip then let her go. She adjusted her skirt and left the room, still feeling his eyes on her. She wanted to stay with him, but she had to make arrangements for the next day. Most difficult of all, she had to tell her grandmother that Grant would be accompanying them.
“Kate, you’re back!” her grandmother called enthusiastically from the living room. She had the TV on mute. “I have my outfit all picked out for tomorrow. I’m thinking we can mix up mimosas and apricot sours. Wait, why are you looking at me like that? Are you canceling on me?”
“No, of course not, but don’t worry about the picnic. Stefan has it covered.”
“Stefan! Oh no. You’re bringing Grant, aren’t you.”
“Of course I’m bringing Grant to the charity polo match his aunt is organizing. At one point, you were very impressed with him, you know.”
“That was before he started taking advantage of you.”
“No one is taking advantage of me. He needs to go out and meet people.”
Her grandmother scoffed.
“Let’s try to have a good attitude,” Kate pleaded with her grandmother.
“I can’t make any promises. But I’ll try,” she said, cutting off Kate’s protests. “Are you hungry? Of course you are. All that sex works up an appetite.”
“Gram!” Kate said, horrified.
Margaret cackled. “I was young once, too, you know!”