Chapter Sixteen
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Viviana was confused when they drove past her father’s home and kept going. She almost said something, but Grant was obviously taking her somewhere else, and wherever it was he couldn’t hide his excitement about it. He glanced at her several times, each time his smile growing wider.
“You have no idea where we’re going, do you?”
“I don’t.”
“I’m impressed with your family’s ability to keep a secret.”
“What did you bribe them with?”
“I may have promised to lend your brothers my Spider.” They pulled over to the side of the road. “But I couldn’t have finished without their help.” He stopped, then added, “Actually, I could have, but it wouldn’t have been as much fun.”
His smile was so bright, so mesmerizing, that rather than look around she simply smiled back at him. She was more excited by the idea that he’d spent time planning something with her family than she could possibly be over wherever they were going. “You’re crazy if you let my brothers drive so much as your lawnmower.”
“I don’t own one of those. At least, I don’t think I do.”
“Uh huh. Well, after my brothers are done with your car, you may not own a Spider either.”
“Viv?”
“Yes?”
“Stop talking and look behind you.”
She turned in her seat and looked out her window. The front of the house she’d told him she was interested in buying was freshly painted, and its yard was beautifully landscaped. What caught and held her attention, though, was her father and brothers sitting on the porch waving at her. “What are they doing there?” The answer came to her in a whoosh. “Did you buy the house?”
“No, you and I did. We bought the houses around it, too, but I thought it’d be too obvious if I started demolishing them. It was hard enough to renovate the inside without you noticing.”
“You renovated the inside? In a couple of weeks? That’s impossible.”
He shrugged. “It’s funny what becomes possible if you throw enough money at it.”
She was happy and scared in equal amounts. “That’s a fast renovation.” And a fast step in our relationship. One I’m not sure I’m ready for.
He took her hand in his. “I want to live with you in that house. I want to raise our children there.”
“Children? We’re only having one.”
“I’m sure we’ll want more. I come from a large family. You’re one of three. Money’s not a problem for us so we could have a dozen if we wanted.”
“A dozen?” Her head started to spin as panic rose within her. “That sounds—” Frightening. Exhausting. Crazy.
“Wonderful, doesn’t it?” he finished for her.
“Actually—”
“Viviana Sutton”—he took a box out of his breast pocket and flipped it open, revealing a huge diamond solitaire—“will you—?”
“Let’s take a minute to think about this first.” She snapped the box shut. Oh, my God. Oh. My. God.
He gave her a long look then slowly opened the box again. “It’s an engagement ring,” he said, as if there was a possibility she’d confused it with something else. “The last three weeks have been amazing. We fit. We enjoy each other. Marry me. We’ll make us official and our baby will be a Barrington.”
Reason battled with euphoria. The diamond dwarfed any she’d seen in person and flashed like a lit-up stop sign. “This is so fast.”
“The best way to miss an opportunity is to hesitate instead of acting.”
She hugged herself and glanced again at her family on the porch of the home he’d bought for her. It would be so easy to say yes, but if they made a mistake now, it wasn’t just them who would pay the price. “I don’t know. I need to think this through.”
“What is there to think through? Name the obstacle and I’ll remove it.”
With her heart thudding wildly, she searched his face. He was sincere. But— “What does your family think of us getting engaged?”
His expression closed. “They’ll be fine with it.”
“Will be. You haven’t told them?”
He shrugged.
She looked from him to her family and back to him. “But you told mine?”
He nodded. “I asked them for their blessing, yes.”
From the big smiles on her brothers’ faces, she knew they expected her to leave the car with a ring on her finger. Her gaze flew back to Grant. Is this all so the baby can be a Barrington? He bought an office building so he could work from here. He bought a house for us. He didn’t have to do that. Am I crazy to worry?
I’m falling for him, but how can I give him my heart when he is giving me only half of himself? Audrey would probably slap me senseless for hesitating, but isn’t this the best time to ask my questions? If we can’t talk to each other now, what kind of marriage would we have? “Do you love me?” she asked softly.
He opened his mouth to say something then snapped his teeth together and said nothing. In one way it was a letdown, in another it supported her instincts. “No one would ever take better care of you than I will. You and our baby will never want for anything.” He kissed her then and her willpower nearly crumbled.
She broke the kiss off and framed his face with her hands. “Promise me something.”
“Anything,” he answered huskily.
“Promise you won’t ask again until your answer is yes.”
“I—I—Okay.”
She fell even more in love with him because he could have lied, but they’d sworn to be honest with each other. “And I want to meet your family.”
His expression tightened. “Why?”
“Because they’re a part of you.” She took a deep breath and plowed on. “I’m falling for you, but I can’t love half a man. I don’t know if you’re ashamed of me or what we did, but—”
“I’m not.” His expression turned pained. “God, don’t even think that. Meeting you has been like being given a second chance at life.”
“What was wrong with your first chance?”
She sensed him withdrawing mentally before he withdrew physically. He pocketed the ring box and sat back in his seat. His hand grazed the top of the folder he’d brought with him. He picked it up and held it up between them as if it contained the answers to her questions. “I’m not half a man here. I’m the man I’ve always wanted to be.”
“I don’t understand. Help me understand.”
Grant didn’t know how to explain it since it was something he was still figuring out. He’d never been comfortable talking about his emotions and growing up sharing them was discouraged. In the Barrington home, all that had mattered was how things appeared. Yes, things were changing, but to an extreme he didn’t know how to deal with.
How could he take Viviana into that mess?
“Tell me about your family,” she ordered softly.
“I have.”
“I know their names. I know what they do for a living. I don’t know what kind of people they are. Do you get along with them? Did they do something that makes you want to hide here with me?”
“I’m not hiding.” His neck warmed as his pride took a hit. Is that how she sees me? It stung that she might have the same view of him as his family did.
“Then talk to me.”
He looked out the window at her family who was still watching them. “This is going nowhere. Let’s go eat.”
She touched his forearm, bringing his attention back to her. “You just asked me to marry you. You want to live with me, raise a child with me. How can we do that if you won’t let me in?”
“What do you want from me?”
“The truth.”
His phone beeped with a message. He checked the caller ID. It was Ian. Something in him snapped and he growled, “We all think we want the truth, but it doesn’t make anything better. In fact, sometimes the truth has the power to destroy everyone you care about and drag you down as well. I thought I was doing the right thing. I might have had a moment or two when I imagined I could fix what was wrong with my family. I saw myself as some kind of fucking unsung hero who’d just been given a chance to prove himself. I didn’t help my family. I handed them a loaded gun. Judge me if you must, but I can’t stomach watching my family fall apart a second time. That’s why you haven’t met them.”
Viviana took his hand and brought it up to her face. “Whatever happened, Grant, I know you’re a good man. I needed time away from family to find a way back to them. Maybe it’s the same for you.”
“I wish it were that simple. It’s more fucked up than that.”
“Okay. Just know I’m here when you’re ready to tell me.” He thought she would push him for more, but she didn’t. She simply sat there, holding his hand against her cheek and smiling at him with her heart in her eyes. So beautiful, he could barely breathe.
I should have said I love her, but what the hell do I know about love?
His phone beeped again. He didn’t check it this time. Whatever his family was so urgently trying to tell him could wait until after dinner. Despite what she’d said, he didn’t want to expose her to . . .
Oh, my God, this is what my father did with my mother. He was so afraid she might have another breakdown, he maintained a distance between her and anything unpleasant. We children came second to his need to shelter her.
I’m recreating that with Viviana. Is that what I want? A family based on an illusion of perfection? Viviana is not my mother. She’s strong. She doesn’t want the fairy tale.
The look in her eyes told him everything he needed to know. She wants me. The real me. And she’s not going to settle for less.
He brought her hand to his mouth and kissed her knuckles. “How was I lucky enough to find you?”
She grinned. “I believe I found you.”
“Oh, yes,” memories of that first day came rushing back and he was suddenly turned on as well as confused, and that never helped a man sort his thoughts out.
The color that rose in her cheeks meant she was getting good at reading his thoughts. He glanced down at the bulge in the front of his jeans. So subtle.
He kissed her gently then sat back even though he craved more. Her family was expecting to celebrate an engagement, not a public mauling. He glanced over his shoulder. Dylan had a plate in one hand. He shamelessly shoveled a bite of food into his mouth then waved the fork in the air to summon them. Connor tapped his watch. Her father stood with his arms folded across his chest, watching.
“This is going to be awkward,” Grant said.
She raised a finger in the air toward her family as a sign that they needed another moment. When she looked back at Grant, her eyes were troubled. “I’m sorry.”
He pulled her into his arms. “Don’t be. I always know how I stand with you, and you have no idea how much I value that.” He kissed her again. “I will ask again.”
She kissed him back. “You’d better.”
His phone rang another time, and he groaned. He held the phone up and said, “I have an idea about why my family is calling, but it could be anything at this point. I can try to prepare you, or I can let you dive in and hear it for yourself.”
She studied his face for a moment. “Either way as long as you’re okay to share it. It’s okay if you’re not. I understand now.”
He took a deep, fortifying breath and made his decision. She’d been a playmate and a friend. Marrying her was something he’d decided made sense because of how well they got along, both in and out of bed. But this—this was deeper. She was offering him the kind of loving acceptance he’d stopped believing was possible. It shook him to the core. He wished he could go back to the first moment they met and do everything that followed better.
I can’t imagine my life without her in it.
Is that love?
“I—I—” His phone went to voicemail then started ringing again. “I’m ready.” He answered and pressed speakerphone. “Ian, sorry, I was in the middle of something. What do you need?”
“You need to get your ass home,” Ian barked. “I can’t contain this on my own. I’m doing everything I can to keep it out of the news. I can only call in so many favors. I know you asked for time to sort out your own shit, but you need to know what’s going on because it’s spiraling out of control.”
Viviana’s mouth rounded in surprise.
“Ready?” he mouthed silently.
Viviana nodded.
Grant asked aloud, “What’s going on?”
“Yesterday, at the family meeting you were too busy to attend, Mom and Dad announced the results of the DNA testing. The baby they buried wasn’t Kent.”
“What?” Grant asked in shock.
“You heard me right. They don’t know who that baby was, but it wasn’t related to us. Mom is convinced that means Kent is alive and out there. Emily is the only reason Asher hasn’t gone after Stiles again, but I don’t know how much longer he’s going to listen to her. He wants to beat the truth out of Stiles. Helene’s parents flew in when they heard the news. She and Andrew are in hiding with them. They’re not answering my calls, so I don’t know what they’re up to. Kenzi and Mom tried to hire that woman, Alethea Niacharos, but she said she’s waiting to hear from you. I was going to talk to her myself, but didn’t you fire her because her methods were illegal?” Without giving Grant time to answer, Ian continued, “Oh, and did I mention that Dax conveniently disappeared on a business trip with Lance. Seriously? Lance? Who do they think they’re fooling? Your guess is as good as mine on which member of our family is going to get arrested or killed first. You need to get back here and help me talk some sense into everyone.”
Grant let out a long breath. “Viviana, this is my brother, Ian. Ian, you’re on speakerphone with Viviana Sutton.”
“What is wrong with you? Get me off speakerphone. Now.”
“No.” Grant laced his fingers with Viviana’s and held on for the ride. “I trust Viviana.”
Viviana smiled gently.
“Has everyone lost their minds?” Ian growled. “This is a nightmare.”
“Can I call you back, Ian?”
“You’re joking, right?”
“I’m not. I’ll come home, but there’s something I need to do first.”
“You know what? I don’t care. Come home or don’t. At this point I don’t know if you’d be any help anyway. You brought this on us.”
“Me?” Grant asked between gritted teeth.
“I knew telling Mom was a bad idea. What will be your next gift to her? Another baby’s body to bury? A movie deal where this can all play out for public entertainment?”
Viviana blanched, but Grant wasn’t angered by Ian’s attack. He could have reminded his brother he had agreed their mother deserved to know the truth, but it wouldn’t have helped the situation. Of all his brothers, Ian was the most like Grant. He was a rational problem solver who didn’t panic. If Ian thought the situation was out of control, it was. If he was worried, there was reason to be. “I’ll call you in a few.”
Ian hung up without saying another word.
For a long moment Grant and Viviana simply sat there looking at each other. It was difficult to guess what she was thinking. Grant had difficulty imagining what he would have thought had their situations been reversed.
“Who is Stiles?” she asked.
“Helene’s uncle.”
“Your brother’s fiancée?”
“Andrew, yes.”
“Why does Asher think he knows anything?”
She was handling the story much more calmly than he’d expected. “Stiles owned the clinic my brother died at. He claims he was paid to cover up that my deceased aunt paid to have Kent killed.”
Viviana nodded slowly.
“You’re taking this well.”
Viviana’s eyes rounded. “Oh, I’m freaking out on the inside. It’s heartbreaking and a lot to take in.”
“For me as well.”
“So, when do we go to Boston?”
His jaw went slack. “You can’t still want to meet my family.” He searched her face for a sign of revulsion or fear but found none.
“Mine almost gave you alcohol poisoning, and you’re still here.”
“We’re quite the pair.” He laughed even though his gut was still twisted and anxious. Am I insane to consider taking her back with me?
“Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?”
He didn’t and spent the next ten or so minutes clarifying who everyone was and how his family had gotten to this place. When he finished, she asked for a moment to think. He wouldn’t have blamed her if what she was pondering was how the hell to get out of meeting his crazy family. He wouldn’t tell her she couldn’t go, though. He wasn’t going to close a door on her.
Her stomach made a rumbling sound. “Can you make phone calls from your helicopter? If so, I’d call Asher and tell him we’re on our way. I bet that will keep him in Boston. Then you should call that woman—Alethea? Unless you still don’t want to work with her, but if not, you should suggest someone else to your mother. I wouldn’t call Ian until you know where Lance and Dax went, but they probably have their phones with them so that’s just another phone call. Then it’s really a matter of finding out what happened to your brother, but you sound like you’re good at stuff like that.”
“I am,” Grant said with a bemused smile. She was tackling his family’s disaster with the ease that he’d seen her tackle issues with the construction crew. More amazing? He agreed with her plan. Except possibly that last part. This wasn’t a scheduling mistake with machinery. “Alethea probably does know something, but my aunt was a sociopath. If she switched the babies, do we really want to know what she did with the one she took? It might be even more heinous.” He laid his head back and closed his eyes. “Ian had a point. I brought this on my family. I didn’t have to tell my mother what I’d discovered.”
“Fuck Ian,” Viviana said harshly.
Grant’s head snapped up, and his eyes flew open.
Viviana continued, “You did what you thought was right. Your mother was lied to for too long. She deserved the truth. And she deserves to know if Kent is still alive. You could give her that closure.” She took his hand and laid it on her stomach. “If it were our child, I wouldn’t be able to rest until I knew the truth, and I would want to know every last detail, no matter how bad it was. And if there were even the tiniest chance that he was still alive? Nothing could stop me from looking for him. Nothing.”
Suddenly, what had seemed like a muddled mess to him was crystal clear. When he imagined his child disappearing and not knowing if it was alive or dead, he knew Ian was wrong. My mother needs the truth, and I’m going to find it for her. He pulled her to him for another hug. “Thank you, Viviana.” Emotions swirled through Grant, and his heart felt like it might burst from his chest. He struggled to find the words to express what he felt for Viviana so he kissed her instead, deeply, tenderly.
A knock on the window made them both jump. Dylan and Connor were at the driver’s side with plates of food. Grant lowered the window.
Dylan handed bundled silverware along with a plate of steak and potatoes through the window. “You guys are getting too hot and heavy for me to keep taking photos. I thought you might want memories of when you proposed, but it’s getting weird.” He flipped to a photo of the two of them facing each other. “This one looked promising.” Then there was one of them kissing. He deleted it. “I thought I saw a ring in this one.” He flipped to another. “Then you looked like you were arguing so I stopped. I took a beer break and then it looked like you might be asking her again. Honestly, Dad is ready to go home, so if you haven’t said yes yet could you hurry it along or call us later with the news?” He chucked Grant on the shoulder. “Nice house, though. It came out good.”
Connor bent down. “So, where’s the ring?”
I’ll just get it out there. “She said no.”
“You said no?” Connor asked, his mouth flopping open. “Oh, man, that sucks, Grant. Sorry.”
Dylan started deleting more photos. “You’re not going to want these then.”
Connor looked at the plate in his hand. “Viv, you’re probably too upset to eat, right?”
Viviana leaned over Grant and made a grab for the plate. “Don’t you dare touch my steak, Connor. Hand it over.”
Looking disappointed, Connor did. “It was delicious. How much does a private chef cost? We should get one of our own.”
Grant snapped his fingers and reached for the folder he’d prepared for them. He handed it to Connor. “This might help with that.”
“What is it?” Dylan asked as he swiped it.
“It’s for your father. Just a few ideas on how he could restructure his business health plan, claim more deductions, invest those savings in low-risk stocks to provide a better retirement program for his employees, and in general minimize his profit loss.”
Dylan shrugged and handed it back to his brother. “Oh. I’ll let Connor go over it with him. I find that stuff boring.”
Connor made a face. “Fine, but then you have to tell Dad that Viviana turned Grant down. She probably would have said yes if you hadn’t made it into a photo shoot.”
Dylan glared at Connor. “This isn’t my fault.”
“I’m not saying it is. I’m just saying it might be,” Connor said with a shrug.
“You’re an idiot,” Dylan said.
Connor held up his hands and mimed taking photos. “I would have stopped when they kissed the first time, but that’s me.”
With a growl, Dylan punched Connor in the arm. “Shut the fuck up. I didn’t know they’d go all porno with Dad there.”
“Poor Grant.” Connor shook his head. “He’s taking it better than I would.”
Dylan shrugged and the two started to walk away. “And he’s still mooning over her. Men are stupid when they’re in love. Have some pride, dude.”
Viviana covered her face with one hand and groaned. “I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be. They’re always like watching a sitcom.” Besides, I am stupid because I do love you. I love you. “Viv, I—”
She held up a hand to halt him from saying more. “I don’t want to face my father yet, either. I’ll text him that I’m okay and we’re heading up to meet your family. That’ll make sense to him and it’s true.” She popped a potato wedge in her mouth. “I’ll explain everything to him later, but first let’s find Kent.”
Okay. First we find Kent, then I propose again, the right way.