by Sam Crescent
Chapter Two
This couldn’t be happening to her.
Grace didn’t think it was possible to feel this way.
She stared at her reflection the day after, and she was sure her lips were still swollen from his kiss.
“It’s stupid,” she said.
The moment he’d broken the kiss, she’d made her escape upstairs and hadn’t returned. Glancing at the time, she saw it was before six in the morning. James wouldn’t even be waking up yet.
Still in her pajamas, she had to go and see him, to try to make sense of what was happening to her. This was crazy. She knew it was. She left her bedroom and walked down the hall, going straight to James’s bedroom, only to come to a stop outside.
The door was already open, and she looked inside to see Caleb there. He sat in the chair, staring at the boy.
She frowned as she watched him.
She’d seen Caleb on only a few occasions, last night’s meeting being the longest of their exchange, but he’d always looked angry, apart from when he kissed her. He’d looked different then. Now, he looked … sad. No, not sad, in pain. She recognized the feeling. When the police had come to her parents’ home to tell her the news, she’d felt it then. There was nothing like hearing the news about the deaths of loved ones. No one ever recovered from that, at least, she hadn’t.
Even now, she felt the pain.
Rather than be angry at Caleb, all she wanted to do was comfort him. She took a step back and wanted to slap herself. She stopped and then moved back to watch him. There was real pain there.
This man was nothing more than a stranger to her, and yet, he’d taken her from her own life and had given her this ultimatum.
She’d seen him as nothing more than a monster. After the few things she’d seen him do, she’d been convinced of how horrible of a human being he actually was. The truth was there was so much more to him than what met the eye.
Licking her lips, she watched him, completely enchanted by him as he continued to sit and watch his nephew.
“I know you’re out there lurking,” Caleb said.
This made her pause. She stepped closer to the door.
“You don’t have to stay there. I won’t bite.”
“I’m okay here.”
He chuckled. “Afraid?”
“Of nothing.”
“There’s your first mistake,” he said. “I don’t like being lied to. Have a seat.”
She wanted to refuse but saw no reason to. This was where she’d been wanting to go. She moved toward the only other available seat and lowered herself down, waiting for what he’d say.
Seconds ticked by.
Followed by minutes.
Nothing.
Grace licked her lips and stared around the room, not knowing what to say.
“His mother died a short time ago,” he said.
She stayed silent. James talked about his mother, but he always looked really sad as he did. Then realizing how cold she must look, she looked at him. “I’m so sorry for your loss.”
“You know about loss, don’t you?”
It didn’t sound like a question, more a statement of fact. “You know about me?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t know why I’m surprised.” She ran her hands down her thighs and cringed. She wore a pair of pajamas. The only pair that had been in the room, and they had little bears all over. He wore a suit.
“My parents died in a car crash,” she said. “The day the police told me, I … I was supposed to be in that car. They were getting some takeout, but Dad had ordered something for Mom online and it was due for delivery.” She stopped as tears filled her eyes. “I, er, I offered to stay home so someone was there to sign for it.” She took a deep breath.
“I know,” he said. “I’m sorry for your loss.”
“The pain, it doesn’t get any less. Time just … the world doesn’t exactly stop while you’re trying to get over that kind of death, does it?”
He shook his head. “The world doesn’t forgive pain, nor does it accept weakness.”
“It’s a cruel place.”
“Is that why you’re the way you are?” he asked.
She frowned. “How do you mean?”
“The volunteering? Being broke to help others?”
“I do what I can do, Ca— Mr. Raine.”
He smiled. “You can call me Caleb. I don’t mind. Not with everything I want to do to you.”
She glanced at James. “I don’t think we should talk about that.”
“He’s out for a long time. He can sleep so soundly and so deeply.” He sighed, running a hand down his face.
“What was she like?” she asked.
“Who?”
“Your sister.”
“What about your parents?” he asked instead. “What were they like?”
She rolled her eyes but decided not to argue with him. He clearly wasn’t used to sharing and well, she didn’t have a problem with it.
“They were good people. Nothing was ever too hard for them. They were the kind who went caroling at Christmas. My mom did a big cookie bakeoff, and we’d go around handing out these huge piles of cookies. They were so much in love. I always imagined my life being like theirs. Falling in love, only knowing the good in the world.”
“Life throws shit at you. You’ve got to learn to deal with it. There’s nothing else you can do.”
“Is this what you’re used to dealing with?” she asked.
“I know that life will hit you first, hardest if it can. I’ve always made sure that I can be the one to hit first.” He got to his feet and left the room.
She stood and rushed off after him. “Wait, you didn’t tell me about your sister.”
He stopped and turned toward her. The way he looked at her, she didn’t know what it was, but it sent a shiver up her spine.
He continued to stare at her and she waited.
“You’ll get to find out a lot more about me when you give me an answer. I don’t tell my soul to just anyone.”
She growled. “One day … you’re going to regret this. You’re going to be alone and miserable.”
“I’ll probably be miserable but the thing about money, darling, you’re never alone. Not for the right price.”
When he left this time, she let him go. There was no point in trying to stop him. He was an asshole, and she didn’t want to fight with him.
She went back to where James was. Still sound asleep.
Rather than disturb him, she went back to her own room, changed, and made her way downstairs to get his breakfast ready.
The moment she entered the kitchen, she came to a stop. The chef was cooking, and Caleb sat at the kitchen counter, reading a newspaper.
Without even looking up from his newspaper, he gave the chef the order to leave.
“What about your breakfast?” she asked.
“I’ve been hearing that you’re a good cook. You can cook it for me.”
“That’s very presumptuous of you,” she said, folding her arms.
“You’re too kind to not make me lunch.”
She stayed seated, but she smelled the food spoiling, and after helping so many helpless people in the past few years, she just couldn’t do it. Rushing over to the stove, she did all that she could to save his breakfast from being thrown into the trash. She served him his food, shocked by how unhealthy the breakfast was, but putting it in front of him, and placing the pots and pans into the sink. She went to the fridge to see her waffle batter had been used.
Grabbing the ingredients she needed to make some more, she hummed to herself, trying her hardest to ignore the man opposite her.
The first man in her life who actually wanted her. She shouldn’t care. He was a cruel man, but still, with each glance at him, she couldn’t help but think of how sexy he was.
Caleb was sexy. He was all muscle, and as he lifted his coffee cup to his lips, she caught sight of the ink decorating his arms. The level of aggressio
n washed off him in waves, but it only added to his masculinity.
Shaking off her thoughts, she got back to her whisking. James would be down in no time, and any thoughts she had about this man would evaporate. The only reason she was considering his deal was that she wanted to be free.
She hoped that was all it was.
Being attracted to this man was wrong on every single kind of level.
****
Grace was a natural when it came to James.
Caleb sat back in the security room and watched as she took him out into the garden. With how cold it was, she’d wrapped him up in several sweaters, a coat, hat, gloves, and a scarf. The boy could barely walk, and he looked so cute.
He couldn’t help but think back to this morning. It wouldn’t have been a hardship to tell her about his sister, but he didn’t want to. She had yet to give him an answer, and until she did, he wouldn’t be forthcoming. He’d already made the decision to annoy her with anticipation.
Sure, he wanted to fuck her, to feel her tight pussy wrapped around his cock, but he was also a very patient man. When the time came to take her, he wanted her to be so completely desperate for his touch that she’d forget their circumstances for getting to this point.
He shouldn’t even care, and yet here he was, wanting her to like him. In this world, he’d made sure everyone feared him. With Grace, he wanted her to look at him with need and also to care about him.
Running a hand down his face, he could almost see his sister laughing at him right now. She’d tell him to stop being a dick and to just be a nice guy for a change.
“Sir, this was left at the gates,” his chief guard, Doyle, said.
In his hands was a box.
Getting to his feet, he opened the box and wasn’t surprised to see the head of the man who’d impregnated his sister. With his hands on his hips, he nodded.
“Is there a note?”
Doyle handed him a slip of paper. He flicked it open and read the script. Soon. That was all it said.
“Dispose of it.”
Turning back to the screens that overlooked the garden, he grabbed the radio and told the guard to bring them in.
He hadn’t been cautious enough for his sister, but he wasn’t going to risk Grace and James. The guard approached them, and he watched as James begged, stomping his foot. So much like his sister, but whatever Grace said to him clearly appeased him.
Shaking his head, he left the surveillance office and went to his own. The first note had come a month ago, warning him that something bad would happen to his sister. He’d lived with death threats all of his life. There was a time he’d have dealt with him swiftly, killing everyone.
This time, he’d fucked up by ignoring it.
His sister had been protected, until she hadn’t been.
At his sister’s request, he had James over to babysit so she could go out on a date. Only, he’d been so focused on James, he’d missed the first call. By the sixth, he’d been warned she never made it to her date, and when he went to her apartment, she’d been on the floor, gasping for breath with multiple stab wounds to her chest.
She didn’t know who her attacker was, but she’d been so scared. He’d held her as she took her last breaths, telling him that she didn’t want to die. She spoke of James, and finally, she’d begged him to… He didn’t know. She’d died in his arms before she could get the words out.
For an hour, he’d held her body.
Her death had been violent, but those last few moments, he’d been there for her, not that it had been any consolation. It hadn’t. She’d still died and he’d fucked up.
He picked up his cell phone and got through to his team.
“I’ve got another one,” he said and hung up. His team would know what he meant and within ten minutes, someone would be here to take this note and to investigate it.
The man who’d impregnated his sister had been beheaded. He would know that bastard on sight. His name was Frank and he’d somehow wooed his sister. They’d never married, but he’d been the one to get her pregnant and leave her to pick up the pieces. His sister had begged him not to hurt him. That she wanted to have this baby so much.
James was a true gift. So kind, and now that he had to take care of him, he’d have no choice but to turn that kindness into cruelty. He had way too many enemies.
When the paperwork was taken from his office, he made his way around the house, trying to find Grace and James.
The last couple of weeks, he’d been dealing with his own personal demons, and he hadn’t been able to spend enough time with them.
After looking in the games room, the library, James’s bedroom, even Grace’s, he went to the swimming pool and gym. Nothing.
Finally, he conceded and called the surveillance room. He didn’t know why he didn’t think of it first. Grace would take James to the kitchen.
Making his way to the room, he stopped in the doorway.
Grace’s long brown hair was pinned up on top of her hair, and she had this smile on her lips that twisted his gut. It was so sweet as she tilted her head back and laughed at whatever James had said. She released a chuckle, kissing his cheek.
They were both in aprons, and it looked like they were making cookies.
Flour covered her cheek, and he wanted to go in and wipe it off. For a few minutes, he allowed himself the pleasure of watching them.
A family.
Grace and James looked like a family. His sister would have loved her. She’d been sweet and kind, but she’d also known how to stand up for herself. She could curse like the rest of them.
“What would you like to make after these?” Grace asked.
“Chocolate chip.”
“Oh, I love chocolate chip. How about we do double chocolate?” she asked.
James nodded.
Grace grabbed the two baking trays and placed them in the oven, spinning to James. “Quickly, set the timer. We need seven minutes, then we spin them around for another five.”
“Seven,” James said.
“You’re such a natural. You could be a real chef.”
James giggled. “My mommy loved books.”
Caleb paused. James hadn’t spoken about his mother to him.
“She did? Well, I love books as well. I’m always reading. It’s so much fun.”
“I miss my mommy,” he said.
Grace went to him, wrapping her arms around him tightly. “I bet she misses you too.”
Caleb couldn’t allow this to happen. He stepped into the kitchen. “I hear you’re needing a new sous chef,” he said, removing his jacket.
Grace’s eyes went wide as he began to roll up his sleeves.
“Uncle Caleb, can I draw on your arms?” James asked.
He chuckled. “Not tonight, buddy. We’ve got some cooking to do. I happen to love chocolate.” He slapped his hands together. “Where do you want me, Chef?”
Her gaze was on his ink and he smirked. So she wasn’t as immune to him as she liked to think.
She suddenly snapped out of it. “Right, yes, baking and cooking. Of course. So, we’ve got lots to do. Let me see how many chocolate chips we’ve got.” She turned on her heel and left the room, heading into the pantry.
James was smooshing flour around the counter.
“I’ll go and help her, champ,” he said.
He didn’t wait for James’s response. Heading into the pantry, he watched her as she stared at one of the shelves, clearly a little distressed.
“I believe these are what you’re wanting,” he said, reaching across her and grabbing the right bag of chocolate chips.
“Yes, right, right.” She grabbed the milk chocolate as he did the dark.
“You know, I love chocolate as well.”
“Me too.” She turned to him with a smile.
“Yeah, but what I’d like is drizzle it on you and lick it right off with my tongue.” He left the pantry, putting the chocolate chips onto the counter, smiling. “Got the chips, bu
ddy.”
“Grace, what do we do?” James asked.
She came out of the pantry, red-faced but with a smile. “Well, we’re going to start by creaming butter and sugar together. Can you do that?”
The timer went off as James nodded his head. He watched Grace, laughing as her hand seemed to shake.
The cookies smelled really good.
“Uncle Caleb, you’re smiling,” James said with a whisper.
He moved toward his nephew’s side. “Can you keep a secret?”
James nodded.
“I really like your nanny.”
He giggled.
“Do you think she’d like me?” Caleb asked.
James looked at Grace and cupped his mouth near Caleb’s ear. “She likes everyone.”
For his own sake and sanity, he sure hoped so.
Chapter Three
Grace couldn’t deny there was more to Caleb than met the eye. She sat in the library, the glow of the lamp giving her enough light to glance through the cookbook she had in her lap. Rubbing at her temples, she sighed. It was late, and she didn’t know why she didn’t just go to bed.
She was tired, but sleep seemed to be evading her.
The cookies had been a huge success yesterday, and now James wanted to be in the kitchen every single day. She didn’t mind. Thanksgiving was coming up, and she wanted to ask Caleb if she’d be able to plan a feast for his men and well, for them.
She’d tried to call the new chef, but he wanted nothing to do with her. The kitchen was out of bounds while she was there.
“I figured you’d have gone to bed by now,” Caleb said, entering the library.
“Yeah, well, I wanted to ask you something.”
“You can order whatever you like. I won’t have all my men at the table, but you, me, and James can have a small dinner.”
“Oh, how did you know?”
“I know everything, Grace. This is my house.” He poured himself a shot and turned toward her, offering her some.
She shook her head. “I don’t drink.”
“You don’t drink, nor do you party, or fuck random men. What do you do for fun?”
She glared at him. “There are plenty of ways to have fun. You don’t have to be drunk to have a good time.”