The Successor

by Alina Jacobs

  “Oh my goodness!” Kate said, placing a hand on her chest. “I thought he might have sepsis or something. Google really can be alarming.”

  She petted Grant’s head while he struggled to control his breathing. Looking up into her eyes, he felt his heart rate start to slow down.

  When the nurse returned, she checked his pulse. Then she hooked up an EKG machine to his chest.

  “I think he’s going to be just fine,” Walter told her.

  The nurse sniffed. “We’re doing some blood work just to be safe. The last thing we need is to release him and suddenly we’re on the hook for a dead war hero. Sit tight, Marine. We’ll have you out in no time.”

  It was not no time—it was the entire night, it felt like. Several hours later, Kate was dozing on the chair in the corner under the TV. His father would periodically step out to make a phone call. Grant tried not to think about the last time he was in a hospital, when his ears wouldn’t stop ringing and he was covered in cuts and burns and couldn’t remember what happened. The smell of the disinfectant, the sounds of the sheets rubbing together, the constant beeping. Grant hated hospitals.

  Just stay calm, he told himself. It’s almost over. He closed his eyes and tried to pretend he was somewhere else.

  “Absolutely not,” his father said, walking into the room. “Someone change that channel.” Grant looked up at the small TV mounted on the ceiling. There was an anorexic-looking woman wearing very revealing clothes, drinking, and screaming at an equally skinny, equally scantily clad woman.

  “I can’t believe that woman is running around on that stupid show, bilking the fact that she and her boyfriend murdered my children. Turn it off,” he demanded of Kate.

  “I’m trying,” she said, pulling a chair over to the TV, and tried to find the off button.

  “That’s my mother?” Grant asked in disbelief. One of the women fell off of the ledge she was sitting on into some bushes. “What is she doing on TV?”

  “She’s on that Saucy Socialites of Manhattan reality TV show,” his father said with clear disgust on his face. He glared at the TV. “I hope she drowns in the Hudson River.”

  “Hush. Excuse me,” she said as the nurse walked in. “Can we turn this off?”

  “No,” the nurse replied. “It stays on.” His father looked as if he was going to start throwing things. “But our Marine here is about to be cleared to leave. So it shouldn’t be a problem.”

  “Perfect,” Grant said. His shirt had been cut off of him. Kate was prepared, though, and handed him a sweatshirt that said Harvard.

  “You can go there, if you’d like,” his father said offhandedly. “Lord knows I’ve given them enough money.”

  “I’ll think about it,” Grant said noncommittally. He felt as if he were too old for college. He waited in the hall while his father paid for his treatment.

  “How much was it?” he asked.

  “Don’t worry about it.”

  “I should have gone to the VA.”

  “I’m not sending you to those butchers,” Walter snapped.

  Kate shushed him.

  The driver was asleep in the car when they followed Kate into the parking deck. He jumped awake, then it was a short drive back to the estate.

  “All right, that’s it,” Walter said when they walked through the foyer very early that morning. “You have to take it easy. He’s staying in his room until further notice.”

  Kate nodded.

  “I mean it,” he warned. “I cannot lose another child. You don’t understand. I will lose my mind. Lock him upstairs. He can take his meals there.”

  Grant was too tired to complain. He trudged up the stairs and crawled onto the bed, not even bothering to change his clothes or pull back the covers.

  Chapter 23

  Kate

  Kate went back to her grandmother’s house, creeping in to sleep a few hours. When she arrived back at the estate a few hours later, Stefan told her Grant was still asleep. She tiptoed upstairs. Walter was still in the same clothes she’d left him in. He was pacing the hallway. His brown hair with the hints of gray was disheveled.

  “Have you slept at all?” Kate hissed at him. She heard a quiet whine and slowly opened the door. Gus trotted out. Kate picked him up before he could make a mess on the carpet. “You need to sleep.”

  “I can’t believe that horrible woman,” Walter said. “She’s going to find out about Grant. You know that, right? She probably already knows. I should station guards around the property. Grant cannot leave his room.”

  “Look,” she said, turning him around to face her. “Don’t do anything stupid, all right? Danielle still wants your money. She’s probably looking for a way to screw you in the divorce. Grant’s a marine. He’s killed people. He can take care of himself.”

  “You’re right, you’re right. And Kate?”

  She turned to look at him.

  “I meant what I said. He doesn’t leave the room.”

  “Girl scout’s honor,” she replied. She followed her boss down the sweeping staircase, put Gus outside, then ate breakfast and went over Walter’s schedule for the day.

  “You need to calm down too,” she told Walter, “not just Grant. Leave after your three thirty is over and come home and have some quiet time. You haven’t really had a break since the fire. I’ll have my grandmother over. We can do something, I don’t know, normal. The incident, the funeral, dealing with the police and the city and Danielle, then Grant. It’s one crisis after another. You need to look after your health.”

  He smiled and tugged at a piece of her hair. “You are like a daughter, aren’t you? Nagging a poor old man,” he teased.

  “I’m not nagging, and you are not that old,” she huffed.

  “I have a son that’s almost thirty,” he said.

  “Yeah, but you were what? Sixteen when he was born?”

  “Yes,” Walter said. He stared off through the window. “I don’t know what I was thinking with Danielle.”

  “She’s a sociopath and a narcissist. That’s what they do—manipulate people and destroy their lives.”

  “I need justice,” he said.

  “You may not have it. Try to be positive and not so obsessed with vengeance. Maybe she’ll slip up somehow and they can nail her with it.”

  She watched Walter leave for New York City, then she took some small pitchers of water and juice while Stefan took the silver tray up to Grant’s room. She slowly opened the door.

  “Kate,” she heard him call out.

  “You’re awake,” she whispered. Gus ran in as Grant came out of the bedroom yawning. Stefan opened the curtains while Kate arranged the food on the table in the sitting room. Grant sat down, Gus jumping around, trying to jump up on his lap. He hefted the puppy up and reached for a plate.

  “I’ll fetch it,” Kate said. “You’re supposed to be taking it easy.”

  He gave her a half smile while she slid several miniature omelets on his plate along with some potatoes and peppers. He wolfed down the food.

  “So,” he said as she fixed him a second helping. “What’s on the agenda today?”

  “You have to stay in your room.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “Your father was very clear about that.”

  “I’m an adult. A grown man. I did four combat deployments. I’m not getting locked in my room like a child.”

  “Too bad,” Kate said. “He’s freaked out by your panic attack last night. Therefore, you’re stuck in the room today. If you leave and anything happens to you, I don’t know what he’ll do. Definitely fire me, I assume.”

  “We can’t have that,” Grant said.

  Kate looked at him, a serious expression on her face. “You didn’t see him after the fire. I thought he was going to go on a murderous rampage. We literally had to lock him in the gym at one point and hide all his guns. He was screaming and shouting about how he was going to go after everyone—Danielle, the contractor, the firemen, the police, the building inspe
ctor. We were really scared. He would alternate between crying for his dead children and this inhuman rage. My grandmother stayed with him for months after. It was her idea to find you. She remembered the scandal.”

  Kate sighed then continued. “You were difficult to find. Danielle and her family had been in charge of your adoption, and of course her parents died in the fire and all the paperwork turned to ash. There were multiple private investigators; it took a while. If you hadn’t been found, I think your father would have been dead or in prison for mass murder. You are the only thing keeping him together, so you understand that you have to stay here.”

  “Fine,” he said, “but only if you keep me company.” He grinned wolfishly at her.

  Kate looked down at her hands.

  “I really shouldn’t. Maybe you can watch TV or something.”

  He stood up, and in one smooth motion, he picked her up and carried her to the bedroom. He hungrily pushed at her clothes, his mouth trailing hot kisses along her torso.

  “You’re the best thing that ever happened to me, Kate,” he said hoarsely as he licked and kissed her whole body then down to the mound of flesh between her legs.

  “Oh my.” She moaned.

  “Mmm,” Grant said. “I think this is how I’m going to spend the rest of my day—just having my way with you for hours.” He used his tongue and his fingers to pleasure her.

  She felt the fires of desire lick her entire body. Kate expected him to stop and take his pleasure in her—most men would. But he kept going, kissing and nipping and stroking all along every inch of her. She moaned low in her throat. He really was going to do this all day!

  “I can’t take anymore,” she whimpered. Grant looked up and grinned at her.

  “That’s not the can-do attitude I expect from someone in my father’s employ.”

  She swatted his head at the comment. He pulled himself up on top of her and lavished her nipples with his mouth and tongue.

  “I want to take you nice and slow,” he murmured to her. He flipped her around on the bed then mounted her in one clean motion. She cried out as the length of his member entered her. The flesh between her legs was still tingling with the sensation of Grant’s mouth and fingers. She writhed under him as he pounded away in her.

  “Are you going to come, Kate?” he said.

  “Y-Yess,” she stuttered. He stopped for a moment.

  “Keep going.” She moaned.

  He ignored her and pulled her halfway off the bed so that her feet rested on the hardwood floor.

  “I need better leverage,” he said to her. He grabbed her hips then pounded into her. She cried out with every thrust. She had never had a man use her like this, take her like this. Every powerful thrust drove her wild. She half expected him to come any moment, but he showed no signs of letting up.

  “Are you almost close?” she said breathlessly.

  “Baby, I’m just warming up.”

  He fucked her for what felt like an eternity. The slide of his large member, the feel of his balls brushing against the tender flesh between her legs—she felt electricity go up and down her body. She came then came again. She could barely keep herself up. She let her body be fully supported by Grant’s hands and the force of him sliding into her. Her gripped her hard and gave a burst of short thrusts, and then she felt him come. He pulled out of her and fell on the bed beside her. She could barely move. Her hair was sweaty. Grant was breathing hard, and his body glistened with sweat, accentuating his muscular form.

  “That was insane,” she said.

  “Mm-hmm,” he said, smiling at her.

  They lay next to each other, basking in the afterglow. She dozed off next to him, feeling completely safe as he wrapped his large body around her.

  They woke later and took a long bath together. She floated in the warm water, his arms around her. Kate had never felt so cared for.

  “I think I’m smitten with you,” she said.

  “Smitten?” he said with a soft laugh. “I’m completely obsessed with you.”

  Chapter 24

  Grant

  By the time Kate got the text from his father, saying he was returning, Grant was a little tired of being in the room. He loved being with Kate, but he was used to a little more physical activity than a marathon sex session. He smirked, thinking about how her breasts had bounced as he pounded away at her, and the delectable noises she made. And the cleanup afterward was fun too.

  “I know what you’re thinking about,” Kate purred as she came up to him, wrapping her arms around him and nuzzling his chin.

  “About how much I want you?” He kissed her ears and trailed kisses down the nape of her neck. She grabbed his hands to keep them from wandering any lower.

  “Your father’s going to be back soon. He cannot walk in on us. We need to be presentable.” She casually ran a hand over his bare biceps.

  I want to marry this woman, he thought.

  “Get your mind out of the gutter,” she whispered to him.

  If only she knew that was the furthest thing from his mind. As she dressed and did her hair and makeup, he started fantasizing about the wedding they would have. His groomsmen would wear the formal dress blue uniform. The paper would cover it. It would be a fairy-tale wedding followed by the perfect life. They could adopt a bunch of dogs. Maybe they would have kids. He was adopted, and he’d always wanted to take on a kid from foster care. He only needed to convince her that that was the best plan for them.

  Kate walked around the room, tidying up.

  “I’ll go take this tray down and let Gus out,” she said.

  “I can take it.”

  “You can’t leave the room.”

  Grant was incredulous and said, “I’ve been here all day. You can’t carry that tray by yourself. Also, I won’t let you carry it by yourself.”

  “I lift weights,” she replied. “I can handle it.”

  “I’m not letting my—” He was about to say girlfriend but caught himself. “Father’s assistant carry that.”

  “You’re being awfully stubborn,” Kate said.

  “No, you are.”

  He grabbed the tray and pushed past her. As he walked down the stairs to the kitchen, his father chose that moment to return home.

  “I thought I told you,” he snarled, “to stay in your room.”

  “I’ve been there all day,” Grant replied.

  “Don’t argue with me and go back up there.”

  His father had a wild look in his eyes, but Grant was tired of being cooped up, and besides, he didn’t back down from a fight. In the barracks, if you didn’t hold your own, then it set you up for future grief from other people. You had to set the tone quickly and decisively.

  “Move out of my way,” he growled. “I’m a man. I can take care of myself.”

  Kate hurried down the stairs. “Walter, please, you’re tired and overwrought. He was in the room all day. I promise.”

  “You promised you would keep him there!” his father yelled at Kate. “And yet here he is while that woman and her lackey are running around.”

  “Don’t speak to her like that!” Grant yelled.

  “She is on my payroll. I’ll speak to her any damn way I please. Now go back in your room.”

  “Go to hell.” He threw the tray at his father.

  The older Holbrook seemed startled, and it shocked him out of his tirade. “I—” he said.

  Stefan crept up and put a blanket around his shoulders. “Come lie down in your study,” he said.

  Walter didn’t protest as Stefan led him away.

  “You didn’t have to do that,” Kate snapped at Grant as she went to pick up the pieces of the china. “He’s not well.”

  “He can’t talk to you like that,” Grant said, grabbing her shoulders.

  “He’s had a hard life,” Kate said, throwing him off.

  “So have I.”

  “You didn’t lose a child,” she said. “Besides, he’s tired. He didn’t mean it.”

>   “Kate,” Stefan called.

  “Excuse me. I need to go see about him.” She hurried off.

  Grant finished picking up the rest of the dishes. He threw away the broken stuff and washed his hands, then he went and changed his clothes.

  “I’m going for a run, Gus. You’re coming too. All you did was eat and sleep all day.”

  It was getting dark out, but he thought there was still enough light to see. It looked as if Stefan and Kate were still dealing with his father.

  Grant and his dog snuck out through the doors to the terrace. He did some light stretching, jogged in place to warm up, and then set off, Gus keeping pace with him. Grant increased his pace and ran all out at a full sprint. He thought Gus was behind him, but when he slowed down, the dog wasn’t there. Cursing his inattention, Grant retraced his steps, hoping to find that the puppy was resting on the side of the path, but there was no Gus. He whistled low and called softly for the dog. He didn’t want to go back in and ask for help. His father seemed really upset. He wasn’t sure why. It was so stupid to expect him to stay in that room all day just because.

  He heard rustling in one of the bushes.

  “Gus,” he said.

  A dark figure emerged from the trees.

  “Grant Holbrook,” said the man. He had Gus in his arms.

  “Who the hell are you? Let go of my dog.”

  “My name is Luigi. I mean no harm,” the man said. He had a New Jersey accent. “I only wanted to keep him from wandering off. There are coyotes roaming around here.” He gently set the dog down, and Gus ran over to Grant to hide behind his legs.

  Grant took stock of himself and his surroundings. He had a knife. Did the stranger have a gun? He loosened his stance and prepared himself to kill—again—if necessary. The man raised his hands in a placating gesture.

  “I’m not here to do you harm. Quite the contrary. I bring a message on behalf of a dear friend of mine.” He slowly reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a large envelope on thick cream-colored paper.

  “It’s from your mother—your real mother. Take it; she wants to see you before your father poisons you against her. You’ve seen how he is, a brute. You saw how he treats Kate. That was no anomaly. He’s been spinning the truth to put you on his side. Your mother simply wants to meet you. She wanted to keep you, but the Holbrooks forced you away, forced you to be placed with that awful family.”