The Grayson Trilogy

by Georgia Rose

  Confirming I did he went out to the kitchen, returning a couple of minutes later, handing a glass to me before he sat back down.

  “So, tell me what happened then with the setup here?” I continued.

  “After all of that was over Cavendish decided he wanted to change things. He’d just inherited the estate and took me on to manage it. As I said, he carries considerable influence and he put forward a proposal to set up an independent force to carry out the sort of missions that we do now. SIS were keen, though less so with me being involved, but Cavendish insisted and here we are. We’ve been putting together an elite force for a few years now. Nearly everyone employed here has some sort of forces background, specialist skills, etcetera.”

  “Apart from me.”

  “Yes…you are the anomaly,” and he grinned as he said this. “As you know I was keen on employing another candidate we had for your position. He was ex-Household Cavalry and would have been perfect.”

  “But you got me instead…how very disappointing for you.” I frowned grumpily at him.

  “Well, you were on our shortlist of applicants. You made it onto that purely because Cavendish was keen on the kickboxing. You wouldn’t have got a look-in without that but, as it happened, the other applicant then withdrew his application so the decision was made for us, although in hindsight, I don’t suppose I would have had as much fun with him as I’ve had with you.” He laughed at the look on my face as he said this.

  “Anyway, to continue, Cavendish, myself and the boys are the ones who currently work away; the others are here as backup and as a protection force for the family and the estate. We’ve worked hard to provide an environment where we can get the right people together and where they’re happy and want to work in the way we want them to. Cavendish’s philosophy is that he wants people to work with him rather than for him, and that seems to attract people to want to come here.

  “We’ve had a couple over the years that didn’t fit in and wanted to leave – obviously it doesn’t always suit – but everyone here now is committed and keen to provide the support we need. To date it’s been quiet in terms of action on the estate but as you know we’ve been working away quite a bit recently and there are some things brewing abroad that could have an impact here. Though with all the setup work Cavendish and I have put into place we should be well prepared to face any eventuality. Anyway, enough questions…come here,” and pulling me onto his lap he kissed me hungrily and we were soon lost in each other again.

  The weather was still hot after the weekend and as I was putting Zodiac’s head collar on to take him out to the paddock I was startled, suddenly feeling someone close behind me, his arms wrapping around my body, his breath hot on my neck as it was nuzzled and kissed, sending shivers through me. I smiled to myself as I said, “Carlton, you know how mad Trent is going to be if he catches you.”

  At this Trent growled a fierce “Don’t” into my neck as he then spun me round and I looked at him, grinning innocently.

  “Oh, it’s you! Did you just growl at me?” He was glaring at me warningly.

  “Yes I did, don’t wind me up. I’ve still not got over the night when you almost took him into your bed. I couldn’t bear the thought of him touching you then and I can bear it even less now.”

  “Well you shouldn’t creep up on me then, especially now I’ve lost my early warning system.” I stared accusingly at Susie who was lying flat out, dozing in the sun. She glanced up at me, giving me a look which clearly told me I only had myself to blame, before stretching back out.

  “I’m sorry, I won’t do it again,” I said, trying to mollify him, though couldn’t help smiling at his discomfort. Then I kissed him deeply, deeply enough to distract him sufficiently so that he’d moved on by the time the kiss ended.

  “I came back to ask if you had any plans for the day?”

  “Not particularly,” I replied, wondering what he was up to.

  “I thought we might go to the beach once you finish here.”

  “That sounds great. I should be ready in an hour or so.”

  “Okay, well I’ll go and sort out lunch for us and be back in a while,” and with that he kissed me again and left.

  I eagerly set about leading the ponies out to the paddock and then getting all the stables set up for the evening. Once I’d finished I went to change into shorts and a tee shirt and by then Trent had arrived to pick me up. Locking Susie in the cottage I went out to meet him.

  We drove to the beach, parking at the far end then wading round the point to get to the private bay. I’d brought a couple of towels and Trent was carrying a picnic, which he put down in the shade. I lay the towels out on the sand next to each other but before I had a chance to sit down Trent grabbed hold of me.

  “It seems to me that you have too many clothes on, Em…let’s see what we can do about that.”

  Later we lay together soaking up the sun, then ate a delicious lunch of poached salmon, salad and pasta, followed by fresh strawberries and pineapple, washed down with chilled white wine.

  As Trent lay dozing I sat up, bringing my knees up and wrapping my arms around them as I looked out to sea. I was deep in thought when I felt his hand lightly caressing my back.

  “What’re you thinking about?”

  “I was just thinking that I was feeling contented.”

  “That’s good, isn’t it?”

  “Mmm…” He was silent for a moment, then I realised he was sitting up next to me.

  “What’s the matter?” he asked, a trace of concern in his voice.

  “It’s going to take some time for me to realise that it’s okay to feel this…settled…and that I shouldn’t have to feel guilty for feeling this way.”

  He paused before answering, “You keep working on it because I intend on making you contented and settled for a long time to come. Eventually I’m even going to aim for making you happy.” He raised his eyebrows at me in exaggerated surprise at this lofty ambition before moving to sit behind me, stretching his legs out to each side of mine; hugging his arms around me he pulled me close to his chest, and silently we watched the sea until it was time to leave.

  Chapter 21

  The next day as Trent left for work I told him I was going to the gym that evening so I’d either see him there or later if he wanted to come round.

  “I’ll probably go to the gym too so see you there,” he said, and he headed off.

  I worked through my day, feeling good after my day off, and once I’d finished evening stables I got changed into my gym clothes and walked to the Manor. I was surprised to find Trent already there with the boys, by the weights. He looked up when I walked in, then jogged over, kissing me on the cheek when he reached me.

  “Hi, I finished early so I came straight over. Thought I’d put in some extra time seeing as how I’ve missed a few sessions recently,” and he grinned, raising his eyebrows as he flashed his eyes at me. I liked seeing him like this, relaxed; it pleased me to see the effect only a couple of weeks of us being together had wrought in him – him feeling good made me feel the same.

  “Okay, I’ll get on and catch up with you later,” I said, as he returned to the others and I started on my routine.

  The gym was reasonably busy and I steadily worked through each of my pieces of equipment, although not necessarily in the order I preferred, having to finish on the one for my abdominals. I glanced across the gym to see that the boys appeared to have finished, and at that moment Trent met my gaze and started to stride towards me. There was a grin on his face and I could see he’d been working out hard from the sweat soaking his tee shirt. As he got nearer he put one hand under his shirt, bringing the bottom of it up to wipe his face, ruffling his hair at the same time; I was treated to the full view of his clearly outlined abdominal muscles rippling as he walked, which was more than a little distracting. He was watching me closely as he approached and I knew he knew exactly what he was doing. I tried to appear calm and composed – I’d like to think nonchal
ant but that might have been pushing it – as he stopped next to me.

  “I’m done now, are you nearly finished?”

  “Not yet.”

  “Do you fancy cutting your workout short?”

  “You’re being a bad influence on me, Trent!”

  “What makes you think that?” he asked, feigning innocence.

  “You’re trying to lead me astray; usually you’re only too keen for me to increase the number of reps I do, not cut them.”

  “Yeah, well I’m bored now and need something else to entertain me,” he said, grinning, clearly in a playful mood, and then added enticingly, “and I thought I’d take you over to show you my apartment.”

  “Oh, yes please!” I yelped, as finishing the crunch I was doing I leapt off the seat, bouncing up next to him. I could resist anything now it seemed, apart from temptation.

  He grabbed hold of my hand and giving me a wink headed off out of the gym with me in tow. We quickly crossed the courtyard and entering under an arch, went up three steps to a door. Trent had his key in the lock, the door open and I was whisked in, not getting a chance to see anything as the door closed, and he was immediately on me, slamming me up against the wall, his lips on mine as he peeled me out of my tight clothing. We didn’t make it to the bedroom, and a little while later as I was getting my breath back I said, “I thought all that exercise was meant to cool your ardour?”

  “That doesn’t seem to be the case when you’re working out near me and doing all that stretching and stuff in that outfit of yours – it’s really not fair on me. What did you think was going to happen?”

  I smiled at this before saying, “I’m going to get in the shower now if that’s all right.”

  “Of course, I’ll join you and then get us some dinner.” And it was then that I had my chance to look around.

  We’d only managed to make it into the entrance hall and that went straight into the sitting room. The walls were undecorated stone, the same as on the outside of the house, and the floors were tiled, again in stone. There were large rugs scattered throughout the apartment in rich reds and browns with highlights of copper. Two large settees were gathered around a stone fireplace with a wood-burning stove in it, and these were covered in dark-brown soft leather. Some of the walls were broken up by large hanging tapestries which were something I hadn’t seen before but looked impressive. A bedroom led off the sitting room, the furniture made of solid dark wood, but the dominating feature of the room was a huge four-poster bed up against the opposite wall.

  “It’s a shame we didn’t make it to that!” I exclaimed, pointing at the bed.

  “I’m sure we’ll get to that at some point,” Trent said dryly, as without stopping he led me through to the bathroom. This was again stylish: white and chrome against the stone.

  We showered and dried each other, then as Trent went off to sort out some food I realised I had nothing to wear. Going to his bedroom I opened some drawers to see what I could find, ending up putting on his red-and-white checked brushed cotton lounge pants, which I turned up a couple of times to fit, and one of his white tee shirts. Then I wandered out to the kitchen which was all black granite and dark wood with under-cupboard lighting. As with the rest of the apartment it was masculine and I liked it a lot. I could hear soft music in the background, a beautifully rich soulful voice coming from discreet speakers.

  “Very cute,” he said, as he glanced up at me from his cooking.

  “Hope you don’t mind,” I replied.

  “Not at all. There’s a bundle of your post over there on the worktop.” He gestured towards it with his knife. “I picked it up from the Manor today and was planning on bringing it over tonight but you might want to check through it now for anything important while I sort out the dinner.” He went back to his chopping.

  “This is nice,” I said, as I indicated generally to the sound around me. “I didn’t know you liked music.”

  “I play music when I’m in here, and when I run. I have eclectic tastes so have a varied selection if you fancy choosing something different.” Alex had been into music and since he left my world had been largely silent. I would not have known what to choose.

  “No, this is lovely, soothing.”

  I took the bundle over to the table, taking the elastic bands off it. A fair amount of it was rubbish though there were a couple of letters from the letting agent regarding my tenants renewing their tenancy which was good news, and a couple of bills, but nothing that needed urgent attention. In the middle of the pile was a cream envelope with my name and address handwritten on it. It only occurred to me as I was opening it that there was no stamp on the envelope, but that immediately went out of my mind when I unfolded the piece of paper it contained:

  ‘If you do not leave my husband alone, I will kill you.’

  And that was all it said. Black ink, handwriting I didn’t recognise, although why I was thinking about that at all I didn’t know. As I took in these words I felt the blood drain from me. Gasping, I struggled to breathe as I whispered, “Trent.” He glanced over, dropping his knife as soon as he saw the look on my face, and moved rapidly across the room to me.

  “What is it, what’s wrong?”

  I held out the piece of paper to him, my hand shaking. He read it, turning pale, then stared at me, concern and fear written across his face.

  “My husband?” I said, my voice questioning and sounding hoarse. A look of confusion passed over his face as he looked from me back to the piece of paper again. I stood and started to move away from him.

  “My husband?” I repeated louder now, anger building in me at the implications of this message.

  “No, no, no,” he said rapidly as he reacted to the change he could feel in me, “Emma please don’t misunderstand this.”

  “Misunderstand! It seems crystal clear to me.”

  “Emma, please…no, don’t do this, she’s mad.”

  “Of course she’s bloody mad!” I was yelling now. “I was mad too when I found a woman, my supposed best friend, in my bed with my husband. What do you expect her to be? I can’t believe you’ve put me in this position. Made me into the sort of woman I despise with every fibre of my being. The sort of woman who steals other women’s husbands – how could you? You knew what that woman did – how could you do this to me? I trusted you…How could you make me be that person?” He looked utterly horrified as he listened to this and quickly responded.

  “I didn’t know that was why your marriage ended, Emma. I had no idea there was anyone else involved in the break-up. I assumed it broke down because of Eva.” His ignorance as to the reason for the breakdown of my marriage came as a surprise but I was in no mood to discuss rationally now.

  “Well your supposedly comprehensive background search on me wasn’t that comprehensive then, was it,” I spat back at him. He reached for me, desperation in his face. “Don’t touch me,” I hissed, as I backed out of the room and away from him.

  “Please don’t leave,” he was pleading with me, distraught. “I need to explain.”

  “What is there to explain?” I replied harshly. “Either you are or are not married to this woman. Which is it?”

  He hesitated. “It’s not as simple as that. Please stay, we need to talk.” I was beyond being able to listen to his voice of reason.

  “I’m too furious to stay, I can’t bear to be near you.”

  His look was one of devastation as I turned to leave the apartment, picking up my keys from the pile of clothes in the hall. Shaking with fury, I struggled to open the front door in my haste to leave and I’d just got it open a fraction when it was slammed shut again by Trent’s weight. He’d come up behind me, his arms outstretched to each side of mine, his body pressed up against my back; I could hear his harsh rasping breath in my ear as he pleaded desperately.

  “Don’t leave me, Em.” Feeling myself unravelling as I struggled to cope with this, I needed to be free from him and yet was desperate for more, as always, when he was near me.
I took a deep breath to regain control.

  “It’s Grayson to you and we’re done. Back away from me now, Trent, or you will regret it.” My reply was cold and angry and I felt him still behind me, then I was released as he took a backward step. Without looking back I pulled the door open and left, slamming it behind me. I could already feel the pain of my heart starting to break once more.

  Walking away quickly across the courtyard to the exit, I had to wipe away tears of fury as I struggled to try and regain some sort of composure. I hadn’t even made the exit before I heard a door slam behind me and looking round I saw Hayes and Wade running across to their pickup. I carried on walking but within a minute they’d caught up with me, Wade leaning out of the window offering me a lift.

  “No thanks, better off walking,” I muttered through gritted teeth, then felt guilty at the hurt look on his face; it wasn’t his fault.

  “You haven’t got any shoes on, Grayson, get in,” he remonstrated with me but I ignored him. I could feel the rough ground beneath my feet, the residual heat in the road surface, small bits of gravel stabbing into my soles, but I walked on oblivious to the pain. I wasn’t sure where Wade and Hayes were going but rather than pass me they pulled the pickup back a little and followed me at my fast walking pace back to my cottage, even following me into the yard, at which point I realised with annoyance that Trent had sent them after me. Wade leapt out of the cab, catching up with me at my back door, and I stared at the ground miserably as I listened to him.

  “Once you’re inside, Grayson, lock the back door for the night. I’ll be doing the watering later so don’t come out again. Call if you need anything…and, Grayson…” I looked up at him as he hesitated; he was looking at me kindly, “…look after yourself, won’t you?” I nodded at him, on the verge of crying again.

  I went in, bolted the door, and after briefly stroking Susie and opening the cat flap for her, I went upstairs and crawled onto my bed. Lying on my side I stared sightlessly out of the window. Anger coursed through me as I thought through what had happened. I couldn’t believe how stupid I’d been, allowing myself to fall in love with someone who’d lied to me. Who’d told me what I wanted to hear to get me into bed like some stupid kid. He’d called me naive, and as it turned out that was exactly what I was, and clearly that was why he’d thought I would fall for his lies. I was shocked he’d behaved the same as Alex, only this time I was a party, however unwittingly, to the betrayal of his wife. Disappointed…I’d thought he was better than that.