Because of His Future (For His Pleasure, Book 26) (4 page)

“I can’t believe you think you have the
right to come in here and tell me how to handle my family,” Liam said.
 
“My brother and sister are everything to
me, and I’m not going to hurt them intentionally.
 
Even if they try and hurt me first.”

Red and Easton exchanged another
meaningful glance.

“I should wait outside,” Easton said,
scratching his temple a little awkwardly.

“Yeah, you should go,” Liam agreed,
striding back to the door and swinging it open.
 
“Get the fuck out of my room.”

Easton walked past him slowly.
 
His pace slowed as he got closer, and
for a moment, Grace was certain the two of them were going to start fighting
again.

But then the moment passed, and Easton
left, as Liam watched him go.

Red turned his attention to Grace.
 
“We didn’t just come here to talk sense
into Liam,” he said softly.
 
He
frowned, and Grace knew that he was feeling uncomfortable.

“What is it?” she asked.
 
“Did I do something wrong?”

Red sighed deeply.
 
“I wanted to tell you in person,” he
continued.
 
He looked away briefly,
but then he made eye contact again.
 
“We’re going to have to let you go,” he said.

Grace felt a knot in her stomach tighten
and she swallowed, nodding.
 
“Okay,”
she said.

Liam strode over.
 
“Are you serious?” he practically
shouted.
 
“First you attack me and
my family?
 
And then you fire my
girlfriend?”

“It’s okay, Liam,” she said.
 
Her eyes stung with unshed tears.

“There’s simply too much baggage,” Red
told her.
 
“I personally like you,
but we can’t afford bad publicity.
 
Not to mention the kinds of altercations that were happening regularly
in the office,” Red added, looking at Liam.

Liam smirked.
 
“That’s because Easton’s a clown.
 
He’s the one you should be showing the
door.
 
Not Grace.
 
She’s amazing, and good, and smart.
 
But of course you’re going to protect
that jackass.”

“I’m not going to continue to be
insulted,” Red replied.
 
“I
understand this is a challenging time for you,” he told Liam.
 
“But perhaps you should spend less time
blaming friends and people who are trying to protect you—and more time
looking at yourself and your own bad behavior.”

“Get out of my room before I toss you out
on your ass,” Liam said, his shoulders hunching.

“Liam,” Grace cautioned.
 
“Just stop.”

Red’s jaw flickered and his eyes
narrowed.
 
“You touch me and I won’t
take it easy on you the way Easton did.”

Grace saw clearly that Red Jameson was
confident in his own physical strength and not at all intimidated by Liam’s
bluster.
 
After seeing what had
happened when he’d fought Easton, the last thing she wanted was to see him in
an altercation with Red Jameson.

“He’s just having a difficult time,”
Grace implored Red.
 
“Please just
go.”

Red nodded slowly, but his eyes were
trained on Liam.
 
“Take care of
him,” he said to her.

“I will,” she replied anxiously.

Red started walking.

“Fucking rich prick,” Liam said, loud
enough to be heard clearly.

Red halted momentarily and his fists
clenched, but then he started walking again, made it to the door and thankfully
departed without anything else being said.

When he was gone, Grace turned towards
Liam.
 
“You have to stop trying to
fight everyone!” she cried out.

He waved her words away.
 
“Those idiots don’t know me, Grace.
 
They don’t know Ex and Vera.
 
They didn’t know Mother.
 
Fuck them.”

She looked up at the ceiling and prayed
for patience.
 
“Why do you think
they came here?
 
Just to insult
you?”

“I don’t care why they came here,” he
said, pacing the room now.

“You know they came because they care,”
she told him.

He stopped and stared at her.
 
“You’re defending those assholes,
Grace?
 
They just fired you.”

“Yes, and I deserved to be fired.”

He shook his head.
 
“I don’t believe you.”

“You and I had sex on Easton’s desk and
he found out.
 
And then you and
Easton get into a screaming match, a fight…I showed up late to work.
 
Come on,” she said, throwing up her
hands.
 
“I acted like an idiot and I
got fired for it.”

“Everyone makes mistakes,” Liam
said.
 
“Do you know what Easton used
to get up to back in the day?
 
There
are stories people still tell about the shit he did in college.
 
He was notorious for fucking and
fighting and being a total maniac.”

“Yes, but now he’s an adult with a job
and—“

“And nothing.
 
The guy hasn’t changed a bit,” Liam told
her.
 
“You believe that shit they
feed you.
 
You buy into their images,
that they have their lives together.”
 
He cackled wildly.

“I’m just saying that I’m not upset at
Red for firing me.”

Liam’s cheeks were splotchy with
color.
 
“I live in this world,” he
said.
 
“I know these people a lot
better than you, Grace.
 
And they’re
all phonies.
 
The whole lot of
them.”

“Liam,” she sighed.

“It’s the truth,” he said.
 
“Don’t let them fool you into thinking
they’re better than you.
 
They’re
worse.
 
All of them.”

“I don’t care about them.
 
I care about you.”

His entire body was tense, his every
muscle seemed primed to explode into violent action.
 
Grace moved close, as if approaching a
poisonous snake or a wild dog.
 
Her
movements were slow, cautious, trying to appear nonthreatening.

“Grace,” he mumbled, his eyes
narrowing.
 
“Don’t.
 
Don’t.”

“Don’t what?” she soothed, finally
putting her hands on his strong forearms and gently stroking them.

“Don’t let them turn you against me.”

“Never,” she said.
 
“Never.”

“But they’re going to,” he said, closing
his eyes.
 
“They always do.
 
You’ll see.”

And then Grace was hugging him, and Liam
was finally softening, his muscles relaxing, and his arms wrapped around
her.
 
He buried his face at her
neckline, shaking his head.

“I’m not going to let anyone hurt me,”
she said, but in her mind she wondered if it was a promise she could keep.

And just at that moment, as if by divine
design, her phone buzzed.

Grace moved away from Liam and took out
her phone, glancing at the screen.
 

It was a text from an unknown number.

Hi.
Are u there?

She stared at the words as if they’d been
written in a foreign language.

“Who is it?” Liam asked, as he went to
the bar and poured himself a plain old soda.

Grace shrugged
 
“Nobody important.”

She wasn’t sure why, but Grace didn’t
feel comfortable saying more than that to him.

Somehow, she knew she should keep this to
herself.

Grace texted back quickly.
 

Who
is this?

The response shocked Grace, almost
causing her to jump.

Vera.
Can u talk

??

Liam was sipping his drink and checking
his own phone, seemingly lost in his own world.
 
Meanwhile, his sister had just contacted
Grace.

Grace felt a mix of emotions at this turn
of events.
 
Why was Vera doing
this?
 
How had she even gotten
Grace’s number?

Grace’s fingers flew quickly across her
smart phone.

What
do u want

The response was just as fast from Vera.

Can
u meet now. Please dont tell Liam anything yet.

Glancing up from the phone guiltily, she
saw that Liam was still sipping his soda over by the bar and checking his
phone.
 

Grace knew she had to be quick.

Where?

Vera’s response wasted no time.

The
Pearl Café. Meet in 30 mins

Grace responded “ok” and then put her
phone away, while Liam turned on the television and clicked through
channels.
 
He seemed absentminded
and withdrawn now.

She wasn’t sure if agreeing to meet Vera
like this was wrong or not.
 
Did
Liam need to know right away?
 
Did
he have a right to be made aware of this development?

He plopped down heavily on the couch.

“I’m going to go and grab some snacks
nearby,” she said lightly.
 
“Want to
come with?”

Liam shrugged.
 
“Why not just order room service?”

“No, I mean like ice cream and
stuff.
 
Something fun for the room.”

“There’s a Ben & Jerry’s nearby.”

“I’m just going to get some fresh
air.
 
Not sure if I’ll go there or
not,” she told him.

Grace wanted to appear like she hoped
he’d come, even though in reality she needed to escape for a short while.

Her feeling was that Liam didn’t feel
like leaving his room at the moment.

And he proved her correct as he shrugged
again.
 
“Whatever.
 
The paparazzi might be all over you if
they spot you,” he said.
 
He finally
looked at her and raised an eyebrow.
 
“Can you handle it on your own?”

She laughed.
 
“I’m an old pro by now.”

He made another face.
 
“Just be careful.
 
Don’t stay out too long.
 
And text me.”

“I’ll be back soon.
 
I’ll text you and see what you want me
to pick you up at the store.”

She walked by him and squeezed his
shoulder.
 

He patted her hand and then went back to
watching Sports Center.

Clearly, he needed a break and she needed
to take this meeting with his sister and see if she could straighten anything
out.

Maybe this was her chance to do some good
for once.
 
Liam surely never
would’ve let her meet with Vera alone.

But she needed to do it.
 
Grace wanted to prove that she could
handle herself, and that she could maybe even bring a little healing to the
situation.

But as she left the room and made her way
down to the lobby, Grace started to wonder if perhaps this wasn’t a bit of a
risky move.

She knew that Vera and Exley hated her.

Whatever Vera wanted to meet about it, it
couldn’t be anything positive.

***

Vera was already waiting for Grace in the
café.

Grace spotted Liam’s elegant, gorgeous
sister sitting by the window, sipping at a cup of tea or coffee.
 
The woman looked like she belonged to a
different time—a time of Jackie Onassis, Marilyn Monroe—and surely
Vera would’ve been just as comfortable having tea with those iconic women.

Grace stepped into the café and walked
over to the small table, waving at Liam’s sister as she approached.

Vera smiled sweetly back at her, as if
they were just two old friends reuniting.
 
“I’m so glad you came.”

Grace took a seat across from the other
woman cautiously.
 
“I wasn’t sure if
I should.”

“And you didn’t tell Liam?”

“No.”
 
Grace shook her head.

A waitress approached.
 
“Can I get you anything to drink or eat,
ma’am?”