Kingston, Sara - Grace's Final Submission [Locks and Chains] (Siren Publishing Ménage and More) (21 page)

She wasn’t going to be some weak pathetic crybaby. If they wanted to play games instead of being men enough to say, “Thanks for a good time, have a great life,” well, she just wasn’t going to play. If it wasn’t what they wanted, why didn’t they just say so? If they wouldn’t even listen to her explanation, then obviously the love they said they had for her was a sham. It wouldn’t stand the test of time.

She walked into the kitchen and found a note on the bench.

A car will pick you up at : a.m. to take you to the club.

We will meet you there.

Michael and Jason

It was over. They wouldn’t even face her. Pain lashed at her body, and she crumpled to the floor.
No. Strong and proud, Grace. Strong and proud.
Over and over she repeated…
Strong and proud
.

Picking herself up a few minutes later, she went to the bedroom to pack. She packed only the things she’d brought with her. She was leaving behind all the clothing and jewelry, everything they had bought her. She didn’t want anything that would remind her of the life she had thought she had and thought she would have in the future with Michael and Jason. It took her five minutes to find the clasp on her gold collar, tears silently coursing down her face as she laid it in the middle of the bed.

She took her bags to the front door just as the doorbell rang. It was the driver of the car waiting to take her to the club. In the car, she looked back at the house and felt an overwhelming sense of loss. She had to be strong, she couldn’t falter, she would do this with her head held high, and she would go on, just like she always did. Strong and proud…

She was a born survivor, but for the past six months of her life she’d been taken care of. She had been loved. No, scratch that, they didn’t love her. It was a fairy tale, a fantasy she’d cooked up in her mind. This desertion was the truth, the reality she couldn’t ignore.

The ride to club was quick. Grace was met by Sandra and entered the club through the back door with the other slaves whose contracts were up. She was directed to Craig’s office immediately.

“Hello, Grace…I must admit I’m surprised that we’re finalizing your contract today. I honestly thought that the three of you were all set for a happy ever after.”

“Come on, Craig, be realistic…This is the real world, not a fairy tale. Things like that don’t happen to people like me. I realize that now. I was marked at birth. If I’d known years ago, it would’ve saved me a lot of trouble and heartache.”

“Grace, don’t think like that. You never know, things might still work out between you.”

“No, Craig, they won’t. Without trust, there’s nothing, and they don’t trust me. Besides, I don’t think I could ever trust them again, after what they’ve done to me. So let’s just get this done. What do you need from me?”

“Would you like to wait for them and do this together, or do you want to avoid seeing them?”

“Avoidance works for me, and I’m sure it’s their preference as well.”

“Okay, I just need you signature here and here and your account details. Once they’ve signed, the money will be released to you. You should have access to it in the next forty-eight hours.” Grace signed the contracts and stood. She desperately wanted to be gone before Michael and Jason arrived. “Thank you very much, Craig, for everything.”

“Where are you going?”

“I’m taking a vacation first, and then I’m going to rebuild my life.”

“Please keep in touch. Remember, you’re always welcome here. Make sure you don’t lose my number. Call me anytime.”

“Thanks, Craig.” Giving him a quick hug, Grace hurried from the club and called a cab.

Craig
watched out his office window as Grace got into the cab. He couldn’t believe the mess Michael and Jason had got themselves into. Those three were meant to be together. If it wasn’t for Michael’s stubborn jealously, they would’ve been able to work through this. He ran over his conversation with Grace in his mind. It just didn’t add up, what Michael had told him on the phone and what Grace had just said.

He just didn’t believe she had slept with Scott. It was not in her nature to be unfaithful. He needed to have a conversation with Scott and get this sorted out before it was too late. He was pulled from his thoughts by the knock on his door.

“Gentlemen, come in.” Michael and Jason both looked like a walking train wreck, like they hadn’t slept. They looked miserable. “Okay, all I need to settle this contract is both your signatures, here and here, and we’re done.”

“What! Grace has signed this already Craig, how come?” Michael said.

“Grace has already signed, where is she?” Jason asked.

“She left about ten minutes ago,” Craig replied.

“What do you mean, left? Doesn’t she have to be here with us to finish this?”

“No, she only needed to sign, and she’s done that and gone.”

“Left! Left where?”

“Jason, you know I can’t give you that information unless she asked me to.”

Jason turned to Michael. “She didn’t even say good-bye.”

“What did you expect, Jason? She cheated on us with Scott. We wouldn’t look at her, and we made her sleep in the guest room, telling her the sight of her made us sick. To top it off, we left her the note this morning. Besides, who wants to say good-bye to the cheating, lying bitch? Let’s just get this over.” Grabbing the contract, Michael signed it then pushed his chair back so hard it crashed to the floor.

“Michael, not that it’s my place to interfere, but have you even considered that she didn’t actually have sex with Scott?”

“Craig, you’re right. It’s not your place, and there is nothing to consider. I saw them in bed together. What’s done is done! It’s time to move on.”

“Okay then, it’s all signed, so everything’s over and done.”

Both Michael and Jason turned then and left Craig’s office without another word.

Michael watched the garage door open with dread. A deep sense of loss and pain filled his heart. Grace was gone. She wouldn’t be waiting for them. Grace was gone…

The silence in the house was disturbing. He felt like there were ghosts of the past here. He could see the images of the three of them happy and laughing replaying like a ghostly movie in each room. He knew they would both move back into their own rooms soon, but right now he just wanted to crash on the bed and sleep forever, to block out the memories, the pain and sadness he felt.

When he walked into the bedroom, he found Jason kneeling on the floor holding something, his tears falling to the floor. He looked down and saw Grace’s collar in Jason’s hands. He couldn’t face it. He could handle this. He wandered into the walk-in closet to put his watch away, and there on the racks were all the clothes and things they had ever given to Grace. She’d left everything behind. Grace was gone…

Tears coursed silently down his cheeks. Scrubbing his face in annoyance at his eyes for betraying him, he headed for the shower. Under the warm spray, he allowed his tears to fall. He felt the pain of the loss of Grace. He loved her, and she’d betrayed them. She was perfect for them, they would have given her everything, and she had betrayed them.

The next two weeks were like a living hell for both of them. They were in pain and couldn’t seem to get back into the swing of life. The temp agency had sent over a new housekeeper, but she just messed everything up. Michael didn’t realize how much Grace did for them until she stopped doing it.

Their life, in only two weeks, was in chaos, and he and Jason were not speaking. There was no fight or argument. They just had nothing to say to each other. “Jason, I got a call from Craig today. He wants you and I at the club tonight. He needs to talk to us about something. He said it is extremely important.”

“Michael, I just don’t give a shit about anything. I don’t care. I don’t want to go.”

“I know. I don’t want to either. But we have to leave the house. We can’t go on like this.”

“Fine, you want to go, you go. There’s the door, go!”

Sensing things were escalating out of control, Michael realized only the Dom in him could settle Jason and get him moving. “Look here, sub boy. Get your ass into the car. We’re going to the club, and we will listen to Craig. Once he’s said his piece, we’ll drink until we can’t walk anymore. So move it!” Jason jumped off the couch and walked toward the garage. At least Michael still had some control.

Craig
was pacing the floor. Scott was sitting on the couch, a drink in hand. It had taken him two weeks to track Scott down and drag him to the club. Once he finally had him open up, he couldn’t believe what Scott had told him. Where the hell were those two? They should have been here twenty minutes ago. Just then, a knock sounded.
Ah! Good, they’re here
.

“Craig, what the hell’s going on? What’s that bastard doing here?”

“Michael, calm down and take a seat. Scott has something to tell you, and by god, you’re going to listen!”

“If he’s going to do some remorseful apology speech, I don’t want to hear it.”

“Fuck, Michael, get your pretentious head out of your ass. See, Craig, I told you they don’t deserve her.”

Jason, looking back and forth between Michael and Scott, finally yelled, “Just tell us the fucking story!” He turned to Michael. “We’ll feel no worse than we do already, so let’s listen and then go get drunk.”

After Michael and Jason sat, Craig turned to Scott. “Tell them what you told me. Michael, Jason, shut the hell up till he’s finished.”

Scott, first gulping the rest of his drink, sighed. “I shouldn’t be telling you this. I’m breaking my confidence to Grace, but I’d no idea you knuckleheads thought I had fucked her. Until Craig reached me and dragged my ass back from a much-needed vacation, I presumed everything was just fine between the three of you.”

“What confidence are you talking about?”

“I’ll start at the beginning. I was driving home that Thursday and saw your car stopped on the side of the road. Thinking that I was doing you a favor, Michael, I pulled over to help and found Grace bawling her eyes out. She was so messed up, she couldn’t drive. I offered her a lift home, but she said she couldn’t face you both yet. She needed time to clear her head and work out what she was going to do. I offered to take her to my place, but she was concerned about leaving your car on the side of the road. I drove your car to my place and left my car there. She was so upset she didn’t have a hope in hell of driving anywhere. Once we got to my place, I tried to get her to tell me what was going on. I thought for a moment you two were hurting her. I told her as I wasn’t involved, what better sounding board than me. Eventually she told me the story. She cried buckets more and I took her to my room to lie down. I held her while she cried her eyes out until finally she fell asleep. I at no point had sex with her in any way. I want you both to know I had made multiple offers to her before that night, and she’d always knocked me back. She loves you guys too much to screw around, and she’s a strong chick and by the looks of her she knows how to fight, too, and I like my nuts.”

Jason
was stunned speechless. Was this the truth? Was this all some misunderstanding? “What did she tell you? What was she was so upset about that she couldn’t talk to us?”

Scott squirmed on his seat, obviously uncomfortable.

“Scott, they deserve to know.”

Looking at them both, Scott sighed and continued, “Grace told me she had been to the doctor’s because she was cramping and had fainted after a terrible pain in her stomach. She thought it was just her endometriosis playing up and didn’t expect anything else. She has some tests to check it out, and they discovered she was pregnant.”

“What the fuck?” Michael jumped up, screaming.

“Look, Michael, before you jump to conclusions, listen to the rest of the story. So, she found out she was pregnant, but there was a problem with the pregnancy. Her doctor said that the ultrasound showed that due to the severity of the scarring from the endometriosis, he didn’t believe that the pregnancy would go to term. He told Grace she had a decision to make, risk having a very dangerous pregnancy that would most likely end in a miscarriage and could possibly threaten her life, or terminate the baby. She was also told that she’d have the same problems in any future pregnancy. She was devastated. She didn’t know how to tell you both. Firstly that she was pregnant and then about the problems. She didn’t want to make you both suffer with the decision and then the fact that she was most likely never going to be able to have children of her own. You can imagine how devastated she was feeling.”