Page 77 of Grace

When I let go of her chin, she rubs the red spot carefully.

“Yeah.” I give her a dark smile. “I would’ve killed your friends. Anyone who harms Grace will die. Consider yourself really fucking lucky you’re still alive.”

“Enough.” Lucas puts me in my place.

I sit back down in my chair, seething.

Lucas doesn’t take his eyes off Nikky for a second as she fusses with her posh dress. His dark, predatory gaze is full of danger.

“There is no forgiveness for the sins either of you committed, Chase.” Catherine’s condemning voice cuts through the room with the force of a bullet, and a barely perceptible crack appears even on Lucas’s emotionless, marble-like mask.

I look deep into her eyes. My vision burns red while she remains the delicate lady she always is, as if nothing were happening. As if she weren’t twisting knives in my insides, piercing my heart, then tearing them out along with it—mercilessly.

Chapter 9

Grace

“Are you sure you want to go to the club?”

“Yeah. It’s been a week. Maybe Wendy won’t be too mean. I’d deserve it if she was, though. I don’t know whether I should apologize to her or say nothing at all…”

“Or we could find you another job.”

For a second, I stare into nothing. “I miss Abigail.”

“Me too.”

“Do you think I should be looking for another job? Right now?”

“No, you’re right. You’re safe with Cameron. You could take the paperwork off his hands. You wouldn’t even have to step behind the bar.”

“That’s not a bad idea.”

Cyrus pulls me into his lap and kisses me.

“Will you pick me up after my shift? Will we come home together every night?”

“Grace…” He tucks my hair behind my ear. “I need information from someone very dangerous.”

“No!” I shout. “Don’t you dare, Cyrus! I can’t lose you, too!”

Hot tears streak down my face.

“Okay, okay. Relax, baby. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“Why do you have to go undercover all the time?”

“Because I’m good at it. And I love my job.”

“I wish it wasn’t this dangerous.” I lean my head against his chest and listen to his steady heartbeat, my eyes closed.

“We should leave soon.”

“Just give me a minute, please.”

I asked for a minute. But a whole lifetime wouldn’t be enough to learn how to live with my anxiety. I didn’t leave the house for an entire week. That was how I stayed calm. But I can’t do that anymore. I can’t live behind closed doors, afraid. I have to face my fear and live like a normal person.

I inhale the thick, sticky air deeply. The hot wind plays with my hair. My heart is racing, my hands clenched into sweaty fists. My legs are trembling—I feel as if they have no strength left. I can’t make my body move. My eyes search for… him.