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“No,” I say and shake my head. “She had nothing to do with this and I’m not going to stop.”
“Katherine. Why would you do this now, of all times? You were so close—”
“To doing whateveryouwant?” He blinks at me as if that’s a bad thing, and I push forward even if every part of me is screaming to stop. This isGrandfather! I can’t disobey him! “Ford’smychoice, Grandfather. I know you hate his family, but maybe this can be a bridge. Maybe we can put the feud behind us and finally move on. You can talk to Ford’s family—”
“I’d rather die.”
“Then you can at least stop coming up with new ways to destroy them. Grandfather, please. Ford isn’t what you think he is.” Although I’m not sure that last part is true.
Grandfather watches me, puffing away. Smoke thickens, whirls in swirling movements through the air currents, and obscures his face until he finally waves it all away.
“You’re right,” he says, and I lean back in shock.
“I am?”
“No, not about what you said. But you’re right that we can look at this as an opportunity.”
“An opportunity… how?” I ask, dreading the answer, but he doesn’t speak. He walks away from me and stares at a window, his back straight. He waves the cigar around like he’s conducting a symphony and I try not to groan. Grandfather does this whenhe’s thinking, and it’s the most absurd aspect of his personality, but at least he’s not yelling at me.
Slowly, he turns around again.
“You will spy on the Arc family for me.”
“Grandfather,” I say sharply. “You have to be joking.”
“I am not joking at all. If you’re serious about this then we will make the best of a bad situation. Find out whatever you can about them, from their finances to their properties to their debts and their investments, everything you can about their restaurants and their business. Feed it all back to me.”
“No,” I say and get to my feet. I’m trembling with fear and anger, but I’m not angry with Grandfather—this is exactly the sort of thing I’d expect of him—but angry with myself. Because I’m considering it. This is exactly the olive branch that could draw me back into the fold and all I’d have to do is betray Ford. “I’m not going to marry Ford just to try to destroy him.”
“Katherine, you will listen to me and you will do what’s best for your family.”
I grimace and step back, flinching away like he’s going to hit me. Grandfather’s never raised a hand to me in his life, but his words and his tone can be just as bad. I’m trembling like a little girl afraid to get punished. I haven’t seen Grandfather like this in a long time.
“I can’t,” I say quietly.
“You can and you will. Unless you want me to cut you and your mother out of the family completely, you will do this for me.”
I shake my head and move to the door. “Don’t make me.”
He sighs like he’s talking to an unruly child. “Youchosethis, Katherine. I don’t want you to marry that vile Arc boy, but if you insist then what can I do to stop you? At least this way you can be useful again. I’ve tried so hard to bring you into the family and make you a part of us and this is what you do to me. But I love you and I will forgive you, if you’re willing to give me what I want. You can do this, Katherine. You can and you will.”
I stop at the doorway. My head’s spinning. Spy on Ford? Tell Grandfather about the Arc family? Maybe he’s right and I could pull it off. Ford wants me to move in with him soon. Once I’m there, I’ll have access to his stuff—his files and computers and phones and whatever else—and I’ll be able to find information that Grandfather might want to use against their family. But if I do that, what would it make me?
I have to be strong. Years and years of conditioning is screaming at me to do whatever Grandfather says, but this is wrong. I didn’t expect Grandfather to make this offer, but it doesn’t change a thing. I’m marrying Ford for my reasons and for nothing else. I won’t let Grandfather bully me. I won’t let him bribe me. I’m my own person now.
At least that’s what I’m telling myself even as all my willpower begins to crumble.
“Think about it,” he says as I pull open the door and hurry out of there without speaking. “Don’t forget who you are, Katherine! You’re a Stockton!”
That echoes through my mind as I retreat into my room and lock the door.
You’re a Stockton.
I wonder if that’s true.
Chapter 12
Kat
