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An older man looks up. He seems surprised to see me like he was caught doing something wrong. In my haste and confusion, I don’t recognize him at first. Adrenaline spikes and I look around for a weapon, for anything to fight off tis intruder—
“Katherine, dear, you’re home early.”
That voice. I take a step back and my hands come up to my racing heart. “Mr. Arc?” Ford’s grandfather.
He smiles awkwardly at me and spreads his hands. “That’s right, dear. Oh, this is very uncomfortable. I thought you were at work.”
“I was, but—did Ford send you?” I shake my head, trying to make sense of this. “Why were you going through my stuff?” He’s standing in front of my dresser with my underwear drawer open.
“Yes, that’s a good question. Ah, damn, I really thought you’d be at work for another hour at least.” He sighs, walks to the bed, and slowly sits down. “But I suppose you’re here and there’snothing we can do about that. Maybe now’s the perfect time to tell you the truth.”
“The truth? About what? I’m sorry, Mr. Arc, but I have a family emergency and—”
He smiles at me like he couldn’t give less of a shit about what I’m saying.
“The truth about why Ford wants to marry you, dear. I think you’ll want to listen.”
Chapter 23
Ford
Iditch a business meeting early to race home. I’m trying to close a new deal on some rental properties out in Florida but that shit can wait—Kat’s mother is in trouble and that means it’s time to step up. This is why we got together in the first place and I knew this might happen one day, only I hoped it wouldn’t be for a while.
Still, this is what it means to care about someone.
Which is a strange thought to have. Me, caring about someone enough to drop whatever I’m doing. It’s fucking madness.
Kat’s worries and problems are my worries and problems now, and while I can’t fix her mother’s addiction, I can at least be there for Kat and offer her every resource I can manage to scrounge up.
It’s ludicrous, this whole caring-about-someone thing.
And it’s my choice. It’s not an easy choice, but it’s the right one and I believe I’m going to be a better man for it even if it means I’m going to suffer in the short term. I care about Katherine, and if I lose my chance at taking control of my family then I’mhappy to get shoved off to the side. I don’t want to run a family of ungrateful cretins, much less a family of monsters that couldn’t care less about me. Grandpop won’t be around forever, and the rest of the family isn’t stupidly obsessed with the Stocktons, and one day this absurd feud will fade from memory.
Maybe then I can rejoin and retake what I’ve lost.
For now, I’ll suffer, because that’s what it takes to make good on my promise to Kat.
I’ll protect her, no matter what.
The elevator doors open. I step out and head into the living room. “Kat?” I call out but nobody answers. The couches look like someone’s been flipping the cushions over trying to find change underneath them and there’s a wallet sitting on the kitchen counter that I vaguely recognize. It’s old and leather, and I frown because it’s incredibly familiar but very out of place.
I walk over and gingerly pick it up as my stomach turns sour. No, this can’t be what I think it is, but it’s so damnfamiliar, I’ve seen it a thousand times since I was a little boy. It was shiny and new when Grandpop bought it, but now it’s worn in and faded and stained by time and use, and Grandpop’s face grins out at me from his driver’s license when I open it up.
What the hell is his wallet doing here?
There’s a noise from upstairs. A raised voice, only a murmur at this distance, but it sounds distressed. My pulse fires like a rocket. I drop the wallet and run to the stairs, my muscles tensing and preparing for action. Grandpop’s wallet is here, and Kat’s coming home soon, and her mother is missing—
I slow once I reach the top of the steps and head down the hall toward the open bedroom door. The voices are clear now and I think I might be sick. It’s Grandpop talking clearly and with audible glee. “… going to solve all your problems, but it’s the truth, Katherine. You’re nothing but a Stockton and you’ll always be a Stockton to him. Ford only agreed to this because I made him do it, and he’s only still here because he’s too weak to do what’s needed, but do you really think he would throw away his whole life for you? For some worthless girl?”
“Stop it,” Katherine says and the pain in her voice suddenly lights a fire in my chest. This feels surreal like a nightmare after a long night spent feasting on Katherine’s body, but it’s real, all too fucking real. I surge forward as rage flows into me, rage white-hot and horrible, and a bitter hate I’ve never felt toward my father-figure flares and nearly overwhelms me.
“Grandpop,” I roar and step into the room.
Kat turns. Her face is covered in tears. It’s drowning in sorrow and it breaks me for an instant and banks some of my fire. She looks like she’s bleeding out—her hands are over her gut, though there’s no wound, nothing I can see at least—while Grandpop sits at the end of our bed with his legs crossed and a huge smile on his face like this couldn’t be any better.
“There he is, just the man we’ve been discussing.” He slaps his thighs and laughs. “How are you, Ford?”
“What did you do?” I ask at a low rumble, my hands shaking with anger. “What the fuck did you do?”
