My brothers and their wives have come by. So have my cousins. Mom merely looked at me and Grace with an inscrutable expression, but Uncle Prescott told me there’s been a bloodbath at the firm.
“Nelson’s done. But if Jeremiah doesn’t fuck him up enough to satisfy me, I plan to finish the job.” His tone said there wouldn’t be anything left for me once The Fogeys were done with him.
Ares was less calm. “You’re hiring John Highsmith to go after Nelson, Vivienne and Mick? What the hell, man?” He sounded like I’d just backstabbed him.
“Nelson is a junior partner at the firm,” I said. Besides, John hates Nelson. Apparently, it’s a personal grudge that goes back a few years.
“So? I can still mess him up. And if it’s not enough to give you satisfaction, I’ll call you uncle for the rest of my life.Pietas et unitas, cousin. We were a legal powerhouse before the Webbers, and we’ll continue to be a powerhouse after them.”
“He’s right,” Josh said glumly. Although he wasn’t as expressive as Ares, he didn’t exactly hide how he felt either. “If you can’t trust your own flesh and blood to have your back, who can you trust?”
“Fine,” I told them. “Go ahead and run ’em through the shredder.”
Their eyes glinted. “Awesome,” Josh replied.
I might’ve joined the frenzy to rip Nelson apart, but my entire focus right now is on my wife, who still hasn’t opened her eyes. Every second that passes with her lying on those white sheets singes a sliver off my heart.
How could she have borne this uncertainty and fear for two years after her mother collapsed? Even being right next to Grace isn’t enough to alleviate my anxiety. How did she function with her mother all the way off in Baltimore, three time zones away? I don’t think I’ll be able to go on if Grace doesn’t wake up, and I have to send her somewhere far away. She is so much stronger and more resilient than I could ever be.
I sit by the bed and hold her small hand in mine. But it doesn’t seem enough, so I link our fingers and rest my cheek against her knuckles.
“Come on, Grace. Open your eyes, baby. You can beat this. Don’t let Mick and Karie get away with it.” Fear spikes, andsuddenly my pleas turn into a threat. “If youdon’twake up, I’m going to drop my plans for revenge against them, and they’ll walk away scot-free.” My voice cracks a little with desperation. “You don’t want that, do you?”
“No…”
I lift my head, then blink, unsure if it was my imagination or if she really spoke. Her eyelids flutter like little butterflies. Air catches in my throat, forming a hot lump. I don’t dare exhale, too scared that if I breathe wrong, I might jinx the moment. She finally opens her eyes. They’re slightly glassy, then gradually clear and focus on me.
“The baby?” she asks, trembling with trepidation.
Relief shudders through me—she’s not only awake, but I can tell her the good news. “It’s fine,” I manage to choke out, then blink hard to clear the hot tears gathering in my eyes. My wife needs me to be strong. “You protected our child. Thank you.”
She pulls her hand from mine, then strokes my cheek. “You haven’t been sleeping well? You look exhausted.”
“You were in a coma for four days.”
Her eyebrows arch. “That long?”
I nod. “You scared the shit out of me at Nelson’s house…and now this.”
“I’m sorry. But you didn’t really mean it when you said you’d let Mick and Karie go, did you?” Her jaw tightens. “I can never forgive them. His smug face… Her smirk when she spoke of my mom…”
I gather her hand, clasp it in both of mine, then kiss her fingertips. “You don’t have to worry. I won’t forgive them. Nobody in my family will, either. They're done.”
“I know you asked me to wait, but I just couldn’t. The idea that my mom might’ve died alone and I knew nothing about it… I can’t believe she’s been gone all this time, but Dr. Blum keptsending me emails telling me how well she was doing, giving me false hope.” Tears pool in her eyes.
“It was an impersonator. The real doctor was horrified when I contacted him.” And he plans to pursue legal action.
“Did you figure out who did it? Was it Karie?”
I shake my head. “Vivienne.” She was so scared of being found out that she almost peed her pants. Apparently, nobody told her a burner phone wasn’t going to be enough to shield her identity.
Grace gives a long, tired sigh. “I never did anything to her. Why does she hate me so much? Why is she so cruel?”
“Because she’s a horrible human being.”
“Is it because Karie hated my mom?” Grace looks at me, desperate to understand. It breaks my heart that she’s still subconsciously looking for some excuse for Nelson and his family despite claiming she doesn’t like them. She probably doesn’t want to believe her own biological father and his family could be so heartless.
I shake my head. “If Viv were a good person, that wouldn’t have been enough to make her behave like that. Some people are just…” No word seems adequate. “…awful. There’s no reason.”
