Grant
“What the hell is wrong with you?” Grant hissed at himself in the mirror. He could still see the imprint of her hand on his face. Grant didn’t know why he had said that. She didn’t seem like the type to sleep with her boss.
Just his son,that mean voice whispered to him. He had been having such a good time with her. She was the only decent thing in this place of too much wealth and people completely disconnected from reality.
Grant took his third shower of the day. Surely Stefan and the servants or whoever ran this estate would be talking, he thought. Then he went down to see if he could find something to eat. The lunch he shared had not been nearly enough food, and sex made him hungry, anyway.
Stefan took in his appearance, the handprint fading on his cheek, and his still-damp hair. But he was too professional to say anything.
“Is there anything left over from breakfast?” Grant asked him after a moment.
“We can fix you something for lunch,” Stefan told him. “Take a seat in the dining room, please, and I will bring out something shortly.”
Grant sat at the table. Surrounded by the beautifully designed light and airy room, he felt guilt and self-loathing settle on him. What was he playing at? He didn’t belong here. He was some no-count Marine, basically a paid murderer. He didn’t have any friends, his family didn’t want anything to do with him—not that he wanted to have anything to do with them, either—and he had just ruined probably the only chance he would ever have with a woman who wasn’t a trashy gold digger.
Stefan put a large bowl of pasta with different types of mushroom and sausage and a basket of French bread in front of Grant. The pasta was coated in a thick crème sauce. Grant looked at it suspiciously. He didn’t normally eat such rich food.
“This will make you feel better,” Stefan said soothingly. “I always make it for your father when he’s having a bad day.”
Grant looked at the food.
“I have something for Master Gus as well,” Stefan said, looking down at the dog, which had been waiting for Grant downstairs.
“Thank you,” Grant muttered, still staring at the dish. Deciding he couldn’t slip any lower that day, Grant picked up the fork and dug in. He took a large mouthful. The flavor exploded in his mouth as the umami hit his taste buds and shot straight into his brain.
“This is so good,” he said around the food.
Stefan smiled as he placed a glass of sparkling water next to Grant.
“I think I died and went to heaven,” he said after swallowing a sip of water. Then he went back to shoveling as much food into his mouth as he could at one time.
After wolfing down the meal, he took up a hunk of the French bread and scraped all the sauce out of the bowl. Relaxed and full, he rested his chin on his hand. Stefan came by to clear the plates.
“Good, yes?”
Grant smiled and gave him a thumbs-up.
“Maybe you can go lie down,” Stefan said. “I can entertain Master Gus for you. Your father will be in shortly.”
Grant’s stomach sank.
“He’s meeting you for dinner this evening. You will want to be refreshed for that. Go on now,” Stefan said kindly, shooing him away from the table. Numbly, Grant got up and made his way to his suite, the food in his stomach turning to rocks.
Chapter 9
Kate
“Oh my God,” Kate whispered to herself in Walter Holbrook’s in-home office. She had fled there, cleaned up as best she could in the bathroom, then huddled in the corner behind the desk to cry.
“I have the worst taste in men. I just attractthe worstmen!” She could tell she was ugly crying, and she bit down on her hand to try to keep the noise down.
She was in the process of pulling herself off the floor when the door opened and a man’s tall suited form was silhouetted against the light of the hallway.
“Kate?” said a voice.
“Walter, hi,” she said, hoping that her tears didn’t give her away. “I was about to—”
“What?” her boss said suspiciously. He turned on the light, and she could see the anger rise on his face.
