He heard rustling in one of the bushes.
“Gus,” he said.
A dark figure emerged from the trees.
“Grant Holbrook,” said the man. He had Gus in his arms.
“Who the hell are you? Let go of my dog.”
“My name is Luigi. I mean no harm,” the man said. He had a New Jersey accent. “I only wanted to keep him from wandering off. There are coyotes roaming around here.” He gently set the dog down, and Gus ran over to Grant to hide behind his legs.
Grant took stock of himself and his surroundings. He had a knife. Did the stranger have a gun? He loosened his stance and prepared himself to kill—again—if necessary. The man raised his hands in a placating gesture.
“I’m not here to do you harm. Quite the contrary. I bring a message on behalf of a dear friend of mine.” He slowly reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a large envelope on thick cream-colored paper.
“It’s from your mother—your real mother. Take it; she wants to see you before your father poisons you against her. You’ve seen how he is, a brute. You saw how he treats Kate. That was no anomaly. He’s been spinning the truth to put you on his side. Your mother simply wants to meet you. She wanted to keep you, but the Holbrooks forced you away, forced you to be placed with that awful family.”
Grant eyed the man with suspicion.
The man smiled. “Read the letter, Grant, please. I just ask that you don’t share it with anyone. Let yourself make your own opinions. I hope you will decide to come meet your mother. What’s the harm?”
“I have to think about it,” he said.
“Take your time. She is busy traveling with her TV show. I’ll check in with you in a few weeks. How’s that?”
Grant didn’t answer.
Luigi continued, “She’s willing to take it slow and to build a relationship built on trust and mutual respect, something you seem to be lacking with your father.”
Grant searched the man’s face, trying to find a hint that he was lying or trying to deceive Grant.
“Good evening, Grant,” the man said then drifted back into the shadows.
Grant was flabbergasted. He didn’t know what to believe. He should go tell his father. He picked up Gus, tucked the letter into his jacket, and jogged back to the house. When he slipped inside, he could hear his father raging in the study. Changing his mind, he crept upstairs and hid the letter in the back of the dresser in the closet. Grant couldn’t deal with it right then. Maybe he never would.
Chapter 25
Kate
Kate left Grant to pick up the broken pieces of the dishes. She hurried into the study to try to calm Walter down. She didn’t understand—she hadn’t seen him like this in months. She’d thought having Grant in his life would help balance Walter, but it seemed to make him more unstable. She cringed as her boss picked up a crystal decanter and threw it at the wall.
Stefan stood several paces away with Kate while their boss raged.
When he ran out of things in easy reach to throw, Stefan asked, “Mr. Holbrook, what has happened to cause this anger in you?”
“That horrible woman. She showed up at the office. I know she was waiting there for me. Said she’s heard about Grant and wanted to meet him. The cameras were there, and she was going on and on about how she had to have her baby back and how it was a blessing.”
“You should probably tell Grant about her,” Kate advised.
“No,” Walter said. “And neither of you say a word. She sees him as an obstacle between her and my fortune. If she gets near him, she’ll manipulate him just like she did me and probably kill him just like she did our children.”
“Grant is a strong man,” Kate said. “He’d probably be able to see through her easily.”
“We can’t know for sure, and he’s vulnerable right now. I’ll tell him in a few weeks after he’s out of the Marines.” Walter sighed and buried his head in his hands. “Why is this happening to me? Why couldn’tshehave died in the fire? This world is so unjust.”
Kate rubbed his shoulders soothingly. “We can’t worry about it right now. She’s not going to shoot him in the middle of Times Square.”
“I’ll increase security on the property,” Stefan said. “That’s all we can do. But you must talk to Grant. Secrets aren’t good.”
