I examine every inch of his handsome face, which is contorted in an enraged sneer. I hate that I’m the reason he feels like this. I hate that my heart aches with loss while he’s right in front of me. “Just because you never said it doesn’t mean I didn’t hear it—feel it,” I reply with a shake of my head.
Remy stops the car in the middle of the circle drive and opens his door. I feel my ears pop from the pressure shift. Grayson damn near shoves himself out of the car, and he’s jerking my door open seconds later. It’s obvious he’s not done yelling at me yet.
I stand on my own two feet and cross my arms over my chest, waiting for him to say whatever he needs to say. It’s going to hurt, but it’s the least I can do. Plus, maybe then I won’t see his smiling face when I close my eyes anymore or feel his sweet touch on my skin when I think about him.
“It must be nice tothinkyou have all the answers,” Grayson starts. We’re only separated by a few inches. Those inches are needed for me to look him in the eye without craning my neck back.
“Oh really? I was thinking how nice it would be not to have answers to questions I never asked shoved down my throat,” I snap back.
“You never should have tried to stir that spell.”
I take a step closer to Grayson, encroaching into his space. “I suppose you’ve forgotten who asked me to. Isn’t that convenient for you? Must be nice putting all the blame on my doorstep.”
When Grayson makes a move to step even closer to me, Remy stops him with a hand on his chest. The slight pressure is enough to keep him in place, but it doesn’t keep his mouth from running. “I was young andthoughtI was in love.” His eyes are wild and angry as he glares at me.
I take a step back. There’s a lot of shit I can take, but him saying that he never loved me and onlythoughthe did isn’t on the list. “Well then, I suppose I did you a favor. I guess that answers why you never came after me.” I glance around, sharing the look with all of them, mostly because I can’t stare at Grayson right now without wanting to burst into tears or punch him in his pretty face.
“Frankie, we—” Felix starts, but the front door of the house opens. My head automatically turns in that direction, and the sight in front of me makes everything else fade away.
“Surprise!” an unfamiliar woman shouts. Her voice is way too high, and the smile she’s sporting is more brittle than a glass cage. Her eyes are darting around as if she’s waiting for a reaction. When her gaze finally lands on me, her smile slips. The move is too quick, too practiced. She may be pretending she didn’t look right past me to get to the others, but it’s clear she knew exactly what she was doing. It’s not far-fetched to assume the news is out that I’m back and she wanted to make her presence known.
“Julia?” Grayson says somewhat softly.
“I should have called,” she replies, taking turns looking at my guys—I meantheguys. She lifts her hands to cover her face, but she spreads her fingers so she can peek out in mock embarrassment. “I got back early. I didn’t know you’d have company.” Lowering her hands, she turns to face me and winces. “I’m Julia.” She steps off the porch and walks right up to me with her hand out, offering to shake mine.
I can’t do anything but stare down at it and her long, bare toned legs. Realizing I’m not going to return the gesture, she steps closer to Grayson. “Gray, I am so sorry.” I look over at Grayson when she uses his nickname, the nickname I gave him. It caught on with Remy and Felix too, and before long, we were all calling him that, but no one else outside our circle used it—until now, apparently. He’s too busy staring down at the woman who curled herself around him to notice me gaping.
Stupid shit starts going through my mind, like I should get back to that spell shop to see if they carry memory elixirs and about the property search I did in Montana a few months back. I really did like that house, and moving up north suddenly sounds very appealing. Instead of giving into the weakness of running away, I push my hand forward in a super delayed reaction to return her handshake.
Awkwardly, she places her hand in mine. I meet her eyes and give her a placating smile. “You caught me off guard there. I’m Agent Bishop,” I announce when I release her hand. I have the urge to rub my palm on my pants, but I curl my fingers into a fist to prevent myself from doing it.
“Agent?” Julia looks up at Grayson, a question clear on her face. “Did something happen?”
“What are you doing here?” he asks instead of answering her. He quickly darts his gaze in my direction but averts his eyes just as fast.
Julia runs her fingers over his chest. “It’s Wednesday.” She gives him a pointed look, as if that should explain everything. It must clear something up, because Grayson’s lips thin and he closes his eyes briefly.
“Why don’t we head inside?” Felix places his hand on the small of my back and urges me forward. It’s not a move I’m used to from him, since he wasn’t quite as assertive in the past. My feet start to move forward, but I can’t take my eyes off Grayson and the woman. Remy steps closer to Grayson after I’m several feet away and says something to him too low for me to hear.
Grayson’s lip curls up slightly as he snarls at Remy’s back when he walks away, but he doesn’t say anything to him. I wish I knew what Remy said that pissed Grayson off so badly.
The heavy front door is still ajar from Julia’s exit, so the air in the foyer is slightly humid yet much cooler than outside. “Want something to drink?” Felix sounds too cheerful.
I don’t realize how thirsty I am until he offers, but there’s some part of me that doesn’t want to leave the door before Grayson comes in. “Do you know how long he’s going to be? I need to review those interviews and get the report to my dad before heading out of town tonight.” It’s my way of telling them if they have something to say to me it needs to be quick without actually saying the words, plus I can’t stand the thought of Grayson with the woman, so if this gets him away from her until I’m gone, even better.
“He won’t be long,” Remy replies, his voice flat.
“Frankie, there’s something we should tell you,” Felix offers, but I can’t focus on his words or even his face. All I can see is Grayson with Julia. She’s pretty, beautiful really. They are the kind of couple you see walking down the street and you can’t help but stare because they almost don’t seem real.
Things must be serious between them if she has a key to their place. She didn’t seem worried about greeting all three of them, which makes me think it’s not an unusual occurrence.
“She’s clearly not paying attention.” Remy snorts and waves his hand right in front of my face. I swat his meaty paw away and scowl at him, partly because he was right, and partly because I want to hit something and he’s the nearest thing.
Remy bends his knees so he’s eye level with me. “You look aggravated, Frances. Something bothering you?” he asks coyly.
“Your face is stupid,” I blurt, and Remy just lifts one dark brow, not backing away.
“You must be really mad if you can’t come up with something better than that,” he taunts.
