There was no keyhole on the other side of the door. And with security so tight, this was the less conspicuous way for Grayson and Hunter to enter, but they needed someone on the inside to open the door for them.
I stood back and appreciated my handiwork. They would be coming through this door in exactly ten minutes. I had to stay on task, and on time and get to Charles’s office. My work wasn’t done yet.
Stepping off the elevator, I took a few breaths and straightened my face into a comfortable smile before entering Charles’s office. He looked up from his desk and smiled broadly.
“Ava, dear! How I’ve missed you!” He pulled me into a tight embrace as I reached him, his tongue already invading my mouth. I put my arms around his neck, the best I could do to seem like I enjoyed him.
“You look beautiful. A bit heavy on the makeup, but I can look past that for tonight.”
I managed to supress the intense urge to roll my eyes at him. Such a small man, I realised. The makeup wasn’t for him anyway. It had been for Grayson. The symbolic meaning of it, caught by him immediately.“My princess of darkness. My angel turned.”
“I’m sorry, Charles. It’s been a rough couple of days; my brain is scattered. Please forgive me.” I hated saying it, but he loved hearing it.
“No worries, dear. Now tell me. Have you sorted out everything? Because I am done waiting. You will be moving into my house immediately. I cannot go another day without you.”
His words made me blister. What he meant to say, what he so eloquently disguised, was that he couldn’t go another day with me walking around freely, of not being under his complete control. Because that was the only thing he truly cared about. His only true love—control.
“My, my. We’re moving fast, aren’t we? And I don’t yet see a red diamond ring on my finger.” I peered down at my fingers, then smiled sweetly up at him. I have steered the conversation in the way we needed, the dominos all lined up.
He laughed, a too-loud sound. “If that is what you want, sweetheart. I’ll get that ring.”
I pulled myself against him by his suit’s lapels. “It is what I want. I want to be yours,” I spat out bitterly in a longing voice. “But that reminds me.” I came up on my tippy toes, to whisper to him conspiratorially. “You promised to let me see the red diamond.” I looked excitedly at the vault door.
But he frowned. “I told you about that?”
“You don’t remember? You promised to show me, if I showed you the red lingerie you bought me.” I giggled, biting my finger. “Now, I held up my end of the bargain, Mr. Anderson.” I batted my lashes at him and felt silly doing it.
“Interesting,” he said, still frowning.
It made my heart stop. Was he getting suspicious?
“I guess I must trust you a lot. I’ve never told anyone about the diamond, not even when I’m drunk off my rocker,” he said.
And it was exactly what my little tincture was made to do. “Why wouldn’t you trust me? Am I not your girl, Mr. Anderson?” I pressed my chest against him again, making sure he had a good view of my cleavage.
He swallowed hard and pushed his hand between us, cupping my breast. “Yes, you are, sweetheart.”
I had to close my eyes and moan as he squeezed my breast. Time was running out. “After you show me the diamond, will you have me on this table?” I looked expectantly towards the large wooden boardroom table in the middle of the room.
He laughed excitedly. “I’ll take it out and let you look at it while I fuck you from behind, how does that sound?”
What a disgusting thought. “Oh gods, yes,” I moaned.
He opened the vault and came back out with a black leather box. My heart was racing, but I slowed my breathing, kept my focus. Charles handed me the box, to clear his hands, so they could go all over my body. I did my best to ignore his slimy hands pulling and prodding at me. I had a job to do. I flipped open the lid. Inside, nestled in a cushion of black velvet, laid the biggest diamond I had ever seen. It looked like the photo, just more striking.
“Wow,” I breathed and meant it, the first true words I’ve spoken since walking into this building. It was as if I held a piece of Grayson’s history in my hands. A piece of his mother. A relic of a once happy, loving family. A family that Charles had destroyed and left Grayson in the ashes.
“It’s spectacular.” That was the signal.
Charles’s hands suddenly stilled from where they were trying to snake up my dress. A flash of panic crossed his face as I felt my Grayson’s presence filling the room. Charles did his best to keep his face straight, unbothered, but I saw right through it. He was scared shitless. And he should be. I turned towards Grayson and Hunter, the box still safely clasped in my hands. They hadn’t bothered with masks. The CCTV system had been disabled, and dead men cannot speak. Grayson had a gun pointed at us, a chilling smile on his face. Hunter stood behind him, a gun gripped loosely in his hand, the picture of ease.
“Grayson Varon. I’m surprised to see you here.” Charles’s voice was seemingly steady, but I heard it crack at the end.
Grayson cocked his head, his grin widening. “Of course, you are.”
Varon. Grayson Varon. What a perfect name for such a perfect man. I tucked it away in my heart, adding it to all the other little pieces of the real him I’d collected.
“I’ve had men watch you from time to time, to make sure you weren’t up to anything like this,” Charles continued, waving his hand at the gun Grayson held.
