The Grand Pact (The Grand Men #1)(129)

She gave me a soft smile and was asleep in seconds.

I’m on the hunt for her in this maze of a house when I find her in her en suite. She disappeared after lunch, and I know something’s up.

She’s riffling through a cosmetic bag, and I lean against the door, watching her.

“Mase said we could go out this evening, get some food,” she mutters, not looking at me and placing her products haphazardly on the counter.

I tighten my eyes on her, not answering as I walk to where she’s got herself in a fluster at the sinks. I stand behind her, looking in the mirror.

She stops what she’s doing and follows my gaze to her temple. Her jaw clenches when she sees what I do.

“Turn around.”

She does. And then I leave the anger that’s clawing at my insides at the door, choosing to worship the woman at my feet instead.

I lift her, placing her on the counter and stepping between her legs. I take the cleanser from her grasp and pump it into my hand.

“Do you want to go out tonight?” I ask, lathering the cream in my hands to warm it. Her hair is pulled back from her face with a band, and I do my best to apply the cleanser across her cheeks without getting it in the loose strands.

“What are you doing?” she asks with a smile.

I look down as I sweep gently over her temple. “Leave me be, Morgan. Do you want to go out tonight?”

She sighs, sitting quietly for a minute. “Not really. I feel like everyone just stares at me. Like even though it’s impossible for them to know what happened, it feels like they do.”

I pause my task and lift her chin. “They stare because they have small minds. It’s what makes you so damn beautiful.” I brush her temple again. “This mind. It might just be my favourite thing about you.”

“My mind is fucked up, and we both know it.” She laughs.

There’s a washcloth beside her on the sink, and I rinse it with warm water, removing the cleanser like she would.

I pick up the toner next.

“Your mind isn’t fucked up.” I swipe the pads over her nose and across her cheeks. “If everyone put as much thought into their day as you do, I can promise you the world would be a better place.”

“But you love me.” I drop my eyes as she rolls her lips, a sexy smile playing on her mouth.

“I do.” I lean into her further. “Maybe I’m biased.”

“You most definitely are.” Her hands sneak up the front of my T-shirt as her legs pull me in closer.

I open the lid on the exfoliator and start to apply it. “Does that hurt?” I ask, massaging in small circles.

“No,” she says softly, closing her eyes and tilting her head back. Her nails scratch gently over my ribs, and I refrain from doing all the things I want to do.

“I’m staying in New York.” She works on a swallow, her eyes still closed.

I try to control my flinch when she adds, “Alone.”

A frown creases my brow, and I push a loose strand of hair behind her ear as I focus on removing the product from her face.

“Why?” I ask simply after a beat.

She peels her eyes open, regarding me with an amused smile as her hand slips out the neck of my T-shirt and glides lovingly over my face. “Because I’m the motherfucking main character.”

My brows shoot high, and I drop my hands between us. “You opened it?”

I wonder if she can feel the way my heart is pounding against her forearm.

“I did. I was in the hospital, and I was fine at the time, but I found it when I was here, under the bed.” She frowns as she says it, and I lean in to kiss the space between her distorted brows. “I was so afraid, and I could’ve stayed there and watched everything unfold, but something told me to move. I couldn’t just lie there.”

“You were brave,” I admire.

“I’ve never been in a situation like that ever. My mind was absolute.”

I frown, not really understanding where she’s going with this.

“I don’t know that I want to stay here, which is frankly infuriating. But I also know that I dreamed about it once. It’s not what I thought it would be, and I know it’s probably not going to get miraculously better, but I also know I owe it to the girl under the bed to finish the internship. I want to do it for me.”

I ease back slightly, a small smile fighting its way through. “You wanna stay alone?”

“I do.”

I nod, pulling her close again. “Then you stay alone.”





Lucy





It’s been six days since everyone left New York and three since I noticed the guy in the BMW following my every move. You’d think someone would warn me, considering I recently went through an insanely traumatic experience.

A quick picture, which I snapped from my bedroom window, and some top FBI work from the girls, and we worked out that the man sitting outside my house is Vinny’s right-hand man—Scott.

“Good morning, Scott.” I hand him a freshly made coffee and give him a wide smile.

“Good morning.” He nods at me, taken aback, his eyes unsure. “And thank you… for the coffee.”

“Nearly done with the night shift?” I ask.

He places a hand on the steering wheel, shaking his head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”