Letting go of Grace (29 page)

“We have to make a vehicle change. I will explain everything to you when we get back on the road.” I just nod as I open my door.

“Hannah.” I turn and look at Aiden. He looks sad and that breaks my heart.

“Do you want anything to drink before we go?” I shake my head no and get out. Aiden is at my side. His hand falls to my lower back as he guides me around the SUV. I feel delicious sparks as his fingers connect with my back. Chills go down my back. I feel like I have butterflies in my stomach and I can’t hide the way my body shutters.

“Are you cold?” he asks as he stops to open my door. His eyes meet mine, but I look away.

“Yeah, a little, I guess.” I lie. I don’t want to lie to him, but I can’t tell him why I really have the chills.

“I’ll turn the heated seat on for you.” He closes my door and when he gets in he turns my seat on. I give him a small smile.

When we get back onto the highway I wait for Aiden to explain everything to me.
This doesn’t make sense. Why is Aiden the one taking me to the kids? Why is he the one listening to my request and not Grant?
I shake my head because, of course, it’s Aiden doing these things for me. Aiden never wanted to control me or play puppet master. Aiden just wants the best for me because he simply cares deeply for me. I want to reach over and hold his hand but I know this isn’t the time or the place for me to tell him how badly I messed up. I pull my phone out when I feel it vibrate. I see Grant’s name and I look at Aiden.

“Is this going to be a nasty message from him?” I ask.

“Probably,” he answers with a smirk on his face.

“What did you get me into?” I ask with a laugh. I need to be with my kids. There is no way Grant is going to stop me from getting to them. I just thank my lucky stars that Aiden feels the same way as I do. I open my messages and read Grant’s message.

Why the fuck can’t you follow simple directions?
I reread it again to make sure I didn’t read it wrong. Why the hell is he talking to me like this? I start to text back.

I am going to see MY KIDS. I don’t have to follow YOUR directions, I am their MOTHER and I will do what I feel is best for THEM.

“Can you please start filling me in on what is going on?” I growl. I haven’t been this angry in a long time. I watch as his hand scrubs the stubble on his face.
I like Aiden with stubble, it makes him look sexier.

“It’s all going south real fast, Hannah. Grant wants to keep you close for his own selfish reasons. I want to keep you as far from all of this as possible.” He doesn’t look over at me as he speaks and I wish he would. I crave getting lost in his eyes, if only for a few seconds.

“What’s going south?” He glances at me quickly and I feel mood change.

“Grant isn’t agreeing to any of Grazzer’s stipulations. He pretty much told him to go fuck himself. So I am going to assume the worst from this point on. I don’t want you near the Cape or your house because if there is one thing that Grazzer made clear…” He stops himself from saying anything else.

“You can’t stop there Aiden.” I place my hand on his arm.

“Did he say he would go after me?” I ask. Aiden just takes a deep breath.

“He just said he wouldn’t think twice about taking away the things that mean the most to us.” Goosebumps break out over my skin. “Don’t worry, Hannah, I’ve already had your family moved to a secure location. I’m not letting Grant’s ego put you or your family in danger.”

“You moved them. How? Grant has his security team watching my family and making sure that they stay put.”

“His security? Wow…” He shakes his head.

“So he doesn’t have security watching over them anymore?”

“Hannah, he never sent anyone to watch over your family. He lied. As soon as Shane told me about Grazzer’s note, I hired a security team to go watch over your family. The bastard must have taken credit for it.” I am instantly filled with rage and disappointment for Grant’s manipulative ways.

“He told me he spoke with my dad and arranged the whole thing. That my family’s safety was a priority.” He couldn’t trust me with the truth. He made me believe that he would make Grazzer go away and keep me safe. Keep my family safe. I feel myself shudder and let out a scream.

“That sly, selfish, asshole!” Aiden pats my leg, trying to comfort me.

“Welcome to my world. Hannah. The sooner you realize that Grant only cares about himself and that he will do or say anything to get a situation to go in his favor, the better off you’ll be”

“What the hell is Grant thinking? He has the money, he could pay Grazzer many times over. It’s not like it will break him. I saw his bank statements. He has it, why would he not give it to him? Especially if he knew it meant someone could be hurt if he didn’t pay this creep off?” I cover my mouth after I say this because I didn’t mean to say it out loud. I don’t want Aiden thinking I’m a snoop. In a flash, Aiden jerks his head towards me.

“He has the money?” he questions through gritted teeth. I just nod my head.

“Mother Fucker,” Aiden growls, then he pounds the steering wheel.

“What?” I ask.

“Nothing,” he says as he tries to calm himself down. Most likely so he doesn’t scare me more.

“Aiden, please. It’s me, just talk to me, please don’t keep me in the dark like he does,” I whisper then, I hear his audible sigh. I’m not going to beg him to tell me so I wait. I wait as the minutes tick by. I know he is battling himself mentally.

“Grant has it out for me. He always wants to remind me that I’m second best. I have a drug problem. Did you know that?” I look over at him and I don’t want to admit that I know. I saw the records in the hospital. I saw his blood work. I didn’t want to say anything until he said something to me. I look over at him and nod.

“I fought it for a long time. I was high the first day you came into the city when we got into a fight. I never meant to hurt you that day. I am really good at fucking my life up, Hannah. I got high as a kite the day I met up with Becca, as well. I was hoping that the monster would come out and she wouldn’t want to do business with us. Instead she knew how to manipulate the monster.” He pauses to look at me. I stay quiet and nod for him to go on.

“I was angry with myself, for the way I treated you, then I was angry at myself for having sex with Becca when all I wanted was you all along. The day you came into the office, Grant was the one who came to tell me you were there. Before he left he placed an 8 ball on my desk. He knew I had lapsed and I didn’t think twice. I snorted it. What I didn’t realize till after was it was laced with meth. I dabbled in that shit a long time ago. It makes me crazy, like beat people to an inch of their life crazy. After that I never went near it again. That day in the office, I tried so hard not to do anything, I knew I was being aggressive, I just couldn’t stop it. I felt like I was watching myself in that conference room. I was fighting to not touch you, not to break you.” He stops and takes a deep breath. “Then I fucked it up again when we got home from my mom’s hospital stay, after hearing everything she did, I just wanted to escape. I got high, and you ran off.”

“I broke you, and Grant got to pick up the pieces. He got you. He won you over. He got the coveted spot next to you.”

“This is just another move in Grant’s playbook, Hannah, I just wish I knew the game he was playing. Grant is a creature of habit. He thrives on power trips and gets off on being in control. That is why he went off on his own and started the company and asked us to work for him. He is all about running everything and dictating what can and cannot be done.”

“He is a domineering bastard who always has to lead, but when it comes to you, he is afraid you won’t follow. His ability to conjure up a way to make himself look like a good guy is exactly how he took Ava away from me. Knowing him, He probably lied to me and said he wasn’t going to pay Grazer, but he will, so he comes out looking like the hero…again.” He takes another breath and I can’t stop staring at him.

“When I was at your house with the kids, it was the first time I stopped to appreciate everything. I felt like I was supposed to be there, Hannah. Ella and Hunter, just… they just loved me freely without any opinions, or notations. They don’t know about my money, or past, or who I am or who I was. They just accepted me for me.” He looks over at me and I smile at him.

“That’s the beautiful thing about children. They have an easier way of thinking about things. They don’t care who you are or where you’re from, they just see good and bad.”

“It’s the first time that someone saw me as good,” he says softly. I want to tell him, everything. Tell him that he is a good person and that I never stopped having feelings for him. I could never stop being in love with him, no matter how hard I tried to fight it. I have been so blind and selfish. I thought Grant was the one because he seemed so polished and together, but that’s not the case. Just because the outside looks put together that doesn’t mean the inside is. Grant is ugly inside. All this time I thought I was making my own decisions, but every one of my decisions since getting back with him were pure manipulations on his part. I feel like such a fool.

“Aiden, why are you tell me this now? Why didn’t you tell me when we were at your house? We had plenty of time alone together. You could have told me then. Why wait till Grant and I worked things out?” I look out the window to keep him from seeing my tears of defeat.

“Because I wanted to set you free, but I can’t sit back and watch Grant fuck this all up. I can’t sit back and let him make the wrong decisions for you and the kids.” I gasp, shocked that Aiden also knows that Grant was making my decisions for me. “I can’t let you get hurt. I know you and I will never happen. I have accepted that fact a long time ago. I just can’t let anything bad happen to you or them.” There is silence between us and my tears start to fall freely. I know you and I will never happen. The words hurt me to the core. My heart feels like it’s breaking. I’m too late. He’s fallen out of love with me, and it’s all my fault.

THE RIDE TAKES US FIVE HOURS
. I was asleep the entire ride so we haven’t spoken again. I lift my face that has been pressed against the door and start to stretch. I ask Aiden if we are almost there and he just nods. We continue the drive in silence again till we turn at the end of a long dirt road and he speaks.

“There is a back way to this house. Trying to find it is useless unless they are familiar with the area.” I let out a sigh of relief. I want to be as far away and hidden from Grazzer as possible.

Soon we pull onto a bigger road. There is a black SUV on the side of the road. Aiden gives the man a nod and the man nods back.

“Security?” I ask.

“Yeah, I have one at this point and another at the other end of the road. There are a few men scattered on the property and the surrounding properties.”

“Should we get everyone and leave?” I ask, hopeful that we won’t have to.

“No, we are staying for the night, then tomorrow I will know more from Shane,” he replies as he pulls into the driveway. A man steps onto the driveway with a gun in hand. Aiden stops and flashes the high beams a few times. I guess this is code for something because the man immediately places his gun in his holster and approaches us. Aiden rolls the window down as the man gets closer.

“Mr. Grace, we have been expecting you,” the man begins.

“I’m Knox.” He places his hand out to Aiden and they shake.

“I’ll take Hannah up to the house then you can brief me.” They nod at each other and we continue up the long, curved driveway.

I feel relieved when we park next to my parents’ car. I get out of the truck and run to the house. When I get to the front door I go to open it and it’s locked. I start knocking lightly on the door since it’s late. I see a man peek his head through the window next to the door.

“It’s Hannah and Aiden,” Aiden calls out in his deep voice. I look back and see him with my bag in his hands. The click of the door signals I can come in.

I tiptoe inside because, I doubt anyone will be up at this hour. When I walk around the front hallway I spot my parents walking out of what seems to be the TV room. My parents open up their arms to me and I walk right into them. I’ve missed them so much and I have been worried sick about them and the kids.

“Mr. Redman, Mrs. Redman,” Aiden greets. My father shakes his hand and my mom gives him a big hug.

“Have you met Gabe?” my mom asks. I glance into the TV room and notice a man sitting on the sofa. He stands up and walks over and places his hand out. We shake then he introduces himself to Aiden.