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When I’d learned what Gramps had done, I asked him why he’d ruined the man. What he said has stuck with me all these years: After what happened between you and your father, I’ve learned to keep a close eye on the people I’m supposed to trust, and an even closer eye on those I love. I’ll reward loyalty with everything I have in me and punish those who stray with the same vigor.
Of all the people on this earth, Thomas and I are the only ones he loves.
And damn, I love him too.
“Do you have someone in mind for me to marry?” I ask, letting out half of a laugh.
“I do.”
Shock makes me bounce to my feet. Gramps must take it as a sign of acquiescence. He gives me a broad smile as he pats me on the back. “She’ll meet you at the Bayview. Your reservation is at one.”
The Bayview is a family-owned restaurant that Gramps likes to frequent. It boasts a few quiet corners and an attentive staff who know when to leave us alone.
“But why now? Why so fast?” Dread grabs me, squeezing my heart as I think of a plausible possibility. “You’re not dying, are you?”
Gramps laughs, a hearty one for an eighty-five-year-old. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”
“The hell I would,” I respond, my stomach churning at the thought of losing him.
Gramps turns, but not fast enough that I don’t see my answer has pleased him.
He refills my drink and pours one for himself. Handing me mine, he says, “I want you to propose to the girl.” He loosens a finger from around his glass and wags it in my direction. “I want the engagement to happen before you travel to Austin and sort out Secure Tech Software. Then, when you come back in three months, you two can get married.”
Distracted with all the thoughts running through my mind, I mumble, “They call it STS.”
“What? What was that?”
“The company you bought. The owners refer to it as STS.”
Gramps gives me a blank stare.
I sigh and get back to the topic I would like to avoid. “What’s her name?”
“Tiffany... Tiffany Primrose.” He takes a sip of his drink and answers my next question without me having to ask. “No skeletons, I checked.” At my amused glance, he chuckles. “You’ll like her, I promise. You two already have a lot in common. She’s an Ivy League graduate, like you, and a philanthropist, like you. She designs websites for non-profit businesses... and makes a damn decent living doing so.” While I mull over his latest information, Gramps hits me with a zinger. “Oh... and when she turns twenty-five, in a year’s time, she’ll come into her inheritance.”
Curiosity pricks my ears. “How much?”
“About a third of what you’ll lose if you don’t agree to marry her.”
Damn. That’s well over 30 billion. Well, at least she won’t be after my money.
I guess if I have to get married, this Tiffany sounds like the ideal woman. She’s into helping people and I’m all for that.
Still, I hedge. I hate giving in without a token of a fight. “How about I find my own wife?”
The stubbornness the Graysons are known for enters Gramps’s expression. “I want you to marry Tiffany.”
“What do you get out of it?”
The sun in his smile replaces the dark cloud on his face. “Not much... her father has a patent for a database application that I want. Easy to use and able to integrate into most systems, it is light years ahead of the competition. Jack Primrose… well, he’s not in the best of health.” Gramps shakes his head in sympathy, like the man is already six feet under. “His company spent most of their capital on R&D and he wants someone to protect his princess from the wolves should he pass.”
I rub a finger across my chin, hesitating.
Gramps presses forward, the gleam of dollar signs in his eyes.“Just think, Royce, with that application on our computers, we’ll make a fortune!”
“Gramps, we already have a fortune.”
His derisive scoff is like heavy boots on gravel. “I’m building something for your children. Something that will make a mark on this world.”
