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We had a good time, didn’t we? I thought Sin would appreciate my directness. Why didn’t she this time? Has she changed so much?
A related question looms in my mind, and I pause with my pacing, wondering why I’d never thought of it before.
Why did Gramps send me here?
Before I can replace that thought with another, I open up my speed dial list and press on the only name there.
Gramps.
I don’t believe in coincidences. Fate. Destiny. That’s all bullshit. How did it just so happen that the company Gramps took over employs the one woman I can’t get out of my mind? Maybe I’m overreaching, but Gramps is slick like that. He’s adept at moving people like pieces on a chessboard to satisfy his wants and needs.
“Royce, my boy,” Gramps says, picking up after half a ring. “How’s it going down there?”
I skip over the pleasantries and get right to it. “Why did you buy STS?”
Gramps goes silent for so long, I look at my phone to see if he disconnected the call. “Are you still there?” I ask. Not believing the ticking seconds on my screen.
“Royce, if you can’t see the potential of the company, perhaps Thomas was the better choice.”
Anger courses through me at Gramps’s not-so-subtle threat. I’m marrying Tiffany at his bidding, after all. That should buy me some type of consideration.“Don’t hold my cousin over my head, and don’t be cagey. Why this company? Why now?”
Again, he’s silent. This time I know why. Gramps doesn’t tolerate anyone questioning his judgment. He told me one time it made him feel old. Damn old. As if he were a stud bull that could no longer perform.
His coolness comes over the line, making my hand go numb with how frosty he sounds. “Instead of me telling you what you ought to know, boy, tell me what you’ve learned.”
Yep, I pushed him too far. I back track to smooth things over before I lose everything I’ve fought for. “I suspect you bought it because STS has contracts with several Fortune 500 companies that are based in the southern part of the US. The Grayson Group didn’t have a foothold in this area and now we do.”
“Bingo,” Gramps says, stretching the word out like a seasoned caller. “And I’ll tell you something else. The owners sold the company because they didn’t have an heir to take over. Their damn kids wanted to go their own way instead of embracing their legacy. I hope you won’t be such a fool.”
I think about the underlying meaning of his words. Should I be so foolish as to not marry Tiffany, Thomas would take over my CEO position before I could blink. As much as I don’t like the prick, I know he would do a great job.
But I would disappoint Gramps.
From the time Gramps took me in when I was thirteen, he hinted he wanted me to take over the company he’d built. Because of his wishes, I was a model kid. No fights (none that were ever recorded, anyway), no spinning out of control or wrapping a Ferrari around a light post.
With my call girls, I pay triple the going rates not to have the Grayson name tarnished. My father had done enough of that. He showed up at parties drunk. He fought in public—both times ending up in the newspaper with pics of him knocked on his ass. Gramps also had to get him out of a DUI charge once.
No, I won’t repeat the cycle and bring Gramps shame. One idiot in the family was enough.
“I won’t disappoint you, Gramps.”
“Well, I should hope so.” He sighs. “And that’s the only reason you called? To ask me something you already know?” I was about to answer when he cut in. “Wait, is there a problem? Is someone causing you trouble?”
Genesis. Genesis fucking Turner is causing me trouble.
“No, Gramps. Of course not.”
“That’s good to know. I don’t want you down there longer than three months. You have a caring fiancée eagerly awaiting your return. Her father calls me almost daily, crowing about the wedding. Bastard has invited half of New York and most of Europe, Africa, and Asia. Damn shindig is growing by leaps and bounds.”
I care for Tiffany, but I care more for Sin’s luscious body.
And all the ways I want to abuse it. Use it. Make it mine.
I shake my head, flinging the lust from my mind and moving to a safer topic. “What did Thomas want? Justin told me he came to talk to you.”
“He asked me about Tiffany. I told him that was your business.”
I swear I hear a smile in his voice. Gramps may not like to gossip, but he does like drama.
