Chapter 12 - The Night Grace Walked Away
Grace turned off the security feed.
“Is he right?”
Adrian did not pretend not to understand.
“At first?”
Her chest tightened.
“At first what?”
“At first I wanted you because of Daniel’s investigation.”
Wanted.
Not romantically.
As evidence.
As a path.
Still, the word hurt.
“You knew my face before the train.”
“Yes.”
“You knew where I worked.”
“Yes.”
“You had been investigating me.”
“Yes.”
“And the train?”
“Coincidence.”
“Convenient.”
“I was meeting someone near your route.”
“Wade?”
“No.”
“Who?”
“A source connected to Vincent.”
Grace laughed bitterly.
“Everything comes back to your war.”
Adrian’s expression hardened.
“Daniel’s murder is not a war.”
“It became one when you decided everyone was a piece on your board.”
“I never—”
“You investigated my money. My friends. My mother. My work.”
“To understand whether you were involved.”
“I was abused.”
“I didn’t know that.”
“You learned.”
“Yes.”
“And kept investigating.”
“Yes.”
Grace’s eyes burned.
“Did you ever consider telling me?”
“At the time, no.”
There it was.
Truth.
Painful.
Clean.
Grace picked up her coat.
“Where are you going?”
“Anywhere else.”
“Grace.”
“Don’t.”
He stopped.
She looked at him.
“Marcus lied constantly.”
“I know.”
“But the reason he could keep confusing me was because there was always a piece of truth hidden inside the lie.”
Adrian absorbed that.
“He says you’re using me to avenge Daniel.”
“I was.”
Past tense.
Grace heard it.
She refused to let herself cling to it.
“And now?”
Adrian’s voice dropped.
“Now I’m terrified that if I tell you the truth, you’ll walk away.”
Grace’s throat tightened.
“That isn’t an answer.”
“Yes, it is.”
She stared.
He continued.
“At first you were a name in Daniel’s file.”
Grace did not move.
“Then you were a photograph.”
His jaw tightened.
“Then you were a woman on a train asking two men to leave her alone while everyone else pretended not to hear.”
Grace’s eyes filled.
“I stood because they were wrong.”
“That doesn’t make you good.”
“No.”
“Saving one woman doesn’t erase everything else you’ve done.”
“No.”
“You frighten people.”
“Yes.”
“You’ve hurt people.”
A pause.
“Yes.”
“Have you killed anyone?”
Silence.
Grace closed her eyes.
That was answer enough.
Adrian did not defend himself.
Grace appreciated that and hated that she appreciated it.
“I can’t be part of this.”
“I know.”
“I can’t fall from one dangerous man into another.”
“I know.”
“Stop saying that.”
“What would you rather I say?”
“That you’re different.”
Adrian looked at her.
“I won’t lie to you.”
The room became still.
He continued.
“I am different from Marcus.”
Grace waited.
“But different is not the same as safe.”
That was the most frighteningly honest thing any man had ever said to her.
“So what am I supposed to do with that?”
“Whatever you choose.”
She picked up her bag.
“And if I leave?”
“I’ll make sure Marcus can’t reach you.”
“Without following me?”
“Yes.”
“Without deciding where I live?”
“Yes.”
“Without sending men?”
“Yes.”
“Without calling?”
A flicker of pain.
“Yes.”
Grace opened the door.
Adrian remained where he was.
That made leaving harder.
She hated him for it.
She spent the night at a hotel Rebecca arranged under another name.
No Vale employees.
No known connection.
Grace barely slept.
At 4:10 a.m., she finally admitted something to herself.
She missed Adrian.
Not his protection.
Not his power.
Him.
His dry answers.
His infuriating calm.
The way he never touched her without permission.
The way he looked at Daniel’s recordings when he thought no one was watching.
The way he had stepped back when wanting to step closer.
Grace hated that too.
At eight, Rebecca called.
“We have a problem.”
“What?”
“The DOJ contact received our files.”
“That sounds good.”
“They were intercepted internally before reaching the inspector general.”
Grace sat up.
“Kessler?”
“Probably.”
“Meaning he knows.”
“Yes.”
“Meaning Marcus knows.”
“Almost certainly.”
Grace closed her eyes.
“How long?”
“Hours.”
“Where’s Adrian?”
“I assumed with you.”
“No.”
A pause.
Rebecca understood.
“Grace.”
“What?”
“Call him.”
“No.”
“This stopped being romantic drama the second corrupt federal agents got involved.”
Grace sighed.
“Fine.”
She called.
No answer.
Again.
No answer.
A cold feeling entered her stomach.
She called Evelyn.
“Have you seen Adrian?”
“No.”
“When?”
“Last night.”
Grace stood.
“What happened?”
“Nothing. Why?”
“He isn’t answering.”
Evelyn fell silent.
“Adrian always answers me.”
Grace’s fear deepened.
Then a message arrived.
From Adrian’s number.
Come to the Lake Forest house. Alone.
Grace stared.
Marcus would expect her to obey.
Old Grace might have.
New Grace called Rebecca.
Then Lena.
Then Evelyn.
Then the police contact Rebecca trusted.
Only after that did she reply.
On my way.
May you like
But Grace Holloway had no intention of arriving alone.
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