“Get out, Grant.” I groaned. “Leak the photos. At this point, I don’t even care.” I just wanted him to leave. Out of my hotel room. Out of my life. People would believe whatever they were going to believe. All that mattered was Caleb knowing the truth. They were old photos. He knew my heart. I was rash to leave, and he did say that he told Max to stop. We would do our best to shield Noelle from any fallout.
“You know your bestie is better than you are in bed.” Grant cackled, going into the bathroom. He threw his trousers at me, changing into the extra bathrobe behind the door.
“Bring me a fresh suit,” he barked into his cell phone, before turning his attention back to me. Great, I was stuck with him until he got new clothes dropped off.
“My bestie?” I asked, my eyebrows furrowing, as I sat by the phone in case he tried any bullshit again.
“Yeah, dear sweet Cordelia,” Grant divulged as his eyes gleamed in delight. “We’ve been fucking since before Julia died. You know she hates you, right?”
“You’re lying. Cordelia hatesyou,” I spat, convincing myself she wouldn’t do that. Would she?
Grant laughed maniacally. “Are you really that naive, Grace? Damn, what did the small-town prick do, fuck your brains out?” He pressed, making his way closer to me.
I lifted the phone off the receiver as a warning.
Grant held up his hands to feign innocence before grabbing my untouched glass, downing it in one go before he walked to the bar area to refill it.
I watched him pour more liquor out, waiting for him to say whatever he was going to say about Cordelia.
Instead, Grant reached into the pocket of his pants that were strewn on the floor and grabbed his phone. He pressed somebuttons and scrolled before tossing it to me. I caught it and looked at the photo on the screen.
It was a poorly lit photo of Cordelia and Grant in what appeared to be a bed, only covered with a sheet. Grant was sticking his tongue out childishly and Cordelia looked dazed but happy.
I gulped and set the phone down before getting a drink of water. As I poured the sparkling water into a glass, I heard a knock at the door.
I ran to answer it, but before I could make it, Grant beat me to it and opened the door.
“Hello,” Grant practically purred, standing in the doorway with his arm blocking my view.
“Hi, I think I have the wrong room…” Caleb trailed off. I couldn’t see his face, but he sounded different, a cross between sad and confused. He got here in just under an hour after my arrival, so he must have driven after he picked up Noelle from school. Taking the train would be at least an hour and a half, and that was if he caught the express.
“I don’t think so. Oh, Grace?” Grant singsonged, smirking. Bastard.
I walked around Grant, shoving him out of the way. The asshole chuckled and muttered, “You know I like it rough, Grace.”
“Caleb, wait!” I cried out as Caleb made his way back to the elevator.
“What the hell, Grace?” Caleb bellowed, widening his arms, incredulous. “Who the hell is he?”
“It’s not what it looks like.” I panicked, my voice quavering. This looked bad, but surely Caleb trusted me. I bit my lip and met his stare. “That’s Grant.”
You could hear a pin drop as Caleb pieced together everything I had told him about Grant. Then Caleb analyzed myface, searching for something. His eyes landed on my wet hair before darting behind me.
I spun to see Grant, leaning against the doorway, watching Caleb’s and my exchange.
“I regret to inform you, cowboy, but we fucked. It was so fucking sweet,” Grant taunted, licking his lips and then he brought his fingers to his nose and inhaled.
I closed my eyes, feeling a bad sense of déjà vu from the night Julia died.
“Grace?” Caleb questioned softly before grabbing my hand like he always did. This time, his movements were frantic, wild even. Gone was the level-headed man who trusted me unequivocally.
If he couldn’t handle seeing the tabloids about me, or his friends and colleagues seeing the tabloids, maybe he couldn’t handle me and my past after all.
Usually, I relished in the way Caleb looked at me. It would soothe any doubts I’d have about our differing worlds and the problems that lingered. But in this moment, he was looking at me like everyone else had looked at me prior. Like I was guilty.
“Did you sleep with him?” Caleb pressed, squeezing my hand, practically willing me to say the right thing.
I sucked on my teeth, closing my eyes to his intense stare. I took a moment before opening my eyes and I couldn’t help the tears that fell as I did. I mentally prepared myself for what I had to do.
