Page 24 of Power
“I can’t do that, Reece.”
“Can’t or won’t?” He clears his throat. “If you want to have any chance at all of ever seeing me again, I want him gone. And by gone, I don’t mean parked down at the bottom of my street. I mean back at the White House, doing the job he’s trained for and is paid to do.” I cross my arm in front of my chest, waiting for his reply.
“I’m the man who gives the orders, I don’t take them.”
I run my tongue over my teeth and softy shake my head. I pull the phone away from my ear and simply hang up on him. I’m too angry to speak to him. I walk out the front toward Grayson’s car. He opens the door and stands straight when he sees me heading toward him. “I’m going to be leaving to get my daughter in a short while. I don’t want her knowing you’re here.”
“Understood, ma’am.”
“Thank you.” He’s doing the job he’s been assigned to do. I can’t yell at him for following an order. I head back into the house to get ready for Emily.
Bennett and I need to talk.
The doorbell rings, and Emily shouts, “Pizza! I’m having a whole pizza to myself.”
“Seriously, Em? I don’t think you can eat two pieces let alone an entire pizza,” Tash teases.
“Wanna make a bet?” Emily sassily replies.
I grab my purse and head over to open the door. Grayson is standing there with two pizza boxes. “I told you to make yourself invisible,” I hiss.
“Hey, Mom, do you need help?” Emily asks as she comes to the door. I narrow my eyes at Grayson who hands me the boxes. “You don’t look like a pizza delivery guy.”
I plead with my eyes that Grayson doesn’t give away who he is or why he’s here, which I’m still trying to figure out. “Uh, the normal guy’s car broke down, so he called me to help.”
I release a long, silent breath, grateful he came up with that story. “Oh, well, you’re dressed really nice,” Emily says. “Thanks for the pizza.” She takes both boxes and merrily skips back into the family room.
“Thank you, I appreciate what you did.”
“You’re welcome. Next time, please let me know you’ve ordered food.”
I look to where his car is parked down the street, then back to Grayson. “Why?”
“It makes my job easier,” he says cryptically.
“Am I going to be able to order pizza from there again?” His left eye slightly twitches. I have to remember Grayson is only doing his job. “Are you hungry? Do you want a couple of slices?”
“No, ma’am.”
“Have a good night.” I go to close the door, but his hand darts out stopping me.
“Is Miss Natasha staying the night?”
I shrug. “Maybe. I don’t know.” I remember I haven’t paid for the pizzas. “Here.” I open my purse to take out the money.
“No, ma’am, it’s been taken care of.”
Yep, Bennett and I need to have a talk. I place my purse on the kitchen counter and take my phone out of my back pocket. There’s a message from Bennett. Enjoy your pizza.
So much for boundaries.
“Mom, what movie do you wanna watch?” Emily asks as she scrolls through one of the streaming services. “I want to watch The Hunger Games, but Tash said she wants to watch Back to the Future. So, we’re leaving it up to you.”
My head is swimming with thoughts of Bennett, so truthfully neither. “I want to watch The Hunger Games,” I say.
Tash pokes her tongue out at me, and Emily snickers. I sit on the sofa next to Tash and open my reply from Bennett. Dinner, Sunday night.
I stare at the reply. There are so many things I want to say, but I’m not going to do it in a text message. Tash lightly slaps my arm. “What?” I look over to her to find she’s staring at my phone. Her brows raise in question. “It’s nothing.”
