Grant let out a long breath. “Viviana, this is my brother, Ian. Ian, you’re on speakerphone with Viviana Sutton.”
“What is wrong with you? Get me off speakerphone. Now.”
“No.” Grant laced his fingers with Viviana’s and held on for the ride. “I trust Viviana.”
Viviana smiled gently.
“Has everyone lost their minds?” Ian growled. “This is a nightmare.”
“Can I call you back, Ian?”
“You’re joking, right?”
“I’m not. I’ll come home, but there’s something I need to do first.”
“You know what? I don’t care. Come home or don’t. At this point I don’t know if you’d be any help anyway. You brought this on us.”
“Me?” Grant asked between gritted teeth.
“I knew telling Mom was a bad idea. What will be your next gift to her? Another baby’s body to bury? A movie deal where this can all play out for public entertainment?”
Viviana blanched, but Grant wasn’t angered by Ian’s attack. He could have reminded his brother he had agreed their mother deserved to know the truth, but it wouldn’t have helped the situation. Of all his brothers, Ian was the most like Grant. He was a rational problem solver who didn’t panic. If Ian thought the situation was out of control, it was. If he was worried, there was reason to be. “I’ll call you in a few.”
Ian hung up without saying another word.
For a long moment Grant and Viviana simply sat there looking at each other. It was difficult to guess what she was thinking. Grant had difficulty imagining what he would have thought had their situations been reversed.
“Who is Stiles?” she asked.
“Helene’s uncle.”
“Your brother’s fiancée?”
“Andrew, yes.”
“Why does Asher think he knows anything?”
She was handling the story much more calmly than he’d expected. “Stiles owned the clinic my brother died at. He claims he was paid to cover up that my deceased aunt paid to have Kent killed.”
Viviana nodded slowly.
“You’re taking this well.”
Viviana’s eyes rounded. “Oh, I’m freaking out on the inside. It’s heartbreaking and a lot to take in.”
“For me as well.”
“So, when do we go to Boston?”
His jaw went slack. “You can’t still want to meet my family.” He searched her face for a sign of revulsion or fear but found none.
“Mine almost gave you alcohol poisoning, and you’re still here.”
“We’re quite the pair.” He laughed even though his gut was still twisted and anxious. Am I insane to consider taking her back with me?
“Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?”
He didn’t and spent the next ten or so minutes clarifying who everyone was and how his family had gotten to this place. When he finished, she asked for a moment to think. He wouldn’t have blamed her if what she was pondering was how the hell to get out of meeting his crazy family. He wouldn’t tell her she couldn’t go, though. He wasn’t going to close a door on her.
Her stomach made a rumbling sound. “Can you make phone calls from your helicopter? If so, I’d call Asher and tell him we’re on our way. I bet that will keep him in Boston. Then you should call that woman—Alethea? Unless you still don’t want to work with her, but if not, you should suggest someone else to your mother. I wouldn’t call Ian until you know where Lance and Dax went, but they probably have their phones with them so that’s just another phone call. Then it’s really a matter of finding out what happened to your brother, but you sound like you’re good at stuff like that.”
“I am,” Grant said with a bemused smile. She was tackling his family’s disaster with the ease that he’d seen her tackle issues with the construction crew. More amazing? He agreed with her plan. Except possibly that last part. This wasn’t a scheduling mistake with machinery. “Alethea probably does know something, but my aunt was a sociopath. If she switched the babies, do we really want to know what she did with the one she took? It might be even more heinous.” He laid his head back and closed his eyes. “Ian had a point. I brought this on my family. I didn’t have to tell my mother what I’d discovered.”
“Fuck Ian,” Viviana said harshly.
Grant’s head snapped up, and his eyes flew open.
Viviana continued, “You did what you thought was right. Your mother was lied to for too long. She deserved the truth. And she deserves to know if Kent is still alive. You could give her that closure.” She took his hand and laid it on her stomach. “If it were our child, I wouldn’t be able to rest until I knew the truth, and I would want to know every last detail, no matter how bad it was. And if there were even the tiniest chance that he was still alive? Nothing could stop me from looking for him. Nothing.”
Suddenly, what had seemed like a muddled mess to him was crystal clear. When he imagined his child disappearing and not knowing if it was alive or dead, he knew Ian was wrong. My mother needs the truth, and I’m going to find it for her. He pulled her to him for another hug. “Thank you, Viviana.” Emotions swirled through Grant, and his heart felt like it might burst from his chest. He struggled to find the words to express what he felt for Viviana so he kissed her instead, deeply, tenderly.
A knock on the window made them both jump. Dylan and Connor were at the driver’s side with plates of food. Grant lowered the window.
Dylan handed bundled silverware along with a plate of steak and potatoes through the window. “You guys are getting too hot and heavy for me to keep taking photos. I thought you might want memories of when you proposed, but it’s getting weird.” He flipped to a photo of the two of them facing each other. “This one looked promising.” Then there was one of them kissing. He deleted it. “I thought I saw a ring in this one.” He flipped to another. “Then you looked like you were arguing so I stopped. I took a beer break and then it looked like you might be asking her again. Honestly, Dad is ready to go home, so if you haven’t said yes yet could you hurry it along or call us later with the news?” He chucked Grant on the shoulder. “Nice house, though. It came out good.”
Connor bent down. “So, where’s the ring?”
I’ll just get it out there. “She said no.”
“You said no?” Connor asked, his mouth flopping
open. “Oh, man, that sucks, Grant. Sorry.”
Dylan started deleting more photos. “You’re not going to want these then.”
Connor looked at the plate in his hand. “Viv, you’re probably too upset to eat, right?”
Viviana leaned over Grant and made a grab for the plate. “Don’t you dare touch my steak, Connor. Hand it over.”
Looking disappointed, Connor did. “It was delicious. How much does a private chef cost? We should get one of our own.”
Grant snapped his fingers and reached for the folder he’d prepared for them. He handed it to Connor. “This might help with that.”
“What is it?” Dylan asked as he swiped it.
“It’s for your father. Just a few ideas on how he could restructure his business health plan, claim more deductions, invest those savings in low-risk stocks to provide a better retirement program for his employees, and in general minimize his profit loss.”
Dylan shrugged and handed it back to his brother. “Oh. I’ll let Connor go over it with him. I find that stuff boring.”
Connor made a face. “Fine, but then you have to tell Dad that Viviana turned Grant down. She probably would have said yes if you hadn’t made it into a photo shoot.”
Dylan glared at Connor. “This isn’t my fault.”
“I’m not saying it is. I’m just saying it might be,” Connor said with a shrug.
“You’re an idiot,” Dylan said.
Connor held up his hands and mimed taking photos. “I would have stopped when they kissed the first time, but that’s me.”
With a growl, Dylan punched Connor in the arm. “Shut the fuck up. I didn’t know they’d go all porno with Dad there.”
“Poor Grant.” Connor shook his head. “He’s taking it better than I would.”
Dylan shrugged and the two started to walk away. “And he’s still mooning over her. Men are stupid when they’re in love. Have some pride, dude.”
Viviana covered her face with one hand and groaned. “I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be. They’re always like watching a sitcom.” Besides, I am stupid because I do love you. I love you. “Viv, I—”
