40| Andrea wanted Grimes to continue the usual affair

Greyson's POV

Grimes left my side to get closer to Claudia, and when I observed, the reason was quite obvious. Andrea was standing with Claudia, and that was a big surprise to me. Who would have expected that? Not me.
What added to the strange feeling was the fact that she came to pay a visit without us knowing, and Claudia was the first person to engage her in a conversation.
I saw her give a hug to Grimes, but it still didn't flow with me. Grimes was in a daze, I could tell, and Claudia had wet her jaws. I had an idea of what she was telling Andrea. How was it that Andrea was attentive to her? It was another question that I needed to find an answer to.
Everyone knew the condition she was going through. It was caused by depression, or something more. No one was sure about it.
I got close to them, and together, we walked back into the house. The conversation I was supposed to have with Grimes was postponed.
“Claudia is pregnant for you, and it's bad you are trying to keep her on the sidelines.” Andrea gave a depressing look at Grimes.
I wondered what Claudia must have told her. It could only be bad.
“Shower her with some love.”
The room got an unusual stench, and it was not something my nose could perceive except my mind.
Grimes turned around to look at Claudia, and then to me before directing his eyes at Andrea. “Everyone knows that I have a mate!”
“And I don't dispute that!”
The tenderness on her face had gone for a sudden vacation. It was hard for Grimes to continue standing before her. The little effort he used in containing her words was gained from the respect he had for her as his mother. It was just a little thread before he exploded.
“Claudia has gone through a lot.”
A lot? Who could tell what had caused the sudden concern, even to the point of adding weight to non-existent things?
Was there a day Claudia was ever in pain?
“Claudia.” Grimes walked towards her. “How have you been treated?”
“I have become invisible to you.” She knelt to the ground.
She didn't burst into tears, her eyes were dry, but the expression on her face was already weeping.
“That also pains me,” Andrea said, “you have to make adjustments.”
Grimes was at a loss for words to say.
I decided to speak. “Isn't she a mistress?”
That was a bomb. From the corner of my eye, I could see Claudia glaring daggers at me. She had lost respect for me, the respect I was supposed to be accorded as a beta. Anyway, who was I if Grimes had lost his respect?
“She has gone beyond that!” Andrea came in for her.
She had got a strong backup.
“Grimes.” Andrea called. “What do you intend for her?”
“She will be well taken care of till she delivers. After that, I will know what to do!”
“Are you ending your affair with her?”
Grimes had a big frown on his face. “What affair am I supposed to keep?”
“The usual affair.”
What is this usual affair? Was she talking about the sexual relationship between them?
“What else does she want?”
“The usual love affair.”
Andrea was asking for him to continue having sex with her as though he had no mate. What baffled me was that she didn't ask about Leah.
“Greyson, come.” He left the sitting room, and I followed him.
We went into his room. The bed was rumpled and I didn't have to think to know it was his doing with Leah.
“Did you see when she entered?”
I shook my head.
“Claudia is taking advantage of her.”
That was obvious.
“I should call her here!” He was fuming.
“Does she know about her ailment?”
“No, she wouldn't know. It's been kept secret for years. Only a close observer would know.”
And Claudia wasn't a close observer to have noticed. If it happened that she had noticed, then what good would it also be to her?
My eyes went around the room, and when I spotted the blood stain on the bed, Grimes quickly covered it up.
“You have work to do.” He sat beside the side he had covered up. “We are going to start something new.”
I was ready to do anything as far as it involved Leah.
“I need you to ensure that Claudia and Leah stay on watch, Leah especially.”
It was strange to me, what was it about putting Leah and Claudia on watch? For Leah, I had an understanding, but Claudia seemed to be a waste of my time.
“Leah is slipping off my hands, and it will be worse if she finds out that Claudia is pregnant for me.” He gave me a long look. “Leah has seen her.”
He had tightened his fingers into a grip, and his nails almost pierced into his flesh. Sweat had started dripping from his face.
“They were looking at each other, and Leah did not ask about her.”
“What if Claudia decides to tell her?”
That was something to consider.
“You have to make a deal with Claudia,” I said.
“What kind of deal?”
“For her not to talk about the child she is carrying.”
He took off his shirt. The heat had become too much for him, but it wasn't affecting me.
“Get the best person to watch out for Leah, we can't afford to get caught in the act.”
I was about to leave, but then, I heard footsteps at the door. When I opened it, Claudia wasn't standing by it. Who else could it be?
Maybe I didn't hear anything, but I saw the door of Claudia's room close forcefully. She couldn't have left Andrea alone in the sitting room, especially when she was trying to bond.
“Claudia?” I walked to her room door. “Claudia?”
No answer came from inside, and I decided to open it, even though it meant that I was intruding.
No one was inside. Why the closing of the door?
The wind must have blown it.
I got back to Grimes' room. I had just remembered that he was given a letter.
“Grimes, the content of the letter, have you read it?”
He was lying on his back with open eyes. He sat uprightly and started searching his pockets. Nothing was found in them.
I feared it was lost. The person who had come to deliver it carried so much importance. The letter should have some worth.
He got on his feet, did a second check, and his face gave me the answer.
It was lost.