Chapter Thirty-Seven

The wait was agonising, and Luca wasn’t in a good place, but we stayed with him. The pain on his face as he watched them wheel his Nona into the surgery was nothing short of heart-breaking.

Greyson ended up talking to the doctors and settled all the medical bills and aftercare, much to the protest of Luca. Grey wasn’t having any of it though he wanted to pay for it and there was nothing that could be said to change his mind.

It’s in moments like this where I see the true him, I see the person he doesn’t show to the rest of the world and somehow it makes me love him even more than I thought possible.

We waited for what seemed like a lifetime before finally, someone came out to tell us how she was doing.

The doctor is deep in conversation with Luca and Greyson, both of whom are nodding their heads, Luca seems to be asking a lot of questions, there is a short handshake between the three of them before Greyson walks back over to me.

“Is she going to be okay?”

“They think so Gen. She is going to get the best care and they are moving her to a room where Luca can stay too”.

“I’m sure Luca protested that?”

“He did but we have an agreement, one the refurb is done on the diner and they start getting a little bit of profit he will pay me back”.

“Something tells me you’re never going to take a penny from them Grey”.

He wraps his arm around my shoulder pulling me closer and placing a kiss on the top of my head.

“They are important to you Gen, so they are important to me too, that night at the diner is the happiest I’ve ever seen you, excluding your time with me of course. You lit up that whole place and it was beautiful to watch”.

I’m about to respond when Luca makes his way back over to us.

“She is going to be okay, but she is going to need a lot of rest. He said that she shouldn’t come back to the diner, at least not to cook and clear down tables anyway. It will all be too much for her “


“She’s fighter Luca, she’s going to heal up in no time at all”.

I give him a small smile; I know in times like this positivity is hard to hear but I hope it helps him just a bit.

“There is just going to be so much to do Genevieve, we will be okay to shut for a little while but I’m going to need to get someone as on the ball as her and they are going to have to learn to do things Nona’s way. That in itself is no easy task”


He chuckles to himself a little and for the first-time tonight smiles.

“I’ll do it”.

Both Greyson and Luca just stare at me blankly and I wonder for a moment if I had just spoken another language.

“Did you hear what I said? I will do it; I’ll help you out until you find someone”


Greyson just smiles at me but it's Luca who surprises me the most.

“We can’t have a Maddox clearing down tables. What will people in your world say if they see you in my run-down diner? I appreciate the offer but the two of you have reputations to protect, don’t let me tarnish that”


“Luca that is the most ridiculous nonsense I have ever heard, waiting tables is what I’m good at and besides, it gives me time to maybe go back to studying for my degree. I’m helping you out and that’s the end of. Social standing does not dictate a person’s manners and kindness Luca and if it does that person probably isn’t worth knowing”


My mind flashes back to the day I met Greyson as he stood on the pavement hopelessly oblivious to anyone that wasn’t on his level or his radar.

Neither of them protests and Luca and I shake hands as we agree that I’m the stand-in for a little while. Greyson and Luca then head into an office to fill out some paperwork and the nurse shows me to Nona’s room.

She looks so peaceful laying there, but I know when she wakes up, she is going to be less than happy that her body betrayed her in this way.

The room Greyson has had her moved to is the size of a modest New York apartment, it even has another room for Luca to sleep in for as long as he wishes.

The two of them arrive back an hour or so later and I realise just how tired I am, even though I’ve barely done anything it has been a rollercoaster of emotions.

Greyson places his hand on my shoulder and ushers for as to leave, Luca thanks us silently and then takes a seat in the big armchair beside Nona’s bed.

The car ride back home is mostly silent as I think about all the events that have transpired.

Vicky and Alex.
The video.
Greyson and I and then Nona.
Getting a job with Luca.
Greyson investing in Luca’s diner.

Everything just feels like one giant blur, I try to pick it apart but the darkness outside of the car window is captivating.

No matter how hard I try my eyelids are getting heavier and heavier. I try to fight it by sitting up straight in the seat and staring directly ahead but it doesn’t seem to work.

“Gen just goes to sleep. We will be home soon, and I’ll carry you inside, we have another big day today and you need to be rested”.

As if he used some kind of magic on me, my eyelids droop and I fall asleep in seconds.

**Greyson**

I carefully lift Gen out of the car and carry her into the lift. I contemplate putting her in her room, but I opt against it, I want to sleep next to her and with everything that happened today I’m sure she won’t mind.

Laying her down on the bed she doesn’t even stir but she does smile, 2 small dimples appearing on the sides of her cheeks, whatever she is dreaming about seems to be making her incredibly happy.

Sliding off her shoes and placing some pyjamas on the unit next to her in case she wakes up and what to get changed I throw a light blanket over her and back out of the room.

If I’m being honest, I could have done without tonight, but at the same time, I feel like I have a duty to Luca and Nona. They are two people who deserve the best from the worst but somehow got the scraps.

I head to my study, there is still so much to do before the party tomorrow and there is still the small matter of the doctor who helped Brittany fake the pregnancy.

Plugging in the small memory stick from Vicky flick through the original images. The only thoughts that come to mind describing what I’m seeing are disgusting.

I was always a bit of a playboy, but I was also honest about it. The images of Max I’m looking at are something else, how he faces his wife every day knowing he’s off doing this crap is beyond me.

I feel sick to my stomach as I scroll through the images of him and Brittany, closely followed by him and several other women. It seems as though these images are originally taken by him, I’m sure he has no idea Vicky has all of these.

I continue to quick scroll when something else catches my eye in one of the pictures, I go back through them slowly this time and that’s when I see him.

Max my darling brother balls deep in another man, now I’m not one to judge, he can put it wherever he likes but the other man is none other than Mitch Hudson brother too my beautiful wife.

I contemplate what I’m going to do next, surely Mitch doesn’t know these images exist. I mean they could fall into the wrong hands.

It’s then that I realise how perfect this all really is, the whole reason Mitch has the company over Gen is that he created a bad image of her in society, but this… well this he has done to himself.

Perhaps I can get rid of two pests in one go tomorrow night, I might even be able to get Gen some of her family company back. I know that’s what she wanted the money for, and I know she has been looking up private investigators, it now seems she doesn’t need one at all.

I put together the replacement slide show, while I cover up the faces and body parts of the unknown women, I leave nothing to be desired when it comes to Max. After all the whole company should know who he really is, and what they are going to get should they take over?

It's almost euphoric to think about his demise, to think about how he will feel when he realises, he has done this to himself. None made him do any of the things he has, there was no gun to his head, He got up and chose to partake.

I finish just as the sun begins to burst through the window, saving everything down along with an extra memory stick just in case I shut my laptop and head into the bedroom.

Gen is still sound asleep, she looks so peaceful and content, her clothes now on the floor but the pyjama’s still left on the side of the bed. I can’t seem I’m shocked when I see she has opted for a Shirt of mine instead.

. Part of me wonders if I should tell her what I have seen of her brother or if I should let her find out like everyone else.

I know she will think that I’ve hidden something from her again, but I also know that if she finds out how she will talk herself out of humiliating him, she is too bound by family ties even though she would never admit it.

I can tell she pines for connection to her other life, after all, it is part of who she is. I just hope she knows it doesn’t define who she is.

Sliding into bed next to her, she snuggles in closer to me as if it's the most natural thing in the world. I lay back and stare up at the ceiling.

Tomorrow would be a big day for both of us, if we are going to do this then we have to look the part and Gen has to act as if she knows only of the plan to take me down.

I try to drift off but there are too many things racing through my head. The only thing that pulls me back down to reality is Gens soft breathing.

I wonder what it will be like for us when this is all over. I’ve been thinking that I’d like to marry her for real, to go all out and propose, plan a wedding with her.

She really is the only reason I have to wake up every day, I want her to know that I’m willingly devoting my life to her.

I want to kiss her at the aisle and mean it, to take her on a honeymoon and be involved not just be present in it.

But all of these things will have to wait until after this party, the party that will change the shape of both our futures forever.

If this all goes wrong, then I would have ruined both my reputation and that of my new wife.

That cannot happen and this plan cannot go wrong.