Chapter 149

This wasn’t how everything was supposed to go down. Things were supposed to go a lot smoother. And perhaps they would have if he hadn’t made the mistake of underestimating his opponent. He’d been so easy to defeat before. That was so long ago, but he had no idea that William Stewart was capable of personal growth. It was almost laughable, though. It took almost no effort in the beginning. Grace had been easy to crack. Women like her usually were.
It wasn’t that he didn’t love her. He did… in his own way. As much as he could love someone anyway. Love was messy and impractical. Which is probably why he was able to sway her. She was in love, and had love in return, but for some reason was still ravenous for it. She wasn’t his usual type at all either. He always wondered why he was even attracted to her. Was it that desperate way she loved? It had to be. His pursuit and eventual conquest of her set a dangerous precedent in his life. His eventual goal in life became to take everything he could from William Stewart.
***
They lay tangled in bedsheets after several hours of marathon sex.
“We can’t keep doing this,” she said.
“Do you regret it?”
“No. But I should and that’s the problem. I’m in a long-term relationship.”
“’Long term relationship’,” he repeated with derision. “What does that even mean?”
“It means I’m committed to someone!” she defended.
“Then what are you doing here with me?”
“I love him, and he loves me, and…”
“So, what are you doing here with me?” he repeated. “If you two love each other so much, then why do you keep coming back to me, Grace? Why did you even say yes to me in the first place?”
Grace’s mouth flopped open, like a fish, but no sound came out.
“You… You’re his friend. You shouldn’t have…”
“No, we aren’t doing this again,” he got out of the bed and started putting his clothes on. “You aren’t going to blame me for this. You keep coming to me, getting in my bed. We have mind blowing sex, and then you do this.”
“No!” she shot out her hand and grabbed his wrist. “Don’t go!”
“Why?”
“Because I don’t want you to go.”
“Not good enough.”
“Please,” she pleaded.
“Give me one good reason to stay.”
Grace pulled him back to the bed and crawled on top of him. She pressed herself on his body and captured him in a long kiss.
“You don’t really want to leave,” she said.
“I won’t be the other one, anymore. Why is he so much better than me?”
“He isn’t. But I just can’t leave him. I love him and he needs me.”
“He doesn’t need you. If he needed you, he’d do whatever it took to make you happy. You’re here with me because you aren’t happy. Something is missing. Something you want, that he won’t give you.”
“And you will?” she asked.
“Only if you leave him. Leave him and I’ll give you whatever you want.”
***
She left him that night and was back underneath him within the hour. He heard that it had destroyed Will, and for some reason it gave him a perverse sense of satisfaction. He’d stolen the love of his once upon a time good friend’s life. What else could he take?
Did he even love Grace? Or did he just want her because she was his? It became a reoccurring theme in his life. But Grace was the one thing he seemed to care about. Even though he’d been named CEO of his grandfather’s company, he didn’t seem to care. Losing Grace had devastated him, and he was a sniveling shell. It was great. They went abroad for a while to distract her from what she wanted, to get married and have babies. And it worked for a lot longer than he thought it would. They had an amazing time. They traveled all over the world, and over time he did develop genuine feelings for her. Not love. He realized now that he wasn’t capable of it. But he did care for her. Their blissful getaway wouldn’t last long though, and eventually the arguments started.
***
“It’s been years!” Grace yelled. “You said you’d give me what I wanted if I chose you, and you haven’t yet!”
“We’ve traveled around the world. I’ve given you more than he ever has!”
“But still not what I want!”
“What do you want, Grace?”
“I want a family! I want to be married and have babies! Why is that so hard to understand?” she broke down into a mess of tears. He rolled his eyes and knelt down to her level.
“Listen. We go back home tomorrow morning, and I was planning to do this then. But you, as usual, ruin my plans.”
From his back pocket he pulled out an ornate diamond ring. It was large, obnoxious and over the top. It was perfect.
“Grace Cunning, will you marry me?”
“Yes!” she cheered through happy sobs. “Yes, of course I’ll marry you! This is the happiest day of my life!”
“I planned a huge party for us. It was going to be your surprise engagement party. So, you have to act surprised, okay?”
“Yes, I can do that!” she squealed and launched herself into his arms.
***
When they arrived in the city, and news of their return began to spread, he waited. As promised, he threw her a surprise engagement party. It was a grand affair and all of high society had been invited. Everyone who was supposed to attend was there, though of course most attended out of obligation. And they were indeed very surprised at his proposal. Grace’s friends gushed over the ring at their engagement party. He noticed that Will’s posse was there, but he wasn’t.
***
“Hey,” Will’s best friend, Alex, walked up to them. Alex wasn’t one to mess with. Prince Rossi, as he was better known in certain circles, was someone everyone with any sense knew to be weary of. He was flanked by Will’s two other friends, Bryan, and Derek. They were fair weather friends, though. Prince Rossi may be loyal, but those other two weren’t.”
“Glad you guys could make it,” he shook their hands.
“Welcome back, man,” Bryan smiled.
“Great to be back.”
“So,” Alex said. His hands were shoved in his pockets, and he took a defensive stance. “You and Grace are really going through with it, huh?”
“Yeah, we are. I’m happy she said yes. I was nervous,” he lied.
“Uh huh,” Alex deadpanned. “Congratulations.”
“Where is… Will? I was hoping he’d be here.”
“He’s busy. But I’ll be sure to pass along your greeting.”
Grace came up to greeted them.
“Will isn’t with you?” she asked, looking around.
“No. He had another affair to tend to.”
“Oh, I see,” her face fell a little. He didn’t like it but pretended he didn’t notice.
“Next time, you see him, let him know I say hi,” she smiled.
“He doesn’t want to hear from you,” Alex answered. “Either one of you, honestly. He’s been very busy and has no time for whatever game you want to play with him.”
***
Word got back to him that Will’s friend, Bryan, was easily bought. He came from a long line of politicians, and if there was anything he knew, it was that every politician had a price.
“Bryan,” he called out to him. When Bryan looked over, he motioned him over. “I’d like to ask you a favor.”
“Sure man, what’s up?”
“How close are you with Prince Rossi?”
“Prince… Oh you mean Alex! Yeah, people don’t really call him that anymore. You’ve been gone a while. He’s gone… sort of underground with all that. Doesn’t like to talk about it. But, as far as how close I am to him… Let’s just say I’m as close as I need to be.”
“Good. That’s the answer I needed. I want to ask you to tell Will about my engagement.”
“Will? As in William Stewart?”
“Yes. I need him to know.”
“Right. I get it,” Bryan understood. “It would be nice to see him knocked back down a few pegs. That guy thinks he runs the world. But what do I get for invoking his wrath? He’s not who he used to be, you know.”
***
Alex’s veiled threat wasn’t lost on him. So, anything else he was planning to do to Will had to be covert. Nothing could trace back to him or there was no telling what Prince Rossi would do to him… or have done to him. Word around town was that Will was spending his time with some college girl. He’d been involved in scandal after scandal over the years, but apparently was trying to clean up his act. He was thriving as the CEO of his company. And that wasn’t going to fly. Something about Will’s success just… bothered him. He had already destroyed Will once. He’d have to do it again.