“He manipulates people for his own schemes. He even used Grayson. He’s already hurt him, used him so terribly.”
“Used me how?” came the cold hard voice next to me. I sucked in a ragged breath, my heart leaping. I hadn’t seen Grayson because our cars had concealed him as he’d approached and I’d been so focused on Cooper. I hadn’t expected he’d be working today, but he must have been, at least for a short time. That’s the direction from which he’d come.
“Grayson,” I breathed, stepping away from Cooper.
Sugar Pie came from behind Grayson, looking straight at Cooper and letting out a singular snarl, followed by two barks. My eyes widened. It was the first time Sugar Pie—to my knowledge—had ever barked in her life.
“I think you should leave,” Grayson said. “My dog doesn’t like you.”
Cooper smirked. “I’m sure she’s about as good a judge of character as you are.”
“She doesn’t lie,” Grayson answered, his expression tight, his voice frigid. “She’s a dog, not a politician. Get off my property.”
“I was just leaving.” He turned his attention to me. “You know my position, Kira. I’m as concerned about you as your father is. We’re here to help you. If you need me, please call. I’ll be here in a heartbeat.”
Grayson stepped forward. “I can assure you my wife will not need anything from you—either now or in the future.”
Cooper stared at Grayson for a tense moment, my own breath suspended, and then he wisely backed down, turning and striding to his vehicle. I let out a harsh exhale.
Neither Grayson nor I said a word as Cooper got in his car and his driver pulled away, around the fountain, and out the front gates.
“What in the hell was that about? Were you crying?” Grayson asked, moving toward me, a look on his face that was a cross between anger, concern, and wariness.
“I… Yes.” I let out another shaky breath. “We need to talk, Grayson.” I shook my head, my arms hanging loosely at my sides. “Can we go inside?”
He studied my face for a moment, the wariness suddenly taking center stage. Oh God, I was going to hurt him, and he was already so hurt. Dread made my shoulders curl forward.
He led me toward the house as I tried my best to ignore my shaking legs and follow him into his office. I wondered at the choice, but perhaps he led me there simply because it was the nearest room to the front door. “Do you want to sit?” I asked.
“I’d rather stand,” he answered tersely. He was suddenly acting so businesslike with me. I shivered, wrapping my arms around my body. “What’s going on, Kira?” His posture and the watchful look on his face reminded me of a man expecting a blow.
“The money’s been frozen,” I whispered, my face crumbling.
His expression registered first confusion and then shock. “What? How?”
I took in a deep lungful of air. “My father… I don’t even know the details. He’s done something, made claims, tied it up somehow until they can be investigated.”
“Okay, well, whatever claims he’s made, they’re baseless. That money’s yours via the terms.”
“I know,” I said, my voice breaking. “But he can tie it up so long we’re forced to start selling things just to survive. He can. He will.”
Grayson swore harshly, running his hand through his hair.
“I’m so sorry. I underestimated him. I didn’t think…”
Grayson stared somewhere beyond me, his expression an unreadable mask, quiet for so long, I wondered if he’d speak again at all. “Why was Cooper here and what were you talking about? You mentioned your father using me,” he finally said, bringing his gaze back to me. “What did you mean by that?”
“Cooper…he was just, I don’t know, pretending to be concerned about me. I don’t want anything to do with Cooper.” I moved toward Grayson, putting my hands on his biceps and looking up into his face, using my eyes to plead with him. “Please try to understand what I tell you next. Please understand why I’m only telling you now. At first I didn’t think it was necessary…and then the more time that passed…”
Grayson had grown stone still. “Spit it out, Kira. Now.”
I turned away from him. “I told you how I interned for my father. I was frequently at his office. I’d overhear things…” I dropped my arms, turning back to Grayson who was listening intently. I shook my head, trying to find the right words. “My father, he’s always had this idea that if he has influence with the local judges, he has the ultimate power.” In that respect, he wasn’t wrong. Truth didn’t matter; facts didn’t matter if you had the people who made the final decisions in your pocket. “He grooms them if he can, as in the case of Cooper. He curries favors, makes deals… He’s done it for years.” Power, it all comes back to power.
“What does this have to do with me?”
My eyes moved over the hard lines of Grayson’s expression. “One night we were at his office after hours. I was finishing up a few projects as I waited for him. Judge Wentworth, the judge in your case”—I glanced at him, but his expression didn’t change—“came in to consult with my father on a few cases, one of which was yours.”
“Go on,” he said, a muscle ticking in his clenched jaw.
I expelled a long breath. “I was delivering a file and I only overheard enough…enough to understand. It was an election year, see, and my father advised him to throw the book at you—give you the ultimate sentence to send a message that he wasn’t only tough on crimes committed by the poor and minorities, but that he also delivered harsh sentences to rich white criminals as well. It’s all a game—a game of perceptions and manipulating ‘facts.’ The players don’t matter, the individual lives don’t matter—anything can be twisted if you come at it from the right angle. You were a pawn. It’s the reason you didn’t get community service or a minimum sentence like your lawyer believed you would. Because of my father, you went away for five years. And I…I never forgot your name. That day at the bank, I heard it and I remembered.”
I finally braved a glance at Grayson’s face, looking for understanding, but although his skin had paled, his expression held nothing except cold impassivity. “And then you decided to use me too. It was all one big setup.”
I furrowed my brow. “What? No, that’s not…Running into you at that bank was like fate and I—”
“You expect me to believe that now? Using me is exactly what you did.” He laughed then, an ugly sound full of disdain. “What a perfect way to get back at your own father. Talk about the perfect vengeance. Marry the man he helped put in prison—no wonder he was so livid. Jesus, you’re just like him, scheming, using people.”
I was suffocating, the room growing dark at the edges around me, as if I had tunnel vision. Scheme? Use people? No, I didn’t do that…did I? I admitted I did often come up with plans and ideas, but they weren’t used to hurt people… Suddenly I was sick and confused. I put my hand on the edge of his desk, steadying myself. Did I? Is that what I did? Had I done that to Grayson?