“You don’t need improving.”
“Whatever. Go to James.”
“Okay, okay. I’m going. Have fun.” I gave her a quick hug, and made a beeline for James.
Straightening up, he watched me coming towards him, and his jaw set, the air of relaxation gone. “Can we talk?” He studied me for a moment, then nodded. I gave him a small smile. “Thanks. Come on, let’s go somewhere quieter.” I felt eyes boring into my back, and I knew wherever I took James, Caiden wouldn’t be far behind.
We headed into the kitchen to grab drinks, and then I opened the sliding doors and took him out onto the back deck. No one else was there, the coldness having chased people away. I grabbed some blankets, throwing one to him, and patted the seat next to me. “Have a seat.”
“I know what this is about.” His expression was resigned. “I knew you’d work it out, eventually.”
Work what out? This was unexpected. I decided to just go with it. I could feel Caiden’s presence behind me, lurking in the doorway, and I knew he was listening to everything that was being said.
“You had to realise you couldn’t keep it a secret,” I said, hoping he’d say more.
“I had to. I told you before, at the ball, there are things about my family…” He shrugged, leaving the sentence unfinished.
“Why didn’t you say anything sooner?”
“How could I? I was trying my hardest not to get involved. This whole situation is a fucking nightmare.”
I eyed him carefully, taking in his tortured expression, the way he was biting his lip and clenching and unclenching his fists.
“It is a nightmare. But if you knew I’d work it out, why keep it from me?” My stomach was churning as I waited for him to reveal whatever it was he thought I knew.
“Like I said. I was trying to stay out of it. And Joseph would have killed me.”
“Like, actually killed you?”
His expression lightened a tiny bit. “Probably not.” The lightness disappeared. “He would’ve beaten me half to death, though, then knowing him, he would’ve done his best to have me disowned from the family. Or at the very least, made life incredibly difficult.” He stared at me, apprehension all over his face. “You’re not going to tell him, are you?”
“Joseph?” My blood boiled, thinking of what he’d done to me. “I’m not going to tell him anything. Did you know he hit me on New Year’s Eve?”
“He what?” James’ shocked gasp cut through the still night air. “I’m going to kill him!”
“I think Cade and Z took care of that.”
“So that must be why he disappeared,” he mused. “Haven’t seen him for over a week now. I’ve heard from him plenty of times, but haven’t actually seen him face to face. I imagine they fucked him up pretty badly?”
I shrugged. “I haven’t asked them, and I was kind of out of it at the time, to be honest. In shock, you know?”
He nodded. I left him with his thoughts for a while as I slowly sipped my drink, thinking through what he’d said. I knew you’d work it out, eventually. What did he mean by that?
I bit the bullet and took a gamble. “James?” I waited until his eyes met mine. “Just to be clear, so I know we’re on the same page. When you said you knew I’d work it out, what did you mean by that?”
He held my gaze steadily. “The docks. I was the one who rescued you.”
TWELVE
A shocked gasp slid from my girlfriend’s lips as she stared at Granville.
Fuck!
My stomach dropped.
Why did he have to be the one to rescue her? Of all the fucking people in the world, it had to be him? Now I had to be grateful to that fucker. Yeah, so I was fucking glad that he’d done it, but now I owed him, and the last thing I wanted was to owe a Granville anything—especially not one who had an interest in my girl. He’d saved her life—I could never repay shit like that.
Swallowing the nauseous feeling, I stepped onto the deck, followed by Z. “Tell us what happened,” I commanded.