“He’s followed my career. My tours overseas. Everything.” He released my arm and turned so he could face me. “Kept tabs on me. I’m the only person who can truly hurt him, his career. He can’t kill me like he did my mom, but he can fuck with me. Ruin any happiness I have.”
His eyes met mine and he lifted a hand to stroke his fingers over my cheek. “He’s trying to get to me through you.”
I grasped his hand and held it in place. “Why? I don’t understand. You haven’t done anything to him, even joined the Army to get away. Why doesn’t he just leave you alone?”
His eyes narrowed in frustration. “Heard the name Edward Green?”
I frowned, the name meaning nothing, then I remembered. “Holy crap, Gray. You mean Green Acres, the retirement homes?”
He nodded. “Nursing homes, retirement communities, memory care centers. He’s cornered the elderly care market on the East Coast. He’s big time, but not so big on his own. No one cares about a guy who’s made a fortune in taking care of old people. Those are his words, not mine.” He paused before he continued. “I think it pisses him off that I made it big, bigger than he’ll ever be.”
“He’s making you mad though, and that’s got to worry him. Retribution from an MMA fighter with your connections has got to be something he has to consider. That makes no sense. Leaving you alone, forgetting you exist is a better strategy.”
“In the past, he just called every once in a while to fuck with me, reminding me that he was around, watching, even from far away. That’s it.”
I looked at him, really looked at him. I was missing something, the missing piece that stirred up his past, that had his dad back in his life, pestering him, annoying him, making him angry and tense. It had to be something important to him and—
Of course. I froze, my eyes going wide, so wide at the realization. I could see in his eyes that I was right that there was more. Pulling back, I climbed off the bed, not caring I was naked. “It’s me. I’m the reason he’s calling. He knows about me.”
I talked as I paced back and forth on the far side of the bed while Gray sat motionless, only his eyes following.
“He’s using me to mess with you.” I pointed to myself, then at him. “This isn’t fair to you, what he’s doing.”
“I know,” he said, resigned. “It’s more than that. He texted you.”
I froze in place. “Texted me?”
He nodded, reaching for my cell on the bedside table. “Last night when you were in the shower. I heard it ring from your bag and pulled it out to make sure it wasn’t Chris. I recognized the number, Emory.”
I took my phone from him, slid my fingers over the screen until the text came up. Read it. My stomach plummeted. While my son was fully grown and legally an adult, that didn’t make him any less my baby. No one messed with my kid, and now Gray had the extra weight of this on his shoulders as well. I glanced at Gray’s hard eyes. “Your dad knows about Chris.”
He nodded.
“I…I have to go. You shouldn’t have to deal with this or with him after what he did to you.” I moved quickly around the bed for the door.
“What? Wait!” He used his swiftness to jump to his feet and grab my arm, halting me in my tracks, spinning me to face him, confusion on his face. “Where are you going?”
My heart was racing and I was frantic. “Where am I going? He knows about Chris,” I repeated. “I can’t stay here, be with you like this with that…that crazy man. Jesus, Gray, you’ve been through so much, God, the horrors you had to deal with when you were just a child and now you’ve got the added weight of me. But messing with Chris is where I draw the line.”
“He won’t touch Chris. He’s just being a fucker and pushing your buttons, which pisses me off. That’s what he wants! He wants you to leave. He’s winning,” he said, his voice snapping, his hand gripping my arm.
I sighed because he was right, but held fast to my decision. “You shouldn’t have to deal with that horrible, horrible man and he’s going after you because of me! It’s all my fault.” I tugged at his arm.
“Your fault? Are you serious?”
I didn’t respond.
“Em, baby, I’m the one who should be letting you go. I told you I was trouble. I told you I was no good for you. My dad, he may be behind the break in.”
I froze. His dad? His dad didn’t have anything big to bother Gray with until I walked into his life. He may have messed with Gray, pushed his buttons, but a break in? Gray didn’t need any of th
is. “See? I’m just adding to your mess. Before me—”
Instead of releasing me, he picked me up none too gently and tossed me on the bed so I was on my back, his hands on either side of my head. I had no chance to resist his actions as he was so damn strong. “It is not your fault.” His dark eyes pierced into mine as he said it and I squirmed, rolling onto my belly, but that afforded me nothing, no way to escape.
Like the fighter he was, Gray settled on top of me so that I was pinned, the length of his body pressing mine into the bed. I couldn’t get up if I tried, but I knew he’d never hurt me. My head was turned away from him and I looked at his hand pressing into the mattress, his corded forearm.
“Before you, I…I, shit, I didn’t know that something was missing. This is what he wants,” he said in my ear, his breath fanning my neck. “He wants us to fight. He wants to see us ripped apart so I’ll be torn to shreds. If he can’t hit me anymore, he’ll get at me another way. You’re just a casualty to him and he knows how to shove the knife in with you. He knows you’ll panic by mentioning Chris. But, Emory…you and me? This is one fight I refuse to let him win.”