Always For You (Books 1-3) (25 page)

She led us into the living area past a
couple of doors to our left and right, other bedrooms and bathrooms I
assumed, before stopping at a guy casually chatting away to a group,
holding their interest as he told a story. He was tall, maybe 6 feet
2, and wore smart blue trousers and a slim fitting white shirt. It
was a look that I didn't think I could pull off.

“Chase,” Grace said, tugging at his
arm and dragging him from his conversation, “this is Cain, my
brother.”

His face opened up into a smile as he
took my hand and shook it hard. “Cain, it is so good to finally
meet you, Grace speaks about you so fondly. Would you like a drink?
We have beers, wines, a variety of spirits and mixers? Oh, and a
fairly potent punch if that's your thing.”

“I think I'll start with a beer if
that's alright.”

“OK, excellent, let's grab a cold one
from the kitchen, leave the girls to natter.” I saw him shoot a
look at Grace as he ushered me to the other end of the apartment. It
seemed to me as though Grace had asked him to make a special effort
with me, to try to get to know me a bit. It was a nice sentiment if
that was the case.

He cracked the cap off a bottle from
the fridge and gave it to me, pouring himself a glass of tonic water.
“Not a beer man,” I asked.

“Not a beer man, not a wine man, not
an alcohol man at all. Not anymore, at least. Unfortunately I fell
for that mistress too hard in the past, so now I can't really go
back, unless I'm ultra careful.” Wow, I had no idea he was a
recovering alcoholic. It certainly lent an edge to his clean cut
image.

We stood and chatted for a while,
covering a few banal topics in an attempt to find a common ground. On
initial impression it looked as though that might be hard to come by,
what with his extreme wealth, high powered job, and large family.
Pretty much the opposite of my own life, if you could call it that.

I couldn't help but think of John Avery
as we spoke, and I realized how difficult it must have been for Grace
keeping herself together over the last few months. I just ran away,
where no one knew me and I could stew and fester as much as I wanted.
Grace though, she was here, having to continue living her life,
having to put on a brave face in front of everyone, in front of this
man who was grieving over his boss.

He
had probably wanted to talk about it a lot and Grace, being his
girlfriend, would have had to put up with all of that. And she was so
innocent and so nice, so whatever I told her about what happened, she
must have been feeling guilty every time she heard that name come up.
Imagine if she knew that it was, in fact, her who had killed him.

Grace

“Soooo, how was it seeing Cain
again?” I asked Emily as we sat in the living room, the large glass
wall ahead of us filtering in the many flickering lights of the city
below.

“It was really good,” she said
coyly. “I was a bit mad at first but when he explained everything,
it all kinda made sense. He's had such a difficult life so I'm not
one to judge him.”

“And, any sparks fly?” I asked
suggestively, my eyebrows raising.

She smiled again in her own cute way.
“Maybe, but I'm with Scott now, so.”

“I know he really likes you though –
Cain,” I said, interrupting her. “You probably don't trust him
after what happened but that was a one-off, it won't happen again.”
I'd never played match-maker before, but damn did I want these two to
get back together. I guess I thought that perhaps it would be another
reason for Cain to stick around, a way of making us all even closer.

“Well, I guess you never know what's
going to happen,” she said with a glint in her eye, looking over
towards Cain and Chase talking in the kitchen. “But I'd never
cheat, never. So if anything does happen, it won't be tonight.”

Wow that came out of nowhere. I was
never suggesting that they hook up tonight, just that maybe they had
a future. The fact that she said it though – yeah, she definitely
still wants him.

I glanced over towards Chase and Cain.
It was weird to see them together. Nice, but weird. I wanted Cain to
see Chase as my boyfriend though, not just a guy linked to John. They
seemed to be chatting away happily, although it seemed that Chase was
doing most of the talking. Frankly, that didn't surprise me.

As the hours drifted by I continued to
introduce Cain, and Chase, to my friends. A few more turned up than I
was expecting, with a few add-ons that I didn't even know. It didn't
matter though – Chase's place, our place, was big enough to
accommodate a decent gathering so there was space for everyone to
mingle.

Chase was as I'd expect him to be –
charming, funny, confident. I guess he was used to networking and
socializing through his job so he spent much of the evening moving
from group to group and getting to know as many people as possible.

Cain though, he wasn't quite as
comfortable. It didn't seem to be his scene, and I seriously doubted
that my college friends were the sort he'd usually hang out with. In
the end, I was happy with it though, as it meant he ended up spending
a lot of his time with Emily. He looked so relaxed around her, the
two of them talking and giggling and laughing away together. She
seemed to have this way with him, a way of getting through his
defenses and past his tough exterior. Looking at them I knew that it
was only a matter of time before they got back together. At least, I
hoped that would be the case.

January 11
^th
2014

Cain

OK, this is getting hard now.

The
alcohol was really starting to get to Emily, making her impossibly
flirty. I got flashes of her naked body on top of mine as she twisted
at her hair and giggled to my lame jokes. All my instincts were
telling me to take her home right now.

No Cain, wait it out, play the long
game, be sensible for once in your fucking life.

I grabbed her a glass of water and made
her drink it down. I felt fine myself – I guess many years of near
alcoholism had shot my tolerance through the roof. These guys around
us though, they were hitting the drink hard, playing all sorts of
drinking games that I'd never even heard of. It looked like a fucking
frat party in there.

I wasn't sure how Chase would be taking
this. We'd chatted for a while and he seemed like a stand up guy,
really cool and easy to get along with. If only he wasn't so closely
linked to Avery we might actually become friends.

I could see him though, sober as a
judge, his eyes keenly watching the throng to make sure that nothing
got broken, nothing got stained. If I owned a place like this, I'd be
the same. I didn't know how he could do it though – not drink.
There was just so much temptation around, so many offers to just
'have a beer' or 'take a shot'. I guess Grace's friends didn't know
about his past, otherwise tempting him in such a way would have been
totally out of order.

He
disappeared after a while though, slinking off away to the main
bedroom. I suppose he was getting sick and tired of watching everyone
get progressively more drunk in his apartment, drinking his booze. He
was pretty cool to put up with it all, and I could tell he was doing
it all for Grace. I guess he really did love her.

Grace

It was a little past 11 PM when Chase
disappeared off to our room. He'd had a really long week at work and
I guess he just needed a bit of peace for a moment. He'd been great
today though, great helping me organize things and great with all of
my friends.

I carried on chatting away for a while,
a lot of my friends now feeling the effects of the alcohol. Cain and
Emily carried on flirting away in the kitchen, although I could see
she was now on the water. You wouldn't expect her to be so flirty to
look at her, with her sweeter than sweet look, but I could tell Cain
was having trouble keeping his hands off her. Anyone looking at their
body language would think they were already an item.

By 11.30 Chase had still failed to
reappear, so I went in to check up on him and see what he was doing.
I opened the door to see him sitting on the bed, his elbows on his
knees as he leaned forward. He had a piece of paper in his hands, and
was staring at it intently, his eyes fixed to the note as I walked
in.

I looked down at his feet and saw the
box marked 'Katie' pulled out from under the bed, the box that she'd
forgotten to take when she moved out a week or so ago.

“What's that?” I asked as I shut
the door behind me. “Is something wrong?” My heart had begun to
beat a little faster, the look on his face unsettling me slightly.

He said nothing, but continued to stare
at the page, his glare so intense I was surprised the paper didn't
catch alight. “Chase, what's wrong?” I said again as I walked
forward slowly, trying to catch a glimpse of what was on the note.

And then I saw it, my writing, my
words. Words I'd written a few months ago, words I'd written in fear,
words I'd written to Katie. It was the note I'd left for Katie in
case anything happened that night with John. The note that explained
what was happening. The note that I'd completely forgotten about in
the storm that followed the events in the mansion.

I remembered writing it now, leaving it
for Katie in case I didn't turn up the next day. When I had, she must
have put it to one side, forgotten about it just like I had. But now,
here, Chase was reading it, holding it in his hands. Evidence that
put me with John that night, evidence that could indict me in his
murder.

I remembered the words I'd written, the
words staring back into Chase's eyes now.

“Katie,

Tonight I'm doing something I'm always
going to regret, but something I have to do. I'm doing it for Chase,
I'm doing it for both of us, but I don't know how things will end up.

I can't tell you exactly what it is,
but if I don't return tomorrow, if you don't see me, please go to the
police. Tell them that I'm missing, and that John Avery is the one
who's responsible.

Love, Grace”

I remembered that I'd written the date
on the front of the note, a date that probably piqued Chase's
interest as he rummaged through the box. It was the date of John
Avery's murder, a date that would always be etched into his mind.

I could see him opening the note and
reading it, his mind trying to put things together, trying to work
out exactly what it meant. It could only mean one thing – that I
was there in the mansion that night, that I was involved in his
death.

I spoke nervously, quietly as I looked
down at him sitting on the bed, my voice offset by the loud music
coming through the walls. “I know what that looks like Chase, but I
can explain it.”

His hands were beginning to shake
slightly, his body still hunched over, coiled like an animal about to
spring on its prey. I knelt down slowly and reached for his hand. It
was so tense. I tried to pull it away, to get him to look at me, but
he ripped it from my grasp.

“It was you?” he said, his voice
more menacing than I'd ever heard it. “You killed John?”

“No, no, I didn't, I wouldn't,” I
said quickly, frantically, my voice betraying me, showing my guilt,
my involvement in the murder.

I
realized that the wording of the letter was ambiguous, that it could
sound as though I'd gone there to kill him, to burn down the mansion.
Tonight
I'm doing something that I'm always going to regret
.
It was damning evidence.

He continued, his words cold and void
of emotion. “All this time, everything I've been going through, and
you knew all along.”

He stood suddenly and faced me, a fire
burning behind his eyes, a look of hatred and anger on his face.

“Please Chase,” I said, pleading
with him, “you have to listen, to let me explain.”

He shook his head, his breathing heavy
and quick, and pushed me out of the way onto the bed. He looked down
at me, pleading, tears rolling from my eyes, his face like stone.
Then, suddenly, he strode quickly towards the door and opened it,
disappearing into the hallway, slamming the door behind him.

I heard the front door slam as I sat
up, my body and mind in a state of shock. He was gone.

Cain

I
looked up as I heard a door slam and saw Chase pacing away from the
main bedroom and through the front door. I had seen Grace go in there
a few minutes before, and it seemed like they'd had an argument.
I
guess they aren't such the perfect couple after all.

“Hey Em, I'm just gonna go and see if
Grace is alright. Looks like she's had a fight with Chase.”

She nodded as I walked towards the
bedroom door. “Grace, are you OK,” I said, knocking lightly on
the door.

I didn't get an answer. “Grace,” I
knocked slightly louder this time, “are you alright in there?”

Again, silence. I slowly opened the
door up and leaned around to see her sitting on the bed, her head in
her hands, sobbing lightly. “Hey,” I said consolingly, “what's
up? I saw Chase run off, thought I'd see if you were OK.”

Her hands were shaking as I stepped
towards her. Frankly this was all new to me – comforting someone
over a domestic argument. For all I knew it could have been about
anything, and I wasn't really one for dishing out advice, and
certainly not relationship advice.

She slowly looked up at me as I got
closer, peering at me through tear soaked eyes. “He knows,” she
said quietly, “Chase knows about John.”

The words hit me like a freight train.
“What do you mean he knows! He knows that it was us? He knows what
happened that night?” I rushed the words out before quickly
stepping back to the door and shutting it closed.