Because of His Future (For His Pleasure, Book 26) (5 page)

Vera looked at the woman coolly.
 
“Please bring my friend a cup of tea and
a muffin.”

The waitress smiled, turned and left.

Grace wasn’t certain what to think.
 
“Thanks for ordering for me,” she said,
a little put off by Vera’s forwardness.

“They have lovely tea and muffins here,”
Vera smiled disarmingly.
 
She sat
back and looked Grace over.
 
“I know
we probably don’t have a lot of time for chit chat.”

“Probably not,” Grace replied.

The other woman arched a perfectly plucked
eyebrow.
 
“I want to ask you a very
honest question, Grace.”

“Okay.”

“Do you love my brother?”

Grace considered the implications of this
question.
 
She sighed.
 
“That’s very personal.”

“So is the future of our family,” Vera
said.
 
“One day I plan to have a
husband and children, and I intend to see that they’re taken care of.”

“I have no intention of interfering with
anyone’s family.
 
Liam and I care
for one another, that’s all.”

Liam’s sister smiled and shook her head lightly
as she lifted her teacup.
 
“It’s not
that simple, honey.”

I’m
not your honey
, Grace
wanted to shout.
 
Stop trying to talk down to me.

But she kept herself calm and
composed.
 
“I’m not sure what you
want me to say.
 
Do you want me to
tell you I’m not going to see Liam anymore?”

“I just want to understand,” Vera told
her.
 
She sipped her tea and nodded
as the waitress brought another cup and a plate with two muffins on it, placing
the items in front of Grace.
 
“What’s your attraction to Liam?
 
Is it his mind?
 
His
body?
 
His wealth?
 
All of the above?”

“Honestly, it’s none of your business,”
Grace said.
 
“And if you really
wanted to know about us, you could try talking to Liam instead of attacking
him.”

“Liam’s being difficult.
 
He’s lost and frightened and very angry
at the world right now.”

“Part of the reason he’s so hurt is
because his brother and sister are telling him that he’s responsible for a
horrible tragedy,” Grace told her.
 
“If I were Liam, I’d be really angry too.”

Vera made a face that was part disgust,
part annoyance.
 
“My concern is for
the strength of my family,” she said.
 
“You must be able to understand that.”

“I do,” Grace said.

“Sometimes we have to take difficult
measures when the stakes are high,” Vera said.

“Sometimes,” Grace said, but wouldn’t go
any further in agreeing with her.

“You haven’t even tried your tea or
muffin,” Vera said, smiling once more, seemingly trying to change the tenor of
the conversation.

Grace obliged, taking a sip of the
tea.
 
It was weak.
 
“Oh, it’s very good,” she lied, and then
took a small piece from the large muffin and chewed.
 
“Yummy,” she said, another lie.

The muffin was dry and tasteless.

“You and Liam don’t know each other all
that well,” Vera said.
 
“You measure
your relationship in days, not weeks or even months.”

“That’s true,” Grace said.
 
“But that’s not our fault.”

“You need time to allow things to truly
develop,” Vera said.
 
“And I wish
you both had the time and space to really get to know one another.”

“That’s all I want,” Grace replied.
 
“And yet, somehow I’m perceived as the
enemy.”

Vera shook her head.
 
“Wealth is a strange thing.
 
Everybody says it doesn’t matter, that
it doesn’t buy happiness.
 
But watch
how people react if you try and take a single cent from their bank
accounts.
 
They scream bloody
murder, don’t they?”

“I suppose they do,” Grace said,
uneasy.
 
She didn’t know where Vera
was going with any of this.

“I’m not going to lie to you,” Vera
said.
 
“Your role in Liam’s life
right now is of great concern for me, and for Exley as well.
 
All we have is one another, and we’ve
always counted on Liam to lead this family when Mother was unable to.”

“He can still lead,” Grace interjected.

“No,” Vera said forcefully.
 
“He’s rejecting his role, fighting
against it.
 
And unfortunately,
Grace—you’re a big part of that rebellion.”

“So you find it impossible that Liam
might truly have feelings for me?” Grace asked, folding her arms.
 
She felt heat coming to her face.
 
“You think I’m just his way of acting
out?
 
I’m nothing more than a cheap
symbol of his rebellion against convention?”

“Don’t misunderstand me,” Vera said,
leaning forward.
 
“I do think Liam
has strong feelings for you.
 
But I
think he’s also hiding from his responsibilities by focusing on you to the
exclusion of everything else in his life.”

 
“If he’s hiding, it’s only because he
doesn’t want to be forced to fight his brother and sister.”

Vera shrugged.
 
“I’m not here to assign blame.
 
I’m here to make things right.”

“And how do you accomplish that?”

Vera tilted her head to the side.
 
“I have to get through to you, Grace.”

Grace sat back in her seat.
  
Iciness washed over her, as though
she’d had cold water dumped over her head.
 
This wasn’t a real conversation at all—just a cover for Vera to
present a plan of some sort.
 
Vera
was trying to work up to saying whatever she had planned to say.
 

“Tell me what you came here to tell me.”
 
Grace’s spine stiffened.
 
“Come out with it already, Vera.”

“I do believe that you and Liam truly
have feelings for each other,” Vera told her.
 
“I really do, Grace.
 
And so what I’m about to tell you gives
me no pleasure.”

“Of course not,” Grace shot back.

Vera sighed.
 
“No matter what, Grace—you cannot
ever
be allowed to marry my brother.
 
So although you might think that the
seriousness of your relationship is in your favor—it really isn’t.
 
It would be far better for you both if
Liam was just messing around, having a little fun.”

Grace felt sick.
 
She tried to breathe and quiet her
suddenly upset stomach.
 
“You’re not
in control of Liam or me, Vera.
 
I don’t
care how rich you are.”

Vera’s eyes grew colder.
 
“But then again, you don’t really
understand what we can do if you continue to force our hand.”

“Is that a threat?”

“Not a threat.
 
Just a statement of fact.
 
I know that Mother was upset enough to
give your brother Scott a piece of her mind.
 
Did you really think that Scott’s
wedding planning business would be off the table if more problems continue
between all of us?”

Grace started to get up.
 
“I’m not going to sit here and listen to
this—“

“Sit down,” Vera said.
 
Her voice was low and throaty, but
powerful.
 
Her eyes had suddenly
turned vicious and dark.
 

Grace remained in her seat.
 
“If you’re just going to threaten me,
why should I sit here and listen to you?”

“These aren’t just idle threats.
 
Even if I die tomorrow, someone in my
family will always come after you.
 
It might be Exley, it might be my father—someone will always try
and stop you from being with Liam.”

Grace felt tears stinging her eyes.
 
“You people are cruel.”

“We are cruel,” Vera told her.
 
“It’s not an easy life, to be a
Houston.
 
Yes, we have all the money
in the world, but we’re not free to do as we please.
 
We pay dearly for every cent we’re
given.”

“You asked me if I love Liam,” Grace
said, her voice shaking.
 
“The
answer is yes.
 
I do love him.
 
And he says he loves me.”

Vera’s eye twitched.
 
“That’s unfortunate,” she sighed.
 
“Because it doesn’t change the simple
fact that you will never be allowed to have a normal life together.
 
Liam will most certainly be cut off from
his fortune.
 
He’ll lose the court
case.”

“You don’t know that,” Grace said.

“The lawyers are on our side,” Vera told
her.
 
“The money is on our
side.
 
The power is with us, and you
and Liam have nothing but love to guide you.
 
And love is not enough.”

“We’ll see,” Grace replied.

“You’ll see your brother’s business
fail.
 
He’ll be ruined, Grace, and
he’ll hate you for it.
 
No matter
how much you try and explain, your brother will always know that your irresponsibility
destroyed his life, that you happily allowed him to become collateral damage.”

“You bitch,” Grace said, softly—but
loud enough for Vera to hear.

Vera continued, as if she hadn’t
heard.
 
“But that’s just the
beginning of what will happen.
 
Liam
doesn’t have many skills in the real world.
 
Without the backing of the Houston
empire, he’ll return to the world of underground fighting.
 
It’s what he loves.
 
Do you think he’ll make a good living
fighting every month?
 
Getting his
teeth knocked out and his brains bashed in for a few dollars, just to feed your
family?”

“Or perhaps he’ll finish his degree after
all,” Grace said.

 
“Perhaps,” Vera shrugged.
 
“But unlike you, I actually know Liam
Houston.
 
I’ve known him his entire
life.
 
And he’s never really wanted
to be like the rest of us.
 
He’s had
to be pulled along kicking and screaming into this world.”

“And I suppose you think that’s okay,”
Grace said.

“It’s not a question of being okay,” Vera
told her.
 
“It’s the life we were
born into.
 
I don’t like it anymore
than you do.
 
I simply accept it.”

“Maybe we’d be happy together without the
money and the crazy expectations of being a Houston,” Grace said.
 
“Maybe he’d find being poor a relief.”

“It wouldn’t stop there,” Vera said.
 
“He’ll be cut off from his entire family
and everyone he ever knew.
 
All of
his skeletons will be put out for the media to pick apart.
 
The little boyhood scrapes and youthful
indiscretions that were so artfully swept under the carpet can easily be pushed
back into the light for all to see.”

“More threats, and blackmail,” Grace
marveled.
 
“There’s nothing too low
for you to stoop to.”

Vera pressed on, as though she were trying
to beat Grace down.
 
“Liam already
feels guilty for Mother’s death.
 
By
the time our lawyers and media consultants and the detectives are done digging
up the dirt, he’ll be a pariah in the community and have fallen deep into his
own well of shame.
 
You know where
he’ll turn to deal with it all?”

Grace knew without being told.
 
“Just stop,” she muttered, putting a
hand to her forehead.

“He’ll drink.
 
He’s already in the early days of having
a problem, but as the pressures and guilt and sadness and loss consume him,
he’ll drink even more.”

“Please stop,” Grace said, her voice
almost a shout in the tiny café.

Vera looked at Grace with an expression
of deep pity.
 
“I don’t enjoy
telling you this anymore than you enjoy hearing it.”

“Could’ve fooled me,” Grace said.

“My mother’s dead, Grace.
 
My family is on the brink of chaos.
 
I’m simply doing my duty.”