Because of His Name (11 page)

“Want some coffee or something?” she
asked him, not knowing what else to do.

“Sure,” he said, giving her a kind smile.

They went downstairs and Grace busied
herself making them a pot of coffee.
 
It felt good to have something to do instead of just waiting for the
result.
 
As she made it, she found
herself rambling, as Red sat and listened patiently.

She explained about the fight and how
well Liam had handled himself—how he’d come back like Rocky, eventually
winning.

“Sounds exciting,” Red told her, smiling
as she handed him a mug of coffee.

“It was exciting,” she admitted.
 
“But now I’m worried.
 
He doesn’t seem right, does he?”

Red’s smile faded as he sipped from the
mug.
 
“It’s too early to tell.
 
Sometimes, after a hard fight, guys can
act a little loopy.
 
But you did the
right thing getting him some help, Grace.”

She stood near the counter and sipped her
coffee.
 
It tasted a little bitter,
and she felt bad that this was the best she could offer Red Jameson.
 
He was the type that probably got
special grounds flown in from the Swiss Alps or something.

“I just hope he’s okay.
 
I really like him.”
 
Grace was surprised that she’d just said
the words aloud—and to Red Jameson, of all people, whom she’d only just
met.

But Red didn’t seem shocked by her
admission.
 
“Seems like a nice kid,”
Red agreed.
 
“And pretty tough, if
today’s situation is any indication.
 
He’ll be okay.”

That made her feel
better.
 
Liam was tough.
 
She just hoped he wasn’t too tough for
his own good.

They’d only been sitting in the kitchen
for a few minutes when Red got a text from Dr. Vogel asking them to come back
upstairs.

Grace was starting to imagine the doctor
explaining to her that Liam was lucky, and although his face looked bad, he was
actually okay.
 
And then explaining
how he was leaving a prescription for some painkillers and that within a day or
two, Liam would be healing up and ready to get back to his normal life.

But when they got upstairs, Dr. Vogel was
waiting for them with a grim expression.
 
“An ambulance is on its way,” he said.
 
“I’m concerned that he’s got more
serious head trauma and we need to get him in for a scan.”

“Really?” Grace said, shocked that it was
actually that serious.
 

“And now if you’ll excuse me, I want to
go back in the room and attend to him,” Vogel said.
 
“He shouldn’t be left alone.”

The doctor opened the bedroom door and
went back inside.

Red put a hand on her shoulder.
 
“We should contact his family now,” he
said softly.

***

Red drove her to the hospital, while Dr.
Vogel rode in the ambulance with Liam.

As they drove in silence, she kept
picturing the way Liam had argued and almost gotten physically violent when
they’d put him on the stretcher to take him out to the ambulance.

Now all she could think about was that he
might actually be hurt—like really badly hurt, and it was her fault for
not insisting he go to the Emergency Room in the first place.

She couldn’t think straight.

It was frightening to think that Liam
could actually be in real danger.
 
He might even die or go into a coma.
 
The thought flooded her entire body with
adrenaline and a sense of unreality washed over her.

Somehow,
I ended up in a car with Red Jameson.
 
I’m being taken to the hospital where Liam Houston is going so they can
find out of he has serious head trauma.

How
did I get here?

Why
is this happening to me?
 
Why did he
have to get hurt?

She felt as though she could somehow
erase it all, somehow go back and make it all okay.
 
It almost seemed possible that if she
just willed it to occur, time could be rewound, unspooled, and she could fix
everything.

Liam would be back to his normal,
smiling, sexy self and instead of going to the hospital, they would go out to
lunch at a burger joint and then see a movie.

I
want to hold his hand and walk in the park.
 
I want to do things together.
 
I want to be with Liam Houston.

It was as though, only now, knowing the
future was in jeopardy, could Grace finally admit her true feelings about him
to herself.

I’m
falling for him.
 
Maybe I’ve already
fallen for him.

And then they’d arrived at the hospital
and Red and Grace were sitting in the waiting room, a seat in between them, as
Red texted unceasingly on his phone and Grace paged through an old New Yorker,
not even seeing the articles or the accompanying pictures.

She just was turning pages, just trying
to keep her hands busy.

It was about half an hour later that
Liam’s family entered the waiting room—just his mother, sister and brother.
 
The only ones not present were the
youngest, Michael, and Liam’s drunken Uncle Duncan.

But Anne, Vera and Exley trooped in, looking
like three A-list actors strolling onto the wrong film set.
 
Dressed in their fine clothing, with
their perfect hair and perfectly unblemished faces, the three Houstons were
like people from a different era.

Anne saw Red and instantly went over to
him, thanking him profusely for coming to her son’s aid.

Exley and Vera sat down near the door and
whispered to each other, occasionally casting furtive glances at Grace.

Red spoke to Anne in a very reassuring
way, telling her that Dr. Vogel was the best in the business and he would see
to it that Liam got the very best treatment and care.

When they were done speaking, Anne turned
to Grace and smiled.
 
“Thank you for
calling for help,” she said, coming over and sitting down directly next to
her.
 
Anne’s hand clasped hers and
it was cold and strong, and her large rings pushed painfully into Grace’s
finger bones.
 

“I’m so sorry,” Grace said.
 
“I didn’t know what to do.”

“You did your best—that’s all we
can ask for,” Anne told her.

Grace nodded, feeling a wave of relief
that they didn’t blame her for what happened to Liam.

After a few minutes went by, Anne brushed
some of the hair away from Grace’s face and gave her what was almost a loving
smile.
 
“You know, you’re a very
sweet and pretty girl.”

“Oh,” Grace said, taken aback a little by
the intimacy of the gesture.
 
“Thank
you, Miss Houston.”

Anne’s smile grew even wider.
 
“But I think you might be confused,
darling.
 
And I don’t want you to
get the wrong impression.”
 
She
squeezed Grace’s hand again, harder this time.
 
She leaned in and her voice dropped to a
whisper.
 
“You’re never going to be
a serious option for my son,” Anne told her.
 
“And you’re certainly not going to sit
here and be included in our family while we wait and see if my son’s brain is
bleeding because of a fight he got into while spending time with you.”

“I had no idea about the fight,” Grace
tried to explain.

But Anne was already shaking her
head.
 
“You don’t understand,” she
said.
 
“I’m telling you that you’ve
done your part, and I’m thankful you got help for Liam.
 
But now you need to leave and never come
back.”

Grace swallowed hard, and fought the
tears of hurt and anger that threatened to bubble to the surface.
 
“Okay,” she said.

Anne patted her hand softly now.
 
“That’s a good girl,” she
whispered.
 
“Someone will let you
know how he’s recovering,” she said.
 
“I’ll make sure of it.”

“Thank you,” Grace replied, her voice
choked, as she stood up.
 

Red watched her stand with a confused,
uncertain expression on his face.

“Grace has to get back home,” Anne
explained to the room.
 
“But I
assured her that we’ll be in touch and let her know as soon as we become aware
of anything.”

“Do you need a ride?” Red asked, starting
to rise from his seat.

“No,” Anne told him.
 
“She told me she’s fine.
 
Isn’t that right, dear?”

Grace nodded, her body numb.
 
“Yeah.
 
I’m okay,” she muttered, turning and
walking past Liam’s brother and sister.
 
She could’ve sworn she heard them snickering and whispering as she went
past and out of the waiting room.

Soon, she was exiting the hospital, and
the air felt cold and she shivered.
 
The sky was gray, and she was alone and afraid.

What
if Liam’s not okay?

What
if he thinks I left him?

What
if he is okay and I never see him again?

Grace stood outside, watching cars come
and go, watching people entering and leaving the busy hospital.

And then the numbness faded, and it was
replaced by a deep fury.

These
people
, she
thought.
 
Just because she has money, Liam’s mother thinks she can treat me like
I’m nothing.
 
She feels empowered to
send me away and tell me what I mean to her son.
 
And Liam’s an adult.
 

He
can make his own decisions about me.

Finally, the fury reached a crescendo and
Grace realized she was about to do something crazy.
 
Crazier than going to Liam’s room last
night, crazier than waking up and eating breakfast with his snobby family, even
crazier than watching him engage in an underground fist fight.

She was going back inside the hospital,
and back up to that waiting room.
 
The double doors opened automatically, swooshing, as she went back
inside.

Here goes nothing, she thought, smiling a
little to herself.

And then she made her way into the lion’s
den.

THE END OF FOR HIS PLEASURE 23

Stay tuned for
book 24 in the For His Pleasure series, coming soon!

Kelly Favor’s
other hit series’ include The Debt and Naked.
 
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