Fallen from Grace (29 page)

After they’d made love on nearly every surface of his apartment, Judas ordered lunch from a local Chinese restaurant.

He’d run down the street and picked it up, then jogged carefully back, mindful not to spill Grace’s spicy sour soup. When he’d walked in the door, she had been sitting on the couch, wearing his hoodie and reading Aristotle’s Politics. Judas had his favorite lines highlighted, and sticky notes with his thoughts spread throughout its pages. She’d glanced up at him as he’d leaned down, bracing his hands on either side of her.

“I think you should follow your dream and be a writer.”

He’d kissed her, then pulled away. “How did you know I wanted to be a writer?”

She’d given him a mischievous smile. “You might have mentioned it the night you were stupefied by drink and ecstasy.”

He had shaken his head in response. “I hate not remembering what happened. It has been driving me crazy.”

Her lips had twitched. “Well, let’s just say you were very, very entertaining.”

Judas had tickled her sides. “Oh, yeah?” She laughed and dropped the book. “Maybe I’ll tickle the truth out of you.”

“Stop, Judas! You’re going to make me pee myself.”

“Wouldn’t want you soiling my couch.” He’d pressed his lips to hers, but when she’d opened her mouth, he’d pulled away and stood.

“Tease,” she’d said petulantly.

He’d chuckled. “Now you know how I feel, information tease.”

Grace had arched her brows. “Maybe if you finish what you just started…” She held her thumb and forefinger an inch apart. “I’ll give you a little bit of information.”

His expression had mocked shock. “Are you requesting sex as a trade for info, Doc?”

“Maybe,” she’d taunted.

He’d shaken his head, then he’d quickly plucked her off the couch and had pressed her against his growing erection. He’d brought his lips within a breath from hers, then he’d let her go. “I’ll think about it.”

Replaying the memory of their morning made the cheesiest grin spill across his lips. Grace was really here.

He’d thought she was forever lost to him, but he would be a fool if he believed they were in the clear. He needed to protect Grace, and all the sex and takeout in the world wasn’t going to erase the fact that Ellis Randall was out there, angry as hell and searching for her. As soon as Grace gave her bodyguard the slip, Elli was undoubtedly notified.

Short of shackling a ball and chain around Ellis’s feet and dropping him off the side of his boat into the Hudson River, Judas would have to find a more legal and moral method to dealing with him.

He looked down at Grace—he would do anything to protect her. Pulling the sheet up over her shoulders, he slipped his arms around her warm body, and she nuzzled against him. His eyes grew heavy, and he eventually dozed off while thinking about his future with Grace and what he was going to have to do in order to protect it.

G
RACE
WAS
ON
THE
WAY
to her office. She was running late and had a feeling she’d forgotten something. People walked past her with odd expressions and busy eyes as they looked her up and down, and when she attempted to pull her jacket around her, she realized she wasn’t wearing any clothes. A lump lodged itself in her throat, and heat blazed up her neck and cheeks like a brush fire. People were talking to each other and pointing at the sky. Grace looked up and saw dozens of electronic billboards in Time Square—broadcasted for the world to see was her and Judas making love. She tried to cover herself with her hands as eyes fell on her, and she wanted to melt from the embarrassment.

“You should be ashamed!” she heard someone yell. “Tramp!” another one shouted.

Grace shot up in bed, grasping sheets and pulling them to her chest. She felt movement on the bed and glanced beside her; Judas was sleeping with one hand on his chest, and the other around her waist. She carefully removed it and sat on the edge of the bed. She had to get those photos from Ellis; she couldn’t allow him to leak them to the press. Her family would never recover from the embarrassment. She wanted to think Ellis wasn’t capable of such maliciousness, but she knew he was more than capable. His threat to Judas had proved it.

She collected her clothes scattered across the floor, and walked into the bathroom, quietly closing the door. She caught her reflection in the mirror—her cheeks were red from Judas’s stubble rubbing against them, and her hair was a mess. She brushed her hair with his comb and put it back up in a bun before she dressed.

Standing next to his bed, she gazed down at his gloriously naked body. His tug-worthy hair fell in a haphazard mess across his forehead, dark lashes kissed his face, and his lips were full and ready for kisses. She wanted to climb back in bed and wake him to something better than her absence, but she couldn’t. Ellis was out there looking for her, and she had to go back. She had to get those photos so that he didn’t have anything to use against them. They would never be free to live with the threat of public humiliation looming over their heads.

In the living room, she found a pen and paper and wrote a note.

I know I swore I’d never do this again, but I have to—for us. For our future. I love you, Judas, and I promise I’ll be back soon. xoxo, Grace.

Ellis’s apartment was empty. Grace didn’t see any sign of his butler or maids, so she made a beeline straight to his office. She felt like a criminal as she trespassed where she didn’t belong, but she reminded herself this was for her future with Judas, and it seemed to give her the nerve she required.

She searched through his desk, his file cabinet, and his bookshelves, but she didn’t see the manila envelope anywhere. Looking around, she tried to think where he would hide them and became desperate as she started looking behind canvases on the wall.

She froze.

Behind a Monet, there was a hidden safe just like in the movies. It was locked by a keypad, and Grace’s heart sunk as she realized there was no way she had the ability to crack a safe combination, but she had to try.

First, she entered his birthday, followed by his number of years in Congress and when he graduated college. Grace was running out of options, but as she looked at the keypad she decided there was only one other possibility—the year he was honorably discharged from the military.

She entered the date, it clicked, and she turned the handle.

There were papers, files, several envelopes, a stack of cash and a gun. She picked up the gun, and it felt heavy; a tremor of fear ricocheted through her bones. Grace had to get out of there before Ellis unceremoniously walked through the door. She laid the gun down and started looking for the pictures. When she found them, she put them in her purse. She was about to shut the door when she caught her name on a cream colored file.

She opened it and saw pictures of her growing up, volunteering at homeless shelters and helping out at the local food bank. Copies of her college transcripts, birth certificate, social security card and driver’s license were included, along with her parent’s information, and a list of pros and cons written on a sheet of legal paper.

What the fuck?
Ellis had researched her?

Grace noticed another file labeled Julia Michelle Burrows. She opened it and saw a picture of an attractive red haired woman. The same information was included as Grace’s file, but beneath the pictures was a history of residences, and she recognized the most recent one.

She heard someone outside the door, and quickly put the files back and shut the safe, placing the picture over it.

Her body nearly collapsed as the knob turned, then the door opened. The blood in her veins stopped coursing as she anticipated Ellis’s entrance, but when the butler peeked his old gray head around the corner, all the blood came rushing back to her face.

“Mr. Smith,” Grace squeaked. “I just needed a pen,” she stated, picking one up from the wet bar.

He didn’t look convinced. “I believe Congressman Randall is looking for you.”

I bet he is.
“Of course, I’ll call him now.” She gave him a reassuring smile as she walked toward him. She didn’t waste any time consoling his curiosity. She walked out the front door and made her way to the streets of New York. Never before had she been comforted by the busy sidewalks or chaotic sounds of traffic.

Hailing a cab, she gave the driver Julia’s address. She didn’t know what she expected to discover, but she had to know who this woman was. Did Ellis date her? Did he treat her like a piece of property just as he had treated Grace? Was he still seeing her?

Arriving outside Julia’s apartment, she paid the cab fare and went inside. The paint was chipping off the walls, and the air smelled of mildew and foul animal odors.

Grace knocked on Julia’s door and wondered what she was going to say to the woman.

Hello, I was recently engaged to Ellis Randall, but finally came to my senses about how dangerous and unpredictable he is, and I was wondering if you had come to the same conclusion?

“Can I help you, dear?” A fragile voice asked her from behind.

Grace turned around. A small woman in her seventies or eighties was looking up at her. She was held up by a walker and wearing a pink nightgown.

Grace smiled. “Yes, I’m looking for my friend, Julia.” Her lying skills were getting too good. After this was all over, she promised God she’d never lie again.

The woman’s brows dipped inward, and her lips perched simultaneously. “Were you a classmate of hers?”

Grace recognized an opportunity once presented. “Yes.” She smiled and shook her head. “But we sort of fell out of contact, and I haven’t spoken to her in a long time. Do you know if she’s home?”

“No, I’m sorry, but she moved out several months ago. Just up and left. It was very strange.”

“Do you know where she moved to?”

She shook her head, and her curly gray hair bounced on her head. “Unfortunately, no, though I wish I did because I’ve been collecting her mail and don’t know what to do with it.”

“Her mail?”

She gestured inside her apartment, then turned around and continued talking as she inched her walker along. “Yes, Stan the mailman has been delivering my mail for years. When Julia’s box began to overflow, he allowed me to hold it for her.”

“So her apartment hasn’t been rented out?”

She stopped next to a table inside her doorway; a basket was full of letters and magazines. “I’m Mae, by the way, but you can call Miss Mae. That’s what Julia always called me.”

“Grace.”

“What a lovely name,” she said with a warm smile.

“Thank you.”

Mae looked at the basket full of Julia’s mail. “To my knowledge, Julia still pays her rent every month. Roy, the landlord, doesn’t tolerate late payments. If she hadn’t been paying her rent, he would have rented it out by now.”

Taking a letter from NYU off the top of the pile, Grace realized Julia must go to school there. Cade had attended there. He would have graduated in 2006.