Forbidden Love (Forbidden Trilogy) (27 page)

Grayson removes my heels and exits the limo with me in his arms. I lay my head against his chest and try to memorize the smell of him. I must pass out because I have no recollection past this point.

“Wake up drunky,” Jordan taunts. She pulls the comforter off me and I groan. I reach for the comforter, but this small movement sends an agonizing pain to my head. Last night’s events is on replay. I groan again at the ass I made of myself.

“Where is Grayson?” I mumble. My mouth feels like I’ve been sucking on cotton.

“He left last night. He didn’t stay. He tucked you in and then he left.” She takes a deep breath. “Shiv, I think Grayson broke up with you for your sake.”

“What are you saying Jordan? Are you taking his side? Did you not see the model skank he brought with him to the club last night?” Ow my head hurts.

“Of course not, but you didn’t see him last night. I saw the hurt in his eyes at the thought you were going to hook up with someone else. And then when he put you to bed, he kissed your forehead before leaving. He is clearly hurting too. I won’t pretend to know all the answers, but there is more to this than he is letting on. I really do think all of this is an illusion to get you to stay away long enough for you to graduate.” She could be right. But why go out on dates and at a club that he know that we frequently go to? I need answers. I know I should leave well enough alone, but he’s the one that said communication is key this go around. If what Jordan is saying is true, I need to know. We can be adult about this rather than destroying each other to prove a point.

Jordan mentions that Trevor is on the way to pick her up. She doesn’t know what he has planned because he says it’s a surprise. She rushes off to get ready, but says that we will discuss Grayson later. Pay attention to what his actions are telling you she suggested. His actions are telling me that he is all about having the next woman warm his bed. I manage to pad to my bathroom and take some Tylenol before showering. After I feel somewhat human again, I decide to pay Grayson a visit. I will make him talk to me. I don’t want him to take me back, but I do want honest answers. I heard Jordan leave with Trevor a few minutes ago so I can take her car. I have her spare on my key ring. I don’t plan on being gone long. I throw on a pair of jeans, T-shirt, and sneakers. I pull my hair in a messy bun. I grab my purse and keys and head out of the door.

I arrive at Grayson’s place in just under thirty minutes. The gates open upon my arrival so I proceed up the drive. My heart plummets when I see Vanessa’s red Mercedes SL63 AMG.
So much for him hurting, Jordan.
He’s back to fucking Vanessa. I fucking hate him. I get out of the car with the intent on confronting them both. He needs to know that he has been caught in the act.
Fucking bastard.
After today, I will completely write him off. I will finish my three months, graduate, and get the hell out of Los Angeles. My eyes are wide open Jordan and I don’t like what I see. When I get up to his door, I still my nerves and prepare myself for this showdown. I lift my hand, but it is pulled behind my back. My other arm is pulled behind me as well. I try to scream, but my mouth is covered by another set of hands.
What the fuck?
Any hope that this is Grayson, dies a sordid death when I catch a glimpse of the man covering my mouth with a rag. He has on a black ski mask. I begin to gag on the vapors releasing from the rag. I struggle to free myself, but weakness begins to overcome me. My stalker has found me. I didn’t know there were two of them and now I’m going to die. This is my last lucid thought before blackness overcomes me.

Vanessa stands in the middle of my living room looking scared shitless of my wrath. She knows I’m not fucking around. I asked her here to talk. The most recent pictures I’ve recently received are from the time I spent with Siobhan in San Francisco. I needed to question Vanessa in person to check her bullshit meter.

“Grayson, I promise I didn’t leak the pictures to the dean. Although I think you can do better than Siobhan, I wouldn’t do that to you.” She backs up until her back is against the bar. I saunter over to her calculatingly slow until we are mere inches apart. She bows her head, but I lift her chin so that she is forced to look me in the eyes.

“By better, are you talking about yourself Vanessa?” She gasps and murmurs unintelligibly.

“What was that? Fuck it, I’ll throw you a bone here so you can save some dignity. You and me will never happen again. What we had was a fuck, but don’t confuse that with something it wasn’t.” Her lips begin to tremble. I fucking hate to see a woman cry. Sad thing is, this is the only way that she will see the reality of our past involvement. I know that she was hoping to have a crack at me when she came over since Siobhan and I are broken up, but she is sadly mistaken. I love Siobhan and I plan to make things right as soon as she graduates, but for now, my ruse is necessary for her benefit.

“Aargh,” I growl. “This shouldn’t be a surprise to you. I never pretended that we were anything more than friends that occasionally fucked. You were well aware. Or have you forgotten?” She regains her composure and just like that she slips her mask of indifference back up.

“You’re right Grayson. You were a nice fuck, but I’ve had better and I can do better.” Her jab at my ego is pointless. “You two deserve each other. I just wonder how in love she’ll be with you once she finds out the real truth about Celeste.” She smirks as that jab landed as intended.

“Is that a threat?” My nostrils flare. My past with Celeste is the one thing that can fuck my whole world— jeopardize my future with Siobhan.

“Nope. Not at all Grayson,” she smiles victoriously. “I’ll be going now.” I follow her to the door. I’m ready for her to get the hell out of here. She has managed to take my mind to a place I rather not visit and she knows it.

“Grayson, why is Jordan’s Mercedes behind mine?” I follow Vanessa’s eyes and sure enough, the car is blocking her in. I run past her toward the car. It has to be Siobhan. God, I can only imagine the thoughts running through her head to see Vanessa here. I know she thinks I’ve run back to her since this has been our tradition in the past. I get to the car, but it is empty. I look around, but I don’t see her. Vanessa leans across her car with her arms folded.

“Siobhan,” I yell out. “Where are you baby?” There is no answer. I run into the house to grab my phone. I dial her number, but it only rings before going to voicemail. I call Bailey to get Jordan’s number. She tries to find out what is going on, but I tell her I can’t talk now.

I dial the first few numbers for Jordan, before Vanessa bursts in the house yelling. “Grayson, I have Siobhan’s phone.” The current conflict between us is put aside. Although, she can be a bitch, I know that she really does care about me.

“What? Where was it?” I snatch the phone out of her hand and see my missed calls.

“It was in her purse in the car,” she says. We exchange worried glances. “How did she even get in the gate without being buzzed in?” That’s a great fucking question. How did I not know that she was here? I run to my office to check my security feed. The cameras display black fuzz.

“Fuuucccckk!!!” I yell. I open my desk drawer and pull out the business card I have for Agent Morris from the FBI and hand it to Vanessa. “Call this number on the card and tell them I need agents here now. After that, call my father.”

“You don’t want to make sure she’s not here on the grounds somewhere?” I point to my cameras. Someone cut the feed to the cameras Vanessa. I’m pretty sure they overrode the access to the gate too, allowing themselves, as well as Siobhan, to get in undetected.” I fall into my office chair. I can’t believe this is happening.

“Do you think this has anything to do with the pictures and the leak to the dean that you were accusing me of.” Her eyes are wide. She is genuinely afraid.

“Yes,” I say simply. “Please go make these calls for me. I need to see what I can find on these tapes before they cut the feed.”

“Anything you need Grayson. We’ll find her.” She leaves and closes the door behind her.

I slam my hands down on my desk. Fuck, I should have just told her. I started getting warnings of ‘I’m on to you’ in a manila envelope in my inbox at work. Then came the demands for a million dollars or they would share my dirty secret. The threats were vague in the beginning, but I contacted the FBI anyway and notified them of the attempted extortion. I assumed it was someone who was sour over losing their company to ours during a hostile takeover. My father’s start of this company consisted of some illegal practices, but everything’s legit now and the past has been buried. I thought whatever this person thought they knew about our company couldn’t be proven. A detail was put on me and I continued on as usual. They were pretty much invisible until last night when I got into that altercation with that opportunistic fuck at the club.

When pictures of Siobhan and I were leaked to the dean, I didn’t tie the two instances together. My suspicions were between Liam and Vanessa. Hence the reason I broke up with her and started being seen with another woman. I needed to make the break up seem real in case we were being watched. I couldn’t share that with her because her rebellious nature wouldn’t have gone along with it. I couldn’t risk her getting the deal I made with the dean revoked because she refused to stay away from me. It crushed me to see the hurt I caused her. I almost caved last night, but I had to stay strong. And now she’s gone. I had a detail put on her as a precaution, but there was no activity reported in relation to her so they backed off.

Now that she is gone, I’ll bet anything the two threats are related. She is what they were calling my dirty little secret not my father’s old seedy dealings. They are going to use her now to get the millions they couldn’t get before. I’m prepared to pay every damn cent. God, I couldn’t live with myself if they hurt her. She’s my world. I can’t go through this shit again. I comb through the video footage, but there’s nothing. I put my head on my desk. I feel so fucking helpless. My father walks into my office with Vanessa close behind him.

“The FBI is here son. They’re outside now scouring the property, looking for clues to Siobhan’s disappearance.” I look up at him and I don’t attempt to hide my watery eyes. “Stay strong son.”