Embrace Me (10 page)

“
Was that when you were friends with Megan Field?”

“
You have done your homework, haven’t you?” I teased.

“
Sorry,” she replied quickly, thinking she had offended me. “I used to read the newspaper stories.”

“
Grace, it’s fine,” I smiled. “The stories were a little over the top, though. Charlie and I never cheated on her. We fell in love after he finished with Megan.”

“
Really?” she asked, sitting down like I was about to tell her the most exciting story ever; it made me chuckle a little.

“
Yeah. Charlie sent me love letters for almost a year,” I laughed to myself. “Not that I knew it was him at the time. A week before I was due to come here to New York, he admitted his feelings to me, and well, the rest is history.”

“
That’s so romantic.”

“
You sound like Lorna.”

“
But why did you agree to marry William Field if you loved Charlie?”

“
That’s a long story, Grace. I will have to tell you that another day.” I smiled, really meaning I would tell her once I fully trusted her.

“
Jennet really hates the Field family, doesn’t she?”

“
More than you could possibly imagine,” I sighed, going back to my figures. “You should go and find Lorna and tell her about your trip tomorrow.”

I laughed, watching as Grace skipped out of my office. I knew it was a good idea giving her a bit more control. Grace was quickly becoming a valued member of my team.

I had no idea how many white wine spritzers the three of us had had, but I was glad we had decided to have a girl’s night. As much as I loved Charlie, it was nice to have a bit of time with my friends.

“
I think I might be sick,” Lorna mumbled, putting her hands through her deep red hair.

“
Do you want me to call Charlie to come and collect us?” I giggled.

“
Yeah,” Lorna replied, leaning on Grace. “Shit, we have that meeting tomorrow.”

“
I’m not as drunk as you. You can just sit and watch,” Grace laughed. “You were right, Shan, she is a nightmare.” I laughed as I got my phone out to call Charlie.

“
Well, this is a wonderful surprise,” a familiar voice said as I hung up after Charlie had said he was on his way to come and get us with Brad.

“
Mac,” I replied surprised. “I didn’t realise you were in town.”

“
I’m here with a friend, actually,” he smirked. I noticed Tim Scott standing next to him.

“
Tim, well this is a nice surprise,” I replied, a bit apprehensive as he hugged me.

“
Shannon, you look more beautiful every time I see you,” he smiled. “Megan was right about you.”

“
What do you mean by that?” I glared, simply at hearing her name.

“
You are stronger than I thought,” Tim grinned. “Why won’t the two of you just make up already? Life is too short to stay enemies.”

“
Why don’t you ask Megan Field about that one?!” Lorna roared. “Ask her how she and her evil brother almost ruined Shannon’s whole life because…” I had to put my hand over her mouth to shut her up. Grace was looking at us, confused by the whole situation.

“
Shut up, Lorna. It doesn’t matter,” I replied, calming her down.

“
No, I want to hear what she has to say!” Tim yelled. “What the hell happened between you and Megan? This can’t be just about Charlie Collins.”

“
Tim, come on. You can’t expect Shannon to answer that. Megan is who you should be asking,” Mac replied, pulling him out of my face. I hadn’t realised how close Tim had gotten.

“
Screw this,” Tim replied, shrugging out of Mac’s hold and disappearing into the crowd.

“
Sorry about that, ladies.” Mac smiled. “Megan split up with him last week. I was trying to help his pain by bringing him here.”

“
Tim is better off without her,” I muttered, looking into the crowd. I wanted Charlie here. I hoped he wouldn’t be much longer.

“
I believe you, Shannon,” Mac whispered. I could feel his hot breath against my neck. Why did he always have to be such a flirt? “Megan is a dangerous woman. The whole family is, but I think you already know that.”

I looked at him, a little confused. Had my mother told him everything? How dare she! It was none of Mac’s business.

“
Shan.” I breathed in relief as I heard Charlie’s voice from behind me. As I turned, I could see that he had noticed Mac. “Who is your friend?”

“
You must be Charlie.” Mac held his hand out to shake it. “I’m Harry Mac.”

“
Nice to meet you,” Charlie replied, shaking his hand like he was a little uninterested. “Shan, are you okay?” I nodded as he pulled me into his arms.

“
Sorry, Charlie, it was my fault,” Lorna blurted out. “I was shouting at Tim Scott.”

“
Tim Scott?” Charlie yelled. I could feel his arms tighten around me.

“
It was my fault really,” Mac interrupted. “Megan Field finished with him. I was trying to help mend his broken heart.”

“
Out of all the places you could have brought him, you bring him to New York!” Charlie yelled towards Mac.

“
I didn’t see the harm,” Mac said as he shrugged his shoulders.

“
Charlie, don’t,” I whispered, clutching his chest. “Mac doesn’t know anything.”

“
Come on, let’s get you girls home. Bradley is waiting in the car,” Charlie replied, pulling me with him. I mouthed ‘sorry’ to Mac.

“
I’ll see you lovely ladies soon!” Mac called as he disappeared into the crowd.

“
Jerk,” Charlie muttered. I wasn’t sure if I was meant to hear it or not, but there was so much hatred in his tone. It wasn’t like him.

Bradley was waiting in the car and laughed at the state Lorna was in.

“
What did you do to her?” he teased as I sat in the front with Charlie.

“
Nothing,” I replied innocently.

“
Why don’t we believe you,” Charlie laughed, taking my hand in his. “She isn’t going to be sick in my car, is she?”

“
I thought you cared about me, Charlie,” Lorna moaned.

“
I do. I just care about my car more.” I had to laugh as Lorna grunted at him.

“
Leave my girl alone, Collins,” Bradley teased, “or I will tell her to be sick in your car.”

“
Can everyone stop talking about me being sick?!” Lorna yelled, putting her head between her knees.

“
Did you have a nice night, Grace?” Bradley asked, changing the subject. “What do you think of these two crazy girls?”

“
Crazy? Thanks, Brad,” I called. Charlie squeezed my hand and then brought it up to his lips to kiss my knuckles.

“
Grace knows what I mean.”

“
I had a great night, even though I had no idea what was going on with Mac and that other guy. Why were you shouting at him, Lorna? Who was he?”

I could feel Charlie’s hand tense on the steering wheel.

“
Are you going to tell her or should I?” Lorna asked.

I turned to look at Grace. “I don’t know where to start,” I sighed, looking back at Charlie. Grace deserved the truth. I trusted her just as much as everyone else in this car, so I decided it was time. “Okay, well…I’m Jennet Downing’s long-lost daughter, and the reason everyone in this car hates the Field family so much, is because they know the Fields tried to blackmail me into marrying William Field.”

“
Holy Shit!” Grace was speechless for a few minutes until she spoke again. “They blackmailed you? How?”

“
They told Shannon they would kill me,” Charlie answered, knowing I hated saying those words. He was my weakness, and I would do it all again if it involved saving his life.

“
Oh. My. God!” Grace slumped back in shock.

“
Are you really Jennet’s daughter?” she finally asked as Charlie pulled up outside her apartment a while later.

“
Yes,” I smiled. “It all becomes public in a few months.”

“
Shit, well, this is kind of different from my quiet life in Texas,” she laughed.

“
Grace,” Bradley muttered, “you don’t know the half of it.” We all laughed at that.

I knew this life was a long way from how Grace had lived before. Her parents ran my mother’s ranch in Texas, and I was sure the fast pace of New York must have scared her at first.

I could see some of myself in her eyes, though, and it was strange. Grace wasn’t much younger than me, but in many ways, I felt much older. I had overcome so much in my life. It must have taken its toll on me.

“
Grace seems like a nice girl,” Charlie commented as we got back to our apartment.

“
Yeah, she is fitting in really well. I’m glad she knows the truth about everything now.” I smiled as Charlie helped me out of my coat. “I have to say, I am rather enjoying having a PA.”

“
At least Grace will be able to run things for you if the press get too heavy. You might need to go into hiding, remember.” I rolled my eyes at him. I really wasn’t in the mood to talk about Texas again. “Come on, Shan. We need to talk about this. Time is ticking away,” Charlie sighed, kissing my shoulder tenderly.

“
We will, just not tonight, please?” I whispered, pressing my lips against his. Charlie sighed into my kiss in defeat.

“
Can we talk about Mac and Tim at least?” he asked, pulling back to look into my eyes.

“
I’d rather not,” I smiled, kissing his neck.

“
You know Harry Mac is a womanizer, don’t you?” His eyes were burning with an edge of fury.

“
Charlie, give me some credit,” I smiled, pressing my lips against his neck again, starting to undo his shirt. “I already have what I want. I know how to handle Mac.”

“
Sorry, I just didn’t like the way he was watching you,” Charlie muttered while I removed the shirt from his back. “I trust you—you already know that—I just hate it when our old lives come back to haunt us.”

“
It will happen from time to time. We can’t hide from our old lives, Charlie.”

“
You have a lot on your shoulders at the moment. I want to help with some of the weight,” he muttered as he skimmed his lips against mine.

“
You already do,” I whispered, pulling him firmly against me and letting my need for him take over.

I knew Charlie
was right. I only had three months until my true identity would be shared with the world. I tried to put it to the back of my mind, because otherwise, I might have gone insane. I had no reason to feel nervous, right? I mean, I had all the support I could possibly want.

The truth was, I already knew what this life was going to be like. I had spent over five years with Megan, and never once had I wished for her life. I loved slipping into the background where no one could see me, but now I was going to have to get used to the centre stage. How did I even start to prepare myself for that?

I was grateful I had found my mother and would never regret finding her, but there was so much more to our relationship than just mother and daughter. She had responsibilities that, in time, I knew would be handed to me. Running a multi-billion dollar company was never something I thought I would be doing, but this was my destiny: my birth right.

I was more confident than the shy girl that used to hide away in the corner of a room, but she hadn’t disappeared completely. As the months slowly drifted by,
she began to surface a lot more. I knew it was nerves, but I needed to learn to control them.