Goodbye Secrets (The Lost & Found Series book #2) (43 page)

“I’m a selfish man, Becca, yes?” His words are soft as he looks into my eyes.

“Yes,” I agree, almost defeated. I turn my head. “Grayson, please, not now. Not at this moment, baby.”

He works at the button on my jeans. I reach down to stop him.

“Don’t!” he snaps, and swats my hand away.

“Are you ... are you trying to push me toward him?” I ask, confused.

Grayson stops short and stares down at me. His nose flares. He jumps off of me, puts his shirt back on, and leaves without uttering a single word.

What the hell was that?
I pull myself together mentally as best as I can before following him.

“Grayson!” I say louder than I had planned to as I reach the last step.

“Oh! Look, Becca—your boyfriend is here!” he snaps sarcastically.

“Stop it—you’re my boyfriend!” I yell.

“I am your
goddamn fiancé
and
you’d do well
to remember that!” he yells as he grabs my upper arms harshly, crushing them.

“Grayson! Grayson, stop!” I cry.

“Get the fuck off of her!” Ray yells. He’s there so fast I don’t even see him coming, and suddenly, his fist connects with Grayson’s face. Grayson releases my arms and swings back at Ray. There they are, the two great loves of my life, beating the Christmas Spirit right out of each other!

“Bound to happen, aye, Bridget?” I hear Stacey behind me, attempting her best British accent. I turn to her quickly. I want to laugh at her comment, and she knows this—it just doesn’t seem appropriate! Security finally breaks them up. “Okay, Becca, tell us ... who is the champion of your heart? Who is your Cinderella Man?” Stacey asks me loudly with a full-blown Jersey accent.

“Wow, channeling your inner Renée Zellweger today or what?” I ask her. I turn my attention to Grayson and Ray. “Look at the pair of you! Feel better now that you’ve beaten each other to a pulp?” I yell.

“Becs. Becs, wake up, baby.”

I slowly open my eyes. “Ray?”

“Yeah, babe.” He smiles.

“What are you doing here? Where did your fat lip go?” I touch his face.

“I brought Morgan back ... and I didn’t have a fat lip.” He looks at me strangely.

“Didn’t you and Grayson just get into a fight?” I sit up, confused as hell.

“No, but if that’s what it will take to get you to see who you belong with, I’ll jump right on it.” He flashes me a small smile before he leans in and kisses me.

“Stop, Ray.” I push away. His knuckles caress my left cheek softly. I swallow hard, trying to control my breathing. I feel the heat from his breath as he leans forward again.

“Baby ... please,” he almost whispers as his lips graze mine. I feel paralyzed, like I’m about to be caught in a trap concocted by one Grayson James and his spying personality. “Kiss me, baby. My mom is holding him hostage.” Both of his hands hold my face, bringing it closer to his. “Becs, I love you. Kiss me, baby.” Reluctantly, I comply.

“Theme-song alert.” I pull away.

“What?” His lips graze mine again.

“‘Firestarter’ by The Prodigy,” I say quickly, and put all hands on deck. Ray pulls me up so I’m straddling his lap. Our kiss is deep and urgent. Panic rises in me as I slowly come to my senses. “No. No, Ray. Oh God, stop ... you have to stop!” I try to pull away. His arms are tight around me, holding me to him.

“Yes, Ray ... please do stop,” Grayson says calmly.

“Baby, you belong with me. Don’t fight it anymore. You love me.” He holds my face to his.

“I love Grayson, too.”

“Quite the pickle she’s in, isn’t it?” Grayson says. God ... he is behaving oddly.

“Let me up, Ray, please.”

Ray quickly kisses me again, then lets me up. I stand and face Grayson. He is still near the entrance of the room.

“Forever, aye, love?” His nose is flaring, probably to help him to breathe deeply and keep the dampness of his eyes under control. I don’t know how to defend myself, so I decide to go with the dramatics of a 1950s movie and sob as I run to the bathroom.
There, Becca, that’s showing them! Wimp!
I lock the door and decide to live in here for the rest of my life!

“Becca ... baby girl, wake up.” I hear Elise and open my eyes. I’m still on the bed.

“Did you guys just get here?” I ask, trying to map out reality vs. dream.

“Yes ... now scoot over, baby, we gonna have us a nice talk.” She pats my hip.

“Yes, ma’am.” I smile.
Oh shit ... here we go.

GRAYSON

Ray and I sit in the lounge, studying each other, testosterone pumping out of every orifice of our bodies. Both of us have so much to say to each other and, at the same time, nothing at all. What would be the point?

“In the spirit of Christmas, Raymond, and because I like to wear big-boy pants—I must say, I have great respect for you. You’ve taken great care of Becca over the years, even though it proved to be very difficult at times. I know that you truly love and care about her. I admire your tenacity and I wish you nothing but happiness in the future.” I wait patiently for his response.

“In the spirit of Christmas, and because my big-boy pants are bigger than yours, I don’t give a flying fuck about what you think—good or bad—you pompous prick!” he snaps. “Oh yeah, Happy Christmas, mate!”

I roll my eyes. I mean, really ... what does she see in this guy? He behaves like an ingenuous arsehole!

“Hey ... guys,” Claudia says in an exaggerated fashion. “This is a strange sight to see.” Her face clearly is asking,
what the hell?

“My mom is talking to Becca upstairs,” Ray offers. “Merry Christmas, Claud.” He gets up and hugs her.

“Merry Christmas, Ray. Grayson.” She turns to me and I stand up.

“Happy Christmas, Claudia.” I hug her as well.

“Hey, Claudia!” Stacey comes up from behind.

“Ahh ... she lives!” I announce, because Stacey rarely joins the rest of us for anything.

“Hey, Ray!” She smiles at him, ignoring me.

“Fuck off, Stacey!” Ray snaps.

“What’s the matter with you?” She sits down.

“Why the hell did you lie to Becca about us? Why don’t you call your husband and tell him to take care of his responsibilities instead of wasting everybody’s time with your fictional shit?” He’s pretty pissed—rightfully so!

“What are you talking about, Ray?” She acts oblivious.

“Give it a rest, Stacey! If you’re going to play these kinds of games, you should make sure you’re smarter than your opponents, or at least have the proper resources to back up your lies!”

“Was she mad at you?” she asks.

“No! She knew how far along you are! Becca’s a very smart woman, but most idiots can do the math!” He sighs with frustration. “What the hell is going on with you, Stace?”

“Yes ... we’d all like to know the answer to that one!” I say. Stacey gets up and heads back to her room without a word.

“Dude ... she is not right in the head at all! Something is off!”

I can hardly believe Ray is talking to me.

“I agree, Ray. We’ve been trying to figure it out.” Well, we’ve found common ground that doesn’t make us want to rip each other’s heads off, at least.

“She’s been weird ever since she got here a few months ago,” Claudia adds. Joshua comes up behind Claudia and smacks her bum, making her jump. “Later, fellas.” She waves and heads off with him.

“Looks like you’ve started an epidemic around here,” Ray says.

“Guess so.” I half smile.

“Well, I have an idea,” Ray announces.

“What’s that?” I tread lightly, waiting for a smartass comment.

“Instead of sitting here, staring and wanting to rip each other’s heads off, why don’t we talk about where you are in the investigation? Becca’s safety is our top priority.” Ray leans back and takes hold of his leg, placing his right ankle on top of his left knee.

“Well, funny you should say that.” I smirk.

“Why?” he asks indifferently.

“You were number one on our list of suspects.” There’s no point in holding back. Everything will come to a head in the next day or so.

“What?! Why?” He seems shocked.

“Your unit was stationed in the same place, at the same time, as George’s.” I raise an eyebrow for the
aha
factor.

“We were? I had no idea.” His strange expression makes me feel confident he’s telling the truth.

“Why did you liquidate all of that money? Where is it now?” I sit back, crossing my legs and arms.

“Dude ... it’s under my mattress!” he says—so seriously, we both laugh. I like him. I hate that I like him. He is a good chap. “I pulled out half a million to put into my firm’s account. I was going to surprise Becca and start the renovations. She’s wanted this for so long. But then, you happened. George happened. I held on to the money because, honestly, I didn’t think you would last this long with her because of her memory issues. I wanted to keep the security on to protect her and Morgan. So the money’s in a safe place.” He’s rubbing his face ... frustrated, I’m sure. “So does Becca think I have anything to do with this?” He looks up.

“No. Actually, neither of us thought it was you. Although, for a moment, you were acting a bit crazy. But Becca was pretty confident you would never do anything to hurt her or put her in danger. I agree.”

“Oh, you both got the memo on that? That’s good!” His sardonic reaction is pretty understandable, actually. I’d be the same way!

“What about Liz? Why did you lie about her?”

I watch as Ray’s face goes pale.

“Honestly, I don’t know. Does she know?” he asks. He seems a bit panicked.

“Yes. She’s the one who had me searching ... when you were acting erratically, of course.”

“What did she think? Did she think I hurt Liz?”

“Well, she wasn’t sure what to think. Quite frankly, Ray, I shouldn’t be speaking for her on this matter. She just doesn’t know why you lied, especially for Annie’s sake. That’s what she was really disappointed about. You have Annie thinking her mother didn’t want her, and that doesn’t sit well with children,” I say calmly.

“Oh, I’m sorry, are you an expert now? Because I’ll just push aside what all the other professionals have told me!”

“I’m merely just telling you what bothered Becca, and my own opinion. That’s all, Ray.” I lean forward on my knees, trying to be a bit more personable. This is a delicate subject.

“That’s all, Grayson? You’ve dug into my personal life and told Becca everything that would make her form a negative opinion against me, and that’s all?” he yells. We sit in silence, staring at each other for several minutes. Ray exhales forcefully. “Liz was suffering from post-partum really bad. She was depressed before, but it escalated once she gave birth. She wouldn’t take anything for it, because she was unhappy and didn’t want any of this. She took off in her car to go stay with a girlfriend for a few days to clear her mind. She never made it. They had to use the Jaws of Life to get her free from the car, and it had been too long. They resuscitated her, but she’s been in a vegetative state ever since. I pay for her room and her medical expenses. I will do that for the rest of my life, or hers. As you probably know, I divorced her soon after I met Becca.” He reaches for a bowl of cashews and throws a fistful into his mouth.

“Why didn’t you divorce her before you met Becca?” I ask. I find it sort of interesting—five years is a long time.

“I wasn’t looking. Annie was going to be the only girl in my life. I mean, obviously, I fooled around here and there, but nothing serious. I wasn’t serious until I met Becca. My whole world changed then. Grayson, she is the love of my life. I won’t ever stop fighting for her.” He states this very calmly—I’m guessing to make sure it sinks in.

“I commend you for the past five years, like I said earlier. I don’t know if I could’ve done that, mate.” I’m honest. I feel sorry for the poor bloke, to go through all of that for so long just to have some handsome fellow like me come and sweep her off her feet!

“Well, that’s the difference between you and me.” Ray smirks.

“That and a few gold coins, aye?” I chuckle.

“Becca’s not like that. She doesn’t care about your money. She’s very proud and independent. You have any idea how many arguments we had over repairs here, and me not taking the money? She’s not flashy, Gray, and doesn’t care to be!