The Tycoon's Captured Heart (12 page)

“Hey,” Grayson whispered softly, trying to wake up a sleepy Scarlett.

Scarlett rolled over and opened her eyes slightly.  When she saw his handsome face, she smiled despite her exhaustion.  “Good morning,” she whispered, lifting her hands to touch his cheek. 

“I have to go somewhere over the next few days but I’m leaving a team of bodyguards here to make sure you are safe,” he told her.  “Will you be okay?”

Huh?  Scarlett stared up at him for a long moment, trying to force her mind to understand what he was telling her.  When it finally sunk in, that he was leaving her, that he was going away, the message broke through her exhaustion more quickly and she tried to sit up.  “What do you mean?  Why do you have to leave?”  She also realized that he was not only showered, but fully dressed in a suit and tie.  He hadn’t worn a suit since the day he’d arrived.  They’d maintained a casual existence here in the Scottish countryside, wearing jeans and sweaters or sweatshirts.  She swallowed the panic as she held the sheet over her nakedness. 

“I have to but it will only be for a few days if I can get things done quickly,” he told her firmly.  “Will you be okay?”

Scarlett thought about it for a long moment.  No, she wasn’t going to be okay.  He was leaving her!  They’d had such an incredible few weeks together and now he was just leaving her?  How could he do that?  Hadn’t this time together been as special to him as it had been for her? 

She wasn’t sure what he was telling her, but she’d always known that this time would come.  Grayson was not the forever kind of man.  He was the love ‘em and leave ‘em kind.  She’d known that since she was a teenager and she’d known it from the moment she’d fallen in love with him.  All she’d wanted at the beginning of this affair was a few more nights in his arms and she’d had more than that over the past two weeks.  So it was time for her to release her hopes and dreams and accept that this was over between them. 

Swallowing hard, she banked all of her pain over his departure behind a weak smile.  “Yes.  I’ll be fine,” she lied. 

He kissed her forehead and walked away, leaving her gaping after him. 

“He left?” she said to the now-empty bedroom.  “Why?” She felt so lost, so desolate now.  It was over.  She’d experienced glorious nights in his arms.  But they hadn’t been as special to him as they had been to her.  Obviously. 

Why though?  How could he not have felt the amazing passion that flared up whenever they were close to each other?  And it hadn’t diminished, not at all over the past two weeks.  In fact, it had only intensified.  So why was he leaving? 

But the empty doorway didn’t have any answers for her.  All she saw was the dark, lonely hallway without any Grayson coming through the door to hand her a cup of coffee.  Good grief, they’d even gotten a second coffee machine just so both of them could make their own coffee and not have to endure the other person’s!  Everything had been so wonderful!  What had gone wrong?  Why had he had to leave? 

She flopped back onto the bed and stared up at the ceiling.  How many times had she done this in the past, wondering about that man? 

She wanted to yell and scream at him, she was so furious.  He couldn’t do this to her again!  But he had!  He’d just left her!  He’d left everything that they’d shared over the past two weeks and just dumped her cold.  She was no different from all the other women who had shared his bed and his amazing body over the years.  She hadn’t even lasted as long as some of them! 

She flung the covers off of her and stomped furiously to the bathroom.  “No more!”  As she scrubbed her body clean, trying to forget how many times they’d showered together in this bathroom, she swore to herself that she was going to get over that man!  She would fall in love with someone else.  She would find another man who could make her feel this alive.  This wonderful! 

She wasn’t aware of the tears on her cheeks because the shower kept rinsing them off.  She was brutally aware of the pain in her heart at his rejection, the humiliation that she couldn’t hold his interest longer than some of the other women in his past and the fury that he was just too obtuse to know how wonderful they were together. 

Over the next week, she went into overdrive.  She was determined to finish this project off and get out of the castle.  Every time she moved into a different room, something hit her hard about her time here with Grayson.  They’d made love in practically every room, every piece of furniture and it hurt to remember how incredible his touch had felt, knowing that she’d never feel it again.  She couldn’t handle it.  This hurt way too much. 

So she worked like a maniac, getting in additional contractors, making the castle into an amazing showpiece, but she used a lot of her own money to pay for the overtime of the workers.  And she added special details that she normally wouldn’t, simply because this was Harrison and Sierra’s “hideaway”.  She brought in special doors, prettier lights, anything that would make this wonderful castle into a home.  And every time she came up with a new idea, she prayed that Sierra and Harrison would find more happiness here than she had with Grayson.

Oh, that wasn’t completely true.  She wasn’t sure that they could be nearly as happy as she’d been.  Scarlett admitted that her time with Grayson had been more joyful than she could have ever thought possible.  He was a sweet, gentle yet demanding lover and he taught her things she’d never thought her body could do, could achieve. 

Whenever she found herself in a room where the memories were too overwhelming, she’d hurry out and go for a run, letting the fresh, moist air clear her mind.  And because they had been in all of those rooms so often and there were so many memories, she got a lot of miles in during the last few days. 

In record time, she was finished.  The six bedrooms looked wonderful, both elegant and comfortable.  She was proud of the way they all looked like showpieces but still invited a person to curl up onto the bed or a cozy chair to read. 

The bathrooms were updated, the kitchen finished…the whole house was a masterpiece with new windows, fresh paint and beautiful furniture that invited a person to come into each room and sit for a spell.  She could honestly say that, this castle with all of the extra little details she’d added into the effort, was her best work ever. 

Unfortunately, she was a mess!  After trying to sleep upstairs in the bed she’d shared with Grayson, Scarlett accepted that it simply wasn’t going to happen.  It was hard enough working in the various rooms, she couldn’t sleep in a bed where Grayson had held her in his arms. 

She’d finally broken down and moved into the local inn, unable to sleep in the castle overnight because Grayson was no longer there with her.  And all of the memories of their time together, their nights and the laughter during the days, were a memory that she would cherish, but she couldn’t keep thinking of it right now. 

Maybe in time, she thought.  Maybe she would get through the pain of his rejection and the short time they’d had together and smile at her brief love affair with the man of her dreams.  But right now, all she wanted to do was to curl up into a ball and cry out her sorrow that she didn’t get to hold him any longer.

Scarlett had no idea what she was going to do when their group got together for their dinners or lunches.  In the past, those gatherings had been happy times, filled with teasing and laughter, not to mention just the unspoken support that each member of the group knew was there. 

She knew that she couldn’t face Grayson.  Not right now.  The memories were too sharp, too new.  Even as she wandered through the rooms of the castle on her final check to make sure everything was ready for Sierra and Harrison, it felt like she could still smell Grayson in each of the rooms, his aftershave and just his manly scent.  It was nice, but also very painful. 

With a deep sigh and a resolution that she was not going to cry about the end of her dream affair any longer, Scarlett closed the door for the final time, ensuring that it was firmly locked, and then walked away.  The SUV filled with the remaining bodyguards Grayson had left behind was waiting to take her to the airport.  Unfortunately, she had no idea where she was going.  She should have made reservations but she hadn’t been able to dial the number, her mind unable to move beyond this castle, this project.  This dream. 

She knew she had other clients waiting.  So it made sense that she should go back to New York and check in with her team, find out what was up next or if any other clients had called to ask for assistance, but she couldn’t do it. 

As the vehicle pulled away, the tears streamed down her cheeks.  She couldn’t believe that Grayson had walked away from what they’d had together.  Was there another woman? 

A sudden thought occurred to her, lifting her spirits slightly.  Maybe it had only been a business crisis that needed his presence.  Didn’t an empire as large as his have problems that only he could deal with most of the time?  It made sense, but then her hope crashed as reality set in.  Grayson didn’t have crises, she told herself.  He was smart enough to anticipate issues and circumvent them.  Not only that, he had built up his business on good sense and strong employees.  His management team could handle just about anything. 

But still…She glanced at her phone, praying to find some message from Grayson explaining what had happened or where he was.  Or even better, that he was coming back to her. 

But the phone was blank except for work issues and her shoulders slumped while her back once again rested against the smooth leather of the passenger seat.  No message from Grayson.  No explanation or brief text letting her know that she would see him soon.  Nothing. 

The business issues she skipped through were ignored because her mind simply couldn’t deal with them at this point.  She’d deal with those, but not today, she told herself.  Tomorrow, she thought.  She’d deal with that tomorrow.  She smiled at that.  She was channeling her inner O’Hara with those words, but then she realized that her “Rhett” wasn’t trying to trick her into marriage like in the movie.

Instead of heading back to New York, for the first time in her career, she didn’t check in with her assistant, nor did she call any of the clients who had sent her messages.  She told Grayson’s team of bodyguards that she was going to London and wouldn’t need them any longer.

“But…” the captain of the team started to say, wanting to argue with her. 

Scarlett shook her head and lifted her hand into the air.  “No.  I’m taking the train to London so, thank you for your diligence, but I’ll be fine on my own now.”  With that, she stepped out of the vehicle and walked into the train station, rolling her bags behind her.  She bought a ticket to London, found a seat on the train and then stared out the window the entire trip.  She didn’t see the beautiful countryside.  In fact, she refused to let herself think at all.  She didn’t want to think because thinking caused her to wonder about what she’d done wrong with Grayson.  And that hurt.  She was tired of hurting.  She was tired of wondering and dreaming and hoping and feeling the debilitating disappointment when her hopes and dreams weren’t going to come true. 

When she reached London, she considered making her way to Harrison’s building, maybe even calling up Sierra and asking if she could stay overnight, just until she figured out what she could do.  But in the end, she simply checked into a hotel room, wanting to be alone so that she could try to heal.  And figure out how she was going to get over the most amazing man she’d ever met. 

“Oh man, have you messed up,” Damon said as he stood in the doorway, looking at Grayson’s furious expression.

Grayson ignored the man, pushing into the house.  “Is she here?” he demanded.  He was tired, sick of traveling since he’d been to three different countries in one week, disgusted with his “friends”, every one of whom had relayed various forms of “Finally!” when he’d presented his side of the issue to them, not to mention he was frustrated that Scarlett wasn’t where he’d left her and in no mood to deal with Damon’s humor right now. 

Harrison stepped into the villa’s foyer, leaning a muscular shoulder against the doorframe.  “She’s here, but she doesn’t want to see you.” 

Grayson’s eyes narrowed as he saw the man he’d just left a few days ago stepping into the room.  Why the hell was Harrison here?  Why wasn’t he in London?  Wait a minute, he thought, Harrison mentioned he had something in Paris he was dealing with.  Why the hell was he here, looking smug and…angry? 

Further compounding the issue, Malik stepped into the area, followed by Stefan as well, all four men glaring at Grayson furiously.  The tension in the room was vaguely reminiscent of the old days, right before one of them was going to start a fight.  And oddly enough, Grayson was just frustrated enough to take them all on.  At least if he was fighting, he wouldn’t have to deal with the worry, the panic he was feeling as he tried to hunt down the one woman who should be sitting in a castle in Scotland.  But she wasn’t!  He’d just about fired his entire security staff when he found out that Scarlett wasn’t with them.  In the end, he knew that it was his fault that they’d let her leave.  He’d only instructed them on the dangers she was facing at the castle.  He hadn’t yet informed them that Scarlett was going to be their permanent assignment. 

“What the hell is going on?” Grayson demanded, taking that fighting stance that had gotten them into so much trouble in school.

Stefan shook his head, recognizing the heat in his friend’s eyes but unwilling to give Grayson what he was obviously shooting for.  “You messed up.”

“Bad,” Harrison agreed, shaking his head as if he were ashamed somehow.

Malik was much more direct.  He wasn’t going to let any ambiguity enter into this fight.  He was ready to pound Grayson to a pulp for the pain he’d caused but wanted the man to know why he was about to be pulverized.  “I thought you were going to propose to her!” Malik stated as if Grayson was the biggest idiot in the world.

Finally!  Someone was making sense!  Well, a little sense, he thought.  “I am!” Grayson yelled back, throwing his hands up in the air.  “Just as soon as I can find the woman, I’ll put the damn ring on her finger!  So if she’s here, you had all better get out of my way.  Because I’m tired and I want that woman in front of me right now!”

“You don’t deserve her!”  This came from Sasha who had stepped into the middle of the tall men.  She looked like a furious kitten in the midst of all of the lions surrounding her.  “You hurt her!  She trusted you and you just walked away from her without any explanation!”

Grayson stared down at the dark haired woman with confused eyes.  “I went to get…”

Sierra’s sandy blond head poked around her husband and came to stand next to Sasha.  “You left her!  It doesn’t matter where you went, you didn’t tell her where you were going and she’s now hurt.  She’s decided to fall in love with someone else.”

Those were fighting words!  “Like hell she is!” Grayson roared.  “Scarlett!  Get out here.  Now!”  He knew that he couldn’t get around these ladies, especially when Livia and Jina joined their pretty ranks. 

“No!” he heard Scarlett yell back. 

Grayson looked at all of the men surrounding him.  Gone was the anger and he was now even more perplexed because each had an amused expression on their faces.  Grayson understood that they’d all gone through this with their women but, in his mind, that should mean the men should be helping him, not standing by their women when his own woman was hiding from him.  “Why aren’t you helping me?” he demanded of his longtime friends. 

The men either threw back their heads, laughing, or they punched him on the arm.  “Welcome to the club, my man.  You’re in what we call ‘the pit of anger’ and it is damn hard to climb out of.”  Malik explained. 

He looked at each of them, stunned and furious.  “And you’re not going to help in any way?” Grayson asked, glaring at the man. 

Malik lifted his hands up in the air as if he were about to be arrested.  “And get my woman mad at me?  Hell no,” he told Grayson and stepped back. 

Grayson looked at each of the other men, all of whom were nodding their heads, looking at their lovely wives in turn and then back at Grayson. Their silent message was clear; “I’m not messing up my good thing to help you.  You’re on your own.”

Grayson could not believe that his friends were abandoning him to the tender mercies of their wives.  And there was nothing he could do about it.  He couldn’t go through them because he might hurt them.  And he liked them too much to do that. 

But his woman was hiding from him and that he would not allow.  “Scarlett, I’m sorry, love.  I didn’t mean to hurt you,” he called out, trying to figure out what words he could give her to make this all right.  He wasn’t even sure what was wrong, he just knew that she’d thought he’d left her.  In reality, he’d dragged his pilot and flight crew all over the world, trying to reach each of these men and explain that he and Scarlett were in love and he was going to marry her.  It was his way of asking for her hand in marriage, but Scarlett didn’t have a father.  Hell, she didn’t even have an uncle any longer.  What she did have were four very large, very annoying “brothers” who were more than willing to make his life hell for a while. 

He saw her then and his heart twisted at the sight in front of her.  He almost punched Malik when the man put his arm around Scarlett’s shoulders, offering his woman comfort when it should be his shoulder she was crying on.  But he focused only on her red-rimmed eyes, her red, button nose and the tears that were still evident in her beautiful eyes. 

“You finally loved me,” she said, her chin quivering.  “You finally came to me and everything seemed so perfect.  We were friends and then…” she didn’t say the words but glanced up at the four other men warily.  They all looked at her, then at Grayson.  Each of them took a step forward, more than ready to pound him because they understood that Grayson had “been” with Scarlett.  Luckily, the ladies came to his rescue.  They instantly knew what was going to happen and turned around, glaring their husbands into halting.  “Don’t you dare!” Jina said for all of the ladies.  “Unless you want to be hypocrites, then just back off and let him say what he needs to say.”

The men stopped, but they didn’t like it.  They still glared at Grayson, furious big brothers, ready to defend their “sister’s” honor. 

In that moment, he knew he was going to send an enormous bouquet of flowers to each lovely lady for sticking up for him.  For the moment, though, he focused all of his attention on the one woman he needed by his side.  “I love you, Scarlett,” he said, frustrated because this was something he had planned to say in private.  Declaring his feelings for this woman in front of an audience was damn awkward.  But he’d do it if that was what it took to get her by his side.  “I love you and there isn’t another woman who has ever compared to you.  You’ve driven me crazy since you turned into a teenager and you’ve only become more beautiful over the years.  I’ve loved you this whole time.”

Her jaw dropped.  “But all those other women!”

He shook his head.  “They were nothing,” he told her.  “I loved you!”

“But…” she lifted her hands, narrowing her eyes at his words.  “Don’t you dare try to tell me that you didn’t have sex with them!”

He clenched his teeth.  “No.  I can’t claim that.  But I didn’t know that you loved me as well, Scarlett.  I had no idea that there was even a chance that you might feel the same way towards me, love.  You have to admit, we’ve been close friends for years.”

She conceded that point only with a slight shrug of her dainty shoulder.  “Why did you leave Scotland?” she demanded, swiping an errant tear that slipped off of her lashes.  “Everything felt so perfect and then you just left.  You said goodbye as if that was the end.”

Grayson couldn’t believe she’d so completely misinterpreted his actions.  “I didn’t, honey!  Or if I sounded that way, that’s definitely not what I meant to convey,” he claimed furiously!  Then he thought back, trying to remember the words.  “Oh hell!” he grumbled.  Looking around at the others, he glared at the men who were still “protecting” Scarlett from him.  “Would any of you like to explain to her what I have been doing for the past several days?”

All four men simply shrugged their shoulders, keeping silent.  “This is your party,” Harrison finally said.

When the others remained silent, he glared at them.  “Really?” he snapped back at them.

Jina, Sasha, Livia and Sierra all turned around again, crossing their arms over their chests.  “Boys, do you have something you need to tell us?”

The men just shook their heads, trying to look innocent.  But it wasn’t working.  The ladies turned around and looked at Grayson, their expressions not so angry now.  “Go ahead.  What have you been doing?”

Grayson’s hands were fisted on his hips.  “I’ve been flying to their places, making sure they were okay with me proposing to Scarlett!  I was respecting their friendship with my woman!” 

The ladies turned back to face their husbands, Jina’s mouth hanging open as she stared up at her handsome husband with rising anger.  “Why didn’t you tell Scarlett this when she came in here crying earlier today?”

When the men all shrugged their shoulders again, Grayson decided turnabout was fair play.  “Because they all had to flounder to get you ladies back,” Grayson explained, a smug smile forming on his features as the truth hit the ladies.  “And they wanted me to have to climb out of the pit as well!”

Harrison chuckled, only confirming Grayson’s words.  “Entertainment value, my man!”

Sierra instantly whipped around, her eyes narrowing on her husband.  “You knew about this?  And you didn’t say anything?  Even when Scarlett was sobbing away, obviously in pain and you knew what was happening?”

“Of course he knew!  Everyone of them knew,” Grayson announced and waited patiently as their wives absorbed the news.  He kept glancing back to Scarlett though.  Sending his friends into trouble with their wives was fine but this was all about Scarlett and trying to get his ring on her finger.  Forever! 

The wives each looked at their husbands, all of whom instantly knew that they were now in trouble.  “It was amusing,” Malik said to Jina as an explanation for his omission.  Jina jabbed his stomach with her elbow for that and Malik grunted as if he were in pain, just to humor his lovely wife.  They all knew that she hadn’t even bruised him slightly.  Nor had she genuinely tried to hurt him.  Jina might be angry with him, but she wouldn’t do anything that might physically or emotionally hurt the man she loved to distraction. 

Sasha punched her husband’s rock hard shoulder but only got another chuckle.  Damon then wrapped his hand around her now-sore knuckles.  “Sorry, love.  It was just too hilarious an opportunity to pass up.”  At his wife’s narrowed eyes he continued.  “Come on, they’ve been madly in love with each other for years!  Even you ladies instantly knew it as soon as each of you saw the two of them together!”  He was looking down at his still-angry wife.  “Admit it, there was a bit of humor in this whole situation.”

“No!” Sasha told him.  “It definitely wasn’t funny!  I’ve been in Scarlett’s shoes and I know how painful it is to…” she stopped, remembering what it was like when she’d thought that Damon was in love with Scarlett.  She bowed her head, pretending to be truly upset.  Oh, she was good and mad!  But she also knew her husband and there was no way he would allow Scarlett to be hurt for too long.  Eventually, one of these men would have clued her in on what was going on.

But of course, Damon was instantly worried that he’d hurt his wife and moved closer.  “Sasha,” he said, floundering to figure out how to make things better.  “I’m sorry, love…”

And that was all she needed.  Lifting her head, she glared at her husband.  “Apologize to Scarlett!” she snapped, “Maybe then I’ll forgive you.”

In typical brotherly fashion, the men looked over at Scarlett who was furious that they would pull this kind of trick on her.  “You all knew about this?” she demanded, looking at each one in turn.  And then she whipped around, glaring at Grayson. “And you went to them,” she said scathingly, “to see if it was
okay
if we got married?!”  With each word, she stepped closer to Grayson, her shoulders tense and her hands fisted at her sides.  “Why didn’t you ask
me
if it was okay to marry
me
?!  Or are all of those men going to be in our marriage bed with us?”

The men all chuckled, relieved once again that it was their friend in the hot seat once again.  Grayson knew he was in more trouble now.  “Wait a minute, Scarlett,” he said, lifting his hands to placate her.  “I think you’re twisting things around slightly.  I only…” he looked around, pleading for help but the men were still looking amused and the ladies were…well, they were looking hopeful. 

He turned back to face Scarlett, trying desperately to find the words to reassure her.  After all these years of loving her, he still couldn’t believe that she could feel the same way.  She was just so beautiful and so amazing…