Chapter 222

Grace

I glared at him. "Just a shred of understanding?"

He tilted his head at him as if I was a child or he was just trying to figure something out. I couldn't tell for sure, but I felt like he was patronizing me.

Then, he sighed. He sounded weary as he closed his laptop.

"Empathy and sympathy don't negate accountability, Grace. This debt, the probation – they're consequences of your actions, not just Devin's or Sean's quest to unseat you."

His words struck me like a physical blow. The anger flared, bright and consuming, boiling my blood as I set my jaw.

"I am so sick of everyone rubbing it in my face that I picked him--"

"Really?" Eason scoffed. "Because you're damn sure not acting like it."

"You're baiting me!"

"I'm your little brother. It's part of the job description, and you're missing the point." He shook his head. "You've made promises that can't easily be taken back." He dropped his gaze to my wrist. "You've made decisions--"

"Mistakes!"

He glanced up at me. "Decisions."

My jaw trembled. "I'm so sick of you."

"Sure."

"I'm so sick of trying to get somewhere and always being put three steps behind!"

"Your fault for thinking you've made that much progress."

I growled at him. "Are you supposed to be helping me or criticizing me?"

"They're not mutually exclusive, contrary to your life-long belief." He rolled his eyes.

My claws dug into my palms as Eason's words slammed into me.

"I thought I told you that until you make it right, until you fix it, you're going to get hit with it left, right, and center." He scoffed. "Hell, depending on who you talk to, you might be dealing with it forever, and you're going to have to make your peace with that."

"And you rubbing my face in it is supposed to help how?"

Eason tilted his head again. "You think me tip-toeing around your feelings is going to help?"

I snarled at him. "You make it sound so simple. Just fix it, and everything will be fine, huh? Like this is some puzzle, and if I get all the pieces in order, everything will be fine. I'm drowning in debt, a target for the damn States, and that's all you've got to say to me? Fix it? Do you have any idea what I'm up against?"

He chuckled. The sound reignited the fury in my gut like wildfire.

He met my gaze unflinchingly, his voice colder than winter as his eyes flashed.

"In your right mind, emotionally drowning or not, you made decisions. You might not have been sound enough to be considered willfully negligent, but that doesn't change the fact that you were sound enough to make a decision. Now, you face the consequences of those decisions. The second you stop trying to put off the issue, accept it, forgive yourself, and move on, you'll actually be getting somewhere. That's how healing and growing works."

"My mistakes weren't made in a vacuum, Eason!" I roared, my voice hoarse from barely contained rage. "The whole situation was--"

He narrowed his eyes. "Go on. Finish what you were saying."

I set my jaw. "I wasn't prepared."

"You were in Dad's office more than I was," he cocked his eyebrow. "You didn't take any notes?"

My cheeks heated. "The liaison."

"... whom you never met? And Devin got rid of post-haste?" He smiled. "Go on."

"None of that changes the fact that Devin did this, and I'm left cleaning up!"

Eason nodded. "Fair. Are you done?"

I seethed, hissing through my teeth. "No, jackass!"

He shrugged and sat back. "Go on. Continue to rant. I'm sure you have time for it."

"You," my throat grew tight. My eyes burned with frustrated tears. "Why are you even here if you don't give a damn how I feel?"

He rolled his eyes. "If I didn't give a damn how you feel, I would have let you continue your pity party alone." His lips twitched. "I probably wouldn't have even picked up the phone when you called. I wouldn't still be here, Grace."

My jaw trembled. "You're being mean to me, and I don't need that."

"And what would you have me do?" Eason countered, his voice edged with steel. "Lie to you? Tell you this is all sunshine and rainbows when it clearly isn't? Your decisions, Grace. Your consequences, and honestly, it's about time you got to actually deal with the full brunt of it all for a change."

My breath hitched, the anger momentarily replaced by a sting of betrayal. Eason's expression was flat and cold. There wasn't a bit of comfort in his eyes or his tone, no solace. Just cold reality.

"So, what?" I asked. "You're just here to what? Watch me drown?"

Are you giving up on me?

I couldn't get those words out. The guilt and the fear that he was, that he was getting ready to say goodbye and go on with his life felt like a knife in my chest.

"Watch you drown?" He scoffed. "You should know I'm not the type to stand around watching a train wreck. I'm here..." he paused, seemingly holding back words. "I'm here to help. This isn't going to be easy, Grace. The path forward without this, the path forward with it... There will be sacrifices, setbacks, and plenty of people throwing your choices in your face. Get used to it."

"Forever?" I asked, staring at him. The weight of his words settled on me like a shroud.

Eason's expression softened a fraction, a flicker of empathy battling the ice in his eyes. "Like I said. It depends..." His lips twitched. "Though all of that would be toned down a lot depending on how fast you can pull yourself together and get through this probation... And in what shape."

It took everything in me not to leap forward. My nails dug into my palms so hard I thought I might be bleeding. I could hear the voices like they were right there. A lot of it sounded like Eason and Devin.

You really should just focus on the kids.

Well, one of us got into Northfall, and the other didn't.

What would you know about leading a pack? You're just a woman.

I'm sure he had his reasons...

I could see that smirk on his face, haughty and mocking. The way he waved his acceptance letter in my face.

Guess we know who wins in the end, don't we, Grace?

The air crackled with the unspoken threat of a fight, but before I could get within striking distance, pushed there by anger I couldn't control, a shimmering shield materialized between us, effectively halting my advance.

Eason was calm, looking at me before pulling out a thick stack of papers from somewhere.

"Remember these, Grace?" he asked, his voice cool yet laced with a hint of exasperation.

The documents were familiar in a vague way. I recognized my signature but not much else. They were the documents that I'd signed, giving Devin near-absolute control over Mooncrest and the Wolfe family, from the business all the way to the finances. Shame burned in my throat, a bitter reminder of everything. It snuffed out my anger like blowing out a candle, leaving me with a heavy, sinking feeling.

"Esme saved your hide, you know," Eason continued, his gaze unwavering. "She put Sean on the defensive before he could even think of bringing these up in court. Even after you derailed the whole defense... Consider yourself lucky."

"That's not true. He mentioned them."

"He didn't get a chance to present them to the Chief Justice, though, did he?" He tilted his head. "That test saved your ass."

He sent them floating toward me. I caught them. The weight of them burned my hands. I felt sick.

"Had he brought them up, no one would have let her administer that test, and even if they had, they wouldn't be able to overlook the documents as evidence."

He stood, shaking his head.

"I thought we were having a strategy debrief, Grace," he said over his shoulder, his voice devoid of warmth. "Not a pity party."

The shield flickered and vanished between us. The pages seemed so much heavier now. My handwriting was clear. I remembered sitting at the dining table. Cecil hadn't been born yet, or maybe she had. It was all a little fuzzy to me. I remembered being so happy to just hand it over.

Shame burned in me, harder, stronger, even as I tried to push it down. The stark reality of the memory would haunt me and weigh me down, just like these pages.

Decision. Mistake. Did it matter? Wasn't it both? I looked up at Eason as he headed to the door and waved over his shoulder. Before the regret and shame could pull me down, a different question gnawed at me. The words were out of my mouth before I could even think.

"Why didn't you pick up my calls earlier?"