Chapter 88

Grace

The next morning, I hopped out of bed around the same time Charles did. Despite the soft strains still lingering in my body, I was happy and practically floated through the house with a smile that refused to be contained on my face. Eason was back. Charles and I ate breakfast together and shared a kiss goodbye before he headed out. I fed Cecil and Richard and was bouncing on my toes with excitement as Eason made his way downstairs.

"You're glowing... and bouncing." Eason quirked an eyebrow at me. "Had a good night?"

"Shut it," I scowled at him. "Breakfast and some of that fancy coffee from the Clans."

He smiled and settled down beside Cecil and wiped the syrup from her face. I grinned, basking in the warmth of having my brother back in the house. The regret of ever letting him move out was at the back of my mind, but I tried not to think about it too much.

When Kelly arrived to look after Cecil and Richard, we headed out to the chauffeured car and drove to Eason's old apartment.

As we pulled up in front of the building, Eason stared up silently.

"Are you ready?" I asked.

He said nothing for a little while before nodding. "Yeah."

We headed inside. I was oddly excited. I knew we'd have to do a bit of cleaning, and I usually hated it, but the fact that it meant that I'd have Eason back home outweighed the inconvenience. As we walked down the hallway, my thoughts inevitably wandered to Charles. Cecil and Richard would grow up with their uncle in the house. Eason would be safe. We'd have family dinners and everything else.

The words slipped out of my mouth before I could stop them.

"Now, all we need is Charles around more consistently."

Eason raised an eyebrow, a mischievous glint in his eyes. "Missing your hubby already, Grace?"

I blushed, swatting playfully at his arm. "Don't tease me."

We reached the door of his apartment. Eason went still.

"What's wrong?"

"The door..."

The front door was slightly ajar, and when we entered, it was evident that someone had been there. Eason clenched his fists and went to the door, pushing it open. The place was in disarray, but there wasn't much inside of it. Had he been robbed?

Eason lifted his nose, sniffing the air. His expression grew tense.

"What's wrong?"

"I... just thought..." He shook his head. "Never mind."

He pulled out his phone. "Should I call the police or the Enforcers?"

"The police, of course!"

He dialed, seemingly calm, but I couldn't help but feel a growing sense of unease.

Eason was hiding something from me. I could only hope that he would tell me the truth eventually, but I didn't want to wait to find out. I looked around carefully. The living room bore the brunt of the chaos. There had seemingly only been a small coffee table and a cushion that had been torn apart. The fluff was everywhere, and the table was in pieces. The frames that had been somewhere were all over the floor and shattered. I couldn't tell if the intruders had been searching for something or just looking to destroy as much as possible.

I ventured into the kitchen, where drawers had been pulled out and their contents strewn across the floor. The refrigerator door stood open, but it was mostly empty. It seemed unlikely the intruders had stolen everything out of the fridge, which meant that Eason hadn't had anything in the fridge in the first place.

All the cabinets were empty. The silverware was scattered across the floor. Overall, it seemed like there hadn't been much for anyone to take or destroy.

Seeing the truth of what Eason meant by saying that he'd just kept moving made my stomach churn. How had I not known that he was living like this? Why hadn't he just come home? He couldn't have thought that fight we'd had so many years ago meant that he couldn't come home, right?

Eason, who had been inspecting the bedrooms, returned to the living room. His expression was grim.

"Things were taken?"

He smirked. "My clothes are in shreds, and they punctured my bed, but nothing serious. The police should be here soon."

"Eason..."

He leaned against the bar and looked around. "At least they didn't damage the apartment. I'd like my deposit back."

I didn't know what to say to that. A few minutes later, an officer arrived. He took notes, looked around, took photos, and gave him a police report. The team behind him canvassed the apartment looking for fingerprints, then they left.

We cleaned up what we could, paid out the rest of Eason's lease, and headed back. The ride back was filled with an uncomfortable silence, both of us lost in our thoughts. Eason's apprehension about the situation was evident. He knew more than he was letting on, and I couldn't help but feel frustrated by his silence. Still, I understood that there were likely complicated reasons behind it.

As we entered our home, the feeling of security that had enveloped me earlier had dissipated. Eason looked pale and shaky. I got him back upstairs to his room with a deep sigh. Part of me knew that we had to talk about what he knew, but I wasn't looking forward to it.

I grabbed my research binder and went to the kitchen table to get my mind off of it.

Then, the door slammed open.

"Grace!" Jackson yelled, his tone accusing and angry as he stomped into the house toward me. I looked up as he came into the dining room and slammed his hands on the table.

"What--"

"Is it true?" He hissed. "You're having dinner with Gabriel Black?"

I blinked at him. Jackson's sudden arrival and the accusatory tone of his words caught me off guard.

"Why are you--"

"It is true. Damn it, Grace, what's it going to take for you to learn?" He snarled. "I said a real werewolf, not some lycan half-breed who doesn't even have the decency to lie or cover it up!"

My mouth fell open. I didn't know what to say. His words stung like a slap to the face. His disdain for lycans and his open contempt for Gabriel were shocking.

"Jackson, you need to --"

"I don't need to do shit!" His glare fixed on me. "You're the one who can't get it through your stupid head. You'd thought everything he did would have clued you in, but no! You're still chasing after lycan men."

"Jackson," I cut in. "You're not going to talk to me like that--"

"Oh? What? Because I'm a werewolf? You'd let Devin talk to you like this, huh? You probably fucking enjoyed it." He sneered. "What, you don't think I'm man enough to talk to you like you need to be?"

I stood up. "You're crossing a fucking line, Jackson."

"Being fucking nice about it doesn't seem to be getting it through to you. Maybe he's trained you to only listen to yelling."

I closed my eyes, pushing back memories of yelling and arguing with Devin over the years. Jackson couldn't know how close to home his words were hitting, but it didn't matter.

Devin wasn't in my life.

Charles had never raised his voice at me, and I damn sure wasn't going to take this bullshit from Jackson.

I glared at Jackson. "I'm going to focus on the fact that we have been friends for years and tell you to knock it off. Gabriel is an ally, support, a friend that Mooncrest could use."

Jackson's expression hardened. "And what do you have to give him in return, Grace? What's the price of his precious support?"

I narrowed my eyes. "Don't fucking go there."

"It's not money, or you'd answer. What is it, hm? You sleep with him once a week? Let him fuck you on his office desk? On yours?"

"Jackson, if you don't stop--"

"Just tell me the truth? You have to suck his cock every week? What is it?"

"You're being a fucking pig," I growled. "Stop it."

"I don't have to do a damn thing. You're just too fucking stupid--too fucking weak--to know what's good to you, so let me spell it out. Me."

My eyes widened. "What?"

"Me! I've been here all this time. You were supposed to be with me from the start, but you chased after that lycan asshole like every other stupid werewolf woman does. And now, even after you should have learned your fucking lesson, you're still chasing a lycan. Maybe if you were a decent werewolf woman and stopped, you'd actually be happy."

My anger was simmered as he snarled at me.

"I dare you to tell me you were happy with Devin. I dare you to say that you enjoy the thought of those mixed breed little--"

I pulled back and slapped him with all the strength I could manage. His head snapped to one side, he stumbled back, and the sound echoed between us.