Grace Anne

chapter 10



Thomas sat in the lobby and waited for Michael to come in. He looked at his watch again and couldn’t believe his stepbrother was coming in so late. It was nearly eight-thirty on Monday morning and he still wasn’t in. Thomas just knew it had something to do with that girl.

He thought about the woman who had approached him Sunday afternoon. How she’d gotten his name and address was still a little fuzzy to him, but he liked her idea about getting back at Michael. He smiled when he thought of her plan.

“You bring me the man and I’ll let you do whatever you want to him after I get the girl. She’s all I want anyway. After that, I could care less what you do.”

He nodded and knew that for whatever he thought of doing to Michael to get back at him, this woman could do worse to him. He sat back on his chair and looked at her. “And what is it that you expect me to do with him? You must know that he’s my brother. And what is it you want the girl for anyway? I might want to f*ck her instead of giving her to you.” Thomas stroked his cock. “She and I had a connection at dinner on Friday. I think I might want to pursue it.”

She looked at him strangely before answering. “All right. You can f*ck her, but she’s still mine. When you’ve had your fun, then I take her away and you will have your stepbrother. I know all about your relationship with him. You should be more discreet when you two have a fight. The underlings talk a lot.”

So here he was trying to make nice with his stepbrother and get closer to him. Thomas thought about using Trace as bait, but didn’t want to have to convince the kid to come with him. Trace hadn’t trusted him almost from birth; another reason to hate his stepbrother, for making his nephew hate him.

When Michael finally came into the building at nine-fifteen Thomas had been about ready to leave. He was just standing up to do so when he spotted him coming down the main lobby. He walked toward him and tried not to look like he felt—like he wanted to murder him right now.

“I need to talk to you. It’s about working for you again.”

Michael didn’t stop moving toward the elevators as he answered, “no.”

“Please. I need to have a job or my parole officer gets to put one of those ankle things on me. And that shit just isn’t going to set well with what I have planned.”

Thomas stepped into the elevator as soon as Michael did. “Well, you should have thought of that before you f*cked the girl on her desk. It may not seem like much to you, but I do have a reputation to uphold.”

Thomas wanted to pull out the knife he’d purchased this morning and plunge it into his heart. How dare he to talk down to him as if he were better than him. Thomas took several deep breaths as he tried to regain control of his temper. He counted to ten, then again before he spoke, but by then the elevator had stopped on the upper floor and Michael we getting out.

“You have to give me another chance. I promise I’ll try and not screw up again. You have to give me something here, Michael. I don’t want to go back to jail.”

Jail had been some place he’d never go again, even if he had to shoot a couple of cops to do it. It was a place that he’d been low man on the food chain and not a place he liked. Thomas shuddered as he thought about the person who had introduced him to being a “girlfriend.” Thomas caught up with Michael, trying to outrun the memories. The man, Jack, had taught him a great deal about submission and what happened to his “girlfriend” if he didn’t.

“Look, I don’t have the energy to f*ck with you today,” Michael said as he hung up his jacket. “You come back tomorrow and I’ll see what I can do. I’m not making any promises, but I’ll see.”

Thomas wanted to tell him to go and f*ck himself, but knew that he’d never get the job if he did. Instead, he thanked him and walked out of his office and down the hall to the elevator. He was just stepping inside when he saw Trace. The boy was coming toward him at full tilt and stepped in the elevator before it closed. He was sure the kid was going to regret it the moment he realized who was with him.

“Why aren’t you in school?” Thomas asked him when he saw his nephew practically became one with the wall. “I thought all you brainiacs spent, like, all your free time there.”

“Its spring break. I don’t have to be back until the Monday after next. Dad and I are taking a trip this week. What are you doing here? How come you aren’t in jail again?”

Thomas lunged for the boy just as the elevator opened. Trace darted out just as several people stepped in. Thomas got out just as the door was closing and went after him. The smart-assed kid was going to pay for that comment, and he was going to make sure that he paid dearly. The kid took off out of the building just as Thomas did and he was darting down the street. He followed for about four blocks, losing him twice before he couldn’t find him. He was just about to go back when he saw him go into a big building and close the door. He started to follow, but when he got to the building the intercom wouldn’t work and he stood out there for several minutes pounding on the door that no one would answer. Thomas looked around. Maybe he’d gotten the wrong building and he started to go down to the next one. By the time he’d moved down three more he was exhausted.

Thomas was going to get the kid if it was the last thing he did. The f*cking little bastard would probably tell his dad some stupid lie and Thomas would not only be out of a job, but he’d also be barred from the building again. Pulling out his phone he called his dad.

“I just saw Trace leaving the Cunningham building. I was worried he’d be hurt so, when I went after him, he took off. I can’t stand that he thinks I’m going to hurt him all the time. Would you call Michael and make him aware that his son is out running around again?” Thomas groaned when he realized he should have called his mother first. She would have maybe believed him quicker than his dad.

“What did you do to make him run, Thomas? If you hurt that boy, you and I are going to tangle and then Michael will—”

“I didn’t hurt him. And I didn’t make him run. I told you, he was leaving the building and I followed. I lost him on the street.” Thomas had one more thing to add to his list of grievances from his stepbrother. “I would have called Michael but, like you, he would have blamed me. You know I could have just let him run wild in the streets, but I called to let someone know.”

His father relented, but still didn’t act as if he believed him. His dad said he’d let Michael know as soon as he hung up. And Thomas hung up soon after. He watched the three buildings and when no one came out after thirty minutes, he moved on. F*cking kid would probably end up dead and then what fun could Thomas have? He was grinning when he went back to his apartment. Time to make some arrangements.

~~~

“Your father said for you to wait here until he comes out of his meetings. He said to tell you to behave yourself and not to touch anything.” Grace sat down at the big desk as she spoke to him. “I don’t know why parents tell their kids that. How are you supposed to know things if you can’t touch them?”

Trace grinned as he stuffed the rest of the grapes in his mouth. He was glad the door downstairs hadn’t been locked. He was sure that Uncle Thomas would have hurt him if he had been able to catch him. Trace took a big drink of his water before he spoke. “Thanks again, Miss Grace. I was all turned around until I saw your building. I’m glad that man downstairs didn’t get mad when I almost knocked him over.” He watched her face to see if she was mad. She didn’t appear to be, so he relaxed a little.

He didn’t tell her the real reason he’d been running around. He was sure she’d never believe him and was afraid she’d make him go back with his uncle again. Trace looked down at his scuffed shoes before he looked up at Grace when she started talking. He liked her. He liked her a whole lot. She didn’t talk to him like he was a kid and she always had something for him to snack on.

“Arnold. He’s my friend and a pain in my ass.” She picked up this sheet of paper with a lot of small pictures on it. “See this? It’s called a contact sheet. I’m supposed to pick one picture out of all these to put on the cover of my catalogue. Why on earth would you need…” He could see her counting. “Fifty-three? He took fifty-three pictures? Christ, why did I… Anyway, he took all these pictures and I’m supposed to pick the best one.”

Trace looked around the little room. It looked like someone had taken a bunch of crayons, melted them down, and poured them all over the walls. He thought maybe it would be something that had to grow on you, as his grandma said, but he wasn’t sure why anyone would want it to. So far as he knew, some of those colors just looked gross together. He looked back at Grace when she cleared her throat.

“You don’t like it, do you?”

He started to nod then shook his head. He didn’t want to hurt her feelings, but it was really bad.

“I don’t either most of the time. But it’s here to remind me of what I came from.”

“You came from a weird house if that’s how they painted your walls, Miss Grace. It’s sort of sickening.”

He flushed and she laughed before she answered him. “It’s not paint, Trace, but material. It’s all the material scraps that I had with me when I finally had enough money to buy this building. See, I started out just using the leftover pieces to make my designs. I would stay up late at night and sew these small dresses and then think about ways to improve them. Every day I would learn a little more until I was able to present my first design to the previous owner. He loved it and promised me that he’d take it to the next show. He even let me help with the larger design of the dress. It’s that one over there.”

Trace got up and walked to where she pointed. There was a mannequin behind a glass wall and she was dressed in a pretty black and purple dress. Trace didn’t know anything about clothes and less about fashion. If it fit when he tried it on, he figured he looked good. Besides, his dad would have told him if he looked dorky.

“You made this?” He looked back at her when she said yes. “It’s nice. Nothing I think my aunts would wear, but I like it. I bet it looked pretty on you.”

“You’re very kind, and I did wear it. Phillip told me if I wore it on the floor and sold more than a hundred copies of it, he’d take me on as his apprentice.”

Trace looked at the dress again and tried to remember if he’d seen anyone wearing one like it. He couldn’t, but then he didn’t know all that many women. He looked back at her and decided that she’d not sold any if the dopey look on her face was any indication.

“I’m sorry, Miss Grace. I guess you had to work really hard the next time, huh? Is that why you only make underwear here now?”

She grinned at him before answering. “I sold over ten thousand units, Trace. More than any other design he had. And I thought he’d just kick me out of the place, but he said a promise was a promise and helped me design my label.” She stood up and handed him the picture next to the dress. “That’s a copy of the first order we filled. And the amount. I was surprised that he charged so much.” She picked up a magazine next to his chair. “And this is my catalogue that comes out this summer. See the underwear, as you call them? They’re our number one sellers. Pretty underwear is what women want to wear.”

Trace handed her back the catalogue and looked over at the wall again. “You put those scraps on the wall to remind you of the pieces you had to put together in order to make it big then?”

“Very good. Yes, that’s right.” She ruffled his hair and he hugged her. “Not many people get it so quickly if at all.”

He was watching a “set” be put together when he noticed the puppy. It was sitting in the corner all scrunched up in a ball and Trace made his way to it. He was just kneeling down to touch it when one of the men nailing something together came over.

“We been trying to catch him all day. He musta got in when we was bringing in the lumber. Pick him up, will ya, and toss him in the back? His mom will come and get him, or, if she’s been hit, then he’ll have to fend for himself.”

The puppy whimpered when Trace touched him. He was hurt, probably from this guy. Trace bundled him up in his arms and went to find a place to hide him so that when his dad came to get him they could take him somewhere safe. Grace was coming toward him with a frown and he was afraid she was going to tell him to do what the guy had done.

“I won’t throw him outside. It’s raining and he’ll get a cold. There isn’t any reason for you to be cruel to a little puppy.” He brushed at the tear on his face and turned away before she could make fun of him like his uncle did.

“You feel better for lashing out at me, or did you want me to kick the dog so you can at least feel justified for snapping at me like that?”

He turned to look at her angry face.

“I was going to suggest we take him to the vet just down the block, but I can see you have it under control.”

She started to walk away and he said her name. “I’m sorry. I just…I love animals. And that guy over there wanted me to throw him out back to fend for himself. Could we really take him to the vet?”

She told her assistant Becky to get rid of the man who had wanted to toss out the dog and told her to make sure that everyone left at five. She grabbed up her coat and they were out the door and into a cab in no time. Trace looked over at the woman seated next to him

“You’re not like the other women my dad sometimes dates.” She snorted and he smiled. “You do that too. The pretty women that dad used to date wouldn’t do that if you paid them a million bucks. But you don’t care, do you?”

“I most certainly do not. And for the record, I’m not seeing your dad. He and I have an arrangement. He’s going to buy the building and I’m going to disappear.”

That made the area around his heart hurt a bit. He didn’t want her to disappear; he really liked Miss Grace. He was trying to think of a way to make her want to stick around for a little while longer when her phone rang. He watched her answer it.

She was already a very pale woman, he noticed. He thought her skin looked like milk and was really smooth like it too. He thought of her as the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen and thought maybe his dad did too. But as soon as she put the phone to her ear she seemed to get paler. He watched her close the phone with shaky hands and put it back into her pocket. He didn’t know a great deal about adults and less about what made them scared, but he’d bet his brand new bed that someone had scared the crap out of Miss Grace.

Trace did the only thing he could think of and he reached out and took her hand. She took it and held it really tight. She seemed to be so sad all of a sudden when she looked at him and he decided right then and there that he loved Miss Grace.

“I’m really going to miss you, Trace. It’s been a pleasure knowing you.”

As soon as they got to the vet he called his dad.