Page 100 of Captive Lies

Just when he thought the call was going to voicemail, his sister answered the phone. “Hello?”

She wasbreathless.

“Hey, sis. Catch you at a badtime?”

“Nah, it’s good. Just came back from my run. Heard Dad and Mom went to see you lastnight.”

“Did they mentionanything?”

“Is there anything else I should know besides your girlfriend is a mafiaprincess?”

“Val,” Grant sighed in irritation. “You should know better than to believe thatgarbage.”

His sister snorted a derisive laugh. “It’s kind of funny. I like it when Gus gets all huffy andpuffy.”

If there was one thing he and his sister shared, it was their dislike for the senator’s politicaladvisor.

“One would think Dad is the King of England,” Val continued. “And everyone in the family needs to fall in line to some royalprotocol.”

“Gus is probably setting the stage for a possible White Housebid.”

“That’s kind of presumptuous, isn’t it?” Val said. “Dad has yet to win his reelection to the senate. Does he even want thepresidency?”

“I don’t think he does, but there’s pressure from the party,” Grant speculated. “But knowing Dad, he’s going to consider how this is going to affect Mom andus.”

“Well,” Val snorted. “I should be thankful that you’re dating a woman with questionable background. Takes the heat off ofme.”

Grant bristled at his sister’s barb, but she provided him with the perfect opening. “Well, sis, you’ll be happy to know I’ll be making Blaire an honestwoman.”

A gouging silence, and then, “Please tell me I misunderstood you and you’re not marryingher.”

“I plan to have the company’s publicist announce our engagementtoday.”

“I can’t believe you’re bringing that criminal and gold digger into the family! Are you out of your fuckingmind?”

His fingers almost crushed his phone. “I couldn’t be more clear-headed aboutthis.”

“What does she give you, Grant? Sex? You can get thatanywhere.”

“I actually feel sorry that you think that way. Maybe if you stop dating losers, you’ll figure it out.” No way in hell was he discussing with his sister how fucking hot sex was when you were crazy inlove.

“At least I’m not blind to their faults and can dispatch them when I want to,” Valsneered.

“This conversation is going nowhere,” Grant muttered. “Consider yourself informed and don’t go crying to Mom that I didn’t tellyou—”

“Yeah, Blaire would look great in orange by theway—”

“Dammit, Val,” he snapped. “The next time you call Blaire a criminal or a gold digger, you can lose mynumber.”

“You’re picking that bitch overme?”

“You’re the bitch, sis.” It twisted his heart to say that, but he’d had enough. “I love Blaire, she’s going to be my wife, and if you can’t get onboard with that, it’s your problem, notmine.”

Val hungup.

* * *

The days followingthe announcement of their engagement were a whirlwind of interviews and social appearances. Much to everyone’s miscalculation, the interest in Blaire and him didn’t die down. Instead, it skyrocketed. Mostly from the female demographic who wanted to romanticize his fiancée’s background as a mafia princess and Grant was the knight in shining armor billionaire who rescued her. What baffled his publicist was there was thirty percent who wanted an Italian mafia prince paired withBlaire.

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