Page 31 of Grace

“Yes, and now you’re back with your dad. Doesn’t seem right, does it?” I taunt, and his laughter fades.

“Where was I supposed to go?” he spits out, his fingers tightening around his knife as his temper rises and I wonder if he ever lost it with Grace. If that’s why she’s so… timid.

“Bash, I know. But it is time to find your own way.”

He scoffs and shakes his head. “I don’t have to work.”

Perhaps this is my fault. I focused on my company, building what I have today while he grew up with his mom, spending all I had, never appreciating the work that went into each dollar, never truly knowing the cost of the money they tossed over the counter. I was too late, and I can’t make that right now.

“I have a job for you. You start tomorrow. And at the end of the week, you have to move out,” I inform him.

“What?” The chair scratches over the stone floor as he pushes it back. His fist slams on the table as he stares at me. “Mom already said you would do this, that you wouldn’t support me!”

This time, I laugh. “Well, then live with her.”

“Bash, sweetie, sit down,” Stacy whispers, clutching his arm. She knows the only reason she still works at my firm is because she’s dating my son.

His lips curl as his head drops slightly. I recognize that expression. It’s the same look my ex-wife gave me when she had a card up her sleeve, something to twist my arm.

“Fire Grace, and I will,” he says.

My sweet darling, my innocent little…

“No, she stays,” I say as I push myself up.

“Why?”

I clean the corner of my mouth with a napkin. “She does a better job than Stacy. It’s that simple.” I shrug, tossing my napkin on my plate.

“She’s my ex!” Sebastian yells as if that matters in the workplace.

Oh, please don’t remind me.

“Yes,sadly, she is. But that doesn’t change anything.”

It truly doesn’t. Perhaps it should, but I can’t get her out of my mind.

“It should! You should choose me. I’m your son,” he argues.

“True, you are. But that doesn’t mean I’ll just fire anexcellentemployee because you don’t like her.” I smile and step closer to him. “But if you are going to play this game, just remember whopaysyour new… plaything.”

He stares up at me, his jaw tensing because he knows he lost. I can fire Stacy in the blink of an eye. I’d be justified on every front, given the information I’ve gained. She relies on those below her to do her own work, she takes plenty of credit for things, but she’s useless in meetings. All she does is sit at her desk, handle phone calls occasionally, and collect a paycheck. But I’m sure Sebastian made some promise to her when he was balls-deep inside her.

A scoff leaves me, and I walk past him, heading to my bedroom. I need to get my mind in order. My son and I never had the best relationship, something I truly want to change, but I don’t believe that will happen soon. I have my eyes set on his ex for more reasons than I care to explain, not to mention his personality and how he’s handling what should be a simple matter.

My own part in this awkwardness should disgust me, push me away from Grace, but a single passing thought of her face, her whimpers, her smile, heranythingmakes me hard as a rock again.

I should thread carefully, I should try to keep some distance, but I can’t resist the urge to show her how good she is, how much pleasure she deserves, and how much I can give her.

It’s more than a simple play, a simple thought. It’s a need only she can fulfill.

She proved that today when she accepted my touch, my hunger for her.

She let me pleasure her in a way she never felt before. She might think I gave her something, might think that I ate her out for her pleasure alone, but she gave me so,somuch more.

She granted me access to her. She opened herself up to me so we can enjoy each other. Her submission, her welcome, her agreement is so… so much more than any kind of physical release, even though I’m glad I made her experience a real orgasm for the first time in her life. She doesn’t realize the control she has in our relationship. It’s a control I never thought I would give away, but she makes me feel this lust, this aching need that I haven’t felt in years.

I thought I had lost the ability to feel this intensely until I saw her weeks ago. When she was still with my son.

---