Page 108 of Seeing Grayscale

I shouldn’t be continuing to rub it in that I’m still holding out hope for my dad. If he ever found out about Gray, the consequences would bedire.Not to mention, I would no longer have a dad. But when Gray looks at me like he is now, when he touches me like I’m the only one who matters or gets that cute twinkle in his eye that tells me he’s happy, I feel like the truth coming out might not be so terrible.

I’ve had this mindset of pleasing my father for so long that somewhere along the way, I forgot what it was like to want someone else.

And Idowant someone else.

Nuzzling my hand a bit more, Gray kisses my palm before tucking it under his cheek. I lean over the side of the tub to capture his lips, not bothering to hide how I feel as it transfers from my kiss to him. When we part, he stares deep into my eyes before whispering, “I think I’m falling for you, Hunter.”

I suck in a shaky breath before pushing his hair back from his forehead. “I think I am too, sweetheart—think I have been for a while now.”

“I’ll still be your secret, but I’m not letting you go. I hope you know that.”

Both pain and crippling hope squeeze my chest. Swallowing around the lump of emotion in my throat, I steal another kiss. “I know.”

I don’t want to be at work.

I don’t want to sit here, in this meeting, and listen to Ms. Rodriguez go on and on about the debts occurring in one of our accounts. And Icertainlydon’t want to go to my parents’ house afterward.

Gray is taking his GED test today. I offered to call off and be there for moral support, but he told me he’d rather do it alone—that he wouldn’t be able to focus if I were present.

It’s Friday, and I’ve got about four hours left on the clock. If Gabriella knows I’m tuning her out, she doesn’t mention it. Because I simply don’t care about any of it anymore.

I’m burnt out.

All morning I’ve toyed with the idea of just calling Xavier and telling him OAT is his—fucking take it.My salary is great, but I don’t want to be here.

I scratch my beard, staring absently at the papers Alex printed out for the meeting, and listen to her explain everything that must happen. It isn’t that I’m unaware of these things—the seemingly endless drain in funds and parts. Not to mentionthe main parts supplier we are partnered with had some sort of catastrophe in one of their warehouses, putting a halt on shipments overseas.

It’s a fucking mess.

Humming so I don’t seem overly rude, I scribble down nonsense and doodle. Minutes go by when she stops talking abruptly. “Mr. Kade,” she snaps.

“Yes. Sorry. I was just making notes for—”

“My assistant sent me this and…” I meet her dark brown eyes and catch the grim expression as she holds her cell phone over the table. “You should see it.”

I take the phone. Just as I’m looking down at the screen, Alex bursts through the meeting room door, eyes wide in panic. “Mr. Kade, sir,” he rushes.

Holding up my hand, I return to my original task, my eyes widening as dread consumes me from the inside out. “What. Is. This?” The words are clipped as I force myself to remain calm.

“I’ve already sent word to Abigail with PR and—” I cut Alex off with a growl, snapping my eyes up to Gabriella again, “What is this?” I demand.

The woman folds her lips between her teeth, shakes her head, and gestures for her phone. I look to Alex; he is stiff as a board, clutching the tablet he uses to his chest. “Is it true?” Ms. Rodriguez finally asks.

My hand flies to my head as I yank on my hair and get to my feet. I pace the length of the table,freaking the fuck out.Silence descends over the room, my assistant watching me with fearful concern, Gabriella staring in morbid curiosity, and all I can think is that mydadwill have seen this.

This isimpossible.

On the front page of the newspaper my father reads daily is a photo of mybackyard, complete with a shirtless Gray spray painting my house.

Bile rushes up my throat, cold sweat trickles down my neck, and I rush to the nearest trash can.

GOVERNOR KADE RUNS FOR SENATE MEANWHILE FELON VANDALIZES HIS SON’S HOME.

I gag and vomit into the trash can, shaking and sick.

“Sir,” Alex chirps, suddenly standing beside my doubled-over form. “It…there’s more.”

“More?” I rasp, wiping my face with my handkerchief and glancing up.

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