Page 105 of The Innovator

Grayson didn’t believe her and decided to drive her home.

Information bounced around in my head. Dolores had given me the closure I needed. She didn’t know about the tunnels under the property. The Prism was destroyed, but now I knew why Dad had given it to me to do as I pleased, a lightness surrounded my heart. I could now sell the land without feeling guilty.

I wanted to sell it to Grayson to be part of Three Point Park. If anyone could rebuild it to something iconic, he could. I didn’t care if he kept the same design or created something new. The reason my dad gave it to me was because he wanted me to start fresh. No other man could help me with that better than Grayson. I wanted him to have it.

As far as my fashion label went, I was content moving at a slow pace. I didn’t need a large building. When the time was right, I’d consider it, but right now I preferred keeping Momentum on a manageable scale so I didn’t stress myself out.

I’d tell him my decision when he returned.

CHAPTERFIFTY-FIVE

GRAYSON

On my way home from Dolores’s, I received a call from the nurse at the hospital where Derek had been staying and rushed over.

“Where is he?” I asked Nurse Carol. I’d paid her a bonus to monitor him and to alert me if someone suspicious visited him. The guard I’d hired would have kept him safe, but I wanted an extra set of eyes.

She shook her head, and my heart dropped. “I’m sorry. He didn’t make it. His injuries were too severe. He could speak a little in the last few days and left this for you.” She handed me a flash drive.

“He wanted to be cremated and asked if you could send him to the ocean, so he could apologize to his brother.”

For the first time since my dad’s death, a tear slid down my cheek. Dad and Uncle Derek used to love fishing. I’d accompanied them a few times. They told me stories about the ocean connecting people after death because water could flow from one realm to another. Death had finally released Uncle Derek from his sins and the crime world.

After signing papers and organizing the cremation, I went into my car, grabbed the spare laptop I kept there for emergencies, and reviewed the flash drive.

A video popped up with an apology. He’d recorded it in his prison cell.

“Grayson, I know you’ll never forgive me. And I don’t want you to. I deserve your hatred, but I want you to know I regret everything I’ve done. My time is up. The Trogyn have placed their men as construction workers renovating the prison. They want me dead because I know too much. I’m running out of funds, so I can’t pay the people who were keeping me safe. They’re just as powerful as The Trogyn. Money talks in the corrupt world. Here’s a list of clubs you can start with.”

He named the clubs, and I typed them into an email ready to send to my friends.

“These are the ones I know about. There are more out there. Some might go by different names to hide the club’s true identity. If you can get into the club, someone will ask you strange astrological questions like: who is Salacia Neptuni? The answer is: Neptune’s mermaid wife. She represents the sparkles of sunlight and moonlight on the surface of the sea.”

I’d never heard of that name before.

“Another question might be: what’s the asteroid that changed the sea? The answer is Asteroid Sedna. It’s an Inuit myth where her father chose some men for her to marry. She didn’t like them and rebelled by marrying a dog. That made him angry, so he brought her out to the sea in a canoe and tossed her into the water. She clung onto the edge of the boat, and he cut off her fingers. She became the goddess of the sea, and her fingers became the whales, dolphins, and turtles.”

That was a wild story, and I would never have known any of it. Who thought of these odd questions?

“There could be other questions, but these are the ones I’ve encountered.” He paused a moment and looked into the camera straight at me. My skin tingled from his stare. “I’m very proud of the man you’ve become. This is from one man to another. You’ve become the man I could never be, and I know your father would be just as proud of you as I am.” He pressed his lips into a thin line. “I’ve given you video clips of other crimes I’ve witnessed in the organization. Maybe they’ll be useful to you and your friends. Take care of your sister and your mom for me.”

The video went blank, followed by a series of clips that would definitely be useful later. I sat in the car for a long time, trying to process my emotions.

CHAPTERFIFTY-SIX

NATALIE

After Grayson scattered his uncle’s ashes at sea, he focused on work, flying back and forth between the East and West Coast. I’d hardly seen him in the last three weeks. When we saw each other, he wouldn’t look me in the eye. Or was that my imagination? It seemed like he was avoiding me. But why?

He thanked me for The Prism and promised to make it even better than what it was. I didn’t doubt that.

With the money from the sale, I created a fund to help students in financial need at RISD. Dolores Kennedy was happy to assist me in managing that fund.

I didn’t have anything scheduled for the rest of the day, so I wanted to go shopping to clear my head. Maybe I could browse the commercial properties in the area for a potential retail space that would suit my future store. The reality of it wouldn’t happen anytime soon, but I loved the mindset of living the dream as if it had already happened.

Grayson wouldn’t be back until tomorrow. Perhaps I could buy some new lingerie to entice him. Something was going on with him, but I couldn’t pinpoint what. Maybe it was Three Point Park that was stressing him out. I was hoping he’d share more details on his plan for The Prism, but he hadn’t said anything.

I stopped saying “I love you” to him because I didn’t know if it meant anything. He hadn’t said those words back to me. If I kept saying them, it might make him feel awkward. I only wanted those words from him when he was ready and not because I pressured him. I didn’t know. Maybe I was overthinking things. This whole thing unsettled me.

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