Page 23 of Unwrapping the Billionaire

“Grace.”

Her head jerks up in surprise, and then she’s ripping the gloves from her teeth. “Stay the hell away from me, Jonas. I’m warning you….” I glance down to see the outstretched pepper spray.

“Okay, okay.” I stop a couple of feet away from her, and hold my hands up. “Just watch me. That’s all I want… Can you do that for me, Grace?”

“Why are you being so calm?” She sounds suspicious. “Twenty minutes ago, you were acting like a maniac.”

“A lot can happen in a short space of time,” I admit, reaching into the pocket of my pants to pull out the lighter I bought on the way here. I spark a flame and bring it up to one corner of the file I’m still holding.

“Jonas—”

“Quiet, spitfire. I’m making amends for a long list of bad decisions, and it requires my complete and utter dedication.”

“The sale of my father’s company…”

“… Is not happening,” I finish firmly. “I’m destroying the paperwork, right now.”

We stand in silence as the flames burn bright and violent.

“How did you know it was Nathan who sent the email?” she asks quietly, finally lowering the pepper spray. I can see an orange and red glow reflecting in her eyes, and a whole lot of confusion there, too.

“Grace, so much has happened to me tonight,” I tell her with a sigh, dropping the remains of the paper and flame to the sidewalk. “I haveliterallyhad the shit kicked out of me by my past, present and future, but I’m sticking to the highlights otherwise you’ll be trying to call up the nuthouse again. All you need to know is that I’m transferring your father’s company back into your name. Call your contacts. Tell them the bailout agreement is back on the table.”

Grace gapes at me. “Why would you do that?”

“Because I’ve grown up twenty years in the last two hours. I’ve also realized you’re the best thing I ever had, and I’d rather not piss all over it…Again,” I add, reluctantly.

“What about my Nathan?”

My jaw clenches. “I’ll be dealing with him shortly.” There’s a pause. “He hacked into my account to send that email to you. He wanted the money from the sale of your father’s company all to himself, and my father offered him the deal to make it happen.”

“But he’s my brother! Why would he do that to me?”

I can still hear the disbelief lacing her words.

“Look, I know you won’t believe me until I have the proof, but my tech guys are looking into it.” I straighten up—well, as straight as I can in a soaking-wet, three thousand-dollar suit—and slide my hands into my pockets. “Maybe I drank too much fucking Macallan, maybe I spun too hard in my executive chair and cracked my head against the wall, I don’t know… But I’m not crazy, Grace. I swear it. I was heading down a one-way street the wrong way without you, and then tonight I had glimpses. Glimpses of the night I fell in love with you, glimpses of the way you tried so hard to open my eyes up to my father, and how badly my actions over Parker & Fisk hurt you, glimpses of the consequences of those actions… Glimpses of losing you forever.” I shake my head at the memory of one that hasn’t even happened yet, but only if I can convince Grace that I’ve changed. “I’m so fuckingsorryfor the way I treated you.”

I let the word hang between us for a beat.

I can't remember the last time I said it.

“That email,” she says. “It took my love for you and crushed it. It crushedme.”

“That email,” I add grimly, “turned me into an arrogant, self-serving asshole.”

“Oh, that wasn’t the email,” she says quickly, a beam of light flashing across her face. “You’ve always been an arrogant, self-serving asshole.”

“I can change.”

There’s a pause. “I think you already have.”

We stare at each other for a moment. “I want so badly to taste you right now, Grace Parker, and to fill you up with my regret.”

A ghost of a smile touches the corners of her lips. “What about the pepper spray?”

“Fuck the pepper spray. I’ll take my chances.” Two steps and she’s mine. I push her up against the wall, and take her face between my hands.

Was she always this warm?

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