Page 21 of Broken

“That’s a reasonable question, one I’m sure my son will want to know the answer to when he gets his head from out of his arse. Manny Delgado and I go back many years and I promised to look out for Ava. When Manny came to me yesterday, he asked me to make sure his daughter comes home. He is worried about her safety here with Grant and quite frankly, so am I. I saw the look on your face every time he spoke. Despite being the best risk assessor and behaviour analyst that I have ever worked with, you have no idea what he is doing, do you?” he asks and I can’t deny what was already blatantly obvious, so I shake my head in confirmation. Knowing a little more about why Ava means a lot to him set my mind at ease that there's nothing worse going on here that I don’t know about. Now, I need to convince him to keep me in the business.

“No, Sir, I didn’t see this coming at all and for that, I can only apologise. I will do whatever I can to make Grant see sense and help you honour your promise with the Delgados. Please do not take this in bad taste, but I have to say something. When I started working with you, I made it very clear I wanted to work right at the very top. I have worked hard and proven myself on many occasions, which is why you promoted me to Grant’s head of security, a job that I have done better than anyone else previously. But, if Grant does choose to remain with Ava and to leave the business, I want to make it clear right now that my loyalty is to you and the job. I have never hidden my ambition and I plan on making it to the very top. I want to be at the shipment next month to prove to you I am capable of leading,” I say confidently, but trying to remain slightly humble at the same time. I know the old man and he likes people who are confident in their abilities but he hates cocky twats. Finding the fine line is not easy.

“Ryder, I completely agree with you that you have never let me down. You have always put this company and my family first. I am not even sure you have a life outside of this job and your desire to play an important role in this business has been noted. However, I assigned you to look after my son because he is the ultimate challenge. You definitely have done better than everyone else that came before you, but ultimately this is your biggest task and you are failing. My son cannot marry Ava and the only way for you to remain part of the business is by my son's side. Everyone knows that my ultimate plan is for him to be the face of the company but you the brains. You will be the puppet master pulling all the strings, but you come as a package deal. If my son doesn’t run this company, neither will you. You can remain his head of security, but given he will play no part in my business, I find it difficult to see why he would need security. That will be his decision. So now you have a choice, Ryder. Get him to break things off with Ava and run my company, or fail. The choice is yours.” Hearing the words tumble from his lips leaves me shellshocked. I don’t even remember acknowledging him, escorting him out of the building and saying goodbye. Obviously, I must have done it all, but my body is on autopilot, reliving every word he just said to me. I can have everything I have worked for these last two years. The keys to the business and all the inside knowledge that I need, but in order to do that, I have to get Grant to leave Ava. This sounds like a fucking win-win situation for me. I get my girl away from that nutter and I get to achieve my goal. Fuck, did I just think of Ava asMYgirl? Wow, I really am having a mental moment. Seriously, this sounds like the perfect ending, but the only thing standing in my way is the pig headed idiot who seems determined all of a sudden to rebel against his father. I need to find out why, which is what I'm thinking as I head back into the living room.

Opening the door to the living room, I find Grant in exactly the same position on the couch, only this time he has a glass of scotch on the rocks and appears to be smiling. Sitting down on the sofa as I did earlier, I turn to face Grant and as I'm examining his face, I realise he looks different. The blue bags he normally has under his eyes are reduced, the frown lines that normally scrunch up his brow have lessened, and his hair that is normally perfectly styled with so much gel it never moves, it has no gel in it and has almost taken on a life of its own. The blonde strands are sticking out at different angles, almost like he woke up that way and keeps running his hand through it. He looks so much more relaxed. There is a hardness and a determination in his eyes I haven’t seen before. Whatever he has planned has left him feeling relaxed and almost free.

“Well, that was quite a meeting, wasn’t it?” I ask Grant with a hint of amusement to my tone to try and lighten the mood more since it seems to be working for him. He chuckles and it is both scary and a relief to hear him laugh. I have worked with him and been some version of a friend to him for two years and I’ve never really seen him laugh.

“You are right about that. So, what did he say to you when you walked him out? I know he will have issued you with an ultimatum to pressure me into doing what he wants, so I want to know what it is.” His eyes are boring into mine, desperate to see if I tell him the truth or not. I have no reason to lie, he didn’t tell me anything he hadn’t said in here. Well, except for me being Grant’s puppet master and being the real one running the company, but I don't see any reason he needs to know about that.

“He basically told me I was failing him. I should have stopped you from doing something he forbade you from doing. Then he told me our outcomes are linked. So, if you decide to marry Ava and abandon the company, then I go with you. I don't think you will have much use for a security team if you are just going to be a regular Joe, but still. However, if you opt for the company, then he will start training us both. You will rule and I will be right by your side, helping you just like I do now, but on a much bigger scale. This is what we have always talked about, isn't it?” I hear my voice start to become more desperate and high pitched towards the end of the speech. Hell, I’m desperate. I need to learn everything about this company and how it runs. It’s what I have dedicated every day for the last two years towards.

“You know it is, but, Ryder, this is bigger than all of that. There are things you don't know about, important things I have to keep private. I am on a tight deadline that is getting ever closer. It has taken me a long time to be able to get to the stage where I can challenge my father, but I need to do this. We will still run this company, I promise you. It just might take longer than we initially thought,” Grant says, looking as calm as a cucumber and I can feel the anger inside me beginning to bubble away. I can’t believe this pompous dick is going to risk everything I have worked for just so he can stand up to his father for the first time.

“Fuck, Grant. Are you really telling me you are risking both of our futures simply so you can finally challenge your dad?” I ask in complete disbelief at what I am hearing.

“You know it’s not just that I’m challenging my father, it’s bigger than that. It’s hard for you to understand without knowing everything, but trust me when I say, this plan ensures we will both end up running his company, a man who has ruined a lot of people's lives will be taken down, and I can finally be free to live my life.” The pain I hear as he talks about the damage his father has caused is something I have never heard in Grant’s voice before. I have always known that he’s had a terrible childhood. But I have never truly known how much he hates his father. Me and my dad don’t exactly get along all the time but I couldn’t imagine plotting to take away everything he has worked for.

“Grant, I know you had a horrible upbringing with your father. I don’t blame you for wanting to get him out of your life, but what you are talking about is a suicide mission. He will never allow you to take him down. And what the hell does Ava have to do with this plan of yours?” I try to casually drop Ava into the conversation because I need to know why he has chosen her. It's obviously not for love or attraction like he said. She is a part of his plan and if it is the suicide mission I think it is, then she could become a casualty. Grant is not bothered by who he hurts in this raging war he has against his father. I’m scared for her and I can feel a physical pain in my chest at the thought I can’t help her. I need to be in this company. I have a job to do and the fact I have to choose it over Ava is physically painful.

“Ryder, you know there’s a lot more to it than what you are saying and I don’t have to talk it through with you. Ava is none of your concern. You are my employee, after all,” Grant snaps at me with a finality and I know the conversation is over. I know him well enough to know that if I push him, he will get aggressive and argue back. He is like a caged animal when challenged.

“Ok, if you say so,boss,” I say with false politeness, making sure I emphasise the ridiculous notion that I would ever see this dick as my boss. What is pissing me off right now though is that I thought I had a handle on things. I thought I knew Grant and his behavioural patterns, but I couldn’t have been more fucking wrong. I underestimated him and now my job and Ava are both at risk. I have to fix this, but fuck me if I know how.

“You may go now. But ensure you are in the living room at six this evening as I am having a party to celebrate my beautiful wife-to-be, and I have a feeling it's going to be a blast.” The sadistic smile on his face has me walking out of the room with my fists clenched and mentally telling myself all the reasons why it’s not a good idea for me to punch him.

I spend the rest of the day loitering between my room and the entertainment room. Normally, I would go to the gym or for a run, something to distract myself and give me time to think, but today, I felt this intense need to be near Ava. I know I cannot contact her or go near her in any way, but being on the same corridor means I can watch out for her. It means I will know if Grant comes near her. This need to protect her is growing with every passing moment and it’s crushing me I don’t know how to do it.

Chapter Twenty

Ava

Fuck, I hate not knowing what is going on. It’s obvious Grant is up to something with his father and he is using me to do it, but I don’t know what it is. I had hoped that Alan Blakeman was going to come and shake some sense into his psychotic son and get me the hell out of here, but I heard him leave hours ago and I’m still here.

Alan has always had some weird relationship with my papa for as long as I can remember. It's not like they had dinner or were friends, nothing like that. It’s just that I know Alan has been bailing my papa out of shit for years. He thinks I don’t know, but I’m not blind. Ever since Mum passed, whenever Papa got in the shit, Alan would bail him out. He doesn’t pay off his debts or anything like that, he just makes sure he doesn’t get into too much trouble. For some reason, he has always done the same with me, not that I have ever gotten into any real trouble. But, I found out recently that when Papa spent my college fund, Alan paid it back and sealed the account. It was sealed until about a week ago when it went missing again. I assumed Papa had found out how to access it and had spent it, but given that one of the ways Grant lured me here was talk of paying for my college, I’m now thinking maybe he had something to do with it. The thought infuriates me and I realise as I am pacing up and down the bedroom, wearing a hole in the fancy new, incredibly soft carpet, I am going mad overthinking things. What I need to do is go to the source. So, tonight at this party, I will be extra nice and I will make sure my husband-to-be has his glass topped up the entire evening. Then when he is more than a little tipsy at the end of the evening, I will get all the information I need.

The closer it gets to six, the more antsy I’m starting to feel. I have primped, waxed, and beautified myself in every way I know how. My hair is perfectly styled in light curls that are slightly pulled back from my face and secured in a half up, half down style with the most beautiful grip. At first, I thought it was a diamante clip like the ones I have at home, but on closer inspection, I think they might actually be real diamonds. The thought that I’m wearing something in my hair that probably cost more than my car freaked me out for a while, but after several rounds of deep breathing, I moved on.

Putting on the sexiest black lace lingerie that I can find, and the matching lace French style panties makes me feel so incredibly sexy. When I put on the black stilettos I picked out to match, I walk over to the full length mahogany window and I am blown away by what I see. The black in the lace makes my tattoos pop and look even more intricate and beautiful. I feel so unbelievably sexy right now and all I can think about is that I wish it was Ryder who gets to see me wearing this. In a few minutes, it will be Grant who walks through the door and sees me dressed like this and that thought sends a shiver of disgust down my spine. I had almost blocked it out. As I was getting ready, through every little primping and polishing stage, all I could think about was if Ryder would like what he saw. I know he would because when I walked down the stairs today dressed in my homemade grunge outfit, designed specifically to piss off Grant, Ryder looked at me exactly the same way as he did when I stood before him dressed like this only the night before. He looked at me like I was the sexiest girl he had ever seen and my heart melted. There’s something about the guy that does it for me, and I missed that he needed to adjust his trousers when he saw me. That thought did wonders for my ego. So, I know if he saw me in this, he would have to have me. That thought brings back the heart wrenching sadness that I have spent the last day trying to avoid.

I hear Grant’s footsteps coming down the hallway and I do one last check of my make-up. Luckily, I was able to apply some foundation and concealer to the bruises Grant caused so nobody would be any the wiser. I didn’t do it for him, I covered them for me. I don’t want to be reminded of a moment I was weak and allowed him to gain control over me. It will not happen again.

Pulling the silk robe I slipped on to cover my body tighter to make sure Grant doesn’t get to see anything he shouldn’t, I take some big deep breaths for luck. The door swings open, as if announcing Grant has arrived. He is here, at exactly six, as he said he would be. Initially, when he opened the door his face looked almost focused yet serene, maybe even happy, but that all changed when he caught sight of me and my heart jumped in my chest. My mind is running a mile a minute trying to think through what I could have possibly done to piss him off in under ten seconds. I think that might be a record and I am secretly a little proud of it, no matter how confused I am. I smile at him to try and placate whatever has caused the anger in him, I do after all need him to not suspect anything if I’m going to be able to pull off my plan tonight.

“Why the fuck have you not followed my orders? Was I not clear enough earlier about what I expected?” he snaps at me with the most condescending tone.

“I have followed all of your dictated demands, Grant. So do not talk to me in that tone,” I spit back as venomous as I can, letting him know I will not be taking any of his shit. He glides towards me like a predator stalking his prey and the look of repugnance on his face worries me. My palms start to sweat and it's almost as though time stands still. I’m frozen and my brain is overthinking and panicking as I try to contemplate my options. Except none of them come to me and the overwhelming feeling I have no idea what is about to happen, other than it will be bad, makes me feel like I am drowning.

Before I even realise what’s happening, Grant is standing in front of me with his hand fisting in my beautifully styled hair. The diamond hair clasp crashes to the floor, I feel a searing pain in my scalp as he tightens his grip and pulls my head back to face him.

“Oh come on, princess, I never had you down as being an idiot. You can follow simple instructions and just in case your poorly educated brain didn’t understand before, you will follow my rules. You will do as you are told and if you dare to ever speak to me again in that way, you will regret it. For every disrespectful comment you make, I will punish you five times. Do not test me on this one, princess. Do you understand?” That feeling of being frozen in fear is back and I know when he says that he will punish me, he means it. I have no idea what those punishments will be, but I have no intention of finding out. So, I politely nod in confirmation as best I can with his hand in my hair. The smirk that crosses his lips at my agreement is disgusting and I’m sure I can actually feel my skin start to crawl.

“Good, now on this one occasion, I will remind you of my instructions. I made it very clear you were to be waiting in your nice lingerie and I don’t see that, all I see is the robe you are wearing. Now, shall we fix that?” he sneers at me and I reluctantly nod in agreement. Inside, I’m screaming and shouting, I can feel my nerves tingling, begging me to fight him, but I don't want to get hurt. The look in his eye is almost vacant and I can tell he has closed off any emotions he might have had. He is acting out a plan and if I don’t follow it exactly, I have no idea what he could do.

As soon as I nod in agreement, I slowly reach up to the robe tie that is holding my silk shield in place, but apparently, my dawdling is not acceptable to Grant. His hand leaves my hair and within seconds, both hands grab hold of the edges of the silk gown and rip it open. The force he pulls with actually does rip the silk completely and the once beautiful garment falls to the floor like a wilted petal. As I watch that beautiful garment fall, I realise my dignity has fallen with it. Now I’m standing here in front of a man I despise in skimpy, lace lingerie and high heels. But the worst part is that he can see my tattoo.

Initially, Grant’s eyes are so focused on the round swell of my cleavage, he doesn’t notice anything else about my body. I mean, I knew I had a great pair of tits, but I didn’t know they were so fascinating. When his mind finally snaps out of my cleavage, he takes a step back, wanting to take in all of me. However, the minute he does that, everything starts to go wrong. I see rage flash through his eyes and he advances towards me quicker than I could imagine.

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