Page 81 of Fatal Intent
Time was running out. Dread filled his gut at the conversation he’d have to have soon with Rayne.
He sighed. No time like the present. The longer he put off the task, the more difficult the discussion would become.
Grant closed the distance between them in a few strides and held out his hand to the woman who had slipped under his guard and captured his heart. Did Rayne know he loved her?
When she placed her hand in his, he drew her to his side. “We need to talk.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
A BALL OFice formed in Rayne’s stomach at those words. Every person involved in a relationship hated to hear them. Feeling as though her world would soon go dark, she gave a slight nod and followed him onto the balcony in silence.
Grant closed the door and led her to the outdoor sofa. He wrapped his hand around hers and squeezed gently. Despite the request to talk, he remained silent for a long moment.
Waiting him out was her only choice. Pushing him would make the discussion more difficult. And the topic was a difficult one. Hopefully, Grant wasn’t thinking of a way to let her down easy. Although she wouldn’t blame him, Rayne wanted a chance at a life with him.
She frowned. Did he know? Was that what prompted this request for a conversation? Rayne thought back through the past few days, and though she couldn’t pinpoint a time when she’d slipped, Grant was an intelligent man. He might have figured out she loved him. Perhaps he wasn’t ready for that much of a commitment.
He cleared his throat. “I need to tell you something before I introduce you to my family.”
She blinked. Those weren’t the words she’d expected. Rayne turned her hand over and threaded her fingers through his. “When you’re ready,” she whispered, then turned her gaze toward the wooded area behind the hotel. Staring at him wouldn’t make the news easier to share.
More minutes passed. Finally, Grant said, “I don’t have a good relationship with my family.”
The ball of ice sitting at the bottom of her stomach melted. Was this what he wanted to share? She’d already suspected that something was amiss in the relationship with his family. Just the way he talked about them had tipped her off. Oh, he was careful not to be disrespectful, but if she had to guess, Rayne would say the courtesy wasn’t returned to him.
“People are in two camps about Special Forces operators and cops. Either they respect you and the job you do or they feel you’re an overpaid thug with a license to abuse and kill.”
“Your family is in the second camp?”
He nodded. “I’m the family black sheep.”
“Join the club,” she murmured. “So am I. So are Elias and Teagan, and the rest of our team. We’re in black ops. People think we’re killers for hire when the opposite is true. We’re sent in to rescue innocents or stop killers and terrorists.”
Grant finally turned to face her. “I didn’t think about my family’s reaction to you when we agreed to date.”
She stilled. “Are you afraid they’ll find out about my father and turn on me, too?”
“Baby, my family will turn on you simply because you’re involved with me.”
“At least you have one. My mother washed her hands of me. In her eyes and the eyes of those in my hometown, I’ll always be the sixteen-year-old teen who killed her father. So, I’ll ask you again. Does it bother you?”
Grant scowled. “I won’t cry any tears over his death. I’m grateful you could defend yourself against a full-grown and abusive drunk and thank God every day for the rest of my life that you are still alive and hopefully in my arms to share my life. So, no, his death doesn’t bother me. What would have been atragedy is if you hadn’t defended yourself and your old man had gone too far and killed you.”
“My mother says that never would have happened.”
“She’s wrong,” he said flatly. “Dead wrong. From your description, your father was out of control. We were both cops for a long time, Rayne. We’ve walked into domestic violence scenarios just like the one you survived. If you hadn’t fought back, you and your mother would have been occupying a steel slab in the morgue by the end of that night. I’m glad you killed him.”
The rest of the ball of ice in her stomach melted. She nodded. “Now it’s your turn to listen.”
He motioned for her to go on.
“I don’t care if your family hates my guts. As long as you know and like the real me, nothing else matters.”
Grant chuckled. “Oh, sweetheart, the word like is a pale shadow of what I feel for you.”
Her heart skipped a beat. What did that mean? “Explain. Please.” She tacked on the last, hoping he wouldn’t see how desperately she wanted his feelings to be as deep as hers.
“It’s too soon,” he murmured. “I know it is, but I can’t help how I feel.”
