Page 77 of Saving Grace

He splayed his hand protectively over my stomach.

The feel of his warm body against mine made me feel safe.

I closed my eyes. I hadn’t lied about being tired.

The last thing I heard before sleep took me was “I love you.”

Atticus.

“The condo is yours. Sell it or keep it. I don’t care.” I reached in my jacket pocket and pulled out a Bank of America card. The account it was attached to had ten million dollars in it. A generous divorce settlement for a woman I had never been married to. When you had enough money anything was possible. Ten thousand and the priest forgot to file our paperwork and seems like after the wedding, nobody cared enough to verify if he did or didn’t get married. It just didn’t sit right with me knowing that I was married to anybody else but Grace. I leaned forward sliding the card across the desk to her.

Her mouth hung slightly open in disbelief.

“But we fucked.” She shouted.

Bringing my finger to my mouth. “Shut the fuck up!” I hissed.

I snatched my eyes towards the open office door. Grace was down the hall, helping to pack the kids’ clothes and toys. I waited on drawn breath praying that she just hadn’t happened to hear what Sophia said.

I scowled

“Let those words come out of your fucking mouth again and I’ll personally snap your fucking neck.” I should have sent Sophia away the same night I got rid of my Grandfather, but she played me, said she wanted to stay until I found Tori.

Later that same week she’d snuck into the guest room I’d been sleeping in. I woke up with my dick in her mouth. I didn’t even want to think about why I hadn’t kicked her out. I would add it to the pile upon pile of mistakes I had made in life.

She scoffed, her face turning bright red.

“All the violence, threats, carnage and blood, for her?”

I nodded, leaned back into my chair. I ready for the entire saga that involved Sophia to be over. The only thing I would be keeping from the cluster fuck of a life was my daughter and the money I’d earned. I was already in the process of removing myself from the world that my grandfather had brought me into.

“Yes, and only for her.”

Sophia fingers dug into her thin thigh, wrinkling the red silk dress she’d worn. “Why her? Why not me? I’m more beautiful, I have a better body. Money. Breeding. She’s nobody.”

I frowned. All the insults and questions were bound to end with her feelings getting hurt. But if she needed answers to move on I’d give them to her. Because in the very least she deserved them.

I noticed a few tears began to slide down her face as she waited for me to answer.

I felt like shit. I really did.

I hated that we were in place we were, but it was her own fault. So, I was going to give it to her straight.

“Because she’s her and you’re you..” I raised both shoulders, shrugging, that was it. For me there was Grace and everything orbited around her. She had been my sun since I was thirteen, my salvation. Sophia gave me an exasperated look urging me to explain further. I could see her working herself into a frenzy and wished I never agreed to talk to her.

I sighed.

“Even if there was no Grace, there would be no fairytale ending for us. You wanted me, but instead of approaching me you went to your father and begged for me. Like I’m fucking property. You bartered for me. You set the wheels in motion for me to live a life I never wanted. You got me and with me comes her, because she’s the other half of my soul and my whole heart. She may not be anything to you, but she’s everything to me.” That was the truth. Grace and now my children were my world. The only reason I gave a fuck about myself was because of them.

The tears really kicked up then. Her mascara ran down her painted face, smearing her foundation.

I stood, fixing my jacket, ready to walk her to the door. I was so ready for this mafia bullshit my grandfather pulled me into to end. I was trailer trash from Mississippi, this shit wasn't for me.

Out of nowhere Sophia screamed, she stood and continued yelling at the top of her lungs while stomping her feet. I was taken back by a grown ass fucking woman throwing a temper tantrum.

I didn’t mean to laugh, but in the back of my head I heard Grace’s Granny’s voice say, "This bitch don' caught the holy ghost." and I lost it. I threw my head back and cackled. I hadn’t genuinely laughed in so fucking long it sounded and felt foreign.

The door to my office bust open.