Kade (NSC Industries) (26 page)

“Well this was all made to look like Marcus was the
reason behind all of this. The arguments they suffered was because my Mother
had an affair but she didn’t expect to be excluded from the will. Through it
all, she knew my Father loved her and thought she would still be the main
beneficiary. Yet, imagine her fury when she found out he had excluded her completely
and left his assets to me and…”

“Marcus.” I finished for her as it all started to sink
in. “She named Will as the Father, therefore removing Marcus as a recipient in
the line for the estate.”

“Oh God,” Liam sighed on a deep breath as he pressed his
fingers to his temples.

Grace was silent and I went to her and pulled her against
me, holding her close to give support to both of us. She sighed and wrapped her
arms around my waist but then turned back to Liam. “I have to find her.”

“No.” Liam said immediately, “This goes too deep for me
to cover up, Beaumont. You end her then I can’t cover it up and you will go
down for it.”

She stared at him and I frowned when her face softened
and she pleaded with the whole of her soul, “Not if you give me chance to be
out of the country before you report it.”

“What the hell? No, just no.”

“I have to do this Liam. I have to finish it, for my
Father and for Marcus.”

He closed his eyes and I stared in shock between the two
of them, “Are you fucking crazy?”

She looked up at me and the pain in her eyes twisted my
soul and made it bleed. “Probably,” she whispered. “But I want you with me.”

My eyes widened when her words hit my brain with force
and I stuttered slightly. “You…you want me to run with you?”

She nodded, “Yes, I want you with me Kade. If you say no
then I’ll understand but I want you.”

“Yes.” It came out of its own accord. There was no
thought to put into it really. I wanted her, I wanted all of her and if that
meant skipping the country and relocating, then I was all for it.

“A fresh start.” She smiled and I was amazed by how wide
my grin was.

“God, yes. Just you and me.”

She nodded and then cupped my face gently, “But I need
you to let me do this, Kade.”

“But, what if…”

She shook her head firmly, “Don’t even go there. I do
this then I return. I promise I won’t leave you alone.”

I was terrified. Scared that something would go wrong and
she wouldn’t come back to me… alive anyway, and I took her hand in mine and
brought it to my mouth. “Then I promise you that if you don’t return to me…
then I will follow you. Do you understand?”

She frowned but then nodded, “I understand.”

We both nodded and then she turned to Liam. “I need that
address.”

Kade held the side of my face and rested his forehead
against mine. “Please don’t take any chances.”

I nodded and smiled softly, “I promise.”

I pulled away and checked all my kit out as I fought
against the emotion that was swelling in my gut. I knew my Mother would be
expecting me, she would be waiting for me and the possibility of things going
wrong was huge, but I needed to end this; my Mother or not.

“There is one thing, sweetheart.” Kade started and I
turned to face him as his guilty tone filled me with worry.

My jaw dropped when I scanned the room, “Holy Shit.”

Stood behind Kade were Mason, Ava, Greg and Sam, all with
wide smirks on their faces and each dressed in black with guns attached to
their sides. “You don’t do this alone.” Kade finished and my heart swelled as I
glanced from one of my ally’s to the other.

“I can’t let you do this” I said to each of them but
Mason shook his head.

“Kade means a lot to us, Grace, therefore so do you. If
anything happens to you then…” he swallowed harshly and blinked. “Then we lose
Kade and I’m not prepared to let that happen.”

“Okay, but I go in alone.”

“That’s fine but we remain right outside the door. Any
shit and I take her down, you do understand that?”

“Yes.”

He gave me a single nod as they all filed out of the room
and Kade took hold of my hand. “Listen to me, Grace. I know she is your Mother
and when faced with the task of taking her life, you will falter. I want you to
picture Marcus when that happens. That boy suffered his whole life because of
her, she took his life away before she’d hardly given it him and now he needs
justice.”

I nodded as I swallowed the pain back. There would be
time to grieve Marcus later but now I needed to be strong. “He knew he was
loved, whatever happened Kade. He knew.”

He smiled at me and kissed me tenderly.

“Fuck, I love you.” He whispered as his mouth hovered
over mine.

I gave him a quick kiss and ran my thumb across his cheekbone.
“Shit, I love you more.”

His chest heaved and my eyes watched the bob of his
throat as he too swallowed back the emotion. “Impossible,” he finished.

I gave him a simple nod before I turned and left,
refusing to look back and telling myself that I would see him again.

That was the promise I told myself. I just hoped God was
listening.

***

“Hello Grace,” my Mother said as I walked quietly and
slowly into the room.

I didn’t return her greeting; I just stood silently
taking in the familiar features and wondering how a mother’s love could turn so
easily into hatred towards her children.

“You took your time, I expected you earlier.”

She perched delicately into a chair and opened her hand
towards the other one for me to take as she demurely crossed her legs. She
tipped her head and regarded me, her eyes scanning my body as she pursed her
lips reverently. “You grew into a beautiful young woman. I always knew you
would be stunning. You take after me for that.”

I sat immobile and quiet as I waited for her to come to
the conclusion I was there to kill her, but I think she already knew that.

“Would you like a drink?”

I shook my head still muted by the shock of seeing my
Mother sat in front of me after nearly eighteen years of thinking her dead. It
was quite surreal and I frantically fought against the relentless thump of my
heart as it also tried to take stock of what was happening.

She sighed and rolled her lips in thought. “Despite what
you may think, I do love you.”

It was laughable really. Of all the things I expected her
to say, it wasn’t that and I scoffed and then laughed in astonishment. “Always
the surprise aren’t you, Mother.”

“Oh come on Grace, if anything I was always a good
Mother.”

I stared in shock at her, “I think your idea of good
parenting and mine are vastly dissimilar.”

She shrugged then reached to pick up her glass from the
table in front of her and swirled the amber liquid around before she downed the
contents in one. “I suppose you want answers before one of us dies tonight?”

“Yes.”

She drew in a large breath and then nodded. “Shall I
start at the beginning?”

“Always a good place,” I mocked sweetly and smiled
inwardly as her face faltered with my tone.

“Robert was a bastard, simple.”

I snorted but remained silent as I waited for her to continue.

“Kelly, Will’s Mother, was my best friend, that’s how I
met him. I was their chief bridesmaid but she suffered with severe post-natal
depression after she had Will. Basically, she couldn’t cope and turned to
drugs, which then escalated and before long she was addicted to heroin. Robert
tried to help her, we both did, but she was too far gone to come back from it
and Robert left her. But she had an ace up her sleeve… Will.”

I stood and walked over to the sideboard to retrieve the
vodka when I realised I did need that drink after all. She continued when I sat
back down.

“She demanded one hundred thousand pounds from him in
exchange for Will. What sort of Mother can put a price on a child’s life?”

My eyes widened and I choked slightly on the trickle of
alcohol that was currently being swallowed.

Was she fucking serious?

“Of course, Robert didn’t think twice,” She continued,
completely unaware of my shocked amazement to her statement. “He just dished it
out like it was small change.” She barked out a laugh but I didn’t join her. I
just shook my head at her and sipped at my drink. I was sure she had gone
slightly crazy since I had last known her.

She scratched at her nose and sniffed. I narrowed my eyes
on her but let her continue.

“I was there just to help him out with Will at first but
eventually we fell in love and married. I loved Will like my own but Robert
made me promise to never tell him about his mother. Something like that could
be hard for a child, knowing your mother is a dirty drug addict.”

I ran my tongue across my teeth to stop myself from
voicing my opinion about my Mother’s current drug status.

She leaned across and took the bottle then filled us both
up before she settled back in the chair and stared at the fire, lost in thought
until I coughed to remind her I was there.

She rolled her eyes. “You always were impatient as a
child, Grace. It seems you never grew out of it either.”

“Will you just get on with it instead of acting like the
caring Mother we both know you are not.”

She blinked at me and even had the grace to appear hurt
by my words but she tutted and tipped her head. “I had you and Robert started
to spend more and more time at work, developing that damn program for the
government. He completely forgot he had a family. He started screwing anything
with a skirt at the office and just left me to bring you up. It’s hard you
know, dragging your sorry life through the daily routine of being a Mother with
no reward.”

“Jesus Christ Mother, we… Will, Marcus and I were your
bloody reward.”

She reared back and laughed loudly and heartily, “You
tell yourself that when you have children, Grace.”

She narrowed her eyes on me when I flinched and cocked
her head but then the cruellest of smile twisted her lips. “Oh my poor Grace.
You’ll never experience motherhood, will you?”

My mouth dried as an intense hatred for this woman
started to simmer deep in the pit of my stomach but she seemed unaware as she
smirked at me. “What are you now Grace, thirty one? I bet that clock is ticking
loudly isn’t it?”

She laughed again as the hatred now started to seep into
my veins and poison my bloodstream, its heat starting the boil of rage that I
knew would soon turn into the wrath that always haunted me since the reason for
my barren body.

“Well,” she shrugged casually. “Just think yourself
lucky. I’m not too keen on being a grandma anyway.”

“Oh, you don’t need to worry about that.”

She blinked at the sinister tone to my voice but then
shook herself off and smiled. “I brought you up single-handedly. Both of you
were little buggers but I did it and did I get any thanks? Did I hell!”

She took a deep breath and stared into her glass again,
“Will received a letter from his Mother when he reached eighteen. God, he was
furious with Robert for keeping it secret. I’d never seen him so… strong. It
was quite the turn on, I’ll tell you Grace. Your Father was a timid man, could
never take control of any situation.”

She shook her head and grimaced as if remembering her sex
life with my Father was something of great disgust. “Will was amazing in bed,
he showed me what it felt like to be desired, Grace. I hope you get to
experience that at least once in your life, because every woman deserves that,
even you.”

I scoffed at the ‘even you’ part. Little did she know
Kade made me feel that way every time I caught him watching me, every time he
would just touch me or each time his mischievousness shone through in his eyes.

“And?” I encouraged when she seemed lost to her past.

“And… I got bloody pregnant! I didn’t have a clue whose
it was but somehow Robert found out. He kicked Will out and removed me from the
will. How – fucking – dare – he? After everything I had done for him.”

“I know! It must have been terrible for you.” I mocked as
I lit up a cigarette and blew the smoke across the space between us, directly
at her. She pouted but slipped an ashtray across the table towards me then
glared when I flicked the ash onto the floor and smiled sweetly.

Another cruel smile marred her face, “I was entitled to
that money, Grace. But he just left it to you, Will and Marcus. Luckily, I hadn’t
given birth at this point but as soon as I had Marcus, I sent for a DNA test
and he actually turned out to be Roberts, of all things crazy.”

I frowned as her story seemed to get more and more
surreal but she carried on regardless. “Well I wasn’t having that! I needed him
to be Will’s to exclude him from the will so I put Will down as the Father.
That was one less thing to worry about.”

I nodded in amazement. Was all this about money? It
seemed too farfetched to be real but there was more.

“I managed to struggle through another few years with him
but I hadn’t stopped seeing Will. He loved me Grace and after years of being
unwanted, I needed that. Anyway, one day Will came up with an idea of how to
get our hands on Roberts money.”

“Kill him and stage your death so Will would be in line
to the fortune.” I answered for her and she smiled proudly at me.

“Yes! Will hated his Mother and we decided to use her as
she was roughly the same in looks and size as me, she even had the same hair.”
She laughed at this as though it had all been put in place just for her plan. 
“And of course it would have worked until we discovered Robert had written Will
out of the bloody will as well.”

She turned to me and regarded me deeply. “We of course
had to wait before bringing you down. It would have looked too coincidental if
we did it right away.”