Rush of Redemption (Rush Series #2) (8 page)

“There you are! I was
beginning to worry. Come, come, your family and friends 
await
,”
he exclaimed.

“
Boppa
,
don’t be so dramatic. We’re right on time,” Rush replied.

Ignoring him, Andrew
Drayton, Rush’s grandfather, turned his startling blue eyes on Trinity. “Ah,
finally we meet. If it weren’t for the fact I’ve seen your fine-looking son,
I’d have wondered if you were real,” he gushed as he drew her hand to his lips.

Trinity was immediately set
on edge. She didn’t like this man. Even if she didn’t know first-hand how
ruthless he could be, she wouldn’t have liked him. For Rush’s sake, she forced
a smile onto her lips.

“Mr. Drayton, it is a
pleasure to meet you. Thank you for arranging the party,” she murmured
demurely.

“Mr. Drayton? 
Psssh
! 
Such formality.
 Call
me Drew, I insist. I was beginning to think that no woman was ever going to bring
this boy to heel. After seeing you tonight, I can see why he has now been
captured. You are lovely.”

Carefully removing her hand
from his, she smiled. “Thank you, Drew. It took a lot of work, but I was
finally able to reel him in. He is, after all, quite the catch,” she jested.

Trinity watched a peculiar
look pass between the two men. She lifted questioning brows to Rush, but he
just smiled and pressed his lips against her temple.

Drew Drayton flashed 
her a
 grin. “Thank you. I think he’s quite the catch as
well. Come, there’re so many people to see and meet.” He looked around towards
the crowd of people gathered in his massive living room and beyond, spilling
out into the courtyard behind the house. “Your father and Mrs. Franklin are
already here, somewhere.”

“My father is here?
And 
Marlena
 Franklin?” she gasped. She felt
Rush stiffen beneath her fingers. Why would he invite them here? Why would they
come? Her eyebrows bunched in confusion. She’d have assumed Drew Drayton would
have hated both her father and 
Marlena
 Franklin. 
Her father for obvious reasons, and 
Marlena
 by
association.

Drew Drayton gave her a
confused look. “Yes, of course. Was I not supposed to invite them? I’m sorry, I
just assumed as he is your father, and her, your godmother, that you would want
them here. Was I wrong?”

Rush lifted her fingers to
his lips. “Trinity, can you excuse my grandfather and me for just a moment?”
When she lifted apprehensive eyes to his, he gave her a tight smile and pressed
his lips once again to her temple. “Just for a moment, I promise.”

She tried to read his
expression but the mask of passivity she hadn’t seen in a while was now firmly
in place. She gave a quick nod of her head and dropped her near death grip on
his arm. Once Rush and his grandfather headed off down the hall, Trinity turned
and took in the home of Andrew Drayton. Shiny, wooden floors met Parisian
plastered walls which were painted a soft neutral color. The living room was
accented in associated oak accompaniments. Deep brown leather couches sat
parallel to each other. On one wall was a massive fireplace which had a small
gas-lit fire burning. On this night, it burnt only for ambiance, not warmth, as
the Georgia summer night air blew humid and warm. At the far end of the room
were two double French doors which opened up onto acres of what she assumed
would be green, manicured lawns. The house spoke of money – serious money.

She looked carefully around the room trying to spot her father
and 
Marlena
 Franklin. She wanted a moment
to prepare to see them and didn’t want to be caught unaware. She didn’t know
what she would say to either of them. She’d not seen her father in more than
eight months and had only spoken to him once. And she’d not seen 
Marlena
 since brunch at her father’s house nearly a
year before… not since before her husband had kidnapped her, held her at
gunpoint, and then had been killed by Rush. Her hands trembled and she clutched
them together in front of her.

She smiled uncertainly at
people she didn’t know. 
Who were all these people
? She thought
again. She stared down the hall she’d seen Rush and his grandfather disappear
and wondered what was happening between the two of them. It was obvious there
was some bone of contingency.

As Trinity stood awkwardly
in the threshold of the home of the man who’d started a hailstorm in her life,
the entrance door behind her opened. She turned just in time to see
Hunter 
Amhearst
 walk through the door.

“Hunt,” she smiled,
relieved to finally know someone. He moved to her swiftly and hugged her
tightly.

“Wow! You look amazing,” he
praised. “And congratulations, two-fold. It turns out you really were
Cinderella that first night at Vail, huh? Who would have thought it? I didn’t
think I’d ever see the day Rush Drayton would settle down.” Shrugging an arm
around her, he said with a laugh, “Not that I blame him.”

She drew back and punched
him in the arm playfully. “Thanks, I think,”

Hunter 
Amhearst
 was the only child of the richest man on the
East Coast. His mother died when he was a young boy, leaving his widowed father
to raise him. Unfortunately for Hunter, his father chose to deal with his grief
by immersing himself in work and an endless stream of women. Other than in the
work aspect, Hunter had followed in his father’s footsteps. Trinity had met
Hunter when he’d taught a couple of the art classes she’d taken in college. It
was the only job Hunter had ever had and it lasted for one semester only. But
with his dark wispy hair, his deep, soulful eyes, and his perpetual five
o’clock shadow, Hunter found floating through life easy as he had a limitless
supply of both money and women.

Looking around, Hunter
asked, “Where’s Rush?”

“He and his grandfather
went that way,” she replied, pointing down the hallway.

“Good, it gives me a chance
to hit on the prettiest girl at the party without having to look over my
shoulder,” he teased.

Voicing her earlier
thought, she asked, “Hunt, who 
are
 all these
people?”

He glanced around the room.
Obviously used to dealing in the world of the elite, he rocked back on his
heels and began pointing out both the prominent and moneyed people in the room.

“Let’s see…” he began,
“over there we have the Lieutenant Governor, and if rumor is to be believed,
his soon-to-be ex-wife. Over there, is Niguel Gown, the shipping magnet.
Leaning against the mantel is Luke Bayberry, who, if again rumor is to be
believed, will be the man who’ll replace your father in this year’s judicial
election.” Hunter went on and on around the room, pointing out the many in
attendance until Trinity’s head swam. She did finally understand, however, why
her father would have considered coming to this party. She had no illusion it
was for her. He needed these people to further his career.

Her attention was brought
back to Hunter when she felt his arm stiffen around her. Following his eyes,
she saw 
Sundra
 and her parents standing
just outside the French doors. They were standing in a group and 
Sundra
 had her arm linked with a swarthy,
olive-skinned man with jet-black hair. He wasn’t anyone Trinity recognized.

“Is this too awkward for
you?” she asked Hunter, referring to his vacation romance with 
Sundra
.

Quickly… maybe too quickly,
he shook his head. “No, it’s good. She just needs to watch out for that guy.”

“Who is he?” she asked.

“Anton 
Veretta
. He has a bad reputation with women,” he said with
a frown.

So intent was she on
watching 
Sundra
, she was surprised when her
father, Arthur Grace, stepped into her line of sight and gathered her hand
within his and raised it to his lips.

“Trinity, you look
beautiful,” he murmured.

She stared up into his face
and a torrent of emotion rushed through her, ranging from extreme loss to
extreme anger. Feeling the instinctual need to protect
herself
,
she carefully pulled her hand away and took a small step back, bumping into
Hunter. “Father,” she replied in a careful tone.

From outside their
tension-filled group, Trinity heard someone call Hunter’s name. With a quick
pat on her shoulder, Hunter trailed off, leaving her alone with her father.

Moving to stand beside her,
he looked out at the others gathered in the room. “How have you been?” he asked
as he nodded and smiled at different ones in the room.

Tension radiated through
her, causing her nagging headache to intensify. Without looking at him, she
replied, “Does it matter?”

“Now’s not the time or
place, Trinity,” he warned smoothly. By looking at his expression, anyone in
the room would assume he was standing with her exchanging pleasantries.

She turned her head to snap
back a comment, but it died in her throat when 
Marlena
 Franklin
slid up beside her father and wrapped her arm through his.
Marlena
 and her
father
?

Glancing around him, 
Marlena’s
 face broke into a smile. 
“Trinity!
 It’s so wonderful to see you. It’s been way
too long,” she gushed as she moved to her and hugged her tight.

Not knowing what to do,
Trinity hugged her back and murmured, “Aunt 
Marlena
,
it’s good to see you also. How have you been?” she asked the woman
automatically without thinking.

“Oh, you know, good days
and bad days. Life goes on, as they say. Well, look at you. Congratulations on
both your engagement and your new son. You’ve certainly done well for yourself.
It makes me wonder what we were all worried about. It seems you knew how to
trap a man all on your own,” 
Marlena
 said
snidely.

Trinity’s eyes widened at
the intentionally cruel comment. Before she could comment, she saw Rush coming
up behind the group unbeknownst to them and it was obvious he’d heard the
comment as well.

“You will apologize to my
fiancée,” he said evenly and in a tone so that only their group heard him.

She saw 
Marlena
 flinch at his voice. Without warning, 
Marlena
 swung around and slapped Rush across the face.
“You bastard,” she spat.

The room suddenly grew
quiet, the slap sounding as loud as a gunshot.

Arthur grabbed 
Marlena’s
 shoulders and pulled her back against his
chest, the movement intimate somehow. Repeating the words he’d told Trinity
earlier, he said against 
Marlena’s
 ear,
“This is not the place.”

“It certainly isn’t,” Rush
concurred. “In fact, now that you’ve been seen, I think it’s time for
you both to leave.”

The muscle in Arthur’s jaw
clenched, but he nodded. A nod in Trinity’s direction was his only
acknowledgment of her before he tugged 
Marlena
 Franklin
out the door. She watched them go, shell-shocked on so many levels.

Rush moved to her and
wrapped his arms around her and pressed his lips against her temple. “I’m so
sorry. I don’t know what my grandfather was thinking,” he murmured against her
hair. “You okay?”

Hidden against his chest,
she nodded. Inside her head, 
Marlena’s
 words
swirled. Trinity bet every person in this room probably thought the same thing,
that she’d gotten pregnant to purposely trap herself a wealthy man.

“Let’s just get through
this dinner, 
then
 we can go home. Okay?” he
said, pulling back to look into her eyes with an encouraging smile.

With a migraine pounding
now behind her eyes, she gave him a tight smile and nodded again. Needing a
moment away from the scrutiny of his eyes to compose her scattering emotions,
she said, “Can you get me something to drink, please?”

He eyed her for a moment,
trying to read her, she assumed. She gave him a smile and he gave her a quick nod
before pressing his lips once again on her head. “I’ll be right back,” he
murmured.

Anger simmered through Rush
as he headed towards the bar. He was holding on to Trinity by a thread and his
grandfather was doing everything in his power to come between them. He’d told
his grandfather to keep the engagement party simple and small. He couldn’t
believe it when he pulled into the drive and had seen the crowd. 
And then to invite Trinity’s father and 
Marlena
 Franklin,
of all people.
 His grandfather had been badgering him since Blake’s
birth, when he’d told him of his engagement to Trinity, about having her sign a
prenuptial agreement, but he’d adamantly refused to do so. His grandfather had
railed against him, reminding him of what had happened between his own father
and mother… as if he could ever forget it. He’d even stopped by the office on
this day, the day of his engagement party, to yet again try and force his hand.

When he’d pulled his
grandfather away from the party to blast him for inviting Arthur Grace
and 
Marlena
 Franklin to the party, his
grandfather hadn’t even tried to deny his culpability. He’s said she needed to
see how their life together would be. Rush closed his eyes briefly as anger
seared his insides. And when he’d come out of that meeting to hear 
Marlena
 say that Trinity had purposefully trapped him,
he’d snapped. He knew Trinity and knew she would obsess about that comment. He
needed to get her away and marry her before she had a chance to change her
mind. 
Now, who was trapping whom
, he thought. 
God, what a colossal disaster.
 He wanted nothing more
than to whisk her away from this house and these people.