Hart’s on Fire

Then he sensed something behind him. He glanced back and to the right. He saw nothing, but then he heard a click. As he looked back and to the left, he saw a woman with long brown hair in a baggie black dress slide out of the door. He turned to glare at Jack who had a shit eating grin on his face. Gabriel fumed. He turned and stormed to the door. ************************* Grace didn’t think. She just darted for the door. She had to escape. What she hadn’t counted on was going out the door and running smack into Adrian. “Grace! Oh my god , Grace. Where the hell have you been?” Adrian had her by the shoulders he couldn’t believe his eyes. “Please Adrian, please let me go. I need to go.” Grace had tears rolling down her face. She knew something was going to go wrong and it just had. ************************** Gabriel barreled through the door to find a sobbing Grace with her back to him and Adrian holding on to her shoulders talking to her. Could it be her? He could tell it was her, but she looked so different. Even though he hadn’t seen her face, something was different. Just then Jack and Jake pushed passed him and positioned themselves between Gabriel and Grace. “Grace?” Gabriel asked confused. “Grace is that you? Grace why won’t you look at me?” Gabriel had a whirl of emotions going through him.… confusion, anger, and jealousy were just a few. Grace shook her head. She couldn’t face him, this wasn’t how she wanted this to happen. She wasn’t prepared or in control of the situation. Jack finally spoke up as he and Jake pushed their chests out like bandy roosters looking for a fight. Leave her alone Michael’s. This isn’t your concern. Take your offer and walk now before I call security. Gabriel got a look of pure hatred in his eyes. “Hamilton I suggest you step aside before I move you aside.” “You’re so tough. Everyone is so scared of you, but not me Michaels. You’re just another bully.” Grace could feel the tension rising. She couldn’t let this happen. This was all her doing. “Stop! Stop it now!” Grace spun to face Gabriel. She was still sheltered by Jake and Jack so he could only see his face. He went speechless when he saw her. She was more beautiful than he remembered. He couldn’t believe she was within his reach. If he only took three steps and could get past the goons, he could touch her. “Grace…. Grace…. Where have you been?” That was all he could get out. She could see the mood in Gabriel shift from confusion to pure anger in a matter of seconds. She had to stop this. “Not now Gabriel and not here.” “But…” “No Gabriel. No buts. We are not doing this here. These are my friends and this is their business.” “You are not leaving my sight. You are not getting the chance to run again, not until you explain.” “I am not doing this here. And I won’t run again, I promise. I will tell you what you want to know and then some. I will take Adrian with me to my place.” She turned to get an okay from Adrian. He simply nodded in her direction. “He will drive me and when your meeting is done he will send you the address.” Gabriel stood and considered what she had said. He wanted to beat the shit out of the two in front of him, but he knew that wasn’t wise. He looked at Adrian who gave him a nod to urge him to agree. “Fine, but…” “No buts Gabriel. I promise you I won’t run. I need a moment with Jack though.” Jake and Gabriel walked to the door of the board room and Adrian backed a considerate distance away to give them privacy. Jack turned to face Grace. “I’m so sorry Jack. All I do is make trouble for you. I’m so sorry I came into your life.” “Nonsense sweetheart, I wouldn’t have it any other way. Are you sure you want to do this? You don’t have to do this today you know. I can get you out of here and you can run.” “No Jack, I’m done running. We both know I had to face him. I would just have preferred it been on my terms. Now go in there and make a deal. This is your chance. I know what an ass Gabriel can be, but he is a good boss. He can help you all make this agency big. You all deserve it and he can make it happen. Forget about me and Gabriel. Do what is right for you and Jake.” “You’re the best.” Jack leaned in and kissed her on the forehead. He watched her turn to meet Adrian and go to gather her things. When he turned to go to the board room, Gabriel was there shooting daggers at him. He had witnessed the entire scene between Grace and Jack. Jack simply smiled and winked at Gabriel as he went around him and made his way back into the board room. Gabriel only went in when Grace and Adrian were out of sight. He sighed and rolled is eyes. This was going to be the longest afternoon of his life. Chapter twenty five.…. Coming clean Grace was so nervous. How could this happen and why didn’t she just call him months ago. All this could have been avoided. Grace couldn’t look at Adrian. She felt him continue to look at her as if he couldn’t make up his mind about something. “Grace. Can I ask you what happened? You disappeared and scared us to death.” Adrian had escorted her to the car and they were driving to her place now. She knew this was going to have to happen, she just wasn’t prepared for it to be today. “Adrian, I wish I knew where to start. The last six months have been difficult to say the least.” “Well I don’t know what happened, but Gabriel and I have gone out of our minds looking for you. You just left everything behind. At first we thought you had been taken. But then when we couldn’t find you after months of looking, we thought maybe you didn’t want to be found. I think Gabriel finally gave up hope of finding you ever again. To say he has been difficult the last two months, would be an understatement. He doesn’t eat, he doesn’t sleep, all he does is work 24/7. He has become a tyrant at work. Most of the employees avoid him and go through poor Sally. She is the only one he is civil too. I think that is because he knows she misses you too” “There have been complications. I planned on contacting you or him months ago, but I’ve had some developments that have kept me from doing that.” Grace looked out the window. This was so much harder than she had imagined. “Will you answer three questions truthfully for me and then I will ask you no more than you want to tell? “ “I will do my best. This is very hard for me.” “I understand but if you answer these questions for me I will support you no matter what you decide to do. I promise.” “Alright, I guess I will need someone to help mediate between Gabriel and myself. We will be at my house in a few minutes so let’s wait until we get there.” “Very well.” Five minutes later, they pulled into Grace’s apartment building. Adrian parked and helped her upstairs he could see she was tired and stressed. He could also tell she had lost quite a bit of weight. He would have to be sure Gabriel didn’t go to hard on her. He knew how upset he had been and he knew this was going to be rough.