Love Me One More Time (Nick and Alaia) novel Chapter 46

Grace

“Killian, I know you’re barely recovering from what my son did to you, but I need to know who the mother of the children is. I want to know if they’re Nick’s children. He’s forbidden me from going near them, but he’ll have to accept that we’ll see them at some point. This matter must be resolved,” I said, pacing back and forth, while I observed my poor father–in–law still bearing the marks of the beating Nick gave him. “I don’t know what I’m going to do with that boy.

Maybe if his father were here, everything would be different,” I said sorrowfully.

“Don’t kid yourself, Grace. Dominic was just like your son. He would agree with everything Nick does,” Killian spoke from the garden chair. I must admit he was right.

“Well then, who is this girl we took Nick away from two years ago, who now seems to be the mother of his children? Do you know how old they are?” I approached him and sat in front of him. My father–in–law looked in another direction and clenched his jaw.

“They must be over a year old,” he said, and it seemed to pain him to say it.

“Okay, they’re little. We’ll have to make our move, just make sure the news doesn’t affect our family.” Killian looked at me.

“Grace,” he leaned back in his seat and set aside the cane he has used since he was in the

clinic, “even if I hide it, I know this will come to light soon, and although I try to keep you out of it, it’s been blowing up in my face from the beginning, so what, does it matter if you find out now?” he said, and I didn’t quite understand what he meant. “The girl your son has married, and who is now supposedly the mother of his children, is Alaia Russell,” he mentioned, looking away.

“Russell?” I asked, puzzled. “Like Patrick and Darius Russell?”

“She is the daughter and granddaughter of the men you just mentioned.” Killian took a couple of pills with the orange juice that his butler had brought.

“How is that possible?” I stood up and paced back and forth, rubbing my forehead. Soon I felt dizzy. I think my blood pressure has dropped.

“But…we took that girl away from Nick in fear that she was a gold digger who was only interested in the family’s money.” I felt like I couldn’t breathe and fanned myself with my hand. The butler brought a glass of water and helped me sit down.

“I don’t understand any of this, Killian. What is all this about? We opposed Nick being married to the daughter of a powerful family. That makes no sense to me,” I snapped.

“We didn’t know she was Patrick’s daughter. At that time, the girl had her mother’s last name, and they were supposed to be two insignificant women,” he explained, “and I can’t believe what we’d done. Without that deception, my family would have been united with one even more renowned than Barbara’s family.”

“Do you realize what we’ve done? We’ve missed the great opportunity to connect with one of the most important families in Europe. How did you miss that detail?” I asked, almost shouting.

Killian shrugged and looked imperturbable, which I found strange, but I didn’t attach any importance to it.

“My grandchildren are Garnett Russells,” I said after pondering the matter for a couple of minutes.

“Now they’re your grandchildren?” my father–in–law asked, looking at me seriously.

“They are. I must connect with Alaia. I remember the girl. I saw her a while ago. She’s a true Russell. This couldn’t be more perfect,” I said, thinking about everything that lies ahead for us.

“You are not going to associate with them,” Killian orders.

“Killian, you must give up. Let go of the conflicts you had with that girl. Don’t you realize that there’s no longer any reason for her not to be in our family?” I said, standing up to pay a visit.

“Grace!” Killian called after me, but now I have something more important to do.

*****

“I just found out that your family and mine are related. You have no idea how happy that news makes me. Won’t you invite me in?” She looked at the house.

I exhaled. “What do you mean?” I could imagine, but I wanted her to clarify.

“The children are Garnett and Russells. Can you imagine how good that news would make our families look?”

“I imagine you are aware of my marriage to Nick two years ago.” I walked a little further.

“I admit it, darling, I knew. We can’t allow you two to continue to be married. We weren’t aware of your background. It was a mistake, but that’s in the past. I’m sure you can understand and forget those days,” she said, dismissing her actions. “Now we must think about our future, in which the Russells and the Garnetts are united by an unbreakable bond, my dear. I think we can start from scratch, introducing children into society. You’ll understand. You little snake.”

“Mrs. Garnett,” I said, and she gave me her full attention, “the fact that you came all the way here to mention only my last name and how wonderful it is that now my family and your family are united, when two years ago, you opposed my marriage to your son because I didn’t belong in your circle, makes you look like an insensitive and calculating person, who doesn’t care about my children, only about climbing higher in society, in an empty society that couldn’t care less.”

“What are you saying? Of course, I care about the children,” she said, putting a hand to her stomach.

“If you listened to your rant a few seconds ago, you might recall that you didn’t mention seeing them, meeting them, or even knowing their names. You only talked about the prestige they would bring to your family.” She looked uncomfortable. “You’ve shown who you are, and I refuse to let someone like you see them.”

“You can’t deny me the right to see my grandchildren!” she said, losing her temper.

“Don’t you dare call them that,” I said, annoyed. “That word doesn’t sound right coming from you. Now I’m asking you to leave my house, and I hope not to see you again. I will give orders not to allow you entry.”

“You can’t do this to me. I just…” she said sadly.

“Gavin, accompany the lady to the door.” I saw him nod and opened the car door for Grace. The woman pressed her purse to her chest and looked at me, raising her chin. Silently, she turns and gets into the vehicle.