Page 99 of High Reward

Victor nods. “Take whatever time you need. But Grace, look at me.”

I lift my eyes to meet his, and he brushes a wayward curl out of my face. “You’re not alone in this. Not for a second.”

I reach for his hand, needing his warmth. The solid strength of his fingers around mine grounds me, and I need that right now, because everything else is so unsteady beneath my feet.

“Is there anything else?” I ask, suddenly desperate to make sure he’s telling me everything. “Anything else I should be aware of about Sampson or Kara or… anything?”

Victor hesitates. Just a fraction of a second, but I catch it and my stomach drops again.

“What?” I demand. “What else aren’t you telling me?”

Victor takes a deep breath and meets my eyes. “There is one more thing. My father made an… insinuation. About you and Griffin Price.” He watches my face closely, gauging my reaction. “He suggested that the two of you had some kind of intimate relationship in the past.”

For a second, I’m too stunned to respond. Then indignation roils through me.

“What?” I stand up so quickly that Victor has to lean back to avoid my shoulder hitting him. “That’s absurd. That’s…” I shake my head, pulse pounding with rage. “I’ve never had any kind of relationship with Griffin Price. I didn’t even know who he was until he showed up at the club.”

Victor rises and puts a reassuring hand on my shoulder. “I didn’t believe him, Grace. But I needed to ask you about it.”

“Why would your father even suggest such a thing?” I demand, anger morphing into confusion. “How would he have private information about me or my past?”

“My father has resources. Eyes and ears everywhere.” Victor’s voice tightens with a bitterness reserved only for his family. “He likes having information no one else has. Especially about people close to me.”

I press my hands against my face, trying to make sense of this new complication. First Sampson’s suicide, then Kara hunting me, now this bizarre accusation about Griffin Price.

Victor pulls my hands down and squeezes them.

“The night Price was in the club. Lili said that you told her he looked familiar and was making you uncomfortable. Have you figured out why he looked familiar?”

I close my eyes trying to picture his face. There was something about him, but I couldn’t place it.

“There was definitely a familiarity about him. Not exactly like I knew who he was.” I sit back down on the edge of the bed, trying to remember more, but the memories are just blurred faces and vibes instead of specifics. “More like Deja vu.”

The night at the club replays in my mind. Griffin’s arrogant stance, the coldness in his eyes. The way he looked at me with a flash of something. Recognition? Interest? I’d written it off asthe usual attention a newcomer gives the submissives at a BDSM club. But what if it was more?

Something about his eyes sparked a vague memory. “Kara used to have a visitor,” I say slowly as the memory becomes clearer. “This was maybe six months before I left. A man who would come by the house when Sampson was traveling for work. She always said he was a colleague from her department at the university but…”

Victor sits beside me but doesn’t touch me.

“I walked in on them once. In the den. The door was ajar, and I heard voices. Kara was laughing the way she only did when she was flirting. When I opened the door, they were standing close together. Too close for my comfort.”

The memory sharpens. Kara’s startled face, the man turning away quickly. Kara’s overly friendly explanation about discussing an issue with her research.

“I never knew his name. He left right after that, and I was never home when he visited again. But his build, his posture… it could have been Griffin.”

Victor’s expression is unreadable. “You think Kara was having an affair?”

“I was never sure. Things were already strained between the three of us by then.” I drag a hand through my hair, wayward curls falling into my face as I drag my hand away. “Sampson was traveling a lot more. Kara was drinking too much. I was working extra shifts at my campus job and studying in the library to avoid coming home. We were falling apart before I left, and I wasn’t convinced they would make it past their next anniversary with the way they constantly fought.”

“And you never mentioned the potential affair to Sampson?”

I shake my head. “What would I say? That I’m accusing his wife of cheating on both of us based on a laugh and a glimpse of a man I never officially met or saw clearly enough to recognizehim again? It would have destroyed what little was left of our relationship. Kara was already convinced I wanted Sampson to leave her for me, and that’s just not the case.” I press my fingers against my temples, fighting a growing headache. “There was no proof. Just a nagging sense that something was off.”

Victor stands and moves the mini fridge in the corner of the suite. He takes out a bottle of water, uncaps it, and hands it to me without a word. I drink deeply, the cool liquid soothing my suddenly dry throat.

“So, if it was Griffin,” Victor says after a moment, “that creates a link between him and Kara. A connection that could explain why he’s been watching us.”

“But I can’t be certain it’s him,” I stress. “I never knew the man’s name, never even had a conversation with him. It’s just a possibility.”