Page 49 of Sealing the Deal

“And I’m meeting friends,” Helena announces, as desperate to leave as I am. She’s out the front door ahead of us, waving over her shoulder as she disappears into her own town car. I’ll call her tomorrow and check she’s OK.

Flic doesn’t speak as we descend the steps and into the waiting car. I don’t blame her. My father has just planted the idea that I’m playing with the Stormhawks until I get bored and then I’ll tear them apart. I told her that’s what my father thinks. That’s the role I play. Does she believe that?

I’ve never minded that label before. Let them think I’m ruthless. It keeps people at a distance. Keeps my father believing my good deeds are part of an elaborate cover. When it’s a building I’m redeveloping, I visit the residents one by one. I tell them my plans and show them who I am by my actions. The Stormhawks fans have been harder to convince, and we’re a long way from safe. But right now, it’s the thought of Flic believing I’m like my father that feels like a knife twisting in my chest. I can’t stand it. Not from her. Somewhere in the short, chaotic time we’ve spent together, she’s become someone whose opinion matters to me. Someone I want to see the best of me, not the worst.

My gaze doesn’t move from her as we cut through New York traffic. Then she turns, blue eyes cutting straight through me, and my stomach drops as she says, “I know why you really bought the Stormhawks. And it wasn’t just about belonging and helping Donny.”

TWENTY-ONE

FLIC

“Flic—” There’s a warning to Grayson’s tone I ignore.

I shake my head before Grayson can finish whatever he’s about to say, and he falls silent. I played along tonight. Smiled when I needed to. Held my ground. Let his father think whatever poisonous little thoughts he wanted to. But the car door has closed, the brownstone is already sliding out of view behind us, and the time for games is over. Because I’ve finally figured out the missing piece to why Grayson bought the Stormhawks. Yes, he wanted to be part of something that matters. Yes, he wanted to help his best friend. But they’re not the only reasons.

Outside, New York rushes past in a blur of light and shadow. Towering buildings, glowing storefronts, taxis slicing through the dark. The sky above is black and starless. Charles Ashborne’s words hum in my head. Not the way he’d tried to paint Grayson as ruthless, but his mention of Denver’s potential and the way Grayson tensed by my side.

“Five years ago, you were building skyscrapers and eco-cities halfway across the world. Making more money than I could spend in ten lifetimes.”

Grayson stays quiet.

“But then something happened,” I say. “Something that changed you. You came back to New York and put your focus into supporting communities. Creating affordable housing. Keeping businesses alive.” I glance at him. “I don’t know what that thing was, and you don’t have to tell me.”

He’s very still now.

“But you developed some kind of hero complex,” I say.

He makes a face. “Hero complex? You think I’ve got a cape under this suit?”

“I think,” I say, meeting his eyes, “that you want to help people. I think you’re desperate to, in fact.”

My words hit. I see it in the way Grayson shifts in his seat, loosening his tie, but he says nothing. The car hums softly around us.

“Like buying the Stormhawks to save Donny and the Huberts from going bankrupt or having to sell to someone else.” I pause. “Someone like Ashborne Holdings.”

The words hang between us, the truth landing as hard on me as it does on Grayson now I’ve said them out loud.

He nods slowly. “My father has his spies, but we have ours, too. There are some people who are loyal to us inside Ashborne Holdings. When my father starts taking an interest in a failing business, I usually hear about it before he’s even formed a team to assess its potential.”

A chill sweeps through me.

“I imagine he saw the real estate first,” Grayson says. “The stadium land and training facility. Prime assets if you don’t give a damn about the people attached to them.”

It’s exactly what I thought Grayson was doing. “So, you approached Donny to warn him?” I ask.

Another nod. “I bought the majority share to keep the team out of Ashborne Holdings’ hands. But that doesn’t mean they’re safe yet. And the only way Donny would agree for me to buy the team was if I promised I wouldn’t pour any more of my own money in after the purchase. He didn’t want me to keep throwing money at the problem. He needed my help, but now he wants us to fix the Stormhawks properly.”

Reality hits as I see how close we came to falling into Charles’s hands. How easily everything the city loves could have been dismantled. And the trouble we’re still facing.

“I’m sorry,” I say quietly. “I’m sorry I doubted you at the start.”

Grayson’s mouth tilts into something that isn’t quite a smile. “You had every right to.” He stares out the window for a moment before turning back to me. “I could do more to improve my image and distance myself from the Ashborne name, but I don’t.”

“Because of your father.”

He nods and we fall silent. I think of all the masks Grayson wears and all the people he’s trying to help, and I wonder how he doesn’t break under the pressure he’s clearly placing on himself. Again, I wonder why he’s doing all this, and what happened to make him return to New York and change his life so completely.

The car pulls up outside the apartment building, and I accept Grayson’s hand when he offers it, warm fingers wrapping around mine as he guides me from the car to the lobby. The elevator doors slide shut, sealing us into the small space. His familiar cologne wraps around me once more, and the silence between us feels heavy with the unsettling knowledge that this man is one of the good ones, and I’m done pretending I don’t want him.