Page 100 of Guarding Grace

“Who’s Mrs. Montefino?”

Fuck. I’d left the phone open to her message on the granite.

“Nobody,” I tried.

“Who’s her daughter?”

He’d vowed to always be honest with me, and now I felt trapped by his promise. “I am.”

His mouth dropped open. He knew our mom had left me and Pete when we were young, but not the complete story. “Sorry. Do you want to talk about it?”

“No.” That was one thing I was certain of.

“I’m here when you’re ready.”

I had nothing to say to that.

“I’m going out to check on Winston.”

“Okay.”

Once he disappeared, my mind spiraled.What if the Russo guys don’t listen to Lucas? What if they keep coming? Who else will get hurt?

I desperately wanted to snuggle in bed with Terry, but he’d made itclear he wasn’t in the mood.Drunk, my ass. So what if I need to take the edge off after all that’s happened?Finishing my wine, I walked unsteadily back to the sectional.

Opening my phone again, I called the number Elliot had used to call me this morning. It went to voicemail. “Elliot, things are getting bad,” I whispered. “You have to call me.” I stared at the phone. There wasn’t anything else to say, so I hung up.

“Grace?” Terry called. He wanted to ignore me when I needed him, so I could ignore him, couldn’t I?

I hadn’t meant to drink this much this evening, but the text threat to my neighbor had triggered me. And now, I’d been worn down by my Mom troubles. Returning to the kitchen, I poured the rest of the bottle into my glass. I should have asked about tequila to begin with. It would have gotten the job done quicker.

Footsteps sounded behind me. “You should get some sleep,” Terry’s voice came from the doorway.Talk about repetition.

I chugged the wine, set down my glass, and opened the fridge. “As soon as I get a refill.”

A second later, the glass was lifted from the island. “You’ve had enough for tonight.”

Yup, Terry was back in jailer mode. He could be so exasperating.

“I need another,” I complained. I really planned on at least two more.

“Won’t a hangover tomorrow make a poor impression with your customers? Go to bed. Now.”

“Yes, sir.” I saluted and closed the door before stomping off—and I could stomp with the best of them. It wasn’t fair to use logic against me.

Slamming the guest bedroom door closed, I searched through the things Constance had helped me unpack. Plenty of shoes, skirts, blouses, bras, and those damned thongs, but nothing to sleep in.

“That’s what you get when you have a badass SEAL pack for you,”Constance had said.

So, Zane wanted me to sleep naked. Well, screw that. Everyone was trying to force me to do things I didn’t want to do. I yanked open the door and yelled down the hall, “Do you have anything I can sleep in?”

“You can sleep in the nude. It’s healthier.”

“Arg.” I slammed the door shut. That’s when I spotted the wine bottle I’d brought in earlier.

A minute and two quick swallows later, a knock sounded at the door. “I have a T-shirt, if that will help.”

Finally, some compassion from my jailer. I hid the bottle and opened the door. “Thank you.”