Page 55

“Nope. Gramps is still stuck on the fact that I left Caleb to be with you.”

Actually, I think he’s now stuck on the fact that she’s with a Zordi, but I’m not gonna tell her that. Not yet. First, I need to figure out why and how two Zordis got their hands on an Ordinary girl and have pretended to be her grandparents for the past twenty-some years.

A pair of light feet shuffles down the hall until Roxy reappears in the living room. She locks her eyes on me. “Phil would like to speak to you in the kitchen, please. Just you.”

“No!” Arella shouts. “I’m not going to allow Grandpa to keep talking to my boyfriend like that.”

I love the sound of that. My boyfriend . I’d like the sound of my fiancé better, but boyfriend is acceptable for now.

Arella and I have been careful about only showing affection to each other in private.

My band doesn’t know about her yet, but Liz and Colton do.

Basically, we’re trying to keep the number of people who know about our relationship as low as possible.

Hopefully, that will help keep us off the zovernment’s radar.

Introducing me to Arella’s grandparents was something we debated for weeks.

When I get to my feet, Arella does too. “I’m coming with you,” she says.

“No, Ari. Grandpa wants—” Roxy starts.

“Relax, babe.” I place a gentle hand over her shoulder. “I can handle him. Just let us talk, man to man.” Zordi to Zordi.

She stares at me for a long heartbeat before finally relenting. “The second he gives you any flak, you come straight back here, and we’re leaving, okay? I don’t care that it’s Christmas. The way Grandpa’s acting is unacceptable.”

I plant a tender kiss against her forehead, and just because Roxy’s watching, I make sure it’s extra-long. When I finally draw back, I cup my girl’s cheek. “I’ll be fine, babe. Did you forget my childhood? Nothing he can say will break through my thick skin.”

Roxy steps aside as I pass her to find the kitchen.

At the square table, Phil is seated in one of the four chairs. He points to the chair across from him, and I take it. For a few breaths, he doesn’t say anything. His eyes never leave me either.

It’s times like these when I wish I could read minds, not emotions. I want to know what he’s thinking, not what he’s feeling. I don’t need my powers to know he’s furious. The death glare he’s shooting my way is evident enough.

“How much?” he asks.

I wait for him to finish, because is it just me, or is “how much” not a complete question? “How much what?”

From his lap, he lifts a checkbook and a pen. “How much will it take for you to walk away?”

Is he serious? The idea that anyone thinks it’s possible to pay me to leave Arella is so ridiculous, I laugh.

“You think this is funny? I’m not joking, boy. Now tell me, how much? Name your price. I’ll write you a check. You walk out this door”—he hooks a thumb toward the exit behind him—“and you never see or speak to my granddaughter ever again.”

My granddaughter. Such audacious words.

I lean toward him over the table as my laughter dies. In a low tone, I say, “There’s not enough money in this world to get me to walk away from her.”

Phil doesn’t hear a single word from my mouth. “How’s ten thousand?”

I shake my head.

“Twenty?”

“No.”

“A hundred?”

“Nope.”

“Come on, boy. You’re a good-for-nothin’ musician. Imagine what a hundred grand could do for you.”

I laugh deep in my chest. When I’m almost done laughing, I laugh some more, just to drill in my point of how fucking stupid this is. “Your money isn’t worth anything to me. I make more than a hundred grand a month.”

“Yeah, right!” Phil half sneers, half scoffs. “How the hell do you make that kind of living?”

“Royalties.”

“From what? You’re not the guy who invented the Internet.”

“Nope. Better. My parents invented healing products.”

Phil’s entire face falls as his eyes turn to slits. “What did you say your last name was?”

I never said my last name earlier, but if he knows Zordi history, he should already know my last name. “It’s Grant. Trey Grant. My parents are?—”

Phil’s chair tumbles behind him with a loud crash! He seizes me by my neck and pins me against the wall before I can take another breath. I gasp for air as he tightens his vise grip around my throat.

“How did you find her?” he growls into my face for only me to hear.

This man is lucky that Arella thinks he’s her grandpa. Resisting the urge to punch the gray-haired motherfucker in the face, I claw at his fingers clenched around my neck.

“How did you find her?” he repeats louder.

“What . . . are . . . you . . . talking about?” I say through the little breathing space I have.

Arella bursts into the kitchen, screaming as she grabs Phil’s arm. “Stop! Stop!”

Phil barely moves. He’s strong for a guy in his late seventies.

“Grandpa, stop!” Arella punches at his arms, but it does nothing.

“Phil!” Roxy shouts. “Let the boy go!”

My relentless attacker finally releases me. I brace myself against the table, coughing as my lungs take in the precious air they were deprived of.

“What is wrong with you?” Arella scolds the man she thinks she’s related to. She puts a hand over my shoulder. “Are you okay, honey?”

Nope. I’m still gasping for air as I force a nod. “I’m okay.”

“Get away from him!” Phil grabs Arella by the arm and yanks her toward him. At least, he tries to.

She jerks her arm back and locks it and her other arm around my bicep. “What are you doing?”

“Protecting you! This man is dangerous!” Phil tries to grab her again, but she refuses to allow it.

I’m not dangerous—not to Arella—but I’m about to be pretty fucking dangerous to him if he keeps trying to touch her like that.

Arella stomps her foot. “Will you stop and tell me what’s going on? Why are you acting like this?”

Phil turns to his wife. “Go make the call. We need to end this now.”

“End what?” Arella shrieks so loudly, it hurts my ears.

Roxy doesn’t move.

“Rox!” Phil’s face is turning red. “I said, go make the call!”

Roxy looks at Phil, then at Arella, then at me, then back at Phil. I wish I knew what she was thinking, because it’s definitely not about making a phone call. Who the hell does Phil want her to call, anyway? It’s not the zovernment, because then, they’d be in just as much trouble as I’d be.

“Will someone tell me what the fuck is going on?” Arella screams to the ceiling.

Hold on. Did she just say fuck ? After she warned me not to swear?

“I’ll tell you what’s going on,” Phil says. “This man is not who you think he is. You need to get as far away from him as possible. He’s using you.”

“No, he’s not!” Arella shouts with so much conviction, I don’t feel the need to defend myself. “Trey loves me, and I love him.”

“It’s true,” I add, intertwining my fingers with hers. “I love Arella—with all my heart.”

The room goes silent as Phil and Roxy digest that. They gape at me with their mouths wide open. I think I’ve put them in shock.

Phil keeps his glare on me as if the second he looks away, I’ll turn into a monster and eat Arella alive in front of him. “Rox?”

The old woman shakes her head. “I—I can’t tell.”

“What do you mean, you can’t tell? Obviously, the boy is lying! I was only asking you for confirmation of what we already know.”

“Well, my alarm didn’t go off.”

“What the hell are you talking about? Of course it did! You just missed it!”

A slow smile spreads across my cheeks as the realization dawns on me. Suddenly, a plan begins forming in my head.

Phil shoots a killer look my way. “Wipe that stupid grin off your face and get the hell out of my house.”

Arella tugs on my arm. “Let’s go, Trey.”

“No!” Phil points a stern finger at her. “Not you.”

“Seriously, Grandpa? Trey has done nothing wrong, and you’re treating him like he’s a rabies-infected wild animal.”

“Wild animals are more humane than the Grant family.”

Roxy gasps. “The Grant family?”

“Yes, Rox. They’ve finally found her. This boy is related to the Grants.”

Roxy slaps a hand over her chest. “Oh no! Ari, please listen to your grandpa. Get away from that man.”

“What?” Arella’s face falls. “Just now, in the living room, you said you would give him a chance.”

“That was before I knew who he was,” Roxy says.

“He’s manipulating you!” Phil yells. “That’s what he does. That’s what the entire Grant family does.”

“Everybody shut up!” My yell silences them all. “I think I know how to clear this up. Well, some of it.” I try to free my arm from Arella’s grip, but she only hangs on tighter. “It’s okay, babe. You can let me go.”

“No.”

“Trust me. It’s okay.”

Slowly, she releases me, and I take a step to the side to make sure our skin isn’t touching and, more importantly, that her immunity isn’t projecting onto me. Then I clear my throat, square my shoulders, and look straight into Roxy’s eyes.

“I am not in love with Arella.” I give Roxy a moment to process that before I continue. “I do not currently have a diamond ring in my pocket—one that I haven’t been carrying around for the last two weeks.”

“Honey, what are you doing?” Arella asks me.

I put my hand out to Arella, palm forward. “Just trust me.” I lock my attention back onto Roxy. “Every day for the last two weeks, I have not been asking Arella to marry me because I do not have plans to spend the rest of my life with her.”

“Trey,” Arella says.

“Hold on. I’ve got one more. Arella is not currently pregnant with my baby, and I’m not thrilled out of my mind about starting a family with her.”

Arella backhands my chest. “Trey!”

Last night, Arella and I agreed that we wouldn’t mention the baby to her grandparents, but since we’re letting everything air out, I made the split-second executive decision to air that one out too.

A huge grin spreads across my face. “Tell us, Grandma Roxy, how many of those were lies?”

Her eyes are watery. “All of them. Every single one.”

“What?” Phil wheezes. “How is that possible?”

Keeping my grin wide, I close the gap between Arella and me, then I circle an arm around her waist. “Great! Now that that’s settled, if you still wanna kick me out, I’ll happily leave now.

But I’m taking my girl with me, and if either of you try to stop me”—I drop my voice into a low growl—“I’ll blast you with a fireball. ”

Arella’s jaw drops. “Trey!”

“Oh, shit! I forgot one.” I let go of Arella’s hand and step away again. Looking back into Roxy’s eyes, I say, “Arella does not already know about our kind.”

Roxy gasps, slapping both hands against her chest. “Lie.”