Loving You (#3.5 FFAW) | ✓

Chapter 7

All Rights Reserved

-∞-Chapter 7-∞-

"What?"

Perhaps, Grayson thought to himself that he may have answered wrongly if Claire's outraged and shocked expression was anything to go by. "What do you mean you know everything?" She demanded as she stood up and stared at him, her eyes wide and frantic with a hint of suspicion in them.

"It means I have a rough guess of what you might be telling me."

"Have you been digging up my past?" She asked quietly as she stared at him and her cheeks were a little flushed from anger. Grayson shook his head and answered quickly, "No."

He knew that to soothe her ire, it was best to tell the truth as soon as possible unlike his brother who thought it was best to shove compliments all in one go when his sister-in-law was mad at him.

"Then what did you mean by 'you know'?"

Now this was something he wasn't too keen on sharing. His mother was a very sensitive topic. Even now at thirty-seven, he still felt guilt about it and it horrified him that he couldn't really remember what she looked like.

It had been his fault.

His mother had died when she protected Sebastian after their father went after his brother when Grayson ran away from home. The guilt from so long still hung on shoulders. Of course when he was seventeen, he killed his father and no, Grayson had no feelings of guilt about that. His father had been a monster and to be honest with himself, Grayson felt victorious after his father had died. What would Claire say if she knew?

"Grayson," Claire prompted impatiently, making his attention snap back to her. Her eyes were guarded and she was tensed, her posture rigid and she seemed to be edging further away from him. Grayson didn't particularly like that.

"I could...tell," he offered lamely, hoping that she would accept it - even though it was the truth - but of course she didn't.

"What do you know?" she demanded, her eyes were wary and she resembled a coiled spring that was sprung so tightly that it seemed that she could snap any moment.

He hesitated, unsure on how to respond but he knew he had to respond quickly, Claire looked like she was about to kick him out soon so he opened his mouth to explain. "That your ex-husband is...abusive."

Just saying that out loud made Grayson grit his teeth along with clenching his jaw. No one should be in an abusive relationship like his mother. It didn't matter if the person being abused was a male or a female, no one should have to go through that experience.

Sometimes, Grayson debated on hunting for his maternal grandparents for forcing his mother to marry their monster of a father but they were in Russia and it was such a big country that even he had no idea if they were still alive.