57. Negotiations part 2

"And why would we do that? Your brother has gone on record labeling SHIELD as a terrorist organization and going to destroy it. As his family, we must support him and while we have no love for Hydra at least it hasn't been receiving the negative press that SHIELD has." said Belinda

"I realized that but as we established earlier appearances can be deceiving," Grant said slowly pausing to let the barb sink in. Cort flushed but Belinda didn't break her gaze "SHIELD both needs and deserves your support we are hoping to get it voluntary but if necessary I can give you other reasons why you will do what I ask."

"Let me get this straight," Christian broke in "Are you blackmailing us? Cheating on my wife might be frowned upon but that's not enough to make us do anything."

Grant shook his head and smiled. "Blackmail is such an ugly word Christian. I prefer to call it.... leverage. And I am not worried about your mistress that's your wife's concern. I would rather focus on things you definitely don't want other people to know you know smallest things like embezzlement from children's Charity" Grant pointed to Belinda "electoral fraud and voter suppression" he pointed to Cort and "Trading government funding for traditional weapons and alien artifacts" he finished as he mockingly tipped up a pretend hat to Christian. Silence swept over the living room the distinct taste of dismay and ruin in the air. Grant leaned back in his chair folded his arms surveying his family's distress with satisfaction. Who has the power now?

All the color had drained from Cort's face he took a sip of his drink from a shaking hand and placed it carefully on the table next to him, he leaned forward and ask in a low voice "How could you possibly know all that?"

"Cort!" Belinda snapped. "Not. Another. Word!"

He turned to face her "What's the point in pretending Belinda? It's clear that Grant knows all of our secrets and he is angry enough with us to use them. It's time to cut your losses we either agree to these terms or prepare for ruin."

"See I knew you were intelligent one in the family," said Grant with a smirk on his face.

Christian smirked at Grant. "They always said the same thing about you."

"Well, who could blame them?" Grant chuckled as he watched Christian realize what he had said. "But before we go any further. I haven't even told you all of my demands. Those were just for SHIELD. My personal demands have to do with the monetary claims I have on the Ward family assets." He paused to let them absorb that blow. "According to the terms of Gram's will, I am entitled to one-third of the estate. Given that at the time of her death, her state was 900 million dollars, simple math dictates that 300 million dollars off that are mine."

"Now just wait a minute" Christians spluttered

"No, you need to wait" Grant calmly interrupted. "Since I never showed up to claim my portion, you didn't take the troubles of altering the will or making it difficult for me to obtain my share, so acceding to that demand should be simple. You do that or face going to court. Not only will all of your ugly secrets come out but you will also lose the money anyways since my one-third share was Gram's undisputed wish. So I think you will all easily agree to that."

Cort looked at Belinda for an intense moment. Christian apparently smart enough to remain silent and let them have their discussion. After Belinda gave a short nod, Cort turned to Grant. "We will agree to that. I must say I was never so surprised as the day I read her will. I have no idea why she decided to split the state into thirds but you are right it was her last wish."

"If none of you have any clue as to why she gave me so much, then you didn't know her at all." Grant let that sink in. "But as I said, that was the easy part. I also want a large part of the Ward family assets" Grant paused yet again. "Let's cut to the chase here. For whatever reason, the three of you always hated me. I can't claim to know why or convince you of how wrong you are. That's not what I am here to do. What SHIELD want's you to do - to support them against Hydra - is the right thing to do for this country and for the world. I think you know that. What I want you to do for me is to cash me out of this family, payment for my time and suffering if you will is the right thing to do for me. I think you know that too. If you give me this I will never darken your door again. I will truly be gone from your lives. But if you don't and please believe me when I say, a part of me wishes that you won't then I will make your life a living hell. I will destroy you and don't think for a minute that I can't. Not only am I SHIELD but I am a specialist in SHIELD there is little I can't do and all was that thing I won't."

Once again, a dismayed silence punctuated the room. This time, it was different because it was flavored with an emotion other than fear. Grant was more than a little shocked by the fleeting looks of shame and guilt from both Belinda and Cort he knew from the memory of previous Grant that his father knew that the way they treated Grant was wrong but he never imagined that his mother did too. Before he could dwell too much on that, Christian's apparent in internal struggle caught Grant's attention. He could almost see how the fear was overtaken by anger and Christian's effort to keep in control.

Christians sneer towards Grant was truly impressive. "I don't know what you are talking about. No one hated you. That was one of the stories you told other people to get them to feel sorry for you. Poor, misunderstood Grant. And Grams bought it hook, line and sinker." He shook his head in disgust. "If anything, we treated you better than you deserved given how awful you were to us. You tried to burn me alive! And now you are trying to blackmail us out of our hard-earned money and reputations?" He sat back, crossed his arms, and smirked "You know what I think? I think that SHIELD would never allow you to do anything to us, especially not with their reputation in such serious trouble and with me being a sitting United States Senator. I even doubt how good you are at your job. After all, look at where SHIELD is today. Everyone knows that an organization is only as good as its employees"

"Well, now I know how you became a Senator, Christian. Those are some nice arguments"