17| Goodbyes are hard sometimes

Grace stood outside in front of the mansion she'd been living in

for the past few weeks, the weather outside gave reference to her mood

as the grey clouds above her threatened to rain.

"We'll see you soon Gracie" Debbie called out of the window of the black SUV that began reversing out of the driveway.

With a wave she said her goodbyes to her siblings, goodbye felt too final.

Grace knew she'd see them again in a few weeks once Victor figured out

why the Demani gang was after her but Grace couldn't help the gloomy

feeling that pressed against her chest thinking about not having Debbie

or Owen or even Liam around. For the very first time in her whole twenty

years of life, she was completely and utterly alone and she had no idea

how she would be able to handle that. She walked inside through the

large double doors, as tears stung her hazel eyes. She would not cry, it

wasn't forever, they'd be back - she kept telling herself but it wasn't

working. Swallowing the lump in her throat and the tears that were left

unshed she made her way up to her bedroom, the depression of today

resting heavily on her shoulders. In three days, so much had happened

that she couldn't even begin to have her brain process all of it. She

climbed into the large king-sized bed, finally allowing herself to sob

until eventually the sounds of her cries lulled her to sleep.

"Miss Brennan!" Darla's voice said loudly waking her, Grace peeked her head

out of the covers to see Darla looking at her tapping her foot

impatiently "you need to get up and dressed or else you'll miss dinner"

"I'm not hungry" Grace groaned

"I don't think Mr. Bernardi will care very much whether your hungry or not" Darla

preached, she went into Grace's closet, going through the dresses as

Grace got up out of bed. "Here we go" Darla handed Grace a mid-length

flowy red satin dress with a sweetheart neckline.

"This is a bit extravagant for dinner isn't it?" Grace asked looking at the dress

"Mr. Bernardi requested a private dinner with you," Darla said quickly "Down at the lake"

"There's a lake?" Grace asked surprised

"It's a big property dear, get dressed, you don't have much time," Darla said quickly as she exited the room.

Grace sighed going into the closet, she removed the grey sweatpants and top

before slipping into the red dress. She looked at herself in the mirror,

groaning. How could she possibly make herself look decent? Sighing she

brushed through her hair before pinning it into a bun at the top of her

head. She found a black strappy heel to match the dress before applying

some light makeup. This would just have to do - she thought to herself

before making her way downstairs.

"Are you ready miss Brennan?" One of Victor's men asked waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs.

Grace nodded, following the man as he walked through the living area out to

the garden. She followed along silently as they walked through the

foot way in the garden, past the staff quarters to a part that Grace had

never seen before. Calling it a garden at this point was an

understatement. She paid attention as they reached a clearing of trees,

with fairy lights illuminating the walkway through the forest of trees

until the lake became visible.

"Right through there Miss Brennan," the man said as he stopped walking. Grace

looked at the house right by the lake, completely made of glass. She saw

Victor's outline waiting for her inside. She thanked the man before

walking the short way where Victor held the door open for her. She

couldn't help but marvel at the beauty of this building. Completely

surrounded by trees, green grass, and the dark blue of the lake, you

could see everything through the glass walls.

"You look beautiful," Victor's voice said pulling grace from her thoughts. He was

in his usual black Armani suit. To Grace, he looked beautiful every

day.

"Thank you" she blushed as she stepped inside.

Inside the glasshouse was just as beautiful as the outside. In the middle of

the room sat a table for two, champagne poured into two floots. Around

the room were bouquets of red roses, too many for her to count. The

entire room was littered with candles. It was something Grace had only

seen in movies or read in books.

Victor held out a chair for Grace, pushing it in as she sat, still speechless

from the entire situation. She watched as Victor sat down opposite her.

"Are we on a date?" She asked quickly, not feeling nervous at his presence for the first time.

"I suppose so" Victor smiled amused "I can only assume that your day was upsetting"

"It was hard saying goodbye to Debbie and Owen" Grace admitted

"It's not forever" Victor assured her

"I know," She said softly before taking a sip of the champagne in front of her.

"Darla said you missed lunch?" Victor asked taking a sip of his champagne

"I was asleep" Grace admitted suddenly feeling nervous

"You need to eat properly Grace. I won't have you dying of malnutrition" Victor

rolled his eyes making Grace giggle "is something funny?" He raised one

of his dark brows.

"It's just that you have so much going on and yet you're lecturing me on my eating habits" Grace smiled

"I'm great at multitasking" Victor smirked.

They sat silently for a moment as one of the staff members brought out shrimp for starters.

"Can I ask you a question?" Grace asked feeling brave, under normal circumstances, she wouldn't have dared

"Yes?"

"Do you like what you do?" That was a loaded question Victor thought. No one had ever asked him that

"I don't think any one of us likes this business" He admitted

"Then why do you do it?"

"It's my legacy, as it was my father's and his before that and his before that"

Victor explained "and it will be my son's legacy after me"

"What happens if you have a daughter?" Grace asked

"Then we'll try again for a son"

Her heart gave a thump at the word we.

"What if you only have daughters?"

"Then it will be Vincent's job to take over and his son after that," Victor said taking a bite of his food.

"Sounds a bit sexist" Grace mumbled

"It's just the way it's always been. The woman in our family are very valued,

they make heirs, and we wouldn't want them at risk." Victor took a sip

of his champagne "however should I have a daughter and she's proven to

be able to do the job properly then there's no reason for her not to

take over the business.

"I see"

The pair sat quietly finishing up their starters.

"I have something for you," Victor said as the staff cleared the table and left

the room. He took out a small velvet box, handing it to Grace. She

opened the box finding a pair of teardrop diamond earrings

"This is beautiful," She said in complete awe

"Then why are you frowning?" Victor asked

"All your gifts are too much, I don't deserve this" She sighed

"I told you the woman in our family are valued," He said nonchalantly

"I'm not a part of your family" Grace closed the box looking at him.

Victor was deep in thought for a moment before looking

back up at Grace, his green eyes holding the truth behind them "not

yet." He assured her as heat rose to her cheeks at the promise.