brothers meet some very shady characters. They dig up dirt on people who want to keep their sins buried.”
Grayson’s scowl deepened to the point she could hide spare change in the creases in his forehead. “And you want to run the same kind of company?”
She stared at him and removed her sunglasses. “Ye sound worried about me.”
“I’d be worried about anyone who could die of toothpaste poisoning.”
“I’ve been studying the job possibilities around L.A. long enough to know what kind of work I could do. Mostly stuff for the studios. Oppo research. Ye know, finding out the dirt on a star before the tabloids do. Then there are the rich husbands who want pictures of their cheating wives.”
Grayson harrumphed loudly.
“And with a good staff,” she continued, the strength of her voice proved she’d put a lot of thought into this, “I could hire some goons to do any dirty work. I’d love to have Shane work with me. He’s so low on the pecking order with Ewan. With me, he’d be my second-in-command.”
“So why isn’t he out here with you now?” Grayson asked, turning into a cul-de-sac with a fountain in the center of the half-circle.
“I’m not prepared to pay him more than Ewan.”
Grayson parked the Aston Martin in an empty driveway and took the bags from the backseat. The houses in the development were all different styles, but painted the same color, keeping a cohesive look. He snagged a set of keys from his bag and opened the screen door. A stack of envelopes flopped to the ground from being wedged into the mail slot.
“Shoot,” he said and bent down to scoop it all up.
“I got it.” Sabine snagged them first and glanced at the name.
Marissa Hart.
Hmmm.
Please dun’t let it be some woman he married at The Graceland Wedding Chapel.
Pretending she didn’t notice the name, Sabine handed him the stack and he walked in. The marble floors and crystal chandelier wowed the hell out of her. Then on a console before a set of stairs to the main floor, she saw the pictures.
Grayson.
Luke.
Tristan.
Grayson’s best headshot, black and white making him look tortured and breathtakingly handsome at the same time.
Luke in a tuxedo and a woman with pink hair in a stunning wedding gown. Lexi. Grayson standing next to Luke.
Tristan and his bride, a woman whose name she didn’t know, on some kind of beach.
And...
In the center, an eight-by-ten framed photo of a baby.
Grayson froze.
“Is this yer mum’s house?”
He swallowed. “One of them. She has a house in Miami, too, but she’s selling it. She loves Vegas, so Luke bought her this vacation house. He’s always buying my mother stuff, showing off. She officially moved back to New York so she could...” He stared at the picture of the baby then took it in his hands. “This is Abigail. My niece. I haven’t even held her.” He brushed his hand across the glass. The big lug got emotional over a wee one. It was so sweet. By the look of the pictures, and that baby in a few other shots, she must be the only one.
“The filming schedule for A Day to Die had been grueling, I had no time off to go back home to New York. Then the movie came out, bombed, and I went into a tailspin. Pushing everyone away.”
“What’s going on, Grayson?”
“My mom... She knew where I was and why I stopped talking to Luke and Tristan. She’s been wiring me money and paying my rent.”
Sabine processed the information. No wonder he was so sensitive about letting her pay for dinner. The humiliation in his voice just now sounded so thick. “Why did ye talk to her and not yer brothers?”
“I’m not a monster. I wouldn’t let my mother worry like that.”
“But ye let yer brothers worry. Yer sisters. The mother of this wee one had to look at her and see yer face, Grayson.” The little girl was a replica of him.
“It all happened so fast, all right?” He put the picture down and looked up into an opulent spacious living room. “After the movie bombed those bastards ripped me apart. Lexi was studying for the bar. I didn’t want to dump my shit on them. It’s also why I didn’t go home. Laney... My other sister-in-law had a horrific pregnancy. The last few months she was on bed rest. Had all kinds of heart problems. And not just my brother being an overprotective maniac.” He took a breath. “Still, they all called me. How