The Bonus

“So with that in mind, I’ll bring it up now for you to see.” I talk on speaker as I screen share my computer. I drag up another spreadsheet and my mobile phone rings on my desk, I glance at the screen and see the name Elias.

I frown, Elias is the guard I left in Greenville with Grace.

“I have to take this call; I’ll place you on hold for a minute.” I hold the call and answer my mobile. “Hi, what’s wrong?”

“Well…” He pauses. “I wouldn’t say anything is wrong as such, more so peculiar. I’m just calling to check as to why you wouldn’t tell me about the visit.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Your mother is here.”

I frown. “What do you mean, here?”

“Your mother is in Greenville.”

“What?” My eyes bulge from their sockets. “What do you fucking mean?” I stand from my chair. “Do not let her near Grace, do you hear me?”

“Too late, she’s already in her office.”

“What?” I scream. I hang up and immediately dial my mother’s number.

No answer.

Fuck.

I call Grace’s number as I begin to pace…

Ring ring…ring ring…

Pick up.

The phone number you have called is not

available right now

“Fuck.”

I dial my mother’s number and she declines the call… “Don’t you fucking dare,” I explode, rage fills me and I could crumble the phone with my bare hand. I call Elias.

“Hey.”

“Where are they?”

“In Grace’s office.”

“Put my mother on the phone,” I growl.

“What…”

“Right. Fucking. Now,” I yell.

I hear him knock on the door. Knock, knock, knock. Knock, knock, knock. I can feel his panic through the phone.

“Forgive me for intruding, Mrs. Ferrara. Gabriel wants to speak to you as a matter of urgency,” he says.

The phone goes dead as she hangs up on me.

“Don’t you fucking dare!” I explode.

I frantically scroll through my phone until I get to Frank, my mother’s driver, and I dial his number.

“Hell . . .”

“Where the fuck are you?” I scream.

“Ah…”

“Why the hell would you allow my mother to go to Maine?”

“She said you knew.”

“I did not know. Go into that office and remove her immediately. She’s not allowed near Grace Porter under any circumstance, do you understand me?”

“How do I remove her from the office?”

“Drag her out by the fucking hair if you have to,” I scream.

“Hang on, they’re coming out now.”

I listen.

“Oh no,” he mutters.

“What?”

“The security guards are escorting your mother out onto the street.”

My eyes widen, Grace has had her kicked out. That means they’ve had a fight.

“Why would she go there!” I yell, I’ve never been so angry. “You get her the fuck back to New York right now.” I hang up and call Mark.

“Hi.”

“Organize the jet to go to Greenville.”

“When for?”

“As soon as possible. My mother has just been escorted out of Grace’s office by security.”

“Oh fuck…” he murmurs. “That’s not good.”

“You think!” I growl. “We need to get there as soon as possible.”

“Okay, on it.” He hangs up and I pace back and forth as I try to calm myself down. I try to call Grace again and it goes straight to voice mail, her phone is switched off.

If you’ve fucked this up for me, Mom… I swear to god.

I try to call my mother, again her phone is also switched off.

I’m about to explode.

My phone rings, it’s Mark.

“Bad news,” he answers.

“What now?”

“We can’t get clearance to leave the airport until seven tonight.”

“Why not?”

“The airspace is full, that’s the earliest we can leave.”

“This is the day from hell.” I drag my hands through my hair. “Fine, that will have to do.” I hang up in a rush and my intercom buzzes. “What?” I scream as I lose the last of my patience.

“Mr. Ferrara, are you continuing your meeting, the attendees are all waiting online, sir.”

Fuck…the meeting, I forgot all about it.

Umm…I try to refocus.

“Get them to break for lunch, restart the meeting in half an hour.” I hang up and call my mother again.

The phone number you have called is not

available right now

My blood boils as the sky turns red.

I’m going to kill her with my bare hands.

Grace

I sit in the darkness and stare out over the lake from my back porch. It’s 9 p.m. The children are tucked tightly in bed and yet I still can’t calm down.

I’m livid, furious beyond belief.

Deb has been over here trying to damage control my heart, but it’s impossible.

Mrs. Ferrara’s hurtful words keep coming back to me, over and over again like a megaphone on repeat.

If you think you can hold my son ransom with your bastard illegitimate children, think again.

I hate that I let her get to me.

Let me guess… You seduced him on his desk one night after work? I’m assuming you were wearing something sexy, maybe a suspender belt that you purposely let him see? And the earth moved for you…but he wanted nothing to do with you after? I’ll let you in on a little secret, Grace Porter. Gabriel has had sex with most of his PAs. You are nothing special…I mean, look at you.

You know what, she hit the nail on the head…that’s exactly how it happened. I went to his office late at night and…oh, my heart constricts with shame.

I wipe a lone tear that escapes from my eye.

His family are nothing to us, why should I care what they think of me?

My history with Gabriel Ferrara seems to be repeating itself; he’s been back for not even two weeks and already I feel like a worthless piece of crap.

Him being around is just not good for me, everything about him reminds me of a time when I felt weak and vulnerable.

Deb thinks I should have taken the twenty million, the Ferrara family would still hate me, of course, but no more than they already do, and at least then I wouldn’t have to worry about money. Even if I just put ten million in a trust fund for each child until they reached the age of twenty-one, it would still be beneficial.

I wouldn’t have to deal with any of them…but then the downside is that the kids would never know their father…and how can you put a price on that? And realistically, if he is in their lives, they would get a lot more than ten million each in his will, he’s worth billions.

I blow out a defeated breath and stare into space, he already said goodbye last weekend, I don’t understand why his mother has come all the way here when he already wiped his hands of them. Deb thinks he was the one who broke up with his fiancée and the old bat is furious about it and blaming me.

Is it my fault?

How could something be my fault when I don’t even know what’s going on? I turn my phone on and wait for it to light up.

16 missed calls – Gabriel

Ugh…

I turn it back off.

Stay the fuck away from me, asshole, I want nothing to do with you and your toxic family.

I refill my wineglass.

“Got an extra glass for me?” A deep voice startles me, and I glance up to see Gabriel standing in the darkness of the backyard, looking up at me.

“What are you doing here?” I snap.

“I came to see if you’re alright.” He slowly walks up the steps and takes a seat in the chair beside me.

“I’m fine.” I pull my blanket around me tighter as I try to protect myself from this monster. “Go back to New York, Gabriel.”

He stays silent as he looks out over the lake.

“I don’t want you here.”

He nods and leans his elbows on his knees, and we sit in silence for a while, the wind whistles through the trees and the breeze whips my hair around. I want to be anywhere but here alone with him.

“How much did she offer you?” he asks.

I glance over at him, surprised.

“That’s what she did…didn’t she? Offered to buy you out of my life.”

As I stare at him, a new realization washes over me, I know why he’s like he is, why he’s always in attack mode and on the defensive. His mother is pure evil, I can’t imagine being brought up in that environment.

“Twenty million,” I whisper.

Hurt flashes across his face before he hides it. “Did you accept it?”

“If you have to ask me that then you don’t know me at all.” I roll my eyes in disgust. “Honestly, I don’t need this crap, Gabriel. Please…just…go away,” I whisper.

I’m trying to stay calm and keep my over dramatization to a bare minimum, but I have to ask the question. “Why would she come here?” I ask.

“I broke off my engagement to Ariana.”

“What does that have to do with me?”

“Everything.”

I frown, confused. “I don’t understand.”

“Grace…” He pauses as if trying to get the wording right in his head. “Did you ever wonder why I came looking for you?” he asks softly.

“I…” I shrug, unsure what to say. “No.”

“I came looking for you because I never…” His eyes search mine. “I would think of you at strange times and random places. For no reason at all you would pop into my head.”

“Gabriel…” I cut him off.

“Let me finish,” he snaps. He clasps his hands together as if steeling himself. “I came to find you to put to bed this strange…” He frowns as he tries to articulate himself, “…unfinished feeling I have between us.”

“It doesn’t…”

“I thought you would be married and happy and I could get the closure I needed and start my new life.”

I stare at him, horrified.

“But it backfired because as soon as I saw you…” he pauses, “…I knew.”

“Knew what?”

“That I was marrying the wrong woman.”

What the fuck is happening right now?

“And then I found out about the children… And I was angry. But…”

“Stop.”

“We can make this…”

“Stop it,” I snap as I jump out of my chair. “What are you saying?”

“I broke up with Ariana because I want to be a father to my children and because…I can’t see them without…” He pauses.

“Without what?”

“Without seeing you. How can I be married to someone else while knowing that I still have feelings for you?”

This man is the living end.

“What?” I spit angrily. “You don’t have feelings for me. You never did then, why the hell would you now?”

“You’re angry.”

“I’m not angry,” I fire back. “I’m disgusted. Poor Ariana. You’re a fucking douche bag. That poor girl is three weeks out from her wedding and you are breaking up with her for a cheap fuck you had on your desk seven years ago.”

“It was never a cheap fuck,” he growls as he begins to lose his temper. “You know damn well it wasn’t.”

“You’re pathetic.” I storm inside.

“How am I pathetic?” He’s hot on my heels.

“You have cold feet and are looking for an excuse to get out of the wedding.” A gust of wind whips around the house. “Close the door,” I snap. “Do not bring me into this, you’re as bad as your mother.”

“Cold feet have nothing to do with this.” He shuts the door. “You asked me why my mother is blaming you and I’m telling you why. I never said that I’m in any position to pursue something with you right now, just stating the facts as to what’s gone on in my life this week.”

“Don’t bother ever pursuing something with me, Gabriel.” I fume as I poke him hard in the chest. “Go back to New York. Man up and marry Ariana.”

“I don’t want Ariana. I want you.”

“Tough shit,” I whisper angrily. “I want nothing to do with you. Apart from my babies, that night was a big mistake.”

“We had something, and you’ve been rearing our children all alone…”

“I wasn’t alone.”

“What does that mean?” He puts his hands on his hips, indignant.

“Is that what you think?” I throw my hands up in disgust, of course it is. “That I’ve been sitting here alone and brokenhearted, crying over the infamous Gabriel Ferrara all this time.”

“What have you been doing?”

“I’ve been in a three-year relationship to a man that I loved deeply.”

His face falls. “You’re with someone?”

I really want to lie right now, but I know I can’t.

“Not anymore…but.”

“So…” He goes to take me in his arms.

What the fuck?

I pull out of his grip. “Gabriel…I’m telling you this with all sincerity, so please listen. Go back and marry Ariana. Don’t let go of something wonderful for an average night seven years ago that meant nothing.”

“You’re lying.”

“Mom,” a little voice sounds from the stairs.

We both look up to see Lucia standing midway up.

Shit.

“Oh, hi, baby.” I fake a smile. “I’m sorry, did we wake you?”

She nods as she rubs her eyes all sleepy like and wanders down the stairs.

“Hello Lucia,” Gabriel says softly.

“Hi.” She smiles up at him and holds her little arms up for a hug.

Ugh…not now.

Gabriel drops to his knee and hugs her. “I’m sorry for waking you, princess.”

Why does she have to be so damn cute all the time?

“Are you staying in Mom’s bed?” she asks.

“No.” “Yes.” We answer at the same time.

“I would love to stay, that way I can see you and your brother in the morning.” His eyes find mine. “Would that be okay, Grace?”

I glare at him. “No,” I mouth behind Lucia’s back.

“Thank you,” he replies as he totally ignores me. “Why don’t you go up to bed, Lucia, and I’ll come up and say good night in a moment.”

Damn it, why are they so familiar with each other, this is not okay.

Lucia’s smile beams through the room. “Okay.” She skips up the stairs and disappears.

“You need to go home.”

“What I need is to finish our conversation.”

“The conversation is over. I think you’re disgusting being here and saying these things while your poor fiancée is crying at home right now.”

“She is not my fiancée anymore, and I cannot be responsible for other people’s feelings.”

“And that statement right there is exactly why you repulse me,” I whisper angrily. “You will always be the selfish prick that I remember you as.”

“You can’t deny it, Grace. The spark is still there between us.” He steps forward, causing me to step back. His close proximity steals my every brain cell and I find myself speechless as I stare up at him. “Gabriel…”

“Yes, Gracie.” He raises an eyebrow, all playful.

“This is never happening so get it out of your thick head right now.” I turn and march up the stairs, great, now I have to clean my room so the entitled prick can stay over. I look down at him from the top of the stairs. “Tonight is your last night under my roof.”

“We’ll see.”

“Fuck off,” I mouth.

“No,” he mouths back.

Ugh…this man is infuriating, I stomp into my room and close the door. I look around at the chaos.

I’m not even joking; this is the last time.

Gabriel

“Your room is ready,” Grace says as she comes back downstairs.

Your room.

“Thanks.” My eyes hold hers before she snaps them away.

She can’t even look at me.

“Where will you sleep?” I ask.

“In Dom’s room.”

I nod, unsure what to say next.

“Good night.” She disappears up the stairs and leaves me alone. I look around the quiet house. It’s empty from people and yet feels full, as if the love they share is a tangible force.

My phone beeps a text and I glance at the screen, Ariana.

I drop to sit on the couch before opening it.

My heart is broken.

Come back to me.

I love you.

I close my eyes in regret. I imagine Ariana heartbroken back in New York.

Grace’s words come back to me… I’m telling you this with all sincerity, so please listen. Go back and marry Ariana. Don’t let go of something wonderful for an average night seven years ago that meant nothing.

Is that what I’m doing?

A lead ball sits in my stomach, my life is a mess.

Fuck…