Give Me More--A Sexy Billionaire Romance by A.C. Arthur (detective books to read txt) 📕

about her family. While Grace was achieving her goal of being just as successful in her career as her sisters were in theirs, being a wife and mother was still a bit daunting, and her mother’s persistence wasn’t helping. Videtta and Charity had made having a career and a family seem so easy. Trinity didn’t have kids yet but she was married, and Hope never failed at anything. Grace knew the minute they both had children, the bar of Hopkins perfection would be even higher and even more unobtainable for her.

Sitting here like this with him—as if nothing had happened between them ten years ago or even twenty-four hours ago—was one of the hardest things she’d ever had to do. It ranked right up there with the day she’d walked out of his life, because this morning she’d had to reconcile with herself that she still had feelings for RJ Gold. Really significant feelings that she feared could easily carry her down a path she couldn’t afford to venture on again.

She had no idea why she’d shared the content of her mother’s text messages with him, or any of the specifics about her sisters and their families. Well, he’d actually asked her about the latter, but still, she needed to keep this as cordial and emotion-free as possible.

“We’re having dinner at the Sienne Club tonight. You should come. It’ll give you a chance to see the family again.” He was already standing before he finished.

She cleared her throat and stood as well, rubbing her now slightly shaking hands down the front of her clothes. “You want me to come to dinner with you and your family?”

If she sounded shocked and confused it was because she was. RJ wasn’t down for this story, and while she’d been ready to interview as many people in the family as she could, sitting at a table and having dinner with them was a totally different ball game. She knew this because she recalled the Gold family dinners and how close their family was. That was the part she wasn’t ready for.

He shrugged. “You’re the one hell-bent on doing this. The least you can do is sit down and have a meal with the people you plan to write about.”

His words made her seem ungrateful or rude, neither of which she wanted to be considered. “Sure. I can come to dinner,” she said as she followed him to the door.

He opened it and stepped into the hallway.

“Thanks for the doughnuts and coffee.”

“No problem. You needed breakfast and I needed to catch up with you. So, as we agreed, we’ll meet daily after your interviews for an update on what you’ve been told and what you’re writing. We’re here for another twelve days, so you have that time to wrap this up because I don’t want any of my family disturbed on the day of Riley’s wedding.”

“I’d never do that,” she replied, getting a little annoyed that he felt it necessary to remind her not to be a jerk.

“Good to know. I’ll see you tonight.” He walked away before she could say anything else.

That was fine; she didn’t have anything else to say to him. After closing and locking the door, Grace moved back to the table. She sat in the chair again and stared at the coffee cup for what felt like an eternity. When her phone chimed with a text she checked it and read yet another message from her mother, this one giving her the link to an IVF clinic. She groaned and rolled her eyes.

CHAPTER SEVEN

“GRACE IS BACK.” RJ said the words quickly, knowing that whoever heard him would immediately command the rest of them already seated at the table to ditch their current conversation and turn all their attention to him.

Everyone at the table went silent in less than three seconds. That worked better than he’d planned.

“Excuse me?” Riley asked, resting her elbows on the table across from him.

“Grace as in Grace Hopkins?” was his mother’s follow-up question. She was seated at the end of the table with his father at the head beside her.

Major was apparently up next. “Can you clarify ‘back’? Is she back from a trip? Back in your life?” He moved his hands to indicate he could go on but would rather RJ just tell them more.

RJ decided to do that. “She’s here on the island because Veronica invited her.” He’d timed his announcement just right because so far on this trip, Veronica and Tobias had been late to dinner every night. The only one currently at the table who wasn’t part of the Gold family was Chaz, who was glaring at RJ with a frown on his face.

“I’m gonna have to echo Major and ask for clarification,” Chaz said.

RJ could totally relate to the irritation he saw building in his future brother-in-law. “I ran into Grace the night before last and she told me the reason she’s here is to write a story about Dad and your uncle and the feud between them. When I asked how she knew where we were and was able to book a room, she said Veronica had given her the information.”

Chaz leaned back in his chair. “Dammit!”

Riley rubbed a hand over his arm.

“So, wait,” Nina started, “you’re saying that your ex-girlfriend is here to write a story about our families and his aunt is responsible?”

The basis of that statement was true, but the minute RJ noticed his father frowning in Chaz’s direction he knew he definitely needed to say more. “Grace was already set to write the story. She had a contact who put her in touch with Veronica.” And before anyone else could speak, he added, “She’s agreed to focus the story on Dad and Tobias and how they’ve built their empires and not the details of the feud. I’ll be paying close attention to her progress.”

“You negotiated a way for her to write the story?” Maurice asked. “And you’re going to be, for lack of a better