Theodore Red Harrington
2157 Words
Chapter 4
Theodore Red Harrington
“You sure you don’t want to come in?” I asked Damien.
“No, I need to fly out tonight.” He replied while walking me to my door.
“Where are you off too?” I asked curiously.
“First I’m heading to DC and then I’ll be on my way to New York. Don’t worry, I’ll help find your friend. I’ll talk to my PI in the morning and get the search going.”
“Thank you, Damien. It means a lot to me.” I told him, patting him on the shoulder.
“Its not a problem, we’re family. But you can’t forget your promise. You need to call one of your brothers.” He told me pointedly.
I sighed, “I will. I will call Lukas tomorrow morning.”
“Of course.”
“What?” I asked him.
“Too scared to call Greyson?”
“You know my history with Greyson. It’s better if I don’t touch that tangled mess. His opinion of me is so low…” I trailed off.
“Gracie, he’s your brother, he does care.”
“I’m sure he does, just not about me.”
“Gracie…” Damien pulled me in for a hug. “You are important to us all. I know you may not always feel like it but there is always more to the story, you know that.”
“I’m not sure what I know anymore.” I replied pulling out of the hug.
“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I miss your crazy eccentric behavior right now.” Damien joked.
I smiled at him.
“Be who you are. Don’t hold back, you came here to do just that right? So as hard as it maybe you need to push past what’s making you feel like this and be who your supposed to be. Don’t waste what you fought hard for. Remember, no matter what you always have me by your side.”
I grinned, “Thanks for that. I think that was exactly what I needed to hear.”
Damien placed a kiss on my forehead, “Okay baby cuz I have to go, and you should get some rest.”
I nodded and turned and headed inside.
I kicked off my heels and walked over to the couch in my living room.
It had been nice seeing Damien, but I was exhausted.
Just as I put my legs up on the coffee table and started to relax, the doorbell rang.
I got up shaking my head.
“Did you change your mind about staying over?” I asked as I opened the door.
I froze midway when I saw who was at my door.
“I didn’t know I had an invitation to.” Red Harrington said as he walked into my house.
“Excuse me. I didn’t invite you in or know it was you at the door. I wouldn’t have opened it if I had known it was you.” I scoffed, folding my arms.
I waited by the door, hoping he would get the message and leave. Instead, he walked over to the couch and took a seat, then he gestured for me to join him!
“Excuse me? You haven’t been invited in!” I exclaimed.
“I’ll get over it. Come have a seat so we can continue our conversation from yesterday.” He said, like he owned the place.
“I don’t think so. I would like for you to leave please.” I replied. The audacity of the man. How could he just walk into my house and refuse to leave?
“Sit down Miss. Novak.”
“Don’t call me that!” I said taking a few steps towards him.
“Why not? It’s your name is it not?” He asked leaning back.
“My name is Gracie J.” I replied.
“Look, it’s been a long day, so can you please leave me alone?” I asked as nicely as I possibly could.
“I thought you were excited to have company, did you think I was your date when you answered the door?” He asked, a bit rudely.
“Oh that-“ I stopped myself from revealing who I was with. It didn’t matter who Red Harrington thought I was with. Maybe it would keep him away from me.
“Well, I think a more important matter than the name you choose to go by is my missing sister.” He said pointedly.
“I already told you I don’t know where she is.” I told him, again.
“Not that I would tell you even if I did.” I whispered under my breathe.
“But your see I know your lying. I know for a fact that you were the last person to talk to Jade before she disappeared. From what I’ve been able to gather, you have had a very big influence on my sister’s life. Which means you know where she is. You tell me that and I leave you alone.” Red said, leaning forward in his seat.
I quietly took a seat across from him and studies his features. He had the famous Harrington green eyes, the same ones as Jade, but unlike Jade he had dark reddish-brown hair with a scruffy beard. He was muscular, you could see it through his fitted suit. He dressed well, but I guess for a billionaire it isn’t hard to.
If I didn’t completely despise him at the moment I would say Red Harrington was one gorgeously sexy man. A man that I could definitely have dreams about…
“Gracie?”
I broke away from my thoughts and realized I had been staring for a bit.
“Yes?” I asked coming out of my daze.
“You were about to tell me where my sister is.” Red said.
I smirked. “No, I was not.”
“You do realize I can make you. I wield more power than you can imagine.” He said in a threatening voice.
That comment pissed me off. I was able to handle a lot. I had grown up in an environment where I had no choice but to keep my composure while men with power said whatever they wanted. But there was a reason why I left that life behind and I wouldn’t let anyone taint my freedom, not even by a simple insinuation.
I stood up. “Get up and get out!” I pointed towards to door.
“Excuse me?” He asked, shock evident on his face.
“I said get out of my house, now!” I was pretty much yelling.
He stood up but didn’t move any closer to the door. “I came here to ask you about my sister and I’m not leaving until I get an answer.
“I don’t care who you are, and I don’t care why you came here. You need to leave, NOW!” I said angrily. “You men are all the same. You think you can say and do whatever the hell you want but your wrong!
The audacity of men with ‘power’. They thought they rules the world, but not me. I would never be put in a position like that again and Red Harrington just proved he was just like the rest of them. I would never be subjected to that ‘power’ again. I had left that life for a reason; I wouldn’t let it follow me.
Red just stared at me for a moment. He was shocked that was clear and confused, but I didn’t care what he thought. I needed him and his energy out of my space.
I stayed still and waited for him to walk out the door.
“Gracie” He said softly.
I ignored him. “Please leave or I will be forced to take action.”
I scrunched his brow but gave a nod before turning and walking out the door.
He stopped momentarily and looked at me, I refused to turn around, my back was towards the door, but I could feel his eyes on me.
Once I knew he was gone I turned and slammed the door shut. I locked it and leaned against it, slowly sliding to the floor.
Then the tears started rolling down my face and I couldn’t stop them.
I had held myself together as well as I could, now there was nothing stopping me from breaking down and going to that dark place I had tried to avoid for so long.
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“This is my house, and my rules apply here. Do you understand?” My father yelled at me. “You will do as I say! I will not tolerate any misbehavior or defiance from you.”
“But Papa-
“DO NOT INTERRUPT ME!” He yelled.
I flinched.
“Do you understand?” He asked me.
I nodded my head, but that wasn’t good enough.
“Tell me!”
“Your house, your rules.”
“Good.”
I looked at my father, and all I saw was a man I needed to escape. But there was no way out, not yet at least. My brother’s had all the freedom they wanted but I wasn’t even allowed to play outside unless my governess aloud it. I was to be kept alone and at my best behavior at all times.
“You will return to boarding school at once and you will be attending Oxford university for Business and then you will marry a man I choose for you. Those are the rules, and they will be obeyed.”
I nodded my head.
I had to stay silent for now. My time to escape would come, just not yet.
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Red’s POV
I looked back at the door that had just been slammed behind me.
What the hell was that?
The way Gracie had reacted….what had I said to trigger that reaction?
I didn’t understand.
She went pale and lost it.
This woman was a big mystery…
What could I have said to her that made react like that?
I felt the need to go back in there and comfort her. Take away the pain I had caused but this was a woman I couldn’t afford to get wrapped up with. She wasn’t the type to be my wife and I needed to focus on dating woman that were part of that elite circle.
Gracie…couldn’t be that. Even if her background was right, she wasn’t.
I walked to my waiting car, trying to rack my brain at the words that had made her loose her temper.
‘You do realize I can make you. I wield more power than you can imagine’
Why had she reacted in such a way to that statement?
I had a feeling there was more to Gracie J than what she wanted you to see. I had this need to find out more, but I couldn’t.
I was here on a task.
I needed to find my sister and make sure she was okay.
Jade had always stayed in contact; we didn’t see each other often but over the years we seemed to be drifting even further apart and I didn’t understand.
From what Charlotte had told him, Jade was heavily influenced by Gracie and probably went into hiding to avoid the future Gracie did.
Though Jade or Gracie didn’t strike me as the running away type, all evidence pointed to that.
I sat there in the back of the car looking out the window. There was something that didn’t add up and I seemed to have two mysteries instead of one now.
I needed to know what Gracie was hiding but I also needed to find my sister.
I pulled out my phone from my jacket pocket and placed a call.
“Hey. Where are you right now?” I asked into the call.
“In LA, but I was about to fly out.”
“I’m in LA as well. I need to meet up with you. I need a favor.”
“Want to meet now?”
“Sure, tell me where.”
“Take me to Waterfront gentlemen’s club.” I told the driver.
I clicked off as soon as I heard a location.
I needed more help.
I would find out a different way to approach Gracie. A way where she didn’t have the ability to say no.
She was a mystery. And as much as I couldn’t think of her romantically, I felt a pull. I wouldn’t cross the line, but I would solve the puzzle.
As much as you want to push me away Gracie Novak, I will find a way to get what I want.
I always do.
- Writer
