Grace’s POV Helena squeezed my hand through the whole procedure. It was the least she could do, considering they were planting her eggs, fertilized with her husband’s seed, inside me. I hated myself for not really wanting to be here. But I loved my sister, and this was what she needed. She’d never understand the weight of what I was sacrificing. Not in any real sense. It wasn’t painful, not physically anyway. But the ache in my chest? That was unbearable. It was the kind of pain no one could see. No one would ever know how much it hurt to carry their baby, knowing it would never truly be mine. That was the hardest part…the hollow, gnawing truth. The part I couldn’t even share with her. How could I tell my sister that I had always been in love with her husband? How could I even begin to explain the mess of emotions that boiled inside me every time I saw him smile at her, the way his eyes softened when he looked at her, like she was the one he was always meant to be with? I have been
Grace’s POV Traffic was lighter than usual on the way back to the office, leaving me less time to dwell on the weight of everything. Once I arrived in the underground parking lot, I just sat in my car for a few minutes longer. I stared out the windshield at the elevator bank. Getting on one of those lifts would take me to my office, the last place I wanted to be. I could practically feel Hunter’s presence waiting for me upstairs. How was I supposed to face him, knowing his child could be inside me? The weight of it crushed me. Tears pricked at the corners of my eyes. Maybe I was the selfish bitch Mum had called me last night, but I wasn’t sure I had it in me to go through with this. Carrying a baby for nine months and handing it over like it meant nothing... The thought alone made my chest tighten. Even the psychologist had doubts about my emotional suitability for this. The main concern for the first psychologist was the legal requirement for a woman to have had her own child befo
Grace POV “I… I don’t think that would be a good idea.” When was the last time I had been out with a man? I couldn’t think. My soul-destroying focus had been on Hunter a lot lately. “Why? Am I that repulsive? I mean, I’ll shower and shave, I promise.” Max looked at me with a fake pout before adding, “Look, it’s just dinner. You and me. One night. No expectations. If it sucks, you never have to go out with me again.” I didn’t know men did that. “I thought only girls did that.” I couldn’t help but laugh because Max was funny. But then reality set in. Getting involved with a man now, not just Max, but any man... seemed impossible. How would I explain that I might be carrying my sister’s baby? Was I really thinking about sex? It was just dinner. And after everything, didn’t I deserve something for myself? Just mine and not Helena’s? God, I sounded like a jealous cow. But I shook myself out of it and said, “Okay, you’re on. I’ll have dinner with you.” Max grinned at me, pleased with
Grace POV Hunter exhaled through his nose, rubbing a hand over his jaw. “I don’t think that would be a good idea.” I watched him, frowning. Since when had my personal life been in any of his business? If, at one time, he had wanted to be part of it, I would have listened. But now? This conversation irritated me. What right did he have? He had the person he wanted to spend his life with. Wasn’t I allowed that as well? I scoffed. “Since when do you care who I spend time with?” Hunter’s gaze locked onto mine, something dark and unreadable in his expression. “Because I do.” That caught me off guard. But then he said something that explained exactly why he felt entitled to an opinion. “You are my wife’s sister. I think I have every right to worry about my family.” I could hear the frustration in his voice. Hunter didn’t like to be questioned. “I may be Helena’s sister and your sister-in-law, but I am well over the age of consent.” For a second, I had let myself hope he truly ca
Hunter POV The door closed behind Grace, leaving silence in her wake. I held my breath, my jaw tightening as I stared at the empty space she had occupied just seconds before. I had seen the anger in her eyes before she left. My hands flexed at my sides, as if fighting the urge to reach out and pull her back. The irritation burning in my chest was unsettling, foreign, and I didn’t like it one damn bit. “So tell me—what’s going on?” Helena’s voice broke the silence, drawing my attention. My wife stood with her arms crossed, her sharp eyes assessing me with a look I couldn’t quite decipher. Almost like she didn’t know me like this. It wasn’t often she came into the office. I was no boy scout and often lost my temper. She just hadn’t seen that side of me. She had only experienced my softer side at home. I forced a breath through my nose, rolling my shoulders back. “She got stuck in a lift with Max.” Helena tilted her head, a smile playing at her lips. “Max? Your friend Max Cast
Grace POVI tried to keep myself busy at my desk. I could see the boardroom door from where I was sitting. They were still in there, Hunter and Helena. Max was still waiting in Hunter’s office.I threw my pen down. There was no point in trying to focus. My mind kept circling back to the conversation with Hunter, the way he had tried to control who I saw, his interference. It didn’t make sense. Or maybe I just didn’t want to admit the possible reasons why.I had made dinner plans with Max. A man who made me feel something other than invisible. A man who didn’t see me as just an employee or a sister-in-law. He saw me as a woman. A desirable woman.I wasn’t stupid enough to sleep with him if that was Hunter’s concern. Was he worried that Max’s sperm could somehow get mixed up with his? God, I was a virgin. It wasn’t like I would jump into bed with Max that quickly.I didn’t want to use Max; it wouldn’t be fair to him. I would see how my feelings developed first. If my feelings still didn
Helena POVI leaned against the kitchen counter, watching Hunter from across the room. He was quiet tonight. Too quiet. The moment I heard Grace had gone out with Max, I knew exactly why.Hunter sat in the living room, staring at the whiskey in his glass instead of drinking it. He swirled it absently, lost in his thoughts. Thoughts I could guess weren’t about me. No, they were about my sister.Pathetic. I was sure he was worried about Max sleeping with little Grace. Poor, innocent Grace. The bitch was still a virgin. And I knew exactly who she had been saving herself for.Well, tough shit. Hunter was mine. It wasn’t my fault that Grace never made a move, was it? I wanted the life Hunter could give me. Grace thought I didn’t know, but I wasn’t stupid. I kept it all to myself. It wouldn’t do for others to find out. Mom knew enough about why I married Hunter—the lifestyle. But that was it. I never let anyone see the real me.Just the thought of the control I had over people turned me on.
Grace POVThe next morning, I arrived at the office earlier than usual, hoping to bury myself in work before my thoughts could catch up to me. Last night with Max had been… unexpected.Not just because he had been charming and made me feel like I was someone outside of being Helena’s surrogate, but because it was the first time in a long while I had felt seen. I wasn’t sure what that meant yet. But he had asked me to lunch today, and I was going. Normally, I would just have a sandwich at my desk. But not today. Today, I was going to enjoy the company of Max, and it was an enjoyment.What I did know was that today would be difficult. I could feel it, an unease settling in my stomach. Maybe it was just my nerves after the doctor’s appointment yesterday. Maybe it was the memory of overhearing my mother and Helena talking, confirming that I was nothing more than a tool to them. It could be the confrontation I had with Hunter. Or maybe it was something else entirely.I had just sat down at
Grace’s POV I woke up with a sharp gasp, my body trembling, burning hot, my heart slamming against my ribs. My skin felt too tight, like I was going to burst from the heat inside me. I was aching and… wet. The kind of wet that shouldn’t be possible for a virgin.I barely had time to process it before the memory of the dream hit me in flashes. It was dark, raw, dominant. It had involved Hunter. Oh god.But not the composed and unreadable Hunter I saw at work. Not the man who sat across from me at dinner last night. This Hunter had been something else entirely…sexy, demanding and dominant in a way that made my thighs tremble even now.“You’ve been teasing me, sweetheart.” His voice still echoed through my brain, deep and filled with something dark and dangerous.I gasped, pushing off the sheet off, but it didn’t help. I was drenched, my body still pulsing; I understood the reason. I had come in my sleep. I had just woken up from an orgasm. Over him. My sister’s husband. This was so ba
Grace’s POVI couldn’t sleep. I didn’t expect to, not really.After leaving Hunter in the garden, I went straight to my room, shut the door, and tried to breathe. The walls felt too close, the weight of everything pressing in on me.Helena would have left by now, off to wherever she was really going, and Hunter… well, I had no idea what he was doing. I didn’t want to know.But an image of him lying in bed flashed across my mind, his bare chest, the sheets barely covering his hips. I squeezed my eyes shut, heat spreading through me.God.I should have turned on the TV, played some music, done something to distract myself. Instead, I lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, my mind stuck in an endless loop of everything I wanted to forget.Helena. Her lies. Her ease with deception.Hunter. His quiet, unreadable expression.I tossed the blankets off and got up. No way was I going to just lie here with my thoughts circling like vultures.The house was mostly quiet when I stepped into the hallw
Grace’s POVI already knew tonight would be the first of many I’d come to dread.The air around the dining table was thick, mostly with my own tension. My stomach was in knots, my appetite nonexistent, but I still sat there, pushing food around my plate like I wasn’t coming apart inside.I wasn’t even sure what I had planned to say to Hunter in the study before dinner when I called his name. It wasn’t like I could tell him what I saw. Helena would deny everything, and I had no proof. I should have taken a damn photo.Across from me, Helena swirled her wine lazily, completely at ease, like nothing in the world could touch her. She was lost in her own world, laughing softly at some story only she found interesting. It cut through the silence smooth, perfect, like her. But she wasn’t perfect. She was a cheater.I wanted to punch her.How could she be so careless? She had everything, a husband who would do anything for her, a life most people could only dream about. And still, she was thr
Grace’s POV The moment I stepped into the house, I felt it—a shift in the air, a quiet hum of tension vibrating beneath the surface. The weight of my decision settled heavily in my chest. I had agreed to move in.I told myself it was for the baby. I told myself it was logical. But deep down, I knew the truth. I was here because I couldn’t tell Hunter what I had seen today—that I had seen Helena with another man. Because I couldn’t be the one to break him. Hunter loved Helena.I would have sworn there was no way Hunter would marry so soon after his breakup with his long-term fiancée, Emma Mckay. But he had proven me wrong. He had seen Helena, and within months, they were married. Trying for a family almost straight away. The family I had always wanted.And now, I was trapped in the world I had spent years trying to escape. Stuck in the house with the man I loved and couldn’t have.Helena swept in behind me, her high heels clicking against the marble floors, her voice smooth and please
Grace’s POV“Grace, you need to think about what is best for you. You can’t let them force you into doing something you are uncomfortable with.”Max’s voice was calm but firm as he leaned back in his chair, arms crossed. His sharp blue eyes studied me carefully. The easygoing charm he usually wore was gone, replaced with something much more serious. He was worried about me. It was so nice having someone worry about me and not for their own gain.I swallowed hard, stirring the remnants of my drink with my straw. “It’s not like that. They just want to make sure I’m okay.”Max rubbed his hand over his jaw. “And what do you want? Have you even stopped to ask yourself that?”The question made me stiffen. What did I want? I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. I had spent so long letting Helena, my mother, and now even Hunter decide what was best for me that I wasn’t sure I had an answer. The thing was, I wasn’t a weak woman, just hopelessly in love with a man that didn’t see me that way.
Grace POVThe next morning, I arrived at the office earlier than usual, hoping to bury myself in work before my thoughts could catch up to me. Last night with Max had been… unexpected.Not just because he had been charming and made me feel like I was someone outside of being Helena’s surrogate, but because it was the first time in a long while I had felt seen. I wasn’t sure what that meant yet. But he had asked me to lunch today, and I was going. Normally, I would just have a sandwich at my desk. But not today. Today, I was going to enjoy the company of Max, and it was an enjoyment.What I did know was that today would be difficult. I could feel it, an unease settling in my stomach. Maybe it was just my nerves after the doctor’s appointment yesterday. Maybe it was the memory of overhearing my mother and Helena talking, confirming that I was nothing more than a tool to them. It could be the confrontation I had with Hunter. Or maybe it was something else entirely.I had just sat down at
Helena POVI leaned against the kitchen counter, watching Hunter from across the room. He was quiet tonight. Too quiet. The moment I heard Grace had gone out with Max, I knew exactly why.Hunter sat in the living room, staring at the whiskey in his glass instead of drinking it. He swirled it absently, lost in his thoughts. Thoughts I could guess weren’t about me. No, they were about my sister.Pathetic. I was sure he was worried about Max sleeping with little Grace. Poor, innocent Grace. The bitch was still a virgin. And I knew exactly who she had been saving herself for.Well, tough shit. Hunter was mine. It wasn’t my fault that Grace never made a move, was it? I wanted the life Hunter could give me. Grace thought I didn’t know, but I wasn’t stupid. I kept it all to myself. It wouldn’t do for others to find out. Mom knew enough about why I married Hunter—the lifestyle. But that was it. I never let anyone see the real me.Just the thought of the control I had over people turned me on.
Grace POVI tried to keep myself busy at my desk. I could see the boardroom door from where I was sitting. They were still in there, Hunter and Helena. Max was still waiting in Hunter’s office.I threw my pen down. There was no point in trying to focus. My mind kept circling back to the conversation with Hunter, the way he had tried to control who I saw, his interference. It didn’t make sense. Or maybe I just didn’t want to admit the possible reasons why.I had made dinner plans with Max. A man who made me feel something other than invisible. A man who didn’t see me as just an employee or a sister-in-law. He saw me as a woman. A desirable woman.I wasn’t stupid enough to sleep with him if that was Hunter’s concern. Was he worried that Max’s sperm could somehow get mixed up with his? God, I was a virgin. It wasn’t like I would jump into bed with Max that quickly.I didn’t want to use Max; it wouldn’t be fair to him. I would see how my feelings developed first. If my feelings still didn
Hunter POV The door closed behind Grace, leaving silence in her wake. I held my breath, my jaw tightening as I stared at the empty space she had occupied just seconds before. I had seen the anger in her eyes before she left. My hands flexed at my sides, as if fighting the urge to reach out and pull her back. The irritation burning in my chest was unsettling, foreign, and I didn’t like it one damn bit. “So tell me—what’s going on?” Helena’s voice broke the silence, drawing my attention. My wife stood with her arms crossed, her sharp eyes assessing me with a look I couldn’t quite decipher. Almost like she didn’t know me like this. It wasn’t often she came into the office. I was no boy scout and often lost my temper. She just hadn’t seen that side of me. She had only experienced my softer side at home. I forced a breath through my nose, rolling my shoulders back. “She got stuck in a lift with Max.” Helena tilted her head, a smile playing at her lips. “Max? Your friend Max Cast