Chapter 7 - The Name His Father Left Behind
Grant stared at his own name on the page.
Below it was a handwritten note.
THE NEXT HEAD OF THE ORGANIZATION.
Jolene stood beside him.
"Your father intended you to inherit everything."
Grant shook his head.
"I never wanted this."
"Then why does the ledger name you?"
"Because he wanted me to destroy it."
He turned the page.
The instructions were clear.
Terminate the network.
Expose the traitors.
Protect the innocent.
Then walk away.
Grant looked at Jolene.
"My father knew."
"Knew what?"
"That the only way to end this was to stop being part of it."
The following months were brutal.
Grant dismantled shell companies.
Turned evidence over to federal investigators.
Closed illegal operations.
Protected witnesses.
Some men betrayed him.
Others fled.
A few tried to kill him.
But every time Grant looked at Jolene, he remembered why he was doing it.
She was no longer hiding.
She moved into his house.
Not as a secret.
As his partner.
Their nursery was painted pale blue.
The first piece of furniture was a crib.
Grant assembled it badly.
Jolene laughed.
"You were supposed to read the instructions."
"I don't need instructions."
"You built it backward."
He stared.
"Nobody will know."
"I know."
He laughed.
One evening, Jolene walked into the kitchen and found Grant standing over an old photograph.
"What are you looking at?"
"My father."
She sat beside him.
"What do you miss?"
Grant thought about it.
"Who I thought he was."
Jolene touched his hand.
"He made mistakes."
"So did I."
"Yes."
Grant looked at her.
"But you came back."
She smiled.
"You found me."
A week later, Monica came to visit.
She brought flowers.
"For the baby."
Jolene thanked her.
Monica sat.
"I owe you an apology."
"You don't."
"I was going to marry him."
"I know."
"I believed I could make him happy."
Jolene smiled.
"You were never supposed to."
Monica laughed softly.
"I hated you for a while."
"I understand."
"But now?"
Monica looked toward Grant.
"I think you are the first person who ever made him stop pretending he was made of stone."
Jolene's eyes filled.
After Monica left, Grant came home.
He found Jolene holding the flowers.
"Friend?"
"Maybe."
He kissed her.
"I have something."
He held out a small box.
Inside was the silver ring he had once worn.
Jolene frowned.
"You never take that off."
"I don't want it anymore."
"Why?"
"Because it belongs to a version of me that thought commitment was a contract."
He took her hand.
"This is different."
He slipped another ring onto her finger.
Simple.
Gold.
No diamonds.
No family crest.
Just her name engraved inside.
Jolene cried.
"Grant."
"I can't promise you there won't be danger."
"I know."
"I can't promise the past won't come back."
"I know."
"But I can promise you won't face it alone."
She kissed him.
Outside, Savannah glowed beneath the evening sky.
For the first time since Jolene's fake death, Grant felt peace.
Then someone rang the doorbell.
An envelope sat on the porch.
No name.
No return address.
Inside was a photograph.
A child.
A little boy.
May you like
And beneath it:
YOU HAVE ONE MORE SECRET.
