Chapter 9

“You wouldn’t believe what that little whore of a daughter-in-law has gotten Gavin to do.” Holly complained loudly to her friends. “She’s put the idea in his head to go respectable. That he doesn’t want to be a part of the organization anymore.”

Cassidy was wishing more and more that she hadn’t been invited to Holly’s little tea party, but these were the women she was starting to get used to for Garrett’s sake. And the man was damn lucky she loved him, she thought to herself as she forced a smile on her face.

“But what else can you expect from that kind of girl? I knew it was a mistake to let him marry her. I knew it. I know it’s not your fault, dear, but it seems that in your mother and sister’s case, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.” Holly said to Cassidy.

Cassidy simply nodded, grateful she had her mouth full and couldn’t say much anyway. She swallowed the biscuit and got to her feet. “I’m just going to go boil more water for you, Mom, I’ll be right back.” She grabbed the teapot and headed to the kitchen, not caring to hear much more.

“I thought you didn’t much like Garrett’s wife, but she seems a dear. I *do* wish Gavin had married Katherine… you and Nathan would be so much better off for it,” one of the women commented to Holly.

“Oh I know. I knew from the beginning it’d be bad for Gavin to choose his own wife. He’s incapable of doing almost anything right. At least if he had your Katherine, he’d be concentrating on advancing his status in the organization, not any of this nonsense about getting out.” Holly replied.

“And Katie was always so fond of him… it’s a shame, I really pity the poor dear.”

“Yes, but I’m afraid Gavin let something other than his brain decide who he thought would be a better wife for him. And look what it’s got him. You know, for a while, we almost thought she was incapable of producing any children. Six miscarriages.” Holly told the group.

The women shook their heads as if somehow it was Grace’s fault. “It’s a wonder the other one turned out so well, related to such trash,” another of them commented.

“She got out and involved with Garrett early enough before any lasting damage could be done.”

“And two little boys are quite nice to add to the family.”

“Garrett Jr. and Michael. The other slut thought she could suck up to my husband. She actually had the nerve to name her son Nathan.”

“Naturally she wanted the organization for Gavin… let *her* get the honor… she probably only got him to leave once it was obvious Garrett would get what was his.”

“Of course. She brought it up the night of Garrett’s party. His shining moment, and that slut convinced Garrett’s brother to desert him.”

“At least he had Cassidy to help him with it.”

“The poor girl, having to deal with all the problems her sister causes and always clean up after her.”

“She does very well, though,” Holly commented. “The sweet thing, she was so nervous for Garrett that night… knew right away how much responsibility went with the honor of being his wife. She’s asked me for advice once or twice, and I’m always happy to steer her right. But who knows *what* she’s supposed to do about that sister of hers.”

“And did you see what she was wearing? That what *is* her name? Grace? Who names a girl after something you do before a meal?”

“It’d be like naming her Biscuit or something.”

“And have you heard what her mother gave her as a middle name? I heard that she was high at the time…but she named the slut Emelda. That’s not even a word, let alone a name.”

“Well the woman excelled at horrible names, poor Cassidy landed one too. As for being high, the way she treated that girl… Cassidy came here once, she was about seventeen, beaten and raped as per her mother’s orders, and all the while spoiling that horrible little hooker she was raising. It’s a miracle Cassidy’s lived this long…”

“And speaking of the little hooker, how do we know she’s not still working for the IMF? She worked for them once before…rose pretty quickly up the chain of command as I heard it…slept her way up, probably. She could be spying for them. What better position to be in to spy on the enemy than to marry into the enemy’s family?”

“Oh, don’t I know it,” Holly said. “That’s why she wanted Gavin running the show… poor boy was never as bright as his brother, and her passing information on, it’d have collapsed in no time at all. She was sleeping with her half-brother, you know, that’s how she rose so fast. Daughter and lover to the Callahan men.” Holly sniffed. “The mother went and had an affair with her boss, got herself pregnant, and that’s where the little urchin came from. Of course the man wanted nothing to do with them, the girl was trouble right from the start, I wouldn’t be surprised if the girl’s doing the same to Gavin while he’s off trying to make her happy. I’m surprised she’s not trying to bed Garrett or Nathan…”

“That incestuous –“ The woman paused at the sound of the footsteps approaching the living room.

“Tea finished that quickly, Cassidy?” Holly asked cheerfully.

“Not quite.” Grace replied tartly, walking in holding the toddler Nathan in her arms. “We just stopped by for a quick visit.”

“And what *were* you doing in Nathan’s study?”

Grace gave Holly a small, innocent smirk. “Visiting, of course, what else?”

“Oh I’m sure I don’t know.” Holly looked around the circle meaningfully.

“What, you think we’d want to visit with *you*? Sorry to disappoint you, *Holly*, but Nathan doesn’t seem to have the same attachment for you as he does his grandfather.”

“From what I see, *you’re* rather attached to his grandfather,” Holly said snidely. “And did you visit with Garrett while you were by?”

“Well, of course, while the baby was visiting with his grandfather, I went to visit Garrett. We both really like spending some quiet time alone up in the bedroom while Cassidy’s off doing her own thing.”

There was a sudden crash as the teapot hit the floor in the doorway.

Grace turned slightly and realized what the crash was. While she didn’t let her demeanor show it, she knew she’d have some explaining to do later. “Well, I should probably go, I’m expecting Gavin home early tonight.” Grace told the women as she walked to the door.

Cassidy bent down to pick up the pieces, not noticing the hot liquid as tears coursed down her cheeks. “I’m sorry, I’ll clean it up…”

“Oh dear, don’t worry about it. I’ll clean it up.” Holly said, kneeling down next to her. “I’m sorry you had to hear that little…unpleasant exchange.”

“It’s – it’s really not a big deal…” Grace had been trying to get a reaction… hadn’t she? Cassidy couldn’t shake the slightly sick feeling. What if she hadn’t? What if she and Garrett had actually… no, she mustn’t even think it. Garrett wouldn’t… would he? She tried to squish the thoughts running rampant through her mind.

“Don’t worry about the teapot, dear.” Holly pulled her hands away from the pieces. “Go on.”

Cassidy paused, not sure she really wanted to go talk to Garrett. It would decidedly not be a pleasant conversation.

“Go.” Holly told her daughter-in-law.

Cassidy paused only a moment more before charging to the other side of the house. Garrett was not in his office. Well, there were only a few places he really frequented; she’d find him fast enough. She went up another floor, to the part of the house they actually lived in, to find that he was not in his study. She checked the library, even the upstairs tea room (not that he’d be caught dead in there), and a few other places. Two o’clock in the afternoon, and Garrett wasn’t working? She hesitantly pushed open the bedroom door to find Garrett in only his pants, stretched out on the bed, and the sick feeling doubled.

Garrett had finished most of his meetings earlier in the day and decided to rest for a bit. Blinking a few times to wake himself up from his nap, he looked up and saw Cassidy. “Cass? What’s going on? I thought you had afternoon tea today.”

“And I guess you decided to use your time wisely, didn’t you?” Oh God, Grace hadn’t been lying… she was going to throw up…

“I finished some meetings earlier than expected and came up for a nap…what’s going on? You’ve been crying.”

“I think I’m entitled,” she said, having to turn away.

Garrett got off the bed and walked over to her. “Hey…what’s got you so upset?” He asked softly.

“Oh, I don’t know, maybe how I just got to listen to Grace announce how much you two like your quiet time up here,” she managed, pulling away from him.

“Wait…what?” Garrett asked, clearly confused. “Cass, what are you talking about?”

“Grace just made it quite publicly clear that you’ve been sleeping with her, and then I try to find you and you’re half naked in bed, what am I supposed to think? And the worst part of it is I can’t make myself leave you.”

“Baby…I’m not sleeping with anyone except you.” He told her. “Obviously your sister is lying.”

“You’re not sleeping with me lately, either,” Cassidy retorted, keeping a bit of space between them. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to think… you’re the two people in the world I always expected to be honest with me and now someone’s lying to me!”

“I *am* being honest with you! And you’ve been so tired lately with Michael, you’ve been asleep before you even hit the pillow.”

That much was true, Cassidy had to admit. Michael simply refused to sleep through a night and she spent most of her day keeping track of him… until he went down for a nap, which was around the time Garrett got home from kindergarten… he napped once Michael was recharged, and by the time the girls got home from school Cassidy was about ready to collapse. “I just… what she said hurt, and it made sense… I mean, it was entirely possible…”

“I didn’t even know she was in the house, let alone our room. And besides, do you really think I’m the kind of man who would do something like that to you?”

“I don’t know anything lately, alright?”

“Is that really what you think of me, Cass? That I would do something like that to you?” Garrett asked, suddenly angry that she would even consider the thought of him cheating on her. “What the hell do you take me for?!?”

“I don’t know!” She repeated, looking ready to cry again. “I haven’t exactly done much for you lately! All I do is chase your kids around the house until I drop and sit through your mother’s nasty horrible tea parties and run your social calendar all the while trying to help with the actual work of the organization! I go to bed well past midnight and get up at six to make lunches for the girls and do it all again!”

“I am not, nor have I ever cheated on you!” Garrett told her. “And if you don’t want to go to the damned tea parties, don’t go!”

“It’s the only time I get to sit down!”

“You could have come up here with me and actually taken a nap!”

“No I couldn’t, the girls will be home at any minute and Garrett’s going to wake up from *his* nap, and I don’t even know where Michael is right now!”

“Cass, listen to me. I love you and you have to stop.” He told her, making her sit down on the bed. “You have to stop before you make yourself sick.”

“I don’t have time,” she told him. “I don’t have time to stop.”

“Yes you do…It’s Friday, we can go to Spain for the weekend. Just the two of us.”

“The kids…”

“Will stay with my parents.”

She suddenly flung her arms around him. “Really?”

“Yeah. Really. You can’t keep going on like this…you’re going to kill yourself or something.” Garrett told her.

She leaned against him, eyes closed, and it was a minute before Garrett realized she’d fallen asleep.

~*~*~*~

“Something smells good, and I’d say it was you but it smells like bacon and therefore I know it isn’t,” Gavin called by way of greeting.

“Bacon for dinner.” Grace replied. “Only thing Nathan wants to eat these days, so that’s what we’ll have tonight.” She turned around and kissed him.

“That’s not true, he’s still eating ketchup,” Gavin said, kissing her. “How was your day?”

“Maybe it’s just red food he’ll eat.” Grace shrugged. “Fine…we went to see your father today…your mother and her cronies were having a tea party.”

“Uh-oh. And how’d *that* go?” Gavin asked, picking up Chelsea when she ran over to him.

“Oh just wonderful. Seems I was the popular topic for discussion today.”

“I’m sorry.”

Grace shrugged. “I came in about halfway into Holly’s speech about what a incestuous slut I was and decided to have some fun of my own.”

“And the end result?”

“I convinced them I was sleeping with your father and your brother.”

“Well that’s… fun.” He put Chelsea down and pulled Grace to him. “I love you, even if my mother doesn’t.”

“I love you too, and she already thinks I am anyway...”

“Just hope she doesn’t say anything in front of your sister, huh?”

Grace paused a second, recalling the crash of the teapot. “I think she may have…I’ll call her in a little while to explain that I’m really not.”

“I’d imagine that’s a fun conversation to have with my brother… Hello Garrett I was just wondering if you’ve been banging my sister on the side…”

Grace laughed. “I’d imagine. How was work?” She asked him.

“Good, good. As usual. Come on, let’s feed the midgets and then… you can call your sister,” he said, quickly amending what he was going to say.

“Good save.” Grace replied, kissing him. “Can’t say anything you wouldn’t want the two little midgets to hear.”

“And they are *not* allowed to play with our toys.”

Grace raised an eyebrow. “Riiight.”

~*~*~*~

Cassidy slept for the entire flight and drive to the little villa.

Garrett carried her into the villa and set her down in their bedroom.

She stirred as he put her down. “Mmm… that was nice… what time’s it here?”

“2 AM,” Garrett told her. “Enjoy your nap?”

“Yeah.” She sat up, pulling him to sit with her. “I feel quite a bit better now.”

“That was the whole point of this little trip.” He told her.

“Stay?” She requested, leaning against him once more.

“You’re in my bed, where else am I gonna go?” He teased, kissing her. “Besides…it’s not like I’ve got other plans.”

It had been so long, Cassidy mused, since they’d really even kissed… She grabbed his hair and kissed him firmly. She’d missed it.

If Garrett had been surprised by Cassidy’s sudden burst of hormones, he didn’t show it. “I love you.” He murmured, pulling her down so their heads rested on the pillows.

“I love you too, Garrett. Now shut up.” She kissed him again.

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