Greyson

FEAR

It's something I rarely feel, or at least try not to. Being a tycoon means taking risks that affect not only your career but the jobs of many people. However, if I know what I'm doing I'm confident that it'll be a success.

Unfortunately, I cannot say the same thing about being publicly engaged to Sage. The world now knows that I am marrying a girl ten years my junior. It doesn't bother me how young she is, it bothers me that her youth has held her back from experiences.

Sage doesn't know what's out there, she hasn't dated, or better yet hasn't kissed or 'loved' anyone but me. I've learned from previous incidents that women are capable of freaking out or getting bored of a relationship. What if that happens to her? I don't feel safe in this relationship knowing that one day she might want something I can't give her. Experiences.

"So..." Sage starts, stabbing her fork into her pancakes.

For a few weeks now we've been eating breakfast with one another. It was the only thing I could do in the morning that entertained my painstakingly boring morning without work. And even though I've gotten the clear to start working again at the Towers I've grown accustomed to sharing my mornings with Sage.

Every morning she usually updates me about something related to space, like NASA tweeting about working to get humans to Mars. Since I have nothing that would interest her to talk about, at least that I know of, I tend to listen.

"Hm?" I look at her, placing my fork down.

Sage looks at me hesitantly. "In a few weeks I have prom..."

"Yes you do. Has Isabella given you the dress rack I sent from Milan?" I ask.

She blinks her eyes, then nods. "Yes and thank you. But I've got a much more important matter to speak of."

"Such as?"

Clearing her throat, she courageously replies. "I need...a date..."

The unfortunate circumstances of our relationship are the complications that come with it. I am to old to be attending a Prom. I'm a man who goes to Gala's and Black-Tie events, a Prom is something I cannot do even for her. Not to mention there is an age limit to things like that and I'm not going to test the boundaries of the school district.

"Sage, you know I can't—"

"...and I think Dorian should be it." She finishes.

Everytime I hear that bloody name I am reminded that there is a guy who is 'friends' with her that still exists. He wants everything that I cannot share with her, truthfully speaking it's selfish, but nevertheless a law in my eyes.

The fact that I'm even listening to her bring his name up is absolutely ridiculous. However, it is Karma back-lashing at me for all the wrong I've done and in order to balance it I'll have to deal with some consequences.

"Fine." I say.

"Before you argue—wait you said fine?" Sage gasps.

I nod. "Yes, I did."

"Well...that was easy."

I slice my eyes to hers. "I wasn't finished."

Sage went silent.

"You can go, but I have a few conditions."

She watched me and listened.

"Todd will escort you to and from the Prom, you will not argue with him since safety is priority." I continue.

She nods.

"He will also be my eyes, which brings me to my second condition, if Todd see's you and him do more than just dance I will have him take you out of the room and into a car back home." I narrow my eyes onto her. "And I will personally find ways of punishing you."

Sage's eyes widened at my response, with a hint of defiance. She wanted to argue against it but knew what it would inevitably lead to. So her silence won the battle, this time.

After a brief silence, Sage stood up. "Well...I should go...I've got school and probably a billion questions from people who didn't notice me until they heard I was engaged to billionaire bachelor Greyson Blackstone."

The reactions about our engagement were expected, there's always someone sniffing around and looking for their next cover-story about us. We get bashed a lot, especially Sage, no one seems to think she is "worthy" of me. When in actuality I am not worthy of her. She puts a brave face on but most likely, like any teenage girl would, gets insecure and infuriated with the press.

It doesn't help that I can't offer her anything but my monogamy and wealth. Things she definitely appreciates but would prefer the one thing I am unable to provide. My heart. Ask anyone, from Dawn to Hudson, I lost that very thing a long time ago when I watched it being buried six-feet under—twice. A pain I prefer not to remember with a feeling that I forgot how to feel.

"Sage." I say as she tries to escape.

Sage stops and turns around. "Yeah?"

"You're forgetting something." I inform her.

She stares at me blankly for a moment. "My wallet...? Or..." She begins checking her bags and pockets.

"No," I sigh. "me."

Her eyebrow arched and for a moment she thought about it, then suddenly with wide eyes she blushes furiously. "You can't be serious, I thought you were joking about that!"

"What loving fiance wouldn't kiss her man goodbye every morning?" I grinned.

Sage fidgets around and it was clear she wasn't going to do it on her own accord. I forgot how amusing it was to be with someone who had zero experience in this category. A thing I haven't had since I was in High School.

So I got up out of my seat and walked towards her, then I slowly leaned in towards her face. Stiff as a board she is. Sage closes her eyes and puckers her lips, which I found morbidly entertaining. Then I quickly kiss her forehead and back away.

Immediately I see Sage's nostrils flare and ear turning a bright red.

Someone was not amused.

"I-I'm going!" Sage turns around and starts to stomp away.

That is until I grabbed her upper arm and pulled her towards me, pressing my lips against hers. After I finished I released her. "Have a good day, Sage."

Without hesitation she leaves the condo and I am left alone, so I prepare to leave for work.

→←

"The guy you described by the name of Oliver Banks, I found him." Hudson informs me, slamming a file onto my table. "I don't know why a guy like him would be on a assault-spree, though. He's like Mr. Perfect."

On my desk was the man I was described from the incident long ago, it took Hudson a while to get the information that he retrieved for me since he's been going through a hectic mess. Nevertheless he's here and as soon as I saw the photo I asked Lucas to summon one of the guards from the shift where he appeared.

As I waited, I looked through the file, and Hudson was right. Mr. Banks was indeed a man of simple perfection, clean record, not a bad word spoken about him. A few things did not make sense about him. He lived in Los Angeles and is a well-known chef, has a family, and volunteers. This cannot possibly the guy.

"This has to be a mistake, what would a man like that be doing here? Why would he be after us?" I ask.

Hudson stares at the sheets and shrugs.

One of the guards is escorted in the room by Lucas, when I dismissed Lucas I took no time revealing the man in the paper to the guard. Only to see a grim look on his face and a assured nod.

"Are you sure?" I ask.

He looks me straight in the eyes. "Yes."

After dismissing him I didn't hesitate to call Detective Martinez. It's time to figure out who this man really is and what his motives are. Though I'm sure he's not the only one in this game, he's definitely the only lead we have.

→←

"...Wa-Wait..." Sage says breathlessly as she pushes me away. "...I need to breathe."

I couldn't fight the grin on my face, there Sage was, her face beautifully bright red. The same girl this morning who ran away from a quick kiss has opted to try something new. Of course, this was because she got a sudden inspiration from some characters from that show Gossip Girl. Apparently that show gets pretty "hot and heavy", Sage's words exactly.

Obviously, I agreed to let her test it out—test out what exactly? Why, making out, of course.

"Uhm..." She starts speaking, nervously, her eyes planted on the cushions on the couch. "How...How do you do it that long without needing to breathe?"

Sage deadpanned the question, total seriousness, not a hint of humor. The entire thing immediately made me throw my head back and laugh hysterically. I've never once had such an easy question to answer about this topic.

"I'm being serious, Greyson." Sage slaps my arm. "How?"

My laughter began to die, and I answered. "If you can't breathe through your mouth, what do you do?"

She stared at me, confused.

"How is it, you got into Advanced Astronomy with a blink of an eye, finished a course on this same subject at Blackstone University with the top scores, and not know what to do when you can't breathe through your mouth?"

Sage frowned. "If you're making fun of me I'll just ask Dorian—"

"If you finish that comment I'll kiss you until you get dizzy and pass out."

She crossed her arms. "Well he'd take it seriously and answer my question."

"Sage, babe, you breathe through your nose." I tell her.

Her eyes slice to mine. "What?"

"You don't breathe through your nose, you're so fucking stiff I bet you forget to do that." I lean my head back.

Sage stares at me and chuckles. "I guess I am a tad tense...huh?"

"I could iron my shirts on you." I retort.

She snorts. "Well Greyson Blackstone, unlike you I didn't have a gazillion guys who wanted to make out with me."

"Thank heavens." I smiled.

She rolls her eyes. "Yeah well, lucky for you, I'm invisible."

"Please, you couldn't be invisible even if you tried." I scoff. "You stand out to much."

Sage scoffs. "Lies."

"The first day I met you, you went to one of the most classiest restaurants in New York, wearing a bright red Spiderman graphic t-shirt with ripped jeans. While everyone else wore suits and fancy dresses." I chuckled. "You couldn't be invisible if you tried."

"You remember what I wore!?" She exclaimed.

"How could I forget? Spiderman is one of my favorite Marvel characters."

"So you remembered what I wore, not because I wore it, but because it was one of your favorite Marvel heroes?" She sounded a tad offensive.

"Does that bother you?"

"I'm going to bed." She starts to get up, but I instantly grab her and pull her next to me.

I wrapped my arm around her. "You've got to stop walking away when you don't like what I do or say."

"Stop being an ass then." She huffs.

Hearing Sage unhappy at small things like this always makes me smile, for some odd reason. "The real reason I remember is because I'm sure Emerson made it very clear to make an impression but you chose to stick to who you were. And it happened to be the kind of girl who liked Spiderman graphic t-shirts and ripped jeans. Both things I never get from women and never knew I wanted until I saw it."

Sage's eyes hesitantly go to mine. "You're cunning, way to cunning. Is this how you get women in your bedroom?"

"Fuck no." I chuckle. "For that I don't need to do much, women instantly just want to be in my bed. You, Sage Slade, are the exception. I'm willingly and enjoyably going to get you in my bed with work."

She nudges me, then turns her head away. "You're such a...ugh...I don't know. Weirdo!"

"Weirdo?" I chuckle. "Care to say that to my face?"

She shakes her head.

"Sage," I call out. "you're going to have to look at me. How else will we finish our make out session?"

Sage wraps her arms around herself. "We're not, I'm going to bed."

"Fair enough," I let her go. "I need to shower anyways."

Without skipping a beat she stands up, then looks at me. "Greyson..."

"Hm?" I look at her.

"Are you going to sleep out here tonight again?" She asks.

I sigh.

For the past few weeks I've been up all night researching, working, and keeping in contact with Hudson about this Oliver guy and who else is a part of this mess. I've only allowed myself to sleep in the same bed when I first got my injuries, when it was impossible to sleep on the couch.

Admittedly, it's still very uncomfortable, but doable.

However, it was probably about time we started getting into the gears of staying in the same bed. It'll eventually become a daily thing between us.

"I'll crawl into bed tonight." I assure her. "Don't wait up for me though, kay?"

"Yeah, okay." She nods, then walks down the hall to the bedroom.

Question, do you guys like the title of the book? Should I change it? I have a few ideas but just wondering if you all didn't care or mind.