A Ruthless Game | Grayson Hawthorne x reader

10

     "We've arrived," Oren announced.

     I looked out the tinted window at the Hawthorne Foundation then down at my watch. Monday at 4 p.m. on the dot. Just like Zara asked.

     "Thanks," I opened the car door and headed inside the building. I was greeted by shiny, white floors and tall, silver walls lined with pictures. I took a closer look at the images and discovered they were of people from all over the world. People of every age, gender, culture. It was beautiful. I was so hypnotized by the artwork that I didn't hear the footsteps approaching me.

     "Good afternoon, Ms. Pierce."

     I let out a slight gasp and clutched my heart. Looking to my right, I was surprised to see Grayson waiting patiently beside me.

     "I was expecting to see Zara," I said.

     "She's not here."

     "Well, I can see that." Grayson gave me an unimpressed look. "...Sorry," I mutter.

     "My aunt thinks you aren't capable of running the Foundation without help, and she seems to think this help would be better received if it came from me," he explained.

     "Is that right?" I turned my attention back to the photographs on the wall. "These are beautiful."

     "Thank you."

     "These are yours?" I ask.

     "Yes. I've spent every summer since I was 16 traveling."

     "You like traveling?"

     "There's nothing I enjoy more." A slight smile formed on Grayson's mouth as he spoke. "What about you?"

     "I wish I could explore every inch of this earth, but I hate flying so..."

     "Hm," Grayson hummed. We stood about a foot apart admiring his artwork. He suddenly clear his throat and walked into a different room. He returned quickly with a folder in his hand. "Here," he stand, handing it to me. "The background check I had done on you."

     "Gee, thanks," I say taking the folder from his hand. I open it up to find that it's empty. "Is this some kind of joke about boring my life is? There's nothing here."

"Yes, well they didn't anything of interest about you." He pulls out a paper. "Here. This is a list of everything you've bought with my grandfather's fortune."

I take the paper from him and unfold it. It has one item on it.

"Really, Ms. Pierce? A fishbowl?"

Suddenly, I'm embarrassed. "Alisa worked out a way to have my fish moved here seeing as I'll be staying longer than expected, so I wanted him to have somewhere to live." I pause. "And that $17 fishbowl didn't even put a dent in your grandfather's fortune, so I don't wanna hear it."

"That's my point, Ms. Pierce. You haven't blown it all away like I thought you would."

"Yeah. It's almost like I'm after your money," I say as I begin to walk pass Grayson and down the hall.

Before I get too far, he catches my arm. "Then what are you after?" he whispers in my ear.

I turn to face him. "I already told you. Nothing. Now let's get on with this training. I have stuff to do." With that I break out of his grasp and continue walking.

     45 minutes of boring foundation talk later, and I was in my room, settling in for the night. I slipped under the covers and picked up a book. After about an hour of reading, I heard the clock strike 7. As if on  cue, a tapping sound came from my fireplace. I instantly knew who it was.