tricks of time ― grayson hawthorne [the inheritance games]

003. WANT ME DEAD?

I smiled warmly at him. "That's a hell of a good motto."

He smiled proudly at me.

"You're a smart kid, Leah. Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but Oren and Alisa wanted me to come to find you, too. Now that you're an heiress, well, you got a hell of a lotto rules to follow."

I laughed lightly at his strange accent, before shutting myself up again.

"Oren?" I asked. He guided me down the stairs.

"Yup. Head of Security. Now that you are going to be living here, you'll definitely need security." I laughed.

"Yeah...I can tell. After this afternoon," I said, and he apologized through a deep laugh.

"It's okay. And Alisa? What about her?" Nash nodded.

"Right. She'll be explaining everything about your new life. You'll definitely have to give some interviews after the news gets out and take part of several events, so you'll have to be trained to learn all this. Of course, we've known this since we could walk and talk, but you're a beginner," he said, as he stopped in front of a door.

"They're in there. I'll see you later, Leah."

I waved goodbye, feeling slightly relieved by Nash's warm persona.

I smiled once again, as I pushed open the white door, and saw the same stocky man and woman with in the crisp pantsuit.

"Hi...." I said quietly. "Hello Leah, a pleasure to meet you," Oren said first, and Alisa shook my hand. "I'll let you go first, Oren," and Alisa sat down, lounging.

"Thanks. So, Leah, this will be short and sweet. You're a target now," he told me crisply. Given that he'd been so insistent that the Hawthornes weren't a threat, I had to ask: "A target for what?"

"Paparazzi, of course. The firm is keeping a lid on the story for the time being, but that won't last, and there are other concerns."

"Kidnapping."  Oren didn't put any particular  emphasis on that word.

"Stalking. People will make threats— they always do. You're young, and you're female, and that will make it worse.

He was spitting things out that I never thought I'd hear someone tell me in my life. I couldn't even wrap my head around the words.

Some people would want to be me. Some people would hate me to the depths of their souls. For the first time, I noticed the gun holstered to Oren's side, and I shuddered.

"Great. he said. I'll have to go now, I've got a call to make," and he quickly rushed out of the room. My eyes followed him and back to Alisa.

"Well Leah, this won't be as short and sweet, rather long actually. Best you sit down." I followed her directions. "So Leah, you'll see a lot of me in your life now. I'll be handling all your assets, until you come of age. Most importantly, I'll be making sure you are the best possible person to the general public. But, for now, we'll start with a small tour of the house."

__

As we wandered through the hundreds of rooms in this house, I was appalled. There was a bowling alley, hot sauna, pool, you name it. When we got to the last stop, the balcony, I felt the cool wind ruffling through my hair, making me feel free. But then Alisa haggled me back inside again. We went back down to the second floor, and she showed me my room. It was directly across Graysons. Next to mine was Xanders, and a few rooms across were Nash's and Jamesons, and Leslie's. All of them, including mine, had a wooden sign with our names in golden cursive writing. Surprisingly, mine and Leslie's had already been nailed, but with hundreds of servants crawling around every corner, that was inevitable.

"Feel free to get whatever you want to decorate it," Alisa said. "After all, you have 40 billion to spend," she said, breaking her sternness with a laugh.

"It feels...surreal," she said with a laugh. Alisa placed a warm hand on my shoulder.

"I'm sure it does, but really, whatever you need, don't be worried to ask me. I'm here for that," and left the room. As I collapsed on the bed, I closed my eyes, taking in everything.

Not even 10 minutes later, I heard a knock on the door. I rushed to open it. I was a bit taken aback when I saw that it was Jameson. "Jameson?" I asked.

"Hi, Heiress," he said.

I blushed and laughed.

"Heiress?" I said.

"Yeah, I like coming up with nicknames for everyone. I thought Heiress would be fitting for you. Anyway, I heard about Grayson and your...well...argument. I'm sorry about that. He shouldn't be treating you like this. He really thinks you're some master manipulator. Don't listen to him, though. Nobody does," and I laughed.

He stared at me closer, his green and dark eyes piercing mine. "You're a puzzle....waiting to be solved. My Grandfather did this for a reason, I know it. And you're special, and I think he wanted us—to figure out why."

I didn't know what to say to that, so I remained silent.

"I don't hate you," he said warmly to me.

"How do I know that?" I exclaimed. "I stole everything from all of you. You guys hate me. Hell, you probably want to kill me.

He shook his head sadly. "Don't let Grayson ruin your image of all of us. He's...he's just protective."

I nodded, breathing in.

"Is this all just a game to you?"  I put my hand  out to stop him from advancing farther. He took one last step, forcing my palm to his chest.

"Everything's a game, Leah. The only thing we get to decide in this life is if we play to win." He reached up to brush the hair from my face, and I jerked back.

He smiled warmly at me. "Hell, now that you're going to be our new roommate, why don't you join us downstairs for an old family favorite?"

The strangely awkward, seductive manner of him was gone, now replaced by one who cherished fun.

Thoughts raced through my head, before I gave him a shy nod and a smile.

"Good. Because the rest of them are waiting downstairs."

authors note

n/a

word count: 2284 words