The Successor Read online

  Where are you???

  You’re canoodling with that Holbrook boy, aren’t you? You better get down here, or I’m coming up there.

  Kate hurriedly texted her grandmother back.

  I was just talking to him. He had some questions he needed answered.

  She knew her grandmother wouldn’t believe the lie. Kate tied her damp hair up in a messy up-do, pulled on her clothes, crept out of the room, and went downstairs, taking Grant’s muddy clothes with her.

  Praying that she wouldn’t run into Stefan, she dumped them in the laundry room then tiptoed down the hallway to the front door.

  “There you are,” her grandmother said from the doorway leading to a small sitting room.

  “Gram,” Kate hissed. “What are you doing here?”

  “Looking for you. You didn’t answer my texts. I wonder why,” she said, raising an eyebrow at Kate.

  “I stayed with him until he fell asleep,” she hissed to her grandmother’s skeptical look. “I should probably check in with Walter before I leave.”

  “Walter is on the phone with the Tokyo office or something. Stefan, we’re off,” she said to the butler as he came into the room, carrying a tray with soup and bread.

  “He’s asleep, but he might eat it,” Kate told him.

  “I’ll save it for him should he wake up,” Stefan replied and bid them good night.

  As the driver opened the car door, Kate looked up at Grant’s window. The room was dark, and she hoped he slept soundly.

  Chapter 16

  Grant

  Grant slept the best he had in years, it felt like. He woke up to the morning sun streaming through the window and Gus tip-tapping on his chest. Grant yawned, feeling his jaw crack.

  “Man, sleep really will make a lot of things better, eh, Gus Gus?” he said to the dog. He turned over to look for Kate. She wasn’t there. His good mood sank a bit.

  “She’ll be at breakfast,” he told himself. It was almost scary how hard he had fallen for his father’s assistant. She wasn’t like any woman he had met in the military or like any girl back home in Missouri. She was worldly, funny, very attractive, kept herself up, and if he didn’t know any better, he would say she was smitten with him.

  He remembered in the barracks how the guys would all agonize over their dating apps, just hoping to find someone they could regularly hook up with. None of them were even thinking about getting a girlfriend, though that was the dream. And here the perfect girl had fallen in his lap. Literally. He smirked, remembering what they had done in the bathtub. He dressed then took the dog downstairs.

  “Good morning, Grant,” said Stefan. “Feeling better today?”

  “Yes,” Grant said.

  “You slept a while. It’s a bit chilly this morning, so I will bring your brunch to the solarium.”

  Kate was sitting in the sunlight pouring through the large glass windows. She leaned back and smiled at Grant when he walked in, and he felt his heart skip. Maybe he could survive this place after all, if he got to start his mornings with her looking at him like that.

  She pushed her sunglasses down her nose and gave him a sultry look then laughed. He grinned at her, and she patted the seat next to her on the loveseat. He sat down, and Stefan brought him a bowl with eggs, sausage, and seasoned potatoes.

  “What are we doing today?” Grant asked Kate.

  “Your father had to fly to London, but I talked to him, and we’re going to take it easy,” she told him. “We’ll let you acclimate a bit more. Hopefully, you can make some good impressions on people—not that it really matters. Walter Holbrook is one of the richest men in the world, after all.” She laughed. “But he relies on people not to badmouth him. So we want to make at least a neutral impression if not a positive one.”

  Grant wolfed down his food while he listened to her talk. She seemed as if she was rambling a little bit. He wondered if she regretted their time together the previous night, or all the times before.

  “I think after you’re officially out of the Marines,” she continued, “we’ll have a big garden party. It should be warm enough at night by then. Stefan and I have already started planning it; we’ll set the date for a few weeks after you EAS out.”

  “Push it back further than you think,” he told her. “The armed forces are notorious for screwing you over and delaying things.”

  “Will do,” she said and gave him a mock salute.

  Grant couldn’t help himself. He leaned over and kissed her.

  “Mm,” she said. “Spicy.”

  He laughed, relieved that she still seemed receptive, and finished his meal. He hadn’t felt this happy in forever, he thought. Even if all the stuffy old Connecticut money didn’t like him, so what? He was used to living with less. Maybe he could find a job as a private security officer. He and Kate could rent a small apartment.

  “Are you drifting off?” she teased.

  “I thought you said I was supposed to be taking it easy,” he said with a half smile.

  “Yes, but not like you can lie around and sleep all day. I meant more like gentlemanly leisure. Play a few rounds of golf, do a bit of horseback riding, some tennis, hang out at the club. There’s a charity polo match coming up that we are going to be attending. You’re going to need clothes and a better watch.” She wrinkled her nose at the giant watch on his hand.

  “That doesn’t sound like a calming itinerary,” Grant told her.

  “It’s better than what we had planned originally,” Kate countered. “Walter had this idea that you would jump into various committees and initiatives at The Holbrook Foundation, and he wanted you to somehow be involved in his company. He was going to put you in international sales.”

  “Oof,” Grant said, making a face. “I am not qualified for any of that.”

  “Honestly, you probably are,” Kate told him. “The majority of people at that level are fake it-’til-you-make-it borderline sociopaths. Sales is all about learning what people need and finding a way for your product or service to help them achieve their goals. The fact that you don’t think you’re the greatest thing since Facebook means you would probably be pretty good at it. Plus, you’re tall and handsome, and people respect that.”

  “Maybe, but still,” Grant said, unconvinced, “I don’t have any international experience.”

  “You were in the military, and you worked with US coalition forces. You also speak Spanish and some French,” she reminded him.

  Grant grimaced and said, “Only conversationally, and only because there are so many first-generation immigrants in the forces. You sort of just pick it up.”

  “Don’t sell yourself short,” Kate said. “And don’t worry about that for now. Calm and relaxing.”

  “But the wealthy-people version,” Grant said.

  “Exactly!” she replied with a wink. “Let’s go. We need to at least order you some better clothes.”

  “What’s wrong with these?” Grant asked as he got up to follow her.

  “The pants don’t fit right. Your thighs are too muscular.”

  He cocked an eyebrow at her and said, “They are, are they?”

  Kate blushed but continued, “Also, your shoulders are too broad for normal off-the-rack clothes. Large shirts will drape off of you, and clothes that fit at your waist are too tight in the shoulders.” She plucked at the shirt he was wearing. “Doesn’t this pull a bit? It was tailored for your father.”

  “He’s about my size,” Grant said, confused.

  “He’s been lifting weights recently. He used to be heavily into running and biking, but he gave it up after the fire. Now he does more swimming and weight lifting. He’s bulked up. These are his old clothes that couldn’t really be altered anymore.”

  Grant shrugged. “I think it’s fine, really.” As long as he’d known, he never had clothes that fit properly. It was whatever his mother could purchase for cheap at the local thrift store, and in the military, it was whatever was in regulation.

  “We’re go
ing to buy you something that fits,” Kate told him as they got into the waiting car and headed into town. After a short drive, the car pulled up in front of a clean, elegant storefront with a mannequin wearing a suit in the window.

  She took him into the menswear shop. “Mr. Lee is going to make some shirts and pants for you, as well as a suit and some pants for riding.”

  “Don’t I get to choose fabric or anything?” Grant asked.

  “No,” Kate said. “You let Mr. Lee choose. He knows exactly what works best for a particular man. You pay and say thank you. The man is a genius. You’re lucky he worked you into his schedule.”

  “Good morning, Mr. Lee,” she greeted the small but impeccably dressed man in a three-piece suit complete with pocket watch.

  He sniffed dramatically and said, “Is this the Holbrook boy? He’s absolutely massive. This will take longer than I thought. It may not even be possible.”

  Grant was taken aback. Kate just smiled.

  “Well, if you can’t do it…”

  “Of course I can do it! Of course! Step this way.” He led them to a back room. It was wood paneled with a trifold mirror and a round wooden stand.

  “Up! Undress,” the older Asian man commanded. Grant pulled off his shirt and pants. He looked at Kate.

  “It’s nothing she hasn’t seen before,” Mr. Lee said with a toothy smile.

  Kate blushed.

  “I know these things,” the tailor said as he pulled on his spectacles and proceeded to measure Grant. He wrote numbers for the length of his leg, his waist, his chest, and his arms. Mr. Lee had to pull over a stepstool to measure his neck and his shoulder-to-floor length.

  “I have what I need,” he said finally. “My assistant will let you know when the first pieces are ready. Suits take longer than shirts and pants, but we will get you taken care of.”

  “Thank you!”

  The door to the shop tinkled as they exited.

  “Now on to a watch,” Kate told him. “You need something better than that thing.”

  “This watch was with me for multiple deployments,” Grant protested. “It’s a great watch—practically indestructible.”

  “Be that as it may, it’s not going to go with your new suit,” Kate said as they walked a block down the main street and opened the door into an understated luxury jewelry store.

  “They have a small selection of high-end watches,” Kate told him. “But we should be able to find something you like. If not, we can always go into New York City.”

  “Can I help you two?” a clerk said, coming over.

  “I’m Kate with Mr. Holbrook. I called ahead.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” the man said. “Looking for a man’s watch, I remember. You would like a Patek Philippe watch, if I remember correctly?”

  “Not a Rolex?” Grant asked them. Patek Philippe was a nothing brand, right? That was what his crappy old watch was.

  “I can assure you that Patek has the highest-quality watches,” the clerk said to him with a wan smile.

  “But that’s what I already have,” Grant said and stuck out his wrist.

  “I highly doubt…”

  Grant gestured to the watch, and the clerk sighed and took a quick glance at Grant’s watch.

  “I believe that must be a fake. The company never made a watch such as…” He trailed off and held out a slightly trembling hand. “May I see that more closely?”

  Grant obligingly took off the watch. Kate looked between them, confused. The clerk took the watch to the counter and studied it under a magnifier.

  “Impossible,” Grant heard him murmur. Then the clerk pulled out a phone.

  “Excuse me,” he said. “I must call Geneva.”

  Grant and Kate looked at each other in confusion. The clerk talked rapidly and quietly in French, his hand cupping the phone. Grant could pick out “rare prototype” and “aviator wristwatch.”

  “If you would,” the clerk said as he finally ended the call, “the Patek Headquarters in Geneva would like to see you.”

  “But Grant needs a watch,” Kate said.

  “They are expecting you.”

  “What’s wrong?” Grant asked, concerned.

  “I don’t know where you got this watch or how you got it. It was presumed missing for the past eighty years or so, and now it has resurfaced. It is”—he pulled at his collar—“a most rare find. Please go. They are expecting you.”

  Miffed, Grant held the door open for Kate as they left the jewelry shop. He put his old watch back on as Kate called for a plane.

  “We’re going to fly to Switzerland, just like that?” he asked.

  “How else would we travel there?” Kate said absently. “A boat?”

  Grant wasn’t sure he would ever get used to this. He had never been on a plane until he joined the military. Even then, it was cramped charter flights or stressful flights on commercial airlines. He never thought he would fly in a private jet.

  A car met them at the airport with their suitcases.

  Kate told him, “I always keep a suitcase packed for these occasions when emergency travel crops up. Stefan packed one for you.”

  Grant opened the suitcase while they waited for the plane to taxi over to them. It looked as if Stefan had packed several outfits, shoes, and toiletries.

  “I wish we had gotten you a suit made,” Kate said and sighed after ending a phone conversation in which she’d been speaking French with someone. It sounded like a woman.

  “I don’t understand,” Grant said as he picked up the suitcases to board the plane. Kate greeted the captain and flight attendants, who welcomed them into the sumptuous interior of the private jet. Then she took a seat and tapped her fingers in annoyance.

  “Apparently, you are walking around with one of the rarest watches in the world. A similar one sold for close to two million dollars several years ago,” she told him as she sat down.

  “Two million!” Grant’s eyes bugged out. He looked down at his watch. It was a bit smudged but seemed in pretty good shape. Still, it did not look like a multimillion-dollar watch.

  “Your father has gotten wind of it. He’s a bit of a watch fanboy. He’ll want to show you his collection when you return. It is quite impressive. He’s going to get a kick out of your watch, though.” She giggled.

  “How long is this flight?” Grant asked as the flight attendants prepared for takeoff.

  “Eight hours. We’ll arrive there early in the morning and go straight to the company’s main headquarters. They have their historian in until tomorrow, then she’s out on holiday. Hence the rush,” Kate said.

  Grant was feeling a little overwhelmed. Who just picks up to go to Europe? he thought as the plane took off. He had been too tired to take it all in when Kate first brought him to New England. Now he looked around the plane. It was nothing like being on a commercial flight. The lighting was subdued; there wasn’t a sense of suppressed irritation—no screaming babies, no bad smells. The chairs were large and soft, and he could stretch out his long legs.

  “My passport!” he sat up, panicked.

  Kate smiled and pulled two passports out of her bag. “Stefan sent them. I’ve got everything covered. We’ll go to Geneva, spend the night so the flight crew can rest, then come back. It will be a short trip, unless you want to stay longer when we land, of course. We’ll see how you feel.”

  Grant nodded and looked out the window. The sun was setting over the Atlantic. He wasn’t tired but felt as if he should sleep, anyway.

  The flight attendant came over to him. “We have some choices for dinner. Would you like pasta or steak or both?” She winked at him.

  “I guess both,” he said. He was suddenly hungry.

  “I want the steak,” Kate said. “I’m trying to not eat so many carbs. You know how the Swiss are.”

  Grant felt alarmed. “I don’t understand.” In the military, they loaded them up on cheap carbs.

  “You’ve never been to Switzerland before?” Kate asked him.
/>   He shook his head.

  “The German Swiss are cool. I went to Barcelona this one time in college and randomly met a bunch of German Swiss girls. We went clubbing all night and went to the beach during the day. They were so chill. The French Swiss? The people in the part of the country we’re going to? They despise Americans. They’ll look at you like a fly that laid an egg on their plate.” She looked at him and sighed. “I really wish we had gotten you some better clothes.”

  The flight attendant brought them their meals, salad with rare steak and horseradish dressing. It was tasty. She also brought a pasta dish for Grant. He picked at it, thinking about what Kate had said about the Swiss. Then he ate the whole bowl out of spite.

  Chapter 17

  Kate

  They crossed into Swiss airspace early the next morning. Kate poked Grant awake.

  “Look!” she said, then she smiled as she watched his expression as he gazed out of the window. Lake Geneva glistened below them, the surrounding mountains framing it like a painting, the city growing out from its banks.

  “Wow!” Grant breathed. “It’s the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen.”

  The plane landed, and as they taxied, Kate hurried to tidy herself up. The flight attendant took a wet washcloth and scrubbed Kate’s face.

  “You look rumpled. You don’t want to make a bad impression.”

  She handed Kate her clothes that had been hung up to relax any wrinkles. Kate slipped into a sheer blouse tucked into a high-waisted pencil skirt and velvet black flats. She pinned her hair into a casual bun at the nape of her neck and freshened her makeup.

  “Grant, come here,” she said.

  He obliged. He looked disheveled. Kate could already feel the sneers that were going to come their way.

  Stefan had packed black slacks and a white shirt for Grant and a pair of leather shoes. When Grant was dressed, he looked like someone’s security detail. Kate tried to fluff out his short-cropped hair but eventually gave up. The captain came out of the cockpit and watched as Kate and Wendy tried to stuff Grant’s massive arms in one of the jackets Stefan had sent.