Run, Girl (If You Can)

Gray specifically waited until Aaron was out of town to execute his plan to kill Lacy. He knew his brother wanted her gone but he also knew that if he had an idea what Gray was up to that he would put a stop to it.

It was time for her to die. Not only was she a total psycho who would never leave the Hale family alone, she was preventing Aaron from finishing his plan to kick Alistair out of the company.

Gray had been watching and waiting for years to see that gloriousness unfold. Once again, that shrew was annoyingly in the way. No one liked her anyway. He was doing the whole world a favor.

That she thought she could trick him was laughable. Did she really think he hadn't noticed the camera she planted in his office? It wasn't even that cleverly hidden.

The 'accident' was all set up and ready to go but the people he had paid to do this weren't available until tomorrow. No matter. He had waited this long, he could wait a little longer.

He hadn't expected her to show up at his office, barely concealing her rage. He sighed heavily and put on his falsest smile. What was she so upset about this time?

"Lacy, how delightful to see you. What do I owe the pleasure of this surprise visit?"

"Am I not allowed to check up on the status of our plan? You haven't given me any good information in ages. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you have no intention of helping me get together with Aaron," she said as casually as she could, gauging his reaction.

Well, she wasn't completely stupid. He had been doing his best to hold her off ever since he found out about his brother's marriage. It sure took her a while to figure it out though.

"I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about," he said in his most charming tone.

Her eye visibly twitched and he had to hold back his laughter. Messing with her was too amusing.

"Don't you? Because I thought we were in this together. Tell me…why did Aaron pick up a package for a woman he claimed was his wife with Keeley Hall's name on it after you told me she had a boyfriend?"

All amusement drained out of him. So she knew.

It was a very good thing they were currently out of town because he had the feeling that she was ready to storm their building. Gray couldn't allow that to happen.

"Are you sure you read the name correctly?" he asked mildly, trying to think.

If they had this confrontation today, he wouldn't be able to call her to go where he needed her to be for the accident he had orchestrated to happen. Her trust in him was lost. But she posed an active threat to Aaron's family so she had to be gone before they got back.

Troublesome woman. He hated getting his hands dirty. And at his office too! He couldn't let her leave.

Her beautiful face turned uglier than he had ever seen it. "Don't try to throw me off, Graydon! We had a deal! How could you betray me like that?"

Gray shrugged. "You aren't worthy of Aaron."

"And that woman is?! In what possible way is she better than me?!" she screeched, lunging across the desk at him.

He twisted her arms behind her back with ease after grabbing her wrists. "I don't quite understand it either but she makes him happy and I won't let a scheming witch like you ruin it for him."

"Why do you care about what happens to Aaron?!" Lacy shouted as she struggled to break free. "I thought you hated the Hales!"

He did hate all of the Hales until he realized that Aaron had been wronged by his parents as well and was actively working to oppose them. He felt instant kinship with his younger brother after finding that out.

What started as curiosity turned into genuine interest in his only sibling. After interacting with him a bit he realized that, though a shrewd businessman, Aaron was a softhearted sap. His brotherly instincts kicked in and he wanted to protect the shred of happiness the kid had found at any cost.

They had both been treated horribly by Alistair Hale and Aaron had finally broken free of that. It didn't hurt that Gray enjoyed feeling like part of a family again. Keeley and her father had been quite welcoming the other night at dinner.

"I do but Aaron isn't one of them anymore. He's the only person in this world who holds any meaning for me and I won't have you ruin things for him," Gray hissed in her ear.

Lacy thrashed about until she freed one of her hands and pulled a syringe out of her pocket. She blindly tried to stab him but Gray only laughed. Pathetic. This was how she wanted to get back at him?

He snatched it out of her hand easily and jabbed the needle into her neck. Her eyes immediately unfocused. With a raised eyebrow he examined the syringe more closely. What had she been trying to inject him with?

Gray got his answer when she started kissing his neck. Such a typical Lacy move. She had probably originally procured this to use on Aaron.

He pushed her off of him in disgust. She needed to leave Appzoid before she died or the cops would be all over him.

He called security on her and made sure she was tossed out of the building, now trying to molest the security guards, before locking the door to his office and sneaking out the back. None of his employees saw him go and there weren't security cameras in that part of the building so everyone would believe he was still in there working.

Gray had to find her and get rid of her while she was still out of it. It wasn't hard to do. She was causing a disturbance on the sidewalk.

Wearing a pair of sunglasses that concealed most of his face, he pulled her into a cab with him headed toward the Bronx, which was pretty far from Appzoid. She was trying to make out with him the entire ride. So disgusting.

Once they arrived, Gray found a deserted back street and pulled out a pocket knife he started carrying back in his foster kid days. This would be messier than he wanted but it was too late to back down now.