Standing Up For Grace Read Online Free PDF

dining room table. She has a desk in her room, but she doesn’t like being alone there. The dining room table is in one of the prettiest rooms in the house, with floor-to-ceiling windows that overlook the patio and an amazing garden.
    Plus, the dining room always smells pretty good after dinner, and the best part of all is that she’s not alone.
    She doesn’t really like being alone any more, not after all that weird stuff with Mom. Imperia just doesn’t want to lose sight of Daddy or of Grace.
    She likes to think she’s protecting them, even though she kinda knows she’s lying to herself. She’s been lying to herself a lot, especially when it comes to how she feels about things.
    “Imperia!” Daddy says again.
    “Coming,” she says, and stands up. She puts her pen in the middle of the textbook, and sets her tablet on top of it all. The pen isn’t really a pen, but something that works on the tablet. She has the answer sheet there, and when she finishes, it uploads directly to her math teacher.
    See, this stuff is like magic to Imperia, but she doesn’t say that. She just acts like she’s used to all this tech stuff, when really, it freaks her out.
    She heads to Daddy’s study, her stomach clenching. Daddy’s study is off the dining room and has the same floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the garden. The rest of the walls are covered with books, and the shelves go so high that Daddy can’t even reach the books on the top. He has a ladder so he can climb up and get them.
    Daddy is all about books, which Mom used to hate (probably still does, but Imperia tries not to think about what Mom likes and dislikes any more). Usually Imperia finds this room really comfortable but right now, she doesn’t want to go in there.
    It’s like going into the principal’s office, only scarier. She can’t walk away from Daddy. (She doesn’t want to.)
    He’s standing up behind his desk. She hasn’t realized how powerful Daddy can look. He has Greater World power, like the men on TV, with his suit coat draped over the chair, his silk shirt a bit rumpled, and his tie loose around his neck. But he also has Grandfather’s fierceness, which scares Imperia more than anything.
    But she’s learned through Grandmother that she should never show her emotions. So she doesn’t. She just straightens up and pretends like there’s nothing wrong.
    “I just got off the phone with a man who claims he’s the attorney for the Kennedy Campbell family. You’d know the woman as—”
    “I know who they are,” Imperia says. She’s going to work as hard as she can to never know who Skylar’s mother is.
    “I suppose you do,” Daddy says dryly. “I take it that his allegation is true then? You broke their daughter’s nose?”
    Imperia can’t quite control her lips. They want to smile. She knows it’s wrong, but dang, that moment still feels good. And so does that look Skylar keeps giving her, like Imperia’s going to haul off and hit her all over again.
    “She wouldn’t listen to reason,” Imperia says.
    “So you hit her.” Daddy’s tone has a bit of wonder in it, like he can’t imagine anyone doing such a thing.
    “Actually, I punched her. I made a fist and everything.” Imperia raises her hand to show that fist. It makes her feel powerful all over again.
    “Imperia,” Daddy says in his most disapproving tone. “You know we don’t condone violence.”
    She has two answers for that, both guaranteed to make Daddy mad. The first— Grandfather does —doesn’t really put her on the side of good. And the second— You’re the one who told me to defend Grace —won’t stop the anti-violence lecture. It’ll just raise the lecture’s volume.
    So Imperia raises her chin slightly and says nothing.
    “Imperia,” Daddy says, “this lawyer wants us to pay for the girl’s surgery.”
    Imperia lets out a small sound despite her best intentions. “It’s plastic surgery, Daddy, and she can’t have it for years.”
    “I