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“Why’d you get it then?”
He laughs hard, closing his arms around me tightly. “I was drinking unsupervised.”
Now my curiosity is maxed. “Come on. It obviously means something.”
He lets out a long sigh. “It’s the door to my heart. Locked away.” He laughs. “See, it sounds lame.”
“Brady, it’s not lame,” I insist. “And who does the hand belong to?”
“Well, it belongs to the unknown girl who was going to come along one day and unlock the door. I guess now she has a name.”
I can’t help it. I laugh. “Okay, you’re right. Totally cheesy.” He tickles me. “I’m kidding, Brady. I think you’re a very passionate person, and I love that you put such thought into each tattoo. It’s sweet.”
He shrugs. “Whatever.”
“Well, something good came out of all of this. With your help, Rodrigo does amazing work, no matter your motives.”
“True. My father’s money helps Rodrigo pay for things he otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford.”
“I’m sorry for thinking you could ever be into something illegal. You just seemed so out of sorts, and Harrison planted a seed.” I approach the subject of Harrison cautiously.
“What do you mean?” he asks.
I bite my lip, not sure if I should tell him or not. He’s been lied to so much, and the only way things will work with us is honesty, so I fill him in. “He told me that Vanessa was concerned about the money you suddenly had and started asking questions. He thinks you killed her to keep her quiet.”
His body tenses, and his eyebrows scrunch up to his forehead. “He’s wrong. I did tell Vanessa about the money,” he admits. “It was about a week before the accident. She was furious with my mother. She even wanted to confront her. She thought I should take over the business and remove my mother from the company. I swear to you, Tori, on my mother’s grave, her death was an accident. I loved her.”
“I know it was an accident, Brady. That’s why I quit the Bean. Harrison wouldn’t stop pressing, and I couldn’t take it anymore. And I agree with Vanessa. You should take the business away from that bitch.” I sound harsher than I mean to.
Brady sits up and hops off the futon, pulling me up with him. He throws my clothes at me and starts getting dressed.
“What are we doing?”
“We are going to take a shower, and since I’m spilling my guts this morning, I think it’s time I explained everything to Harrison.”
I freeze for a moment, staring at him.
He notices. “What?”
“I’m proud of you, Brady.”
Brady
The house is quiet as Tori and I make our way up the stairs to her room, stopping on every other stair to kiss. Once in her room, she picks up her phone and the troubled expression on her face alarms me.
“What is it?”
She frowns and holds her phone out to me. I take the phone from her and when I glance at the cause of her distress, I’m over come with rage. Missed calls and texts from Jake fill her entire screen. Without reading them, I turn for the door, ready to go after him. Her hand on my arm stops me.
I take a deep breath and turn to her.
“What does he want?”
She looks down but doesn’t answer.
“What? And don’t lie to me,” I snap. My voice is firm and her eyes grow wide. I didn’t mean to startle her, but I know she’s holding back.
She frowns. “I wasn’t going to lie, but I don’t want you to be upset. You have enough going on.”
