AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Brick wasn’t fooled by the kindness Bradley seemed to be displaying. He had no doubt beneath the cool facade was a devious, spoiled rich kid.
Yet, by the way Jezebelle’s smile brightened, her eyes shimmering with relief toward Bradley, Brick had a feeling she was falling for his fake charm.
“Thank you, Bradley.” She reached out and touched Bradley’s hand, patting it. The gesture set the anger off inside him once more. “We haven’t hashed out all the details yet. I’ll be sure to send you an invite.”
“Please do. I’d hate to miss the big day.”
Brick took a sip of water this time to stop himself from laughing at the ridiculousness he was surrounded in. And from spewing nasty words toward a man who hadn’t done anything to garner his anger—except play the charming fellow with loads of money.
“And what do you do for a living, Richard?”
Brick turned his attention to her mother, sending her another lively smile. “I own The Corner Bar. For five years now.”
“A bar.” The disgust couldn’t be mistaken.
Her mother smiled as if she hadn’t displayed any kind of rude behavior. “I need to use the restroom. Jezebelle, accompany me.”
She stood as if she had all the patience in the world while they all knew she was boiling with anger. Jezebelle stood as well and followed her mother out of the room.
Brick looked at Bradley, taking another sip of water.
“You know her mother will never let her marry you, don’t you?” Bradley said as if they were talking about last night’s baseball game and how the opposing team against New York would never win a game.
“Well, my father thought he could control me, too, and that didn’t work out so well for him.” Brick winked.
Bradley nodded, understanding Brick wasn’t about to walk away without a fight.
“Ask yourself, Brick,” Bradley grinned, knowing full well Jezebelle hadn’t fooled anyone trying to correct his name, “how much do you want to see Jezebelle get hurt? Because you might be able to handle it, but her? Not so much.”
“Well, Bradley,” he emphasized his name with a hint of derision, “you don’t give her enough credit of how tough she is. We both know your little act you’re putting on will only last so long. She’ll see through you in the end.”
A cunning, ruthless smile touched Bradley’s lips. “We’ll see about that.”
Oh, poor pitiful Bradley had no idea who he was messing with.
Bring it on.
* * *
“What are you doing?”
Jezebelle stared at her mother through the mirror as she reapplied her lipstick. Her mother always wore bright red, emphasizing her features. Her lips were always meticulously done, not a trace of lipstick out of whack. It’s as if the color was painted on. Jezebelle didn’t like wearing lipstick, something that irritated her mother to no end.
Clearly, her choice to marry Brick did as well.
Well, good.
She was so sick of trying to reach her mother’s approval. It would never happen, so why keep trying?
Her mother stopped brushing the color to her lips and a lone brow rose, meeting her gaze through the mirror.
“Jezebelle.”
No questioning in her tone. Only direct arrogance, as if she expected a response the moment she spoke.
“I’m waiting for you to finish so we can go back to our table.”
Her mother put the lid to her lipstick back on and turned toward her. “You know what I meant, so quit being obtuse.”
