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9
Brick kissed her thoroughly, etching his imprint on her so she’d never forget who she belonged to—him. Not the asshat Bradley that she still couldn’t see wanted to take her away from him.
“Where are you going?” she asked for the third time this morning.
He had brushed her question aside each time, but it was getting harder to do. It wasn’t a big deal. Well, it was, but he didn’t want to get into it with her right now. Of course, if he wanted a real, honest relationship with her, he had to be truthful. He had to answer the hard questions.
She waved her hand in the air and turned away. “Forget I asked. I shouldn’t pry. I’ll miss you, though. I’m sure I’m going to hear nothing but how great my new job is going to be. It’s going to be complete misery.”
He missed his opportunity to spit it out, to share a part of himself he didn’t normally share with people. He didn’t mind hearing other people’s woes, but when it came to his own, he kept his shit tightly guarded.
Tonight, after it was all said and done, he’d tell her where he went.
“Your new job?” He decided to hone in on the words that concerned him. “You’re taking the job?”
She grabbed her purse from the counter, licking her bottom lip.
Oh, hell no.
Licking her lip only meant one thing. She was nervous. Which meant she was going to follow her mother’s bidding and take the job.
She’d wither and die from letting go of her dreams. She was meant to be on stage, performing for the masses. Sharing her talent with the world. Her voice was like an angel, lifting his soul to a happiness he rarely felt. Her beauty made him weak in the knees. And the way her eyes lit up with such joy, it absorbed into his own skin, bringing joy to his life he had been missing.
She had to follow her dreams and continue acting. She’d lose that part of herself that made her who she was if she didn’t.
“I don’t know. I don’t want to.”
“Then don’t.”
She eyed him, her brows drawing low, her tongue still dashing across her bottom lip.
“You saw my mother. She’s not exactly going to make it easy on me.”
“Life’s never easy, Jezebelle. But it’s worth living the way you want to live it. Not how someone else wants it. Don’t let her win.”
A smile appeared out of nowhere. “I should get going so I’m not late. I’ll see you for lunch?”
She could pretend everything was okay with her glowing smile, but he knew it was fake. As much as their relationship was.
He wanted the real thing with her, but he didn’t think he’d ever get it. Not with her mother calling the shots—and Jezebelle letting her.
He pulled out a comforting smile and nodded. “I won’t be late. I promise.”
She left without giving him one more kiss. He could’ve used another soul-crushing kiss to soothe his nerves. He was about to walk into the lion’s den.
He locked up and left as well, making it to his destination quicker than he wanted. He should’ve taken the longer route. Or hell, why couldn’t traffic have been terrible? Anything to delay the ensuing argument.
Knocking on the door, he waited with bated breath for it to open. Two minutes went by with no answer. He knocked again. He wouldn’t be deterred. He’d get inside by any means necessary.
The third time was the charm.
The door whipped open to his brother’s irate expression. Disheveled hair, narrowed, droopy eyes. It looked like he had pulled his brother out of bed.
“What the hell you want?” his brother, Corey, asked.
Brick didn’t expect open arms. His brother’s hostility wasn’t a surprise. Considering they hadn’t spoken in three years since the big blowout, he hadn’t expected anything less. Corey had been waiting for him to apologize, and Brick had been waiting for the same thing. Corey’s eyes appeared to perk up, the sleep disappearing, the narrowing of his eyes even fiercer. Corey knew he wasn’t here to apologize.
The asshole knew why Brick showed up.
