Brady Remington Landed Me in Jail

I felt my heart stop once more. "You brought me here because you're my best friend, right?"

He opened his mouth, but nothing came out.

"Or did I lose my best friend the second we had sex?" It was the million dollar question. Maybe he didn't love me how I had thought. He'd never told me…

Brady answered, "I think that things are very confusing right now."

"Did you do this to be my best friend or because you want something more with me?" Why did this matter now anyway? Everything depended on what she was going to say.

He gauged my expression. "I did it because I care for you." A myriad of emotions flashed over his face. "Deep down, beneath everything, I am here because I am your best friend. I love you in that best friend way. I saw that you were upset about your mom and I wanted to help you. This is where you need to be."

My heart melted, all the way down past my knees. "Thanks."

Brady narrowed his eyes. "Thanks?"

"Thanks." I couldn't tell him how I really felt.

"Have I done something wrong?" He frowned and then his eyes shifted to look out the window.

On the contrary, he did everything right. "No, no. You say the right words when I shouldn't hear them."

Brady cursed underneath his breath. "Kid and Clarissa just pulled up outside. I don't want them interfering with this."

Nothing made sense, but my heart was breaking in that moment. I wanted to spill everything. He should know, but I nodded my head. "You should stop them."

As soon as he left, I collapsed on a couch and caught my face with my hands. I bent over my knees and dry heaved. I knew I was being dramatic, but it was so hard, so seriously hard. I didn't know how much more I could take, but I knew more was coming. We were just stepping into the storm.

"You have some nerve coming here."

When I expected my mother, I looked up in surprise to see Frank Stephens instead. He wore a custom tailored black suit. His hands were clenched into fists and he jerked forward two steps, but stopped abruptly. As his jaw tightened, I saw the rage in his eyes and jumped to my feet, then wavered a second. The room spun around me, but I remembered Brady's voice. ‘I’m your best friend.’

Everything calmed in me. I opened my eyes then. "She's not here, is she?"

I was ready for the storm to come.

CHAPTER TWENTY TWO

Frank Stephens looked like he could commit murder as he stared me down, but I wasn't a coward. I would not run away. But as his rage seemed to grow, I was tempted to tuck tail and scram.

"You are every bit the whore that your mother is. You spread 'em for any guy that comes along."

I reeled from his words, but he continued, "I loved your mother so goddamn much. I would've done anything for her, just like my son would do for you, but you're like her. She destroyed me, just like you're going to destroy Brady."

Did he just say…?

Frank jerked forward and crossed the room to a bar hidden behind a counter. As he filled a glass, he grunted. "When I first met your mother, I thought she was special. I thought she was a goddamn angel sent to save me. Can you believe it? I couldn't." He laughed harshly and finished the drink to pour another. "I loved my wife, or I thought I loved Teresa, and then I met Leann. I realized what love really was. Everything was upside down, and I thought I could do right. I thought I could be the guy that I knew she'd need for her. All she'd do is look at me and smile and I wanted to be a better man. I tried. I really tried, but it wasn't enough. Your mother humiliated me. She tortured me. When that wasn't enough…you know what she did? She screwed the one guy that I respected in this world. That's what she did. She did everything to hurt me. She succeeded. My marriage fell apart. I fathered another bastard child. I could've lost everything. My business could've gone done the drain and it's your mother's fault. She stomped on me. And you're just like her."

I should've left, but I wanted information. I wanted whatever he was giving out. I didn't care if it was hateful words. It was something.

He finished another drink. "I should toss you out. I should call the cops, but I already know they're on their way. It doesn't matter. Domitri was snowed by her, just like I was. I never knew how bad it was, how much she got under his skin. I never knew about you. Never even considered it, to be honest. If I had, trust me, I would've destroyed you and your mother. I would've taken Domitri down and sent him to hell myself. And Theona. She would've known everything. She would've died knowing how her life was just as much a lie as mine. The business would've burned and I would've set the match myself. I'm not going to see my life's work in your mother's hands."