“It’s very good,” I admit, grinning.
“See, you’ve got it good.”
“Maybe.” My voice is a little distant. “Anyway, come on. Let’s head back. I’m starting to get hungry.”
I take her hand, almost absently, and we head back to the house. I call Martha and tell her that we’re leaving, so she’s back on doggie duty later today, and we get into the car to head back to the city.
“You know,” Aria says absently, “I could see myself living in a place like this.”
“Oh, yeah?”
“Sure. I’ve never been that big of a city girl, you know.”
I grin to myself. I don’t need to answer. If she wants to see herself living in my house… well, I won’t argue.
I put the car into drive, and we head back.11AriaI keep looking at Brady as we drive back into the city and I swear, he looks totally different.
We were only at his house for a couple hours, but it profoundly changed the way I see this man. I mean, I’ve had my beliefs about him challenged over and over these past few days, but for some reason, seeing him at that house…
He’s just a man like anyone else. But he’s also so much more than that.
I thought he was just a rich asshole that wants to own me. Clearly, that original assumption was so stupidly wrong.
He wants to preserve a forest. He gives money to charity. He has two dogs that he clearly loves a lot. He had a hard life growing up, but he got past it and was still successful.
The more I learn, the more I’m impressed.
“Can we stop by my place?” I ask him as we move through the Philly streets.
“Sure,” he says.
“I have a change of clothes there. And I kind of want a shower.”
“I could take a shower,” he says, nodding.
“Sure, you can do that. I have extra towels.”
“Oh, we’ll probably only need one. I mean, since we’re sharing a shower.”
I laugh at him, “There it is.”
“There’s what?”
“The Brady I know. You were scaring me back there a little bit.”
He grins but doesn’t disagree.
We find a spot near my work apartment and park. He follows me up the stoop and inside, the key turning effortlessly in the lock.
Almost too effortlessly. Like it wasn’t actually locked at all.
I’m frowning as I step inside. Right away, something feels odd.
Brady seems to sense my discomfort. “What’s up?” he asks as I hesitate on the threshold.
I take a breath and walk further into the apartment.
The place is a wreck. Things are thrown on the floor, pillows scattered and torn, records snapped in half and carelessly thrown in the corner of the room.
I cover my hands with my mouth as Brady surges past me. He moves me back and checks the place, making sure nobody is around.
But I know it’s empty. I know what happened here.
“We should call the police,” he says. “Is anything missing?”
I shake my head. “I don’t know. I don’t think so.”
He curses. “This is weird.” He starts to get his phone from his pocket.
“Wait, no.” I walk up to him. “No, please. Don’t call the cops.”
“What? Why not?”
“I just, uh, please. I can’t have the police in my business.”
He hesitates. “If you’re worried about getting in trouble, you don’t break the law. What you do is legal.”
“I know that,” I say, grimacing. “I just, I don’t want them anywhere near here. If my clients find out about this…” I trail off. I feel so lame, making this excuse. It’s total bullshit, and I think he can see through it.
“Look, Aria. Whoever did this is seriously unhinged.”
“It’s not that bad,” I say.
He frowns and puts his phone down. “Do you know something that I don’t?”
I look away. “No.”
He’s quiet for a moment, watching me carefully. I feel so incredibly scrutinized and vulnerable but I don’t know what else to do.
I hate lying to him. But I also can’t tell him the truth.
Louis is in a bad spot right now. He’s probably a little dangerous, but I don’t believe he’ll hurt me. I think he’s just desperate to get close to me again.
If this was him, and I’m pretty positive it was, I definitely can’t reach out to him now. I’m not really worried about what he’ll do to me, but about what he might try to do to Brady. Or what he might do to himself.
No, I need to keep my distance and wait it out.
Brady finally sighs. He walks to the front door and shuts it. He tries to lock it, but the lock was broken when Louis forced his way in. Brady shakes his head, annoyed, and props a chair up against the doorknob, wedging it in nice and tight.
“Come on,” he says, taking my hand. He leads me into the bedroom where most of my clothes are thrown onto the floor.