Did Aria sleep with Brad?
Did that fucking little punk defile my daughter?
He was dead if he had, and I supposed he had, which was why she’d been crying.
God, I was going to die from a heart attack one day. I just knew it. I did.
Maybe it would happen tonight.
When the front door swung open, I heard her come in, and Brooke was with her. That eased my mind a little but also took me back to earlier when she’d taken me to heaven.
Aria was right: I was a hypocrite. There I was hyped up on sex hormones and wanting nothing more than to devour every inch of Brooke and her perfect body but wishing Aria hadn’t…
Shit, I couldn’t even think it. My poor brain ached at the thought of her and that damn Brad.
I pushed the door to my office open so I could peer out. I was just around the corner from the front door and the living room.
“Call me if you need me,” Brooke was saying. She still had that house shirt on; it looked sexy because I could see the gorgeous length of her golden legs.
“I will,” Aria promised.
“And ask your dad about shopping Saturday. If Vanessa is as bad as me, we’ll be out all day.” Brooke giggled. “We may not make it to the play.”
“I don’t mind. We could probably watchTaming of the Shrewduring the week if you’re free. I read the whole play last night and couldn’t put it down.”
She seemed okay, as okay as I could see and hear, because I’d never known Aria to read any kind of book she couldn’t put down.
“We’ll play it by ear.” Brooke smiled. I liked her smile. It was infectious and warm, genuine and…it reached me, even from here where she couldn’t see me. “How about we make it a week of Shakespeare,” she continued. Aria’s face lit up when she heard that. “I don’t know if Vanessa’s into plays, so that could just be our thing, but ask your dad first—and prom…let me know.”
My heart squeezed when Aria gave her a hug.
Prom.
She’d placed emphasis on the word. It was in a few weeks, and I purposely wasn’t thinking about it. I didn’t want to because it was another worry. It was only junior prom, but still. There were expectations…expectations that might have already been fulfilled. I was going to find Brad and kill him.
“Thanks Brooke.” Aria pulled away and proceeded up the stairs.
I waited until she got halfway up before I stepped out of the office.
Brooke saw me and smiled.
I beckoned for her to come, and when she did, I took her hand and pulled her into the office, closing the door behind us. It would be safe to talk in here.
Aria would most likely stay upstairs for the rest of the night, and if she came down for a snack, she’d use the stairs by her room to get to the kitchen.
I rested against the wall and watched the beautiful woman walk over to the lake rock wall I’d made myself when I bought the house. She ran her fingers over the jagged surface and looked ahead to the floor-to-ceiling glass window.
When her eyes landed on me, the look of fascination was replaced with worry and a hint of amusement.
“I’m dying here, Brooke.”
“I know, I just want to see if your hair really does turn white.”
I ran my hands through my hair, and my palms felt clammy.
She moved closer and stopped a breath away.
“She had sex, didn’t she?” Best to cut to the chase, to rip the worry out of my head like ripping off a bandage that’s been stuck to your skin for far too long.
