After he finished speaking, Brody lowered the phone from his ear, his eyes burning with rage.
"What'd she say?" I asked.
"She hung up on me." His voice was low and dark. Deadly. His hands were gentle as he shifted me off his lap. He stood up. "Give me a few minutes, please. I have some calls to make."
"I can go if you—"
His eyes cut to me. "Do not leave." When he saw the expression on my face, he added, "Please."
"Okay," I agreed, still not thrilled with the way he just spoke to me. But now wasn't the time to take him to task. Once he'd handled everything, we'd talk about it. Doing it now would only escalate the situation.
Hmmm. Maybe I was finally learning how to be a mature human being.
Brody used his thumb to scroll through his phone before he tapped something and lifted it to his ear.
"Lynn, it's Brody Murphy. I apologize for calling so late, but I need you." He paused, listening to the person on the other end of the line as he paced back and forth from the den to the kitchen and back again. "Yeah, it's something to do with Monica." He laughed, a bitter, harsh sound that made me wince.
This time, when he paced, he headed back toward the master bedroom, which was down a short hallway from the kitchen, just on the other side of his office and the half bath.
His voice faded as he vanished into the bedroom. I could hear the muffled sound of his words but not the exact conversation.
I picked up the remote and browsed through the offerings on Netflix. There was one movie in particular that caught my eye. It was a thriller that promised to be both frightening and action-packed. Exactly what I needed as an outlet for my sudden bloodthirsty urges when it came to Brody's ex-wife.
I clicked on it and turned the TV down a bit so the louder parts wouldn't wake Jacks or interrupt Brody's phone calls. I settled in to watch for a while, but soon lost interest.
Instead of turning the movie off, I watched it with half an eye as I picked up my phone and opened the Kindle app. Maybe a book would be a better choice of distraction.
I sorted through my TBR shelf, surprised at how empty it was. I'd been so busy at Crave that I hadn't had time to read as much as I usually did. In the past, I would have close to a hundred books or more on my TBR shelf at any given time. Now, it was more like twenty, and half of those were about running a business, marketing, or budgeting.
Jeez, when had I let all my hobbies fall by the wayside? Reading books, experimenting with new recipes, hiking at the local state park. I couldn't remember the last time I'd done any of those things. Except for when they were work-related.
"Jesus, what are you watching?" Brody asked from behind me.
Startled, I whirled around to find him standing a few feet from me, staring at the television.
I did a double take, then twisted my head to the side and squinted. It was the obligatory horror movie sex scene but this one was somewhat...creative.
"What is that?" I asked.
"I think it's a dildo."
"Oh, my God, is he putting that where I think he is?" I cringed in discomfort. "Why in the hell would they put what is essentially a soft porn scene in a horror movie?"
Brody laughed as I fumbled for the remote and stopped the movie.
"Aw, c'mon. It was just getting interesting," Brody complained.
"Then you can watch it later by yourself." I sounded prim and miffed.
Brody walked around the couch and flopped down next to me. He leaned his head back against the back of the couch. With a sigh, he closed his eyes.
"Come here often?" I asked him.
The corner of his mouth tilted up but he didn't answer.
I reached out and nudged his shoulder. "What's going on, Brody?"
"Well, I just called and woke up my attorney to let him know I'll likely be paying another enormous retainer. Also, I had to call the private investigation firm I used before my divorce and hire them again to keep an eye on my ex so she doesn't abscond with my daughter to the South of fucking France."
