Brody - Ellie Masters Page 0,117

week.” He glances at his cuticles and looks up, like he’s doing me a favor.

Crook!

Thief!

“Wow.” I shift in my seat and try to look as nervous as possible.

“Sweetie, you might want to sit on this for a bit.” Abbie moves around the kitchen, pulling out dishes and flatware.

“Here, let me help you.” I grab the plates from her as she whispers in my ear.

“You’re doing great.”

I smile. Such a little thing, her words smooth away my anger. All I really need is someone in my corner supporting me. I need Brody, and while I adore Abbie, I can’t help but wish he was here backing me up. Pain stabs at my heart as I realize how much I miss him. Too blinded by anger, I pushed him away when I should’ve kept him close.

Especially now.

“It’s a generous offer, but I can’t abandon you.” I need to hold Mark off.

“Don’t worry about me. I’m much more familiar with how everything works around here.” He lifts the papers with Sterling Enterprise's recommendations on them. “Whether with these guys or through some of my contacts.”

Contacts that will offer you twelve million for the land you want me to hand over for two million. Not in this lifetime.

“So, what about these?” I point to the papers. “You don’t want to proceed with Sterling Enterprises?”

“I probably want to sit on it a bit.” He glances at the food Abbie sets out and gives another long sniff. “Now that food smells amazing. I can’t wait to dig in.”

And I can’t wait to slam the hammer down on you.

But the approach to dealing with Mark needs to be handled delicately. Even though I have people in play: my lawyer, law enforcement, the advice of my professors at Stanford, I feel like I’m missing the biggest gun in my arsenal.

Abbie carries the conversation while we eat, getting Mark to talk about meaningless things. She steers the conversation away from business to harvest festivals and the upcoming holiday season. Her bright and bubbly personality works on me as much as it does on Mark. By the end of lunch, that bundle of nerves is gone. I laugh and smile, almost like normal, but I’m far from feeling normal, not after Mark’s betrayal.

As soon as he leaves, Abbie leaves me to clean the dishes. It’s the only concession she gives me. After fighting over it one night, I put my foot down and told her, She who cooks, does not clean. Once all the dishes are put away, I clutch my phone to my chest and head out to the porch to make some calls.

When I open the door, I pull to a sudden stop.

“Brody…”

Forty-Two

Brody

For the past half hour, the sound of Grace moving in the kitchen drives me crazy.

Give me time. I need space.

Her words rumble in my head, but each time they surface, I push them away. It’s been three, horrifically long weeks without her in my life.

I lost count of the number of times I caught myself running past her place. Asher thinks I’ve lost my mind. Since the day I dropped Grace off, I’ve stayed at La Rouge. Each morning, I head out for a grueling twenty-mile run and pass by the lane leading to her home. It’s there where I force myself to continue, punishing my body, as I give her the space she needs.

I didn’t do that today. Mom told me Grace was confronting Mark, and I’ll be damned if I won’t be there for her. I know the truth, Grace knows it as well, but that doesn’t mean this won’t be devastating.

As far as work is concerned, I called Hawke and told him I’d be working from home for the foreseeable future. Hawke didn’t bat an eye; the bastard isn’t stupid. He knows exactly what’s going on, putting two and two together when I insisted on taking the Atwood Estates account on personally.

Mom’s been great. She updates me each evening when I sink with exhaustion into her couch and complain about giving Grace space. Mom listens, tells me to suck it up, and cooks dinner while imparting her wisdom on why it’s important I let Grace handle things on her own. Each night, I run home, passing by Grace’s place once again, where I stoically stay away and give her space.

Today, however, I made a decision. Grace may need space, but I can barely breathe. I can no longer stay away. One way, or another, we’re fixing this. But when I get to