Page 81 of Courting Gossip (Courting)
‘Thank you, Detective. For everything.’ She hesitated a moment, and then jumped in with both feet. Someone deserved to be happy when the dust cleared from this mess. ‘You’re a good guy. Don’t give up on Nina.’
He went quiet, but then let out a low curse. ‘Don’t hurt the guy too badly, Jen. I think he’s caught between a rock and a hard place.’
‘With the rock being his head?’
Morgan chuckled. ‘Call me if you need anything. And I mean that – anything.’
Genieve hung up the phone and looked around the empty house. She’d been happy here, in the land of make-believe. Brody had said he wanted the real her, and she’d given him that. The problem was, she’d forgotten that they’d been pretending. Worse, she’d come to believe they might have a future together. But one phone call, and he’d shown his true colours. He worked for the senator, and he made sure that nothing touched the man. Not a sex scandal or an obsessed assistant…
She pressed her hands to her head. It felt like it was going to explode. Maggie had broken into her home. She never would have thought Brody would take the senator’s aide’s side over hers, but that was what he did, wasn’t it? Protect the political players from smears against their reputations. And what was she in all of this?
Flesh for hire.
Her eyes stung, and her throat got thick. Damn him. He’d told her he wasn’t a good guy. He’d warned her that he did what he had to do to get his way. Everyone had warned her he was a snake in the grass.
But she’d fallen for him.
She’d fallen so hard, she’d been blind to his tricks and true intentions. He hadn’t lied. He’d told her exactly what he was doing. He’d hired her to keep her out of the limelight with Samuel. He was attracted to her, so why not go in for the sex, too?
She threw her phone, and it bounced off the sofa and onto the floor.
The walls began to press in around her. She’d allowed herself to be cooped up with him here. She’d allowed him to clip her wings. She raced back to the door she’d just closed and slid it along its tracks. It bounced against the stopper, and she shoved it again. She pushed back the screen and went out into the open.
‘I’m here,’ she yelled. ‘I’m right here.’
But it was the middle of the morning on a work day. Nobody else was around.
She was shaking with anger as she marched back inside the house. ‘But not for long.’
Her legs felt stiff and her arms swung in punches as she strode down the hallway to the guest room. She pulled her suitcase out of the closet and tossed it on the bed. She didn’t have many things left in here, but they all went into the bag.
She zipped it up and moved on to Brody’s room.Theirroom, she’d thought. God, she was usually smarter than this. She’d bragged that she could read people. What a laugh.
She couldn’t read anything!
Her nerves were raw as she tossed things into the bag. At least the bed was made, and she didn’t have to look at impressions of where they’d lain together. The covers were crisp with hospital corners, and pillows lined up along the headboard. She began yanking her clothes out of the dresser and the closet. She went to the shower for her toiletries. Soon, she had everything she’d brought with her. It hadn’t been much in the first place.
She couldn’t stay in his bedroom one more minute. She couldn’t stay in his house.
Her chin trembled, but she lifted it determinedly. She’d seen him push down his feelings enough times. She focused her thoughts as she pulled her roller bag along behind her. She retrieved her phone and called for a cab. Then she made the most important call of her life.
‘Nina?’ Her voice wobbled when her boss answered.
‘Genieve,’ Nina said comfortingly. ‘Josh told me he’d made an arrest. You must be so relieved.’
She would be if things hadn’t gotten so screwed up. ‘I want out of my contract with Brody.’
Nina hesitated, but then her voice turned warm. ‘You two want to make a go of it without it?’
‘No, just cancel it. Please.’
‘But, honey…I don’t understand. Rielle and Darien said you two were getting along so well. What happened?’
What happened? Brody had chosen another woman over her – somebody he didn’t even know. A psychopath. His job meant more to him than she did, but she’d gotten so wrapped up in him, she’d forgotten what they truly were to one another. Client and escort.
She cleared her throat and hugged her arm around her waist. ‘We were, but now that an arrest has been made, there’s no reason for me to be stuck out here. The contract has run its course. Please, Nina.’
‘It’s done,’ Nina said without hesitation. ‘No questions.’
