Page 30 of Beautifully Used
“How? Why?” Brodie’s hands were on my shoulders. He led me to the edge of the bed and sat me down. Then he sat beside me.
I shook my head. I didn’t know how to explain what she had said. I didn’t know if I could explain what she had said.
“Gabrielle, tell me what happened.” His hands were back on my shoulders and he was staring at me. I stared back into his green eyes. Did those eyes really care about me? Would those eyes be any different than the ones who’d betrayed me before?
“She said he had a witness. Another female that claimed to have been with us the entire night, and who said that we were all just having fun. She told them that I said I wanted to be alone with him. That I wanted to have sex with him.”
“How the hell can they believe that when there was no one else there that night when they questioned us? And who is this girl?”
I shook my head. Still too shocked to do anything more than that.
Chapter 23
Brodie
* * *
I was beyond pissed, to say the least. I called the DA to find out why they believed some cockamamie story and not ours. They told me the same thing they’d told Gabrielle, adding in the quote that Gabrielle had left out about her wanting to fuck him silly, something I could never imagine her ever saying. When I asked them who the girl was that’d lied for him, they told me her name was Kate Bradley. She’d sworn that she’d been with Jeff and Gabrielle the entire evening, and only left them when Gabrielle told her to, when she’d insisted that she wanted to be alone with Jeff. She’d said that she’d snuck past me because she had a feeling that I was jealous and was about to start something that she didn’t want any part of.
I couldn’t picture her, nor did I have any recollection of meeting anyone at the wedding with that name. Then I remembered. The dark-haired girl in the pink dress who was sitting alone at the table at the reception. A girl I hadn’t recognized, and whom I figured had come with someone as a guest. I’d never given her much thought, until now. But why lie for Jeff?
After the phone call to the DA, I reluctantly drove Gabrielle to the house to look at the room she wanted to rent. There weren’t many rooms available around this town, and she needed to act fast before someone else took it. On the way, I told her about the detective agency Jackson and I used to have, and mentioned that I wanted to investigate this Kate character. Gabrielle didn’t seem interested in talking about it. In fact, she was quiet for most of the ride, somewhat withdrawn, spending most of the trip just staring out at the trees. The house wasn’t too far away from mine. About two miles as the crow flies, but about three in actuality, considering all the side roads winding around on the way to the heart of downtown. Not a bad area, but not the best either. The thought of her living here sickened me.
It was a single room and that was all, hardly large enough to hold a twin-size bed. She’d have to share a bathroom with a little boy since the room didn’t have one of its own. Not like the room she already had at my house. This tiny room only had a small closet with two sliding doors. At least the room at my house had a walk in closet and its own bathroom. When she told the man that she’d take it, I pulled her outside to talk to her, giving the man an apology on our way.
“Gabrielle, why do you want to move here? There’s no privacy. You’ll have to share a bathroom with a seven-year-old boy.”
“I can’t afford much else.”
“But why don’t you just stay at my house? At least you’d have your own bathroom and shower, plus a walk-in closet.”
She stared at me, her eyebrows knitted closely together. “I didn’t think that was an option.”
“Well, it is.” I didn’t want her to live somewhere else.
She bit her bottom lip and scratched her temple with her finger, then looked up at me. “How much?”
I raised my eyebrows. She hadn’t been paying anything. She’d been a guest. I hadn’t even thought about charging her. Hell, Jackson had Lena living there for free. I didn’t feel right charging Gabrielle. I shrugged. “I don’t know. You don’t need to pay me anything for now. We can work it all out later.”
She shook her head. “I won’t live there for free. Being there as a guest these past few weeks was fine, but I need to pay for myself from here on out. This place is $400 a month so I can pay that much.”
I coughed and lowered my voice. “They want $400 for that tiny room?”
She nodded then turned and stepped up to the door and waved at the man inside. “Thanks. Um … I’m going to keep looking.” She skipped down the two steps and when she reached me, she put her hand on my arm, edging me down the walkway to the car.
“Were they giving you kitchen privileges?” I asked.
“No.”
“Dayum. I should charge you no less than $600, then.”
“I’m only going to pay $400,” she said and crossed her arms over her chest.
I nodded and pulled the truck away from the curb. Happy she was staying with me. Well, at my house. Especially now that Jeff was free of all charges and out of jail.
Chapter 24
Gabrielle
