Bad Boy Brody(60)

“You did this?”

His eyes widened. “I—”

It took one second, one single breath, for me to be across the room and have him up against the wall. I had him pinned, and he didn’t fight me. “You sold her out? You’re her stepbrother. You’re supposed to protect her. You said you would protect her!”

“Yo. This is Kyle. Do your thing.”

I slammed him against the wall again. “You’re supposed to be there for her. You aren’t supposed to sell her out.”

“Kyle, fucking call me. Where the hell—”

I saw the guilt in his eyes. He’d done what I said. He wasn’t even trying to hide it.

“You’re supposed to love her. How is this loving her?” But the fight was leaving me.

“Kyle, where are you?”

He wasn’t struggling.

I was just beating him up. That was all.

“Listen, Brody—I’m damn proud of you . . .”

I swallowed hard. My throat was burning.

I felt gentle hands on top of mine, and someone was saying, “Let him go, Brody. Let him go.” I let him slide back down until his feet touched the ground, but I didn’t let him go. My hands were still curled around his shirt as I leaned closer to him, spitting the words into his traitorous face.

“How could you tell Shanna about Morgan?”

“Brody. Stop. Please.”

Kara was trying to pull my hands away from Kellerman.

“I can’t wait to get there.”

And I blinked.

How had my hands gotten around his throat? Disgust rose up, but I didn’t know who it was for: him or myself.

I lowered him back to the floor.

When had I done this?

“Kyle,” I whispered, finally releasing Kellerman.

“Kyle!”

“9-1-1. What is your emergency?”

“Brody!” Someone slapped me across the face.

I came back to reality. Kara was winding up to slap me again. I gently caught her hand and moved out of the way. “Don’t hit me.” It was a hoarse whisper, nothing more.

“You spaced out.” She let out a huff, gesturing to Matthew, who was holding his throat and gasping for air. “You assaulted your boss. You’re whack-o in the head, you know that?”

Matthew kept rubbing his neck, but he gasped out, “No, no. It’s okay. I asked for it.” He was watching me, and I saw the fear there. I rolled my eyes. He didn’t want me to tell anyone about the security footage.

I turned around, knowing Morgan’s father would be there.

He was watching me; his face was impassive. He was tan, abnormally so, but everything but the lines of age were the same as what I noted before.

He stood like he could handle himself well in a fight. He wouldn’t back down like the weasel shit behind me.

Then he spoke, “You’re in love with my daughter?”

I looked beyond him, out to the patio and even farther. I saw Morgan there. She had returned to the fields and was standing on top of Shiloh, but she was watching me. I knew she was. I could feel her gaze.

I said, “No, sir. I’m in love with your stepdaughter.”

“Brody.”

Shanna had come into the hallway where we were standing. My eyes fell to her hand. She was still holding that damned script. “They gave me the okay, not that I needed it. There’s no fighting this. It is going to happen. Your girlfriend is going to be written into the movie. It might be in her and your best interests if I get the true story.” She paused, biting her lip. “I’ll need to talk to her to get that.”

I laughed in disbelief.

This was why they were all okay with me putting my hands on Matthew Kellerman. They weren’t even balking at that.

They wanted my help with Morgan.

I shook my head. “You gotta be kidding me.”

“Brody.”

I held out my hand. “Not another goddamn step, Shanna.”

I was watching out that patio. She was still there, still standing on top of Shiloh, and still watching me. No. She was waiting for me.

“We can talk later, Brody? How about that?”

I tuned her out. I was at a loss as to how to handle the amount of betrayal that happened in this room.

I lifted my gaze to Peter Kellerman. “You just did a very stupid and careless thing.”

Laughter filled the house, coming in from outside.

It died sharply a second later, and I heard Abby ask, “What’s going on?”

I didn’t take my eyes away from the Senior Kellerman. “You left her when she was a child. You paid for strangers to raise her and then pulled them when she was eighteen. You think audiences are going to care that you financially took care of her? Created a bank account for her with her inheritance, but your son had to show her how to get the money?” I felt the air in the room shift. People were waking up and realizing there was maybe a whole other story to be told than what they originally thought. “I don’t know about your love story with Morgan’s mother. I heard it was a good one. You must’ve really loved her, but you’re going to sell out Morgan for what? You’re going to become the villain of the story, not the guy who murdered Karen. If the truth is going to come out, they’re going to know how you abandoned your children once Karen Kellerman was in the ground.”