A short while later, I turned toward the hall to see Sutton standing in the doorway, watching me. I pulled out one of my earphones. “Did you need something?”
She wrapped her arms around herself—and a feeling of dread hit me right in the stomach. She was on the verge of crying.
“What’s wrong, Sutton?”
When she didn’t say anything, I quickly moved across the room. “What’s wrong?” I asked again, bending down to look at her. She’d already been crying. I cupped her face in my hands and silently pleaded with her to open up to me.
“He took the money.”
“What?” I asked, confused.
She sniffled. “He took the money out of my account. Out of the business account. He took it all out!”
Rage washed over me. “I’m going to fucking kill him!”
I went to move past Sutton, but she grabbed my arm to stop me. “Wait! Don’t, Brody. It’ll only make things worse. I already called my lawyer, and he said he’ll get it taken care of, though it might take some time. I have to pay bills, and I…I…I don’t know what to do!”
I ran a hand down my face to keep myself calm. It didn’t work, so I dropped my hand and cursed. “Goddammit, Sutton. Why won’t you let me help you? Please let me help you.”
She swallowed hard, then handed me her phone. I took it, reading a text message she’d pulled up from Jack.
Jack: Sutton, why are you making me do things to hurt you? The sooner you realize we’re meant to be together, the faster we can put all of this behind us. Stop fighting it. Agree to remarry me, and I’ll put the money back in the account.
I wanted to crush the phone in my hand. “That son-of-a-bitch.”
“He’s not going to stop. And if my parents find out about this, my dad is going to… oh God.” She buried her face in her hands and started to cry again.
Wrapping my arms around Sutton, I held her until she got her emotions under control. When she stepped back, I reluctantly let her go.
She wiped her tears away, squared her shoulders, and said, “Okay.”
“Okay, what?”
“I think the only way to get him to realize things are over is by, um…moving on.”
I nodded and pushed a loose lock of hair behind her ear. “I think so too.”
She lifted her eyes to meet mine. “Are you sure about this, Brody? If you marry me, then…you’re giving up—”
I cut her off. “I’m not giving up anything, Sutton. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you.”
The corners of her mouth twitched with a soft smile. “I don’t know how long we’ll have to stay married.”
“I don’t care.”
She cleared her throat and took another step back. “Can you meet me next Monday? We can go and get a marriage license. I don’t want to do anything until after the party on Saturday, and I don’t want anyone to find out we got married until after Gannon and Addie’s wedding. The last thing I’d want to do is steal my own sister’s thunder.”
I nodded. “What about Jack? He could easily tell people.”
She closed her eyes. “Let’s try to keep it between us for as long as we can. I have a feeling Jack won’t want to spread that news around. He’s always looked at you as his competition.”
“Okay. Do you want me to give you some money until you can work things out with the lawyer?”
Her eyes filled with tears once again, but she somehow managed to keep them at bay. “I paid the rent, so I’m okay for at least a month, but I do have a large order of…items…that I placed for the loft area. I’m sure my friend in New York will understand if I have to delay her payment on the lingerie, but the other things…I’ll need to pay for them before they ship.”
A smile spread across my face. “So what you’re saying is, you need me to lend you money to buy some special items that you’ll be stocking?”
Her cheeks turned bright red. “Yes.”