My Bride Chose Her Publicity Stunt novel · Chapter 15 of 24
Chapter 15: The Skillet
Brandon stood at my mother's front gate at three in the morning, alone, in a navy suit with his tie loose.
A rental sedan idled at the curb behind him.
I came down the porch steps with my shirt half buttoned and left the screen door open.
Maura was still pulling her blazer on in the garage.
"Man," Brandon said, and smiled. "Nice place."
"Get off her lawn."
"I'm at the gate. I haven't touched the lawn." He held up both hands. "I came alone, Wayne. Lena thinks I'm at the hotel."
"What do you want?"
"To talk like two guys who got dealt a bad hand."
"You dealt it."
"Sure, I did." He shrugged, easy and cheerful. "I'm not going to insult you by pretending."
He put his hands in his pockets and rocked on his heels.
"Here's my side. Seven years ago you were a guy with a tool belt and a dead dad. Nobody knew your name."
"I know what I was."
"Then you know what you got." He ticked it off on his fingers. "A mansion in the Hills half the week. A ring on your finger. Your face in a hundred magazines as Lena's secret love."
"You mean as your cover."
"Same thing, man. You were an investment." He smiled wider. "The return was good. You got a life out of it."
"I got robbed of three hundred and forty thousand dollars."
"Call it rent."
The porch light came on behind me.
I heard the screen door hinge squeal, and slippers on the boards.
"Now I'll tell you the offer," Brandon said, lower. "Half a million, wired tonight. You sign, you go quiet, and your mother keeps her house."
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