His Nasty Little Pussy

BRADY

“Seriously, bro,” Brooke said. “You rocked this shit out of the park. I always knew Rich was a creep.”

“Yeah, I did too,” I said. “I guess I just ignored it because I’d known him for so long.”

She glanced up from reading the article on her phone as we walked through the mall. “Do you think this is enough to restore your company’s reputation?”

“That’s not what I’m really concerned about,” I said. “Besides, that wasn’t why I did it either.”

She sighed. “Why don’t you just call her? Especially since she’s due in four weeks or so. I feel like the least you can do is tell her what you’ve been doing these last few months.”

“You know, I thought about that. In fact, that was my initial plan. And you know why? Because my whole life, I told people how I was going to sell their products, how I was going to make them rich. And I was still successful, but half the time, I only did a fraction of the things I promised that I was going to do, just enough to still make them a shit ton of money to keep them happy. This time, I want to do it differently. I want to give it all that I have.”

“I get it.” Brooke smiled. “You want to show her what you are going to do instead of just telling her.”

“Exactly. I need backing to my words. If I’m going to win her back, I have to have something to show her for it. Action speaks louder than words,” I said. “I hate that I’ve become a walking cliche, but here we are.”

I paused, and she stumbled to a stop, glancing around. “Oh, sorry, I thought you were being metaphorical.”

I shrugged. “I was and I wasn’t.”

“So what’s next on your ‘show Tess that you love her’ plan?”

I glanced up at the jewelry store and grinned. “I need to pick up something.”

Brooke’s jaw dropped. “Shut up! You’re going…to propose?”

“Hell yeah, I am,” I said. “I knew I wanted to marry her since you called me that day when I was walking home and you made me realize that

I was in love with her. This is the last part of my plan.”

“Oh my God, I’m getting nieces and a sister all at once. My heart literally can’t! Did you already pick it out?” she asked, searching around the glass cases.

“Mr. Wyler,” the jeweler said. “And this must be your sister, Brooke.” “Well, hello, that’s me,” Brooke grinned.

“I was hoping you would try the ring I picked to make sure it fits,” I said.

“Of course,” she answered ecstatically, nearly jumping up and down.

The jeweler pulled out the box and revealed the three-cut, yellow gold round diamond ring.”

Brooke audibly gasped. “You can’t be serious? This is beautiful.”

“May I?” the jeweler asked, lifting the ring out of the box and taking her hand.

“You very well may,” Brooke smiled.

My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I saw my new lawyer’s name pop up. “Give me a second,” I said to Brooke.

She lifted her hand, the light catching the sparkle. “Oh, take as much time as you need. This baby looks good on me.”Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

I smiled, stepping away as I answered the call. I hadn’t had service for over an hour and was glad the call had come through. “George,” I said. “Didn’t expect to hear from you so soon. I thought you’d be out celebrating our big win.”

“How are you doing, Mr. Wyler?” George chuckled. “Just trying to tie up some loose ends you asked about. Not that it’s relevant to Rich’s loss, but you had asked about the journalist who sent him the photos.”

“Oh yeah,” I said. “You found his name?”

“I did,” George said. “But get this…he wasn’t a journalist.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“His name’s Scott Tyson. Tess’s ex-fiance, also the man in the picture.”

“What the fuck?”

“I spoke to the PI you hired. No journalist ever reached out to Rich. Turns out that Scott Tyson sent Rich the original photo of Tess after he got wind that you were interested in Perkins Formula. What’s more, he was only asking for a hundred grand.”

“Rich said he was asking for a million.”

“Nope,” George said. “Rich pocketed all of it. Scott never saw a dime. Rich was the one who went to the gossip magazine and offered them the photo of Tess for ten million. He was sitting on that, waiting for the perfect time to take his cut.”

“Ten million. That dirty fucker. He said that they paid five.”

“That’s not the only reason why I’m calling, Brady.”

“The PI has been tracking Scott. Apparently, Scott was going after Rich for the money he felt he was owed. After court today, the PI heard Rich say something to Scott.”

“What?”

“Rich said that the person who has the money that Scott wants is Tess.”

My phone buzzed, and I glanced down as the calls I’d missed when I lost service suddenly came through. My heart raced as I stared at a voicemail from Tess.

“George, I’ll call you back.” I hung up and glanced at Brooke. “Brooke, watch the ring. There’s an emergency, I have to go!” “Is everything okay?” she asked.

I was already sprinting down the mall before I had a chance to respond.

“Answer,” I hissed. “C’mon, Tess.” I weaved through traffic, speeding around corners and cutting people off as I veered across town, trying to breathe through my fears.

As my fourth call went to voicemail, I chucked my phone in the passenger seat and tightened my hand on the steering wheel so hard that my knuckles turned white.

Worst case scenario: Scott was planning on hurting Tess.

Best case scenario: Tess just didn’t want to talk to me.

I would take the latter over the former, Tess’s safety above my ego any day of the week. But if there was one thing I’d learned about taking precautions, having a safety net was pivotal.

With that idea at the front of my mind, I made two phone calls, one to my accountant and one to the police.