“I believe you still have those plans,” Liz said. She was fascinated by the insight into his life and to find out more about Heather.
“I do.” He winked at her. “My father said that she was the hardest-working person he had ever met, but not the easiest person to work with. I kind of took that as a challenge, and hired her on full-time to help with my first State Senate race. She proved invaluable. Though I do have to say that she has only gotten harder to work with. She’s kind of rough around the edges, but she’s earned the right to be.”
“Rough around the edges is an understatement, but I guess I can get it. Politics is a hard world.”
“Heather sees the world in black and white. If you’re not good for the campaign, then you’re useless. The woman has no clutter in her house at all. It’s kind of terrifying.”
“You don’t have clutter,” Liz said.
“I live at the office. There’s clutter,” he said.
“Not anymore!”
“Well, you can clutter up our place.”
“I like the sound of that.”
“Me too,” he admitted. “I know Heather is coarse, but she just doesn’t think you’ve proven to be useful. She doesn’t see that you don’t have to be of a certain mold to be an asset to the campaign. You’re an asset to me. I love you. That’s what matters in the end.”
The rest of the drive to D.C. was left to the Harry Potter audiobook narrator. Liz had a lot to think about, but she wasn’t sure how to bring it all up to Brady yet. She wanted to collect her thoughts first, and she was stuck on what Heather had said about the pictures of her and Hayden being a setup.
She didn’t know how someone would act if they were setting someone up to take their picture, but she didn’t think that had been Hayden. She would have assumed some nerves at the very least. Probably more likely would be excessive touchy-feely displays to try to make the pictures look worse than they actually were, but he hadn’t done that. He had seemed too sincere in his apology to set her up like that even after everything that had happened between them.
Liz pulled into the parking garage to Brady’s apartment sometime later. He had already procured the available spot next to his Range Rover for her car. Brady grabbed two boxes of clothes and Liz carried an antique jewelry box that had belonged to her mother.
They reached Brady’s penthouse and she followed him to the front door. A smile touched her lips as she realized that this was now their place. Her stomach did a somersault as she crossed the threshold. Brady deposited her boxes in his walk-in closet. Liz followed him and placed the jewelry box on his dresser. She opened it and pulled out Brady’s locket. She liked wearing it when he left so that she felt as if she had a piece of him close to her heart.
“What’s that?” he asked, standing behind her.
“Your necklace.”
“No. That.” He reached inside and pulled out a small packet of charms. “Did you get new charms?”
Liz’s cheeks turned rosy. “Uh, no.”
He gave her a questioning look. “Care to explain?”
“Hayden got them for me when we were dating.”
Brady’s face turned murderous. “He got you charms for my necklace?”
“He didn’t know it was your necklace, just that I used to wear it a lot. He thought I might want updated charms so I’d wear it again,” she said softly.
“And?”
“What?” she asked confused.
“Did you wear them? Were you walking around with me dangling between your breasts?” he asked, fingering the locket where it was hanging. “With another man’s charms inside them?”
“No,” she told him, trying to remain calm. She knew that he wouldn’t like that Hayden had given them to her. “I never wore them.”
“Then I guess you don’t need them, do you?” he asked, tossing them into the trash can and walking out of the bedroom.
Liz stood there in the wake of Brady’s temper. Her hands were trembling slightly as she stared at the charms sitting at the bottom of the otherwise empty bin. She had no emotional attachment to the charms that Hayden had given her, but they were still hers to keep or throw away as she saw fit.
“Hey,” she called, jogging into the living room. “You didn’t have to do that.”
“Did you want to keep them?” His arms were crossed over his chest and he looked as though his jealous streak had gotten the better of him.
“Not particularly, but it’s my choice. Not yours. And you don’t have to be angry with me about it.”
“I shouldn’t be angry that your ex-boyfriend gave you charms for my necklace?” he asked.
“They don’t mean anything to me and I never wore them. What does it even matter?”
Brady eyed her suspiciously. “I don’t like reminders that you were with him.”
“I definitely do not think about Hayden like that. I’ve only ever wanted you. Now that I have you, I’m certainly not letting you go for anyone else.”
“And yet you won’t believe that he set you up for those pictures,” he pointed out.
Liz’s mouth dropped. “What? How did you—”
“I know you.” He dropped his arms with a sigh. “I saw it on your face when Heather said it. Why won’t you believe that he would do that after everything else he has done to hurt you?”
“It just doesn’t seem like Hayden. He didn’t act like that when I saw him. He was there to apologize.”
Brady shook his head. “A hunch isn’t good enough, Liz. I can’t accept that from his past behavior.”
“Well, then let me contact him,” she blurted out. Brady gave her a sharp look. “I’ll ask him about the pictures and see if he knew about them. I know him. I’d know if he was lying.”
“No.”
“Brady, seriously.”
“I don’t want you talking to him. We’ve been through this,” he told her.
“What’s the worst that could happen?” she asked.
“You tip him and Calleigh off and so she’s more careful about who she sells information to,” he growled.
Liz sighed. “What if I don’t mention Calleigh?”
Brady grabbed her face between his strong hands and brought her close to him. “If you must talk to him, then fine. I don’t like it. I’ll never like it, and I don’t want this to become a routine thing. I don’t want to have this argument again.”