"Nice scratch marks."
Brady quickly spun around at the sound of his wife's taunting voice. Instinctively, he reached his left arm across his body and used his hand to gingerly touch his shoulder where Chloe had left her mark upon him.
"Thanks," muttered Brady. Eyeing his wife apprehensively, he questioned, "What are you doing here? I thought you said that you would be out-of-town visiting your aunt for at least a week."
"I decided that it was just stupid to keep running away from the truths in my life."
"Yeah," Brady mumbled. "Me, too."
Glaring at her spouse with suspicious eyes, Mimi questioned, "What does that mean?"
Brady turned away from Mimi and began to once again concentrate on the breakfast tray he was preparing for the woman upstairs in his bed. His voice almost frightfully chipper, Brady answered, "It just means that I have finally made up for lost time. After being married to you for the past few years, it is such an amazing feeling to know that love isn't dead."
Placing her hands on her hips, Mimi demanded, "What are you talking about?"
"I believe he's referring to me," stated a calm voice behind Mimi.
Her mouth agape, Mimi turned to find a very familiar woman standing behind her - dressed only in one of Brady's shirts. Struggling for words, Mimi demanded, "What the hell are you doing here?"
"Gee, I've missed you, too, Mimi," retorted Chloe.
With an almost bemused expression, Brady looked back and forth between his wife and his lover. After Chloe left him those years ago, Brady had learned to accept whatever dismal future would meet him. However, as he watched his beautiful Chloe throw dirty glares at Mimi, Brady felt just a smidgen of hope surfacing. He wondered if just maybe he could have his cake and eat it, too.
Her eyes cartoonishly narrow, Mimi demanded, "What is she doing here, Brady? I am gone for a couple of days, and suddenly you're shacking up with this . . . whore?"
Brady's tone matched Mimi's in buried fury as he retorted, "Chloe's not a whore. But, if she were, wouldn't that be like the pot calling the kettle black?"
"What happened to keeping our personal relationships private?"
Brady gave a humorless laugh and stated, "I wasn't aware that a pool table at the Cheatin' Heart was considered private."
Her eyes widening significantly, Mimi struggled to just breath normally. There was no doubt that Brady had learned about her and Jason's passion- filled kiss only nights before. Attempting to appear calm, Mimi stated, "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Don't even bother denying it, Mimi. One of my business associates was in town that night and saw you going at it on the pool table with some guy. And, since I already had suspicions, I took a photo down to the bar. The bartender I spoke to said that his shift ended before the little incident on the pool table, but he assured me that he did see the man in the photo sitting with you."
Looking at Brady like a deer eternally blinded by the headlights of a car, Mimi asked in a whisper, "You know?"
"It really wasn't that hard to figure out. I just took a minute to really think about when this little fling of yours began. And, then there was that conversation we had about who your lover was. The minute I started to name guys you had gone to high school with, you clammed up and ended the discussion."
From the doorway, Chloe silently absorbed all the information Brady and Mimi were unintentionally giving her. Though she had suspected their marriage was loveless, Chloe would have never guessed just how loveless and unconventional the unholy union truly was.
However, Chloe and Mimi only thought that they had received their shock for the day. Brady soon proved them wrong.
His tone returning to its previous state of near-perkiness, Brady said, "Look, Mimi, you know that I don't care about you having an affair. But, from now on, you and Shawn should think of going some place a little more private."
As Brady turned his back to the ladies and began to once more concentrate on the breakfast tray, both Mimi and Chloe felt their mouths practically drop open in surprise. Neither was at all certain why exactly Brady believed that it was Shawn who had stolen Mimi's heart, and neither really cared.
As Mimi's surprise quickly faded away, she felt a feeling similar to relief wash over her. However, that calmness was soon banished when Mimi happened to glance at Chloe. Words weren't necessary, because Mimi could hear Chloe's unsaid remarks as though they were being shouted.
A simple look between the women told Mimi all she really needed to know. Her worst fear was made evident by the incredulity and apprehension that was amazingly apparent in Chloe's eyes. It was quite obvious that Chloe knew that Shawn wasn't Mimi's lover. And, Mimi couldn't help but wonder if perhaps Chloe knew so much more - such as Jason being the mystery man in Mimi's life.
Shuffling uncomfortably as her bare feet were cooled by the tiles of the kitchen floor, Chloe felt as though her brain was on some type of overload. In the span of mere minutes, so many things had been said that stirred something within Chloe.
However, there were three words that were spoken by Brady that repeatedly echoed through Chloe's mind. From now on. Chloe couldn't help but fear that Brady had meant that Mimi should make certain that the affair remained a secret - that the marriage Mimi shared with Brady not be proven a scam.
And, if that were true, that meant one thing - Brady wasn't planning to divorce Mimi.
Clearing her throat, Chloe calmly said, "Sorry to interrupt this little marital dispute, but I have a question."
"What's that?" Brady questioned, turning away from the completed breakfast tray.
"Why should Mimi and her lover bother being discreet? After what happened between us last night, you can't be thinking about actually staying married to her."
Refusing to make eye contact with Chloe, Brady answered, "I'm sure that we can all work out an arrangement."
"Excuse me?"
Mimi cringed almost comically as she took a deep breath and began to fuss over her hair. There was no way that she would want to be in Brady's shoes.
"Chloe, you have to understand the way things are. I need some time before I can really offer you the commitment you want, but I don't want to have to be without you until then."
"How much time?" Chloe asked, part her praying that it was a span of time so short that she could not refuse Brady.
Once again avoiding eye contact, Brady reluctantly breathed, "Seven more years."
As tears rushed to Chloe's eyes, anger coursed through her body. And, of her two conflicting emotions, anger proved to be the strongest. Staring at Brady's almost guilty face, Chloe responded, "Tell me you're joking. Tell me that you don't really expect me to play the mistress for seven years!"
"Chloe . . ."
Raising her hand as though to physically stop Brady's words from across the kitchen, Chloe interrupted, "Don't. I refuse to listen to one of your pathetic explanations. I did that once before, and do you remember where it got me? Hmm? I finally gave in and went to find you after I had time to consider all your explanations that Christmas Eve. I just wanted to find you, Brady. And, I did - in bed with Mimi."
"Just let me explain."
Entering the conversation, Mimi said, "You should listen to him, Chloe."
"And, you should mind your own damn business," Chloe icily retorted.
Rolling her eyes, Mimi muttered to herself, "Once a diva, always a diva." However, the stern glare that she immediately received from Brady was more than enough motivation for Mimi to keep any further comments to herself.
Brady attempted to keep his voice calm as he said, "How Mimi and I got to be here is a long story, so I'll just give you the condensed version. We were married less than three weeks when I wanted a divorce. However, my grandfather informed me that there would be certain unpleasant repercussions if I were to stay married to Mimi for a time any shorter than ten years."
"What kind of unpleasant repercussions? What could Victor have possibly threatened to do, and why would it matter now that he's dead? I mean, why would he even threaten you to begin with?"
"To be perfectly honest, I don't know what my grandfather's motives were for manipulating me. I'll probably never know. And, maybe it doesn't even matter . . ."
"I can't believe I'm hearing this!" Chloe exclaimed as she slowly shook her head. "The Brady Black that I fell in love with would never talk the way you are. He wouldn't just accept that Victor screwed him over - he'd do something about it. What's happened to you?"
His facial features turning eerily stony, Brady responded, "What happened to me? Maybe I had my heart repeatedly stomped on by some diva who always thought that she was better than everyone else. Maybe, it wasn't my grandfather that ruined my life, but her. Maybe I was just a fool to think that I could ever have anything more with her than some Indian summer fling."
Chloe's eyes filled with tears, but she refused to allow them to escape. At that moment, she would rather die than let Brady know that he had hurt her.
Pulling herself together as best she could, Chloe retorted, "I wasn't the one that got married less than three months after the supposed love of my life left town, now was I? No, Brady, that was you." Chloe wanted to say more, but she knew that if she attempted even a single more sentence, she would most certainly lose whatever resolve she still possessed.
Braving the angered couple, Mimi quietly interrupted once more - making a confession that had haunted her since the day she had married the handsome and wealthy Brady Black. Unable to make eye contact with either Brady or Chloe, Mimi could only stare at the floor as she stated, "Chloe, you can't blame Brady for marrying me. If it hadn't been for me, he probably would've gone after you, and we would all be a little less miserable. I did this to us - not Brady. So, if you can't stand to see the bitter bastard he's become, then I'm the person you need to blame."
Using one of his hands to harshly massage his throbbing temples, Brady growled, "Mimi . . ."
"No! Mimi, I want to know what you're talking about. What happened? What did you do to ruin all of our lives?"
As Mimi opened her mouth to speak, Brady roughly grabbed her arm and pulled her to him. His arms tightly wrapped around Mimi's body, Brady glared at Chloe and stated, "Don't bring the past back to life, Chloe. It's dead - and, it's best left that way. Now, you can either stand by me and wait until I'm free of this marriage, or you can turn against me and leave. Those are your only two choices."
Unable to restrain her tears, Chloe found herself openly crying as she stared at the man who had once stolen heart - the man who still had all her love. Hurriedly brushing away the tears as they continued to spill down her cheeks, Chloe answered, "I refuse to be some whore that you slink off with on the weekends, Brady. That's not who I am, and you know it. And, if you really loved me, you would be willing to be a man and face whatever happens when you divorce Mimi."
"Maybe I never did love you. Ever consider that? Of course not, because you have always been too self-absorbed to realize that you really are a freak and that you're honestly unlovable," Brady coldly responded. Though he didn't mean the words, he understood that Chloe was right and that it would never really be possible to have her as some cheap mistress - she was far too amazing to ever be such a dirty thing.
Brady struggled to keep tears from emerging in his own eyes as he watched the pain and anger that Chloe displayed. Before his heart could reconsider what his mind had told him, Brady found himself watching Chloe turn away and run out the kitchen door. Seconds later, he heard the front door slam.
As the door loudly shut behind her, Chloe attempted to fight back the tears as she turned to run. She had no idea where she was running except away from Brady and all the confusion he continued to cause her.
However, as Chloe spun on her heels to head in the direction of the elevator, she literally ran into a very familiar male body. Looking up into those gorgeous brown eyes, Chloe wrapped her arms around Shawn and let herself simply cry into his chest.
Under most circumstances, Chloe would allow no one to see her weak, not even Shawn. However, as her entire life continued to shatter right before her eyes, Chloe failed to have the strength to mask her human weaknesses.
And, as Chloe fell apart in his arms, Shawn silently took in Chloe's disheveled state and her lack of clothing. Glancing at the door from which Chloe had emerged wearing nothing more than a man's shirt, it took very little work by his imagination for Shawn to get a fairly good idea what had happened.
Gently, he pushed Chloe just far enough away so that he could remove his jacket and wrap it around her. Once she was covered, Shawn pulled her back to him and began to lead her in the direction of the stairs.
In his most soothing whisper, Shawn said, "Ssh, don't worry, pal. We've gotten through worse, and we can definitely get through this - together."
Brady quickly spun around at the sound of his wife's taunting voice. Instinctively, he reached his left arm across his body and used his hand to gingerly touch his shoulder where Chloe had left her mark upon him.
"Thanks," muttered Brady. Eyeing his wife apprehensively, he questioned, "What are you doing here? I thought you said that you would be out-of-town visiting your aunt for at least a week."
"I decided that it was just stupid to keep running away from the truths in my life."
"Yeah," Brady mumbled. "Me, too."
Glaring at her spouse with suspicious eyes, Mimi questioned, "What does that mean?"
Brady turned away from Mimi and began to once again concentrate on the breakfast tray he was preparing for the woman upstairs in his bed. His voice almost frightfully chipper, Brady answered, "It just means that I have finally made up for lost time. After being married to you for the past few years, it is such an amazing feeling to know that love isn't dead."
Placing her hands on her hips, Mimi demanded, "What are you talking about?"
"I believe he's referring to me," stated a calm voice behind Mimi.
Her mouth agape, Mimi turned to find a very familiar woman standing behind her - dressed only in one of Brady's shirts. Struggling for words, Mimi demanded, "What the hell are you doing here?"
"Gee, I've missed you, too, Mimi," retorted Chloe.
With an almost bemused expression, Brady looked back and forth between his wife and his lover. After Chloe left him those years ago, Brady had learned to accept whatever dismal future would meet him. However, as he watched his beautiful Chloe throw dirty glares at Mimi, Brady felt just a smidgen of hope surfacing. He wondered if just maybe he could have his cake and eat it, too.
Her eyes cartoonishly narrow, Mimi demanded, "What is she doing here, Brady? I am gone for a couple of days, and suddenly you're shacking up with this . . . whore?"
Brady's tone matched Mimi's in buried fury as he retorted, "Chloe's not a whore. But, if she were, wouldn't that be like the pot calling the kettle black?"
"What happened to keeping our personal relationships private?"
Brady gave a humorless laugh and stated, "I wasn't aware that a pool table at the Cheatin' Heart was considered private."
Her eyes widening significantly, Mimi struggled to just breath normally. There was no doubt that Brady had learned about her and Jason's passion- filled kiss only nights before. Attempting to appear calm, Mimi stated, "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Don't even bother denying it, Mimi. One of my business associates was in town that night and saw you going at it on the pool table with some guy. And, since I already had suspicions, I took a photo down to the bar. The bartender I spoke to said that his shift ended before the little incident on the pool table, but he assured me that he did see the man in the photo sitting with you."
Looking at Brady like a deer eternally blinded by the headlights of a car, Mimi asked in a whisper, "You know?"
"It really wasn't that hard to figure out. I just took a minute to really think about when this little fling of yours began. And, then there was that conversation we had about who your lover was. The minute I started to name guys you had gone to high school with, you clammed up and ended the discussion."
From the doorway, Chloe silently absorbed all the information Brady and Mimi were unintentionally giving her. Though she had suspected their marriage was loveless, Chloe would have never guessed just how loveless and unconventional the unholy union truly was.
However, Chloe and Mimi only thought that they had received their shock for the day. Brady soon proved them wrong.
His tone returning to its previous state of near-perkiness, Brady said, "Look, Mimi, you know that I don't care about you having an affair. But, from now on, you and Shawn should think of going some place a little more private."
As Brady turned his back to the ladies and began to once more concentrate on the breakfast tray, both Mimi and Chloe felt their mouths practically drop open in surprise. Neither was at all certain why exactly Brady believed that it was Shawn who had stolen Mimi's heart, and neither really cared.
As Mimi's surprise quickly faded away, she felt a feeling similar to relief wash over her. However, that calmness was soon banished when Mimi happened to glance at Chloe. Words weren't necessary, because Mimi could hear Chloe's unsaid remarks as though they were being shouted.
A simple look between the women told Mimi all she really needed to know. Her worst fear was made evident by the incredulity and apprehension that was amazingly apparent in Chloe's eyes. It was quite obvious that Chloe knew that Shawn wasn't Mimi's lover. And, Mimi couldn't help but wonder if perhaps Chloe knew so much more - such as Jason being the mystery man in Mimi's life.
Shuffling uncomfortably as her bare feet were cooled by the tiles of the kitchen floor, Chloe felt as though her brain was on some type of overload. In the span of mere minutes, so many things had been said that stirred something within Chloe.
However, there were three words that were spoken by Brady that repeatedly echoed through Chloe's mind. From now on. Chloe couldn't help but fear that Brady had meant that Mimi should make certain that the affair remained a secret - that the marriage Mimi shared with Brady not be proven a scam.
And, if that were true, that meant one thing - Brady wasn't planning to divorce Mimi.
Clearing her throat, Chloe calmly said, "Sorry to interrupt this little marital dispute, but I have a question."
"What's that?" Brady questioned, turning away from the completed breakfast tray.
"Why should Mimi and her lover bother being discreet? After what happened between us last night, you can't be thinking about actually staying married to her."
Refusing to make eye contact with Chloe, Brady answered, "I'm sure that we can all work out an arrangement."
"Excuse me?"
Mimi cringed almost comically as she took a deep breath and began to fuss over her hair. There was no way that she would want to be in Brady's shoes.
"Chloe, you have to understand the way things are. I need some time before I can really offer you the commitment you want, but I don't want to have to be without you until then."
"How much time?" Chloe asked, part her praying that it was a span of time so short that she could not refuse Brady.
Once again avoiding eye contact, Brady reluctantly breathed, "Seven more years."
As tears rushed to Chloe's eyes, anger coursed through her body. And, of her two conflicting emotions, anger proved to be the strongest. Staring at Brady's almost guilty face, Chloe responded, "Tell me you're joking. Tell me that you don't really expect me to play the mistress for seven years!"
"Chloe . . ."
Raising her hand as though to physically stop Brady's words from across the kitchen, Chloe interrupted, "Don't. I refuse to listen to one of your pathetic explanations. I did that once before, and do you remember where it got me? Hmm? I finally gave in and went to find you after I had time to consider all your explanations that Christmas Eve. I just wanted to find you, Brady. And, I did - in bed with Mimi."
"Just let me explain."
Entering the conversation, Mimi said, "You should listen to him, Chloe."
"And, you should mind your own damn business," Chloe icily retorted.
Rolling her eyes, Mimi muttered to herself, "Once a diva, always a diva." However, the stern glare that she immediately received from Brady was more than enough motivation for Mimi to keep any further comments to herself.
Brady attempted to keep his voice calm as he said, "How Mimi and I got to be here is a long story, so I'll just give you the condensed version. We were married less than three weeks when I wanted a divorce. However, my grandfather informed me that there would be certain unpleasant repercussions if I were to stay married to Mimi for a time any shorter than ten years."
"What kind of unpleasant repercussions? What could Victor have possibly threatened to do, and why would it matter now that he's dead? I mean, why would he even threaten you to begin with?"
"To be perfectly honest, I don't know what my grandfather's motives were for manipulating me. I'll probably never know. And, maybe it doesn't even matter . . ."
"I can't believe I'm hearing this!" Chloe exclaimed as she slowly shook her head. "The Brady Black that I fell in love with would never talk the way you are. He wouldn't just accept that Victor screwed him over - he'd do something about it. What's happened to you?"
His facial features turning eerily stony, Brady responded, "What happened to me? Maybe I had my heart repeatedly stomped on by some diva who always thought that she was better than everyone else. Maybe, it wasn't my grandfather that ruined my life, but her. Maybe I was just a fool to think that I could ever have anything more with her than some Indian summer fling."
Chloe's eyes filled with tears, but she refused to allow them to escape. At that moment, she would rather die than let Brady know that he had hurt her.
Pulling herself together as best she could, Chloe retorted, "I wasn't the one that got married less than three months after the supposed love of my life left town, now was I? No, Brady, that was you." Chloe wanted to say more, but she knew that if she attempted even a single more sentence, she would most certainly lose whatever resolve she still possessed.
Braving the angered couple, Mimi quietly interrupted once more - making a confession that had haunted her since the day she had married the handsome and wealthy Brady Black. Unable to make eye contact with either Brady or Chloe, Mimi could only stare at the floor as she stated, "Chloe, you can't blame Brady for marrying me. If it hadn't been for me, he probably would've gone after you, and we would all be a little less miserable. I did this to us - not Brady. So, if you can't stand to see the bitter bastard he's become, then I'm the person you need to blame."
Using one of his hands to harshly massage his throbbing temples, Brady growled, "Mimi . . ."
"No! Mimi, I want to know what you're talking about. What happened? What did you do to ruin all of our lives?"
As Mimi opened her mouth to speak, Brady roughly grabbed her arm and pulled her to him. His arms tightly wrapped around Mimi's body, Brady glared at Chloe and stated, "Don't bring the past back to life, Chloe. It's dead - and, it's best left that way. Now, you can either stand by me and wait until I'm free of this marriage, or you can turn against me and leave. Those are your only two choices."
Unable to restrain her tears, Chloe found herself openly crying as she stared at the man who had once stolen heart - the man who still had all her love. Hurriedly brushing away the tears as they continued to spill down her cheeks, Chloe answered, "I refuse to be some whore that you slink off with on the weekends, Brady. That's not who I am, and you know it. And, if you really loved me, you would be willing to be a man and face whatever happens when you divorce Mimi."
"Maybe I never did love you. Ever consider that? Of course not, because you have always been too self-absorbed to realize that you really are a freak and that you're honestly unlovable," Brady coldly responded. Though he didn't mean the words, he understood that Chloe was right and that it would never really be possible to have her as some cheap mistress - she was far too amazing to ever be such a dirty thing.
Brady struggled to keep tears from emerging in his own eyes as he watched the pain and anger that Chloe displayed. Before his heart could reconsider what his mind had told him, Brady found himself watching Chloe turn away and run out the kitchen door. Seconds later, he heard the front door slam.
As the door loudly shut behind her, Chloe attempted to fight back the tears as she turned to run. She had no idea where she was running except away from Brady and all the confusion he continued to cause her.
However, as Chloe spun on her heels to head in the direction of the elevator, she literally ran into a very familiar male body. Looking up into those gorgeous brown eyes, Chloe wrapped her arms around Shawn and let herself simply cry into his chest.
Under most circumstances, Chloe would allow no one to see her weak, not even Shawn. However, as her entire life continued to shatter right before her eyes, Chloe failed to have the strength to mask her human weaknesses.
And, as Chloe fell apart in his arms, Shawn silently took in Chloe's disheveled state and her lack of clothing. Glancing at the door from which Chloe had emerged wearing nothing more than a man's shirt, it took very little work by his imagination for Shawn to get a fairly good idea what had happened.
Gently, he pushed Chloe just far enough away so that he could remove his jacket and wrap it around her. Once she was covered, Shawn pulled her back to him and began to lead her in the direction of the stairs.
In his most soothing whisper, Shawn said, "Ssh, don't worry, pal. We've gotten through worse, and we can definitely get through this - together."
