The tears collected in the back of her eyes until the young woman could no longer see straight. Straightening her posture, Brie wiped as many of them away as she could and finished packing what remained of her measly luggage, which consisted of one bag and one larger one that contained her clothing. Her hands shaking, a symptom of the shock that had consumed her soul for the past two days, Brie took one last look around the loft apartment her brother let her occupy, and tried to remember the good from it. It was where she had sought refuge after the worst thing happened to her, and where she found new love and trust.

Not that it mattered now. Brady was in jail. Charged with attempted murder after cops found a planted gun in his car. Wrenching open the door, Brie took the steps two at a time and was lucky to find the bar mostly empty, apart from a few regulars. As she headed toward the door, she could not help but overhear the whispers that seemed to float above the air like a constant cloud: "He was always shady," one woman murmured, casting a glanced around her sewing circle. "Jack poured so much into him, and just look how he repaid him." Shaking her head, Brie pushed through the doors and strode out to her car. She had no clue where she was going to go, but it had to be someplace where she could regain her thoughts and figure out a way to help Brady with what law experience she had.

Sliding into the cool leather of the driver's seat, her hands trembled as she hooked up her phone to the audio system and found a playlist that she liked to listen to when her heart was in shambles. Music had always been a reprieve, a way to escape the torment of what had been her life the last year, and this time was no different. As the engine roared to life, a sob escaped from somewhere deep inside her as the upbeat rifts of 'this is how a heart breaks' began to play.

Don't you wanna go for a ride

Just keep your hands inside

And make the most out of life.

Staring down the lane of blacktop that separated her from the freeway, Brie remembered with perfect clarity the day she took a chance with her heart and life and let Brady take her for a ride on his bike. The feeling of her hair whipping ferociously as the bike careened down the road was not something she would soon forget, nor was the feeling of astonishment at the risk she had let herself take with a near total stranger. It had been the start of something special, something that made her feel safe and loved and not judged.

And now it was gone, and Brie felt powerless for the first time in her life to do anything about it.