Burn(17)

            “They aren’t worth your hatred,” Ash said quietly. “Don’t give them that kind of power over you. Not saying it’s going to be easy. But you can’t let them knock you down and keep you down.”

            She nodded and then smiled faintly. “I’ll see you soon. I’d like that, I mean. Maybe dinner. Or I can cook something at the apartment for just the two of us.”

            “I’d like that too,” he said sincerely. “Take care of yourself, Brittany. And if you need anything, call me.”

            As soon as she walked out of his door, he buzzed Eleanor and gave her the rundown on what he needed. After instructing her to assist Brittany in opening a bank account, he told her to give him the account number as soon as Brittany had it so he could wire funds.

            What a day. So Brittany had a backbone after all. It had taken her long enough, but better late than never. Their two older brothers had never had the balls or the desire to stand up to their parents and the old man. Ash had no use for them. Both in their forties and neither one able to support himself or his own family. Hell, Ash had nieces and nephews he’d rarely ever seen. He knew nothing about his sisters-in-law other than they were married to weak men still firmly under the thumb of his parents.

            That wasn’t going to be him. It would never be him. And now, if he had anything to say about it, neither would it be Brittany.

            It remained to be seen if she’d really have the fortitude to make a clean break and slip out from under the control of their parents. But he was more than happy to help her if that was truly her goal. She was young and beautiful. She was smart even if she’d made some spectacularly bad choices. She had more than enough time to turn it around and get her life on the right path.

            Everyone made mistakes, and everyone deserved the chance to make up for them. He just hoped to hell Brittany would turn it around now and get her head on straight.

            He opened his drawer to look at the box of jewelry he’d hastily shoved inside when Eleanor had buzzed him about Brittany’s arrival. He brushed one finger over the edge as he thoughtfully stared down at it.

            Brittany was squared away, and now it was time to focus on his primary preoccupation.

            Josie.





chapter five




“What do you mean you sold them already?” Josie asked, her voice rising as she stared at the pawnbroker she’d visited several days earlier to sell her mother’s jewelry.

            He surveyed her calmly. “I sold them. Had a customer who liked the stuff.”

            Josie twisted her hands in agitation. “Can you give me an address? A name? Phone number, anything? I’d like to buy it back.”

            “You had the option to pawn it, Miss Carlysle,” the man said patiently. “I specifically asked if you preferred a loan with the option of getting your items back.”

            “But the loan wouldn’t have been enough,” she argued. “I needed the money then. I couldn’t wait. But it’s different now. I have the money and I have to get my mother’s jewelry back! It’s all I have left from her. It was my grandmother’s. Oh God, I can’t believe you sold it so quickly.”

            The man shot her a look of sympathy but remained silent. Josie was sure he thought he was dealing with a crazy woman.

            “Can you give me the information of the person you sold it to?” she asked again in desperation.

            “I think you know I can’t do that,” the man said.

            She wiped a hand over her face in agitation. If only she’d waited another day. But how on earth could she have predicted that someone would walk into the art gallery and fall in love with her work—all if it—and buy it for more than the dealer was asking for? It was all so crazy. Not that she wasn’t extremely grateful for her good fortune, but if only she’d waited one more day she wouldn’t have pawned her mother’s jewelry and she wouldn’t be standing in a pawnshop desperate to get it back.