Breaking Jacob (2nd in Breaking Series)

Chapter Thirteen

"She's a damn con artist, Brody. She makes men fall in love with her and then she takes off with the engagement ring and whatever valuables she can get."

"Yeah, she told me," Brody replied. "I told her to come talk to you...Since you're hear hating women and drunk in the middle of the night, I'm guessing that didn't go well?"

"She wasn't going to talk to me! I caught her walking back to her room and I confronted her."

"But then how did you know?" Brody asked as he lit a cigarette.

"I uh... I read her diary," Jacob replied sheepishly.

Elizabeth slammed the coffee cup she had just entered the room with down on the table in front of Jacob and put her hands on her hips, "You did what?!"

"Susie read it first," Jacob quickly spat as he rubbed his temples. His head was starting to hurt. He never had been able to handle alcohol. "She told me I should read it. And I'm glad I did. I was gonna marry the woman!"

"You mean you aren't now?" Brody asked slowly.

Jacob looked at him as if he'd grown a second head, "Are you crazy?!" he demanded. "The woman lied to me."

"To protect her sister," Brody replied.

"What are you talking about?" Jacob asked as he took a sip of the coffee.

"I'm not going into the details with your stubborn ass, that's her business. If you want to let that woman get away that's your own choice to make but it would the dumbest thing you've ever done," Brody warned.

"Is that so?" Jacob asked with a sneer that reminded Brody of Sally. Jacob sure was a moody ass when he got drunk.

"Yeah that's so," Brody shrugged and leaned back in the chair, "The woman had her reasons for doing what she did and she really does love you. Maybe you should go talk to her about that instead of jumping to your own conclusions."

"I did talk to her..."

Brody cut him off, "I know how your talks go when you get angry. You yell a lot, you say what you want to say and then you never let the other person say a single word in their defense."

"No I....."

Brody cut him off again, "Yes you do," he snapped.

Elizabeth smiled behind her own coffee cup, "It must run in the family," she mused. Both men glared at her.

"Go talk to your woman," Brody grumbled as he stood up. "Trust me when I tell you that it hurts like hell when the woman you love is suddenly gone. You got a chance to keep yours, so take it. Talk to her and hear her side of things. You'll see that she didn't have much of a choice in the matter."

"I think you should listen to Brody," Elizabeth added.

Jacob looked at her, "I'm guessing Brody told you all about whatever it is he knows and won't tell me?" he demanded and Elizabeth nodded. Brody grabbed Elizabeth's arm gently and pulled her to her feet, "Get out of my house, Jacob, and go take care or your business. It's late, the kids are asleep and my wife and I are going back to bed."

"We are?" Elizabeth asked defiantly.

Brody nodded, "Yep." The look of fire in his eyes was enough to make Jacob want to empty the whiskey contents from his stomach onto the fancy braided rug.

It had Elizabeth's resolve melting as she turned her gaze to Jacob, "Yes, you need to leave and go handle your business."

"No problem," Jacob scoffed. He took a big gulp of his coffee and then stood and walked to the door, "Thanks for the coffee, Liz, and Brody, thanks for being a big enough ass to make see what a blockhead I was being."