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“I still don’t want to do it,” I pouted.
“Yes, you do. Because you rock, and you know it. So you are going to stop the pouting and tantrums, and you’re going to trust your Auntie Em to take care of you.” Her voice suddenly held no amusement and was full of the take-no-prisoners businesswoman slash mom I needed her to be. “Now, go think about Petrova’s offer, and get back to me. Before Monday!”
The phone went silent, and I tossed it into my purse as I jerked the door open and jumped into the driver’s seat. Groaning, I slunk down, having a good pout despite her commanding me to stop.
Stage fright sucked. I didn’t know if I had what it took to actually get on a stage with hundreds, even thousands of people watching me. My voice wasn’t the best, and I had pretty good guitar skills. It was my songs that were the real draw, and that was where I always saw my career staying. I could write them and stay behind the scenes while someone else performed them.
But then I got it into my head that I needed to change that, and now look where I was! I had an open offer from not just one of the biggest record labels, but the number one record label. The deal they gave Tainted Knights had been crazy huge, and people were still talking about it. The one they gave the Blonde Bombshells wasn’t nearly as big, but that was because even the music world was sexist and discriminatory. Fucking assholes.
Yet, no matter who I ended up signing with, I still would have to go on tours. That was where the real money was.
I sniffed, shaking my head. Like I needed the money. I was comfortable just living off the songs I’d already written and sold. I didn’t even have to touch the trust fund Carter set up for me that I gained access to when I turned eighteen. I was independent and secure financially.
Still, I decided as I started the car several minutes later, once I was over the worst of my panic and annoyance, it would feel really good to stick it to Petrova by throwing out a crazy number and seeing if he really would give it to me.
By the time I got to the hospital, the idea was holding more and more merit.
Chapter 18
Kin
Dressed in the best outfit I had, a knee-length white dress that hugged my figure but didn’t flaunt it and a pair of strappy silver heels I’d bought with Lucy during all those hours of planning her wedding, I walked into one of the best restaurants in LA with Derrick at my side.
He was in slate-gray dress pants and a soft yellow pastel button-up with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, causing every female eye to turn and eat up the sight of him as he walked past them. I wasn’t unused to having the female population gawk hungrily at the man beside me. It was something that happened daily when I was with Jace. But where, with my ex, I was always consumed by jealousy, with Derrick, I was just oddly amused.
The hostess showed us to a table with a view at the back of the restaurant, overlooking the city below. With the lights starting to come on below us and the sun beginning to set in the distance, it made for a spectacular sight.
One that not every patron in the place was gifted a view of, I noticed. We were in a more secluded part of the restaurant, which was situated on the top floor of one of the posher buildings. The tables were spaced out more, with only three others getting the glorious view below.
I caught my breath at the beauty as Derrick held out my chair and I dropped down, my mind already floating with lyrics to describe this moment in time.
“This is why I bought this building,” he said, and I looked up to find his eyes on my face instead of the breathtaking view.
“You own the whole building?”
He nodded, glancing for a moment out the window before turning his dark gaze back on me. “I’m into real estate, but when I got a look at this view, I knew I wanted this place for myself. So I bought it and rented out the building to a few of my friends for a decent price. Which is good for me because I get to eat at this table anytime the urge strikes me.”
Touched that he was sharing this with me, I reached across the table, touching his hand. “Thank you for bringing me here.” Stupidly, tears stung my eyes, and I hurriedly blinked them away.
He saw them anyway, and his face dropped. “Did I do something wrong?”
I shook my head, swallowing hard. “No. I’m just not used to… Yeah.” Sighing, I picked up my water glass, taking a moment to collect myself before giving him a smile that I hoped rivaled the setting sun. “Thank you.”
He cleared his throat, glancing away for a moment. “They serve some of the best tequila lime chicken here,” he informed me when he finally met my gaze again. “And I have it on good authority that it’s one of your favorites.”
The breath whooshed out of me. “Who told you that?” I half whispered, half shouted. It wasn’t common knowledge that tequila lime chicken was one of my all-time favorites. It was one of my addictions as a child that followed me into adulthood.
His ears turned pink, but he held my gaze. “Scott told me.”
If I’d had a mouthful of water, it would have sprayed all over his face and chest. Nothing he could have said would have ever surprised me more. “My dad knows that about me?”
His eyes turned sad. “It hurts me that you have to question that, sweetheart.”
I glanced down at the table, my mind a whirlwind.
His hand caught mine, turning it over and rubbing little circles on my palm. “He and I sat down over the weekend and talked. I ripped into him about him being a shitty dad, and I told him if he and Shannon ever have kids—Lord help us all if that happens—but if they ever do, I will castrate him if he ever treats the kid like he’s treated you over the years. This was after a few shots, so I was feeling pretty good. But here’s the thing about Scott Montez. He’s a sad-ass drunk.”
The idea of my father having more kids was kind of disturbing. He was in his fifties. Shannon was only a few years older than me, and I figured she deserved to have all the babies she wanted. It was just weird to think the father would be my dad.
