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“Thanks, that’s all I ask for her,” I said.
She clenched her jaw.
“You’ll regret that. Your father has already been talking about your cousin, Phillip, being a more suitable successor. Once he makes that announcement, there’ll be no place for you. And I sure won’t be helping you out. Next time you get in trouble, deal with it yourself.”
I laughed. Phillip was welcome to it all. I had no desire to take anything from my parents. I’d been selfish and entitled but, in the end, that only lost me the things that mattered most.
“I hope you’ll be happy with that tramp,” she said. “She’s no better than her brother was, both of them problems to be eradicated.”
Dee rushed toward her but I grabbed her in my arms. It was better to let her go than to attack. It wouldn’t have surprised me to discover that Mother had just said that to get Dee angry.
Mother paused at the door.
“Leave. Now,” I said. “I never want to speak to you again.”
I didn’t let go of Dee. Her heart beat against mine, hard and fast. I held her until we heard the door slam and the car drive off down the street. I held until her body relaxed and her heart stopped pounding. Even then, I didn’t want to let her go.
Dee grinned. Hell, I had enough. I had more than enough. I had the most precious things in the world: my self-respect and this gorgeous woman. Nothing else mattered.
Dee
I couldn’t believe the things Alex had said. His mother was insane, that’s how it seemed to me. She tried to control him, but he’d stood by me. The way he held me kept me grounded.
I’d been about to lose my shit when his mother had been talking to me like that. Then she’d said that about Jake. I wanted to kill her. He was right to stop me from hitting her though. Her words couldn’t hurt me now.
When I’d kissed Alex, I thought he’d take me into his arms and kiss me to death, crush me with passion and never stop. Only, we’d kissed, and it’d been nice but then he’d pulled away. He held my hands in his and a slip of paper floated to the ground. I’d been so distracted by his mother, and then by him, that I’d forgotten I’d been holding that phone number. I’d crushed it into a ball in my hands. Hell, it was probably drenched with sweat after all that.
I hoped Alex hadn’t noticed but he bent to pick it up.
I snatched the paper off him and inhaled deeply. Would he be angry if I told him? No matter what, I had to be honest, though. This could ruin the frail thing between us.
“It’s the number of the dude at your music company. Matt? Sally got it for me. I was going to ring him and tell him you’d stolen the song.”
I kept my gaze on the floor, the filthy floor. Hell, when did we last mop? And why was I thinking about that when Alex would well walk out on me in disgust? He had nice shoes. Why didn’t he say anything?
Then he laughed. A strong laugh, rolling through his whole body.
I looked up at him. “What?”
“I guess I wrecked that.”
Slowly, I grinned back.
“So, what do you want to do with the song?” I asked Alex.
I never wanted to hear that song again. It represented everything that hurt in my world — Jake’s hidden life and his mistakes, Alex’s selfishness and my stupidity.
“Bury it. Bury deep in the ground with Jake. We have enough songs. We have enough talent, Dee. We don’t need a song that is just going to bring back bad memories.”
I nodded. That made the most sense. If we buried the song, we could start afresh.
When he said “we” though, I wasn’t sure if he meant “we” together or “we” as separate people. Writing the song with Alex had been fun. He could cut through all the shit in my mind and get to the important parts.
“What about your song?” he asked. “Have you finished it? I want to hear it.”
That’s what he wanted? Couldn’t he see that was the last thing I wanted? I wanted him to kiss me, hold me, ravish me. I sure as hell didn’t want a guitar pressed against my body, I wanted Alex.
I got my acoustic and sat down on the sofa. I’d not even played the song for Pete or Ferdie yet. I’d finished it a while ago but I wanted to make sure it was perfect.
