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“Go up there and tell him you love him back,” my father says.
I gaze at Tobias on the stage and wipe away more fat tears from my cheeks. I know I want him to wrap me into his arms, but it’s like I’m frozen about what to do.
He betrayed me.
Callie elbows me. “Go. Go,” she urges.
I stand on shaky legs and walk toward the stage. Before I can walk up the steps, Tobias jumps off the stage and lands right in front of me.
“I’m so sorry,” he says.
“What are you doing here, Tobias?” I still can’t believe he’s really here. In the flesh. Standing right in front of me.
“I was a fool for leaving.”
“Doesn’t change the fact that you did leave.” Tears threaten to spill over. “Why?”
The crowd is listening, trying to hear everything we’re saying. Tobias stares out at the people, and then pulls me toward backstage. There are a few grumbles as we walk away and the emcee thanks everyone for coming out tonight.
Music plays through the bar as Tobias leads me further backstage where we can have some privacy.
“Sydney, these past few weeks have killed me being away from you.”
“Why did you leave?” I ask again, knowing that I’ve been dying a little inside each day since he’s been gone too.
He shakes his head. “I couldn’t hurt you.”
I gaze into his eyes. “But you did hurt me. You hurt me so much.”
He steps closer, like he wants to touch me but thinks better of it. “I’m so sorry. I was a fool. I was scared.”
“Scared of me?”
He shakes his head. “No.” He steps closer. “Sydney, Mark blackmailed me with videos and photos that would hurt you and your father’s reputation. He said he’d release them to the public if I didn’t come and work for him. I had to take that job, or risk hurting you.” He fills me in on the details about our sex tape and how he needed to protect me. “I love you,” he says, staring into my eyes.
I can’t believe the words he’s saying, but it sounds like something Mark would do. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
Tobias steps even closer, erasing all the distance between us. “I couldn’t risk the chance of him releasing the tapes.”
“Why are you here now?”
He smiles. “Because I have a friend taking care of it all. Because I can’t stay away from you for one minute more. Even if it means risking everything.”
I think about everything he’s saying to me. About a possible sex tape of us. “Do you think Mark could have been lying about a tape? Did you see it?”
Tobias stares at me. “No, I haven’t seen it, but I think he has one. He’s that big of a snake that I think he would have me followed.”
“I think you’re right.” I grab both his hands. “Tobias, whatever happens we deal with it together.”
He gives me a smile. “Agreed.” He wraps his arms around me. “I love you, Sydney.”
I fling my arms around his neck. “I love you too.”
He visibly relaxes. “You don’t know how happy I am to hear you say that.”
“I feel the same way.”
He leans in, capturing my lips with his and I know nothing will ever be the same. We’ll always be together.
No matter what life throws at us, we’ve got this.
Epilogue
Sydney
Six Months Later
* * *
Do you know what’s funny? Threats. Threats make the person doing the threatening appear like they hold all the cards. And the threatened one feels like they have nowhere to go. A lot of times, they’re empty, as is the case here. Mark McManus never made good on his threats.
I bet he never had the video to begin with. Who knows? Perhaps, he’s saving them so he can use them at the inopportune time. But it’ll never matter.
Daddy’s already accepted Tobias into the company with open arms. As for me, I’m writing songs for some of the top performing artists in the world. It’s crazy to think about the exciting whirlwind of the past few months.
Once Daddy found out about Mark’s blackmailing scheme, he exposed him and let’s just say we’ll never have to worry about Halo anymore.
“Where are you taking me?” I ask Tobias as he guides me to his new Chevy truck. It’s amazing how quickly a city boy can turn country when given the right motivation. Tobias says each day he spends in Harmony he’s more and more at home. And I love that about him.
“You’ll see.” He starts the engine and pulls away.
A few miles down the road, he turns on the radio and a song I wrote blares through the speakers.
“It’s surreal the masses can hear something I created,” I tell him.
“I love your words,” he says, reaching over to hold my hand. He lazily runs his fingers over mine and brings my hand to his lips. “I love everything about you, Sydney.”
