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I hummed in reply. At least I wasn’t crazy. Jeff agreed that it was weird.
My cell rang. I pulled it over to me, read the display of Big Bro, and answered, “Hey King. You’re up early.”
“Early? Try late.” A crying wail blared over the line. “Zoe is teething and not happy about it.”
“Sorry, man. Doesn’t sound like fun.” I waited a beat and when he didn’t say anything, I prodded him. “You just me calling to spread the joy or did you want something? I’m heading to set pretty soon.”
And as much as I loved my niece, it was way too early to listen to a crying baby.
King sighed then made some shushing sound. “Give me a sec.” There was some rustling over the line, then the sound of the crying baby faded. “All right. I uh, sorry about that. The nanny wasn’t technically on yet.”
“No problem.” I knew King had had his problems with keeping nannies. Zoe was less than a year old and he’d already been through three. “What’s going on?”
“Ariel’s parents are making some rumblings. Calling, asking to see Zoe. Like I’d hand my daughter over to them for an afternoon after the way they sold out their own flesh and blood to the tabloids. Bunch of bullshit.”
“Sorry, bro. That’s rough.”
“Tell me about it. I just wanted to give you a heads up. Tabloid coverage might get worse before it gets better. No telling how far my former in-laws will take this.”
My heart sank. More than anything I wanted to try to do whatever I could do to make this better for my brother. He’d done so much for me growing up and after when I’d followed him to Cali. The fact that I couldn’t do anything to help him now sucked. He’d been through so much already.
“I’m sorry, King. Wish there was something I could do to help you out with all this.”
“Thanks, Rome. I’m just sorry that my shitstorm will no doubt rain down on you too.”
“Don’t worry about me. I’m used to handling the blood sucking paps. You just take care of my favorite niece. And yourself. Maybe we should go on a trip? I’ve a gap in projects coming up once I’m done filming this one. What’s your calendar look like?”
King laughed harshly. “I wish. I’ve gotta leave for a shoot in Ireland next month. Ariel was supposed to take Zoe for those weeks, but now… I guess Zoe’s coming with me.”
I swallowed sickly. I wish I could do more for King, but I didn’t know what, if anything, to offer. I knew squat about taking care of babies. Zoe was cute, but the thought of watching her twenty-four seven scared the shit out of me. And I doubted King would even take me up on the offer. He was so damn protective of his daughter.
Instead, I offered weakly, “Let me know if there’s anything I can do for you guys. I hope Zoe gets over the teething crap quick.”
“Yeah, me too. Thanks, bro. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Later.”
I ended the call and felt so much shittier than I did after Kevin pushed me in my workout. This pain went deep into my soul.
“Everything okay?” Sophia asked quietly behind me.
I put my phone down on the island and sighed. “Same day, shittier shit. Rinse and repeat. You finally ready to go?” Silence reigned in the kitchen, and I bit out a curse. “Dammit. I’m sorry. King’s in-laws are stirring up trouble, and there’s nothing I can do for him. It eats at me, but that’s no excuse for snapping at you. Eat some breakfast. We’re leaving in—how long, Jeff?”
Jeff cleared his throat. “Uh, is twenty minutes okay?”
“Fantastic. I’ll see you all then.” I pushed away from the kitchen island with a screech of my stool and headed for my bedroom without looking at either of them. I felt like shit. I was acting like a shit. I needed to get my head on straight.
I left the door open behind me as I paused in the middle of the room with my fingers laced at the back of my neck. I wanted to punch something. Smash anything fucking fragile just to hear that sound. I could’ve slammed my door shut, but I didn’t. I couldn’t. Instead, I gripped my hands together until they felt numb and tried to do the breathing exercises my therapist suggested so many years ago.
I couldn’t control everything. All I could control was how I reacted.
But damn, I had to do better. Be better. Sophia deserved so much more than I’d just given her.
“Would it help if we had another public date?” Sophia asked quietly from somewhere behind me.
I dropped my hands and spun around to find her standing in the doorway with the sweetest, most uncertain expression on her face.
And all my anger melted away.
