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I sighed. “I know, boy. I miss her too.”
My ringtone blared from my back pocket. I pulled my phone out eagerly then sagged when the name displayed wasn’t the one I wanted to see. But still I answered.
“Hey King. What’s going on?”
“Really? That’s the line you’re going with? I’m not the one with shit imploding. How about you tell me what’s going on?”
“Uh, let’s see. Nix sold me out to the tabloids. Sophia left me. And even my dog is depressed. I’m practically a country song cliché.”
“Wait, what? That was not the news I was expecting to hear from you. What the fuck did Nix do this time?”
“When we got home last night, he was sprawled out on my couch like he lived here, we exchanged a few words and a few blows. After he knocked Sophia into the wall, I kicked him out, and he left the ring I bought her on the table. Then this morning I woke up to a media shitstorm that you probably saw, Sophia was doxxed, and a few things I’d kept from her leaked out, so she walked. The past twenty-four hours have been a clusterfuck.”
“I’d say. Shit. And here I was calling to find out if you’d popped the question and forgot to tell me about it. Damn.” King sighed. “So which part do you want to work on first?”
“I don’t fucking know. I’m just struggling to keep my head above water at this point. I have one more day of filming and a trip for two to the Caribbean booked that I’ve gotta get Jeff to cancel. I don’t know what to do after that.”
“How about I handle Nix? Shit has been going on with him for too long.”
“What’s to handle? He sold me out to the paps. I don’t want anything to do with him. He’s fucking dead to me.”
“Come on, Rome. You know it’s more complicated than that. He’s our brother.”
“How’s it any different than when Mom gave that tour of our childhood home toOff the Record? After she gave that interview, you cut her out of your life. Nix did the same kinda shit to me. I don’t want him in my life. He’s fucking toxic.”
“This is different. He’s young, stupid, and stoned off his ass. I think he’s run through all his money from his series and needed the cash.”
“So he sold out his brother to the scandal rags? How is that different than Mom? She got the attention she wanted, too. Same damn thing. It’s bullshit, King. If he needed money, he could’ve come to you or me. Hell, even Mom or Dad. But he didn’t. He sold a story about me instead. Nix sold me out for another hit of blow or whatever the hell he’s snorting these days.”
King was quiet on the line for a few moments. Finally, he sighed. “I get what you’re saying, but he’s our little brother. We’re supposed to protect and help him. It doesn’t feel right to just cut him out of our life. At the rate we’re going, pretty soon it’ll be just me, you, and Zoe in our family.”
“At least we know Zoe won’t sell us out to the tabs. She can’t even dial a phone yet.”
“You’d be surprised. She video-called my agent last week. Surprised the heck out of me when I heard a man’s voice coming from her bedroom. Still don’t know how she got my phone.”
I laughed at the picture he’d painted. King definitely had his hands full with that one.
All the more reason he should let Mom back into his life. I’d felt so disloyal the first time I’d answered Mom’s phone call, but like King had said, she was family and she was so sorry. She hadn’t done a single interview since. And she had more than her share of gossip she could’ve sold to the press—like how her own son had disowned her.
I cleared my throat. “I’m down for an intervention or whatever. But only if you promise to rethink your stance on Mom. It’s been years, King. If anyone deserves a second chance, it’s her. You know how sorry she is. And how much she wants to meet her granddaughter. She hasn’t breathed another word to the press in how long?” I knew my words were getting through to King since he’d stopped arguing. But I didn’t want to push him too hard. “As far as Nix goes, this is it. He’s screwed me over too many times. He either goes to rehab or I’m done with him.”
“Okay. Good. Thanks. And I’ll think about what you said about Mom.” King’s voice was shaky. He coughed lightly and cleared his throat. “I’ll, uh, I’ll find out where he is and plan the intervention. I’ll have my assistant find a private rehab facility we can set up for him. And maybe find a therapist or whatever to facilitate the intervention. I don’t think the three of us standing in my living room yelling at each other will accomplish much.”
“Especially considering what happened here the last time Nix and I were in a room together. It wasn’t pretty. I should probably give my cleaning lady a raise for having to deal with all the bloodstains.”
“Right.” King blew out a breath. “All right. I got a little time before my next film starts. I don’t think we leave for Ireland for a week or two. I’ll see what I can sort out.”
The microwave beeped again, reminding me of my reheated dinner, but I didn’t move. The smell coming from it wasn’t tempting me. I would’ve given my left nut for a Double-Double on a picnic blanket with Sophia again.
“So what are you going to do about the Sophia situation? Does she just need some time? Or are you guys done for good?”
The hunger that’d been gnawing at my stomach was surpassed by the pain in my chest. “I don’t know if there’s any making up for what I did to her. I screwed things up so bad that I…” A pained croak erupted from my throat. Finally, I whispered. “I don’t think there’s any coming back from it.”
“It can’t be that bad, Rome. I know there was a lot of shit going on the last time we saw each other, but even through all that, I could tell you guys were the real thing. And you’re a Grier. We don’t give up when shit gets hard.”
“I’m not the one who walked away.”
“No but given the little you’ve told me about what happened, she had every right to leave. Now it’s your job to chase after her and grovel like hell. That is, if you want her back in your life. You gotta do the work. Nothing worth having is easy, bro. Trust me, I know.”
