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“She had to reschedule. I think we’re going to meet up tomorrow.” I shrug. “But on the positive, it means we’re free for the rest of the day.”
Gage grins. “What do you say we go get something to eat and take it to the park?”
“That sounds perfect.”
After saying bye to the guys, we take off. Since the park Gage wants to go to is a bit of a ways away, we throw the stroller in the trunk and have Paul—Gage’s main bodyguard—drive us to grab the food.
We stop at a deli that Gage swears is the best in New York. Since they’re old-school with no online menu or ordering, we get out so I can check out what they have.
We’re walking across the sidewalk, with Paul behind us, when a woman says Gage’s name, making both of us look her way. She’s too old to be a fan—at least not one who would fangirl over him—so it must be someone he knows.
“Sandra,” Gage clips.
Her gaze bounces between Gage, Rory, and me, landing and staying on me. “I’m sorry. You just… you look so much like my Tori…”
“Don’t you fucking mention her name,” Gage snaps, stepping in her face. “And when you see me on the streets, you don’t approach me, ever.”
“I’m sorry…I…”
“I don’t give a shit,” he says, his words coming out so cold that a chill races up my spine. Without waiting for her to respond, he takes my hand and pulls me into the deli. We order our food, the tension thick, and then head to the park, stopping once along the way for Paul to run in and grab us a blanket.
When we arrive at the park, one I’ve never been to before, it’s quiet with only a few people meandering about. We walk for a while, looking for a good spot.
“How about here?” Gage asks, pointing at a shaded area under a big tree that’s not too far from the playground. While he lays the blanket out, I cover Rory with her blanket since it’s cool outside and she’s fallen asleep in her stroller.
We eat in silence, and the entire time I can’t stop thinking about what that woman said—that I look like her daughter. If that’s true, is that why Gage is attracted to me? Am I a weird replacement for the woman he lost all those years ago? I can’t imagine that’s a healthy coping mechanism.
When the silence—and tension—gets to be too much, I open my mouth to ask about what happened, but before I can get a word out, Gage speaks.
“You both have red hair and green eyes, but that’s where the similarities end. Tori’s mom was always good at playing games, and I have no doubt that she was playing games when she said that bullshit. She might’ve looked like a grief-stricken mom, but she knew her husband was sexually molesting and raping her daughter, and she chose to ignore it.”
“She knew?” I breathe, my eyes going to a still sleeping Rory, unable to fathom how a mother could ever know that her child was being raped and do nothing about it. A monster like that deserves to burn in hell… they both do. “Are you sure?”
Gage nods. “Yeah, Tori wrote me a note before she ended her life. After she died and I read it, I went after her mom and stepdad. She knew and chose not to believe her.”
“Did he pay?”
“Kind of.” Gage swallows thickly. “I went after them, specifically him, saying I would expose him to the world. He was a cocky bastard and didn’t take me seriously, saying he would destroy my credibility and reputation, ending my music career before it even started.
“Easton overheard and forced me to get on a plane to LA. He said to let him handle it, that he would make sure he pays, but I would regret it if the last thing everyone remembered about Tori was that she was a rape victim.” Gage’s eyes glisten, and I find myself gravitating toward him, taking his hand in mine and threading our fingers together.
He glances down and smiles sadly, then brings our joined hands to his mouth, pressing a soft kiss to my hand. “As much as I wanted to expose him to the world, I agreed. Tori deserved more than to have her memory tainted. It was his word versus hers, and she wasn’t alive to fight back. So I got on the plane and trusted Easton to handle it. A few days later, Glen…that’s her stepdad’s name…killed himself.”
“Well, if that doesn’t prove his guilt…”
“Yeah,” he agrees. “It sucks that nobody will ever know what he did to her but knowing that he’s been permanently removed from the earth and will never hurt anyone else again and that Tori’s mom is now alone and has to live with the guilt of knowing she didn’t do shit when her daughter went to her and begged her to listen is a decent consolation.”
