“Yes, just got home from class.” I dropped my backpack on the couch.
“You got out late today.” He quirked a brow. How does he do that? How does he know when I’m avoiding something?
“Well, I uh, had a little visitor.”
Cruz pushed to his feet and ran a hand through his hair. “Dex? Where the fuck was Bernard?”
“It wasn’t Dex. And Bernie was there.” I rolled my eyes and waited for him to sit back down on the bed. I haven’t even told him anything yet and he’s already worked up.
“Bernie?”
“What? We’re friends now.”
“That’s impressive. It took me a lot longer to worm my way in,” he teased. “So who was this visitor?”
“Your dad came to see me.”
“My dad?”
“Yep. The one and only.”
“What the hell was he doing there?”
There were a couple ways I could answer this, but none would be well received. So, I twisted the truth just a little bit. Just enough to spare his feelings.
“Well, apparently he had a meeting with the dean about making a contribution to the science department,” I said. My stomach twisted as I tried to word things as gently as possible.
“Such a baller. Always flaunting his money. He probably needs a boost as his image has taken a hit lately. Affairs with teenagers tend to knock you down a few notches in the public eye. So, you ran into him after his meeting?”
“Yeah, I was coming out of class, and ran right into him.” It was kind of true. I’d leave out the part that he was actually waiting there for me.
“Did you talk to him?”
“Yep. For a little bit.”
“Jade. You’re being fucking cryptic. What did he say?”
“He thinks you should stay in the band. He doesn’t want you to quit,” I said as I twisted my promise ring around my finger.
I’d skip the part about him threatening me.
Insinuating that my father and I could be bought.
Offering me a million dollars to end our relationship.
“It’s the same old shit with him. He needs to let it go. I told you I thought he and Dex were scheming. It’s not a coincidence that you ran into Dex on campus, and now you miraculously run into my father there as well. Not completely surprised he took a shot at you. He’s running out of options. Was he at least friendly? Or was he nauseatingly flirty?”
Definitely not flirty.
“No. But it’s no secret that he isn’t my biggest fan.” I laughed and tried to lighten the conversation.
“He wasn’t a dick to you, was he?”
“No. He was fine.”
“Where the fuck was Bernard?”
“Bernie was there. He let us talk, but he was at the end of the hallway. Your dad actually threatened to have him fired when he approached,” I said.
“He’s such an asshole. Glad to see you’ve warmed up to Bernie a little though.” He laughed.
“Yeah, he’s not so bad after all,” I said, and it was the truth. I wondered how different things would have gone today if he hadn’t been there. Steven Winslow had a hard time controlling his temper with Bernie standing just a few feet away. I shook off the thought.
“Good. I’m sorry you had to deal with my father, baby.”
“It’s fine. I miss you though,” I said.
“Miss you more. I’m glad you’re coming to the show in a few weeks.”
“Yeah, I haven’t been to a show in a while. I’ve never seen you perform with Zach. I’m looking forward to it.”
“Alright, baby, Gio’s waiting for me downstairs. Going to go get in a quick workout,” he said.
“Okay. Love you.”
“Love you more,” he said.
Not possible.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Cruz
“I take it you unblocked the asshole, too? How the fuck does he even know what’s going on?” I asked Luke as we made our way to the hotel coffee shop.
My father had flown out to meet us in Seattle. Farah Clearwater had spent her weekend reaching out to every gossip magazine that would listen. She’d upped her game, and I had yet to respond. We’d heard from a prime time media program, The Laurel Hayes Show that they’d been approached to interview Farah about our secret relationship. They were giving us a heads up because they certainly didn’t want to be slapped with a lawsuit. My father got wind of it and reached out to Luke. He said he wanted to discuss this Farah situation which he believed Dex was behind, as well as my departure from Exiled. The dude was always in our business, so I wasn’t completely surprised. But I’d wondered if he and Dex were in on this together. I couldn’t put much past him. But to take the time to try to help make this go away—I doubted he’d play both sides. And one thing Steven Winslow excelled at—damage control. He thrived on covering up all his dirty little secrets. The difference here was that I hadn’t done anything to cover up. This was some crazy ass stalker who appeared to be obsessed with telling the world we were in a relationship. I highly doubted anyone was listening, but she continued to sell her story to anyone willing to shell out a few bucks. And taking this on The Laurel Hayes Show would be a whole new level.
“You know your father. He has his ways. He kept calling me from new phone numbers, so I eventually unblocked him. And, I do have to speak to him occasionally about Exiled, so it is what it is. Maybe this is his way of apologizing to you for his involvement with this Clearwater chick in the first place. Do I fully trust him? No. But he wants to help, and the more support we have, the better. And I’d like to hear him out regarding Dex. If he is behind any of this, I’d like to know what his end game is. Your father has a powerful legal team, so maybe they can make this Farah shit go away, or slap her and The Laurel Hayes Show with a lawsuit,” Luke said, as we walked toward my father sitting at a table in the back of the coffee shop.
“Yeah. Just hard to believe he wants to help when just a few weeks ago he threatened to take legal action against me when I leave Exiled.”
“Agreed. Let’s just hear him out.” Luke paused at the table and shook my father’s hand.
I nodded and dropped in the seat across from my father. The last time we spoke hadn’t ended well, so we certainly weren’t on friendly terms.
“Thanks for meeting,” Dad said. He almost appeared humbled, but I didn’t trust this man. The only reason I took the meeting is because Exiled meant something to him, for whatever reason, and maybe he’d actually step in and help. Although that would be very out of character for the man. He thrived on control and he could no longer control me or Lennon. And he fucking hated it.