Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 73774 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 369(@200wpm)___ 295(@250wpm)___ 246(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73774 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 369(@200wpm)___ 295(@250wpm)___ 246(@300wpm)
“I’m sober,” he says again. “I go to meetings several times a week. I haven’t touched a drug in fourteen months, I swear. I just want a chance…”
I bark out a humorless laugh. “You don’t think I’ve heard all this before? I was married to the King of Chances. Gave him chance after freaking chance. No! No, no, no! I’m all out of chances.”
I grab the handle of the stroller and am about to walk away when Gage grips my bicep gently but strong enough to prevent me from leaving. “I know this is hard for you, but I can’t let you walk away. That little girl is mine too.”
“What are you trying to say?” I ask, twirling around and removing myself from his grip.
“I’m saying that I want to be in her life, and I’m asking that you give me a chance to be her dad, please. I don’t want to take this to court…”
“Fuck you! I don’t care who you are. I don’t care that you’re some famous drummer for some popular band or that you’re worth millions of dollars. My job is to protect her!”
“And I love that you want to do that,” he says, keeping his calm. “All I’m asking is to be given the chance to get to know her. Please, Sadie. I don’t want to fight, and I’m not trying to take her away from you. I just want to see my daughter.”
I stare at Gage as his eyes bore into mine, begging, pleading, and my heart drops into my belly, knowing that I’m going to have to give in. I might be able to keep him away temporarily, but if he goes to court and proves he’s sober, they’ll give him rights to her because he is her father. And what if he tells them I kept her away, and they try to punish me? The thought of my little girl being taken from me has the blood in my veins turning cold.
“Fine. You can see her.”
Gage sags in relief. “Thank you. When?”
“Today, I guess. Since we leave tomorrow.”
His brows furrow. “Sadie, I don’t just mean once. I want a relationship with her.”
“I get that, but we live in Virginia, so unless you’re moving there, it will have to be done over the phone. We have an entire life there. A home… I have a boyfriend.” More like a guy I’m kind of, barely dating, but I don’t mention that.
“I… I can’t just move to Virginia,” he says, dragging his fingers through his hair. “The band is recording…”
“If making music is more important than seeing your daughter, then that’s your problem.” I know I sound like a bitch, but I’m not the one with the drug problem who fucked me and then fucked those other women while he was high. He’s the one who pushed me away. He’s the reason I moved to Virginia. And I’m not about to make this easy on him. I made shit easy on Vincent and look where it got me. Never again.
“No, it’s not,” he finally says, sounding defeated. “I’ll figure something out. Where are you staying?”
“At the W.”
“The one near Bryant Park?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s near me,” he says. “If you want, we can go there and order in dinner. Then once Aurora wakes up, we can spend some time with her. There’s a park nearby that Kendall and Layla take the kids to.”
“Who?” I ask, confused.
“Layla and Kendall… They’re the wives of Declan and Camden, my friends and bandmates. I think you met Declan, right?”
“Yeah, and Braxton and Kaylee as well.”
“They’re good people.” He smiles softly. “Anyway, the studio is near Bryant Park, so they take them to the park there a lot.”
“Okay. Yeah, we can do that.”
We walk through the cemetery in silence, and when we get to the end of the sidewalk, a man rounds the front of the SUV and opens the back door.
“I have a stroller,” I say to Gage.
“It can go in the back.”
“Her car seat is at the hotel.”
“Oh, shit… I mean, shoot. Umm…” He looks around like he’s hoping a car seat will suddenly appear out of thin air.
“Just meet us there,” I tell him. “I need to change and feed her anyway, and when she wakes up, she’s cranky, so she’ll need a few minutes.”
“That’s okay. I can walk with you guys.”
The guy standing there clears his throat.
“This is Paul. He’s part of our security team.”
I nod toward the tall, muscular man, who’s the same height as Gage—and with the muscles Gage has added since the last time I saw him, pretty much the same size as well—confused.
“He keeps the paparazzi in line,” Gage notes. “We generally don’t walk anywhere or take the trains because it can get crazy when a fan recognizes us. It happens here less frequently than in LA, but with me showing my face again and the band announcing that we’re back in the studio, it’s been a little hectic lately.”