Page 62 of The Dom

I shook my head. “Sorry, no.”

Her mouth twisted as if she’d just eaten something sour. “I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised. Nate never has liked taking responsibility for his actions. I mean, he did chase his brother to the other side of the country.”

“Joshua?”

One eyebrow went up. “I’m surprised you know his name, considering how the two of them left things between them.”

I was starting to suspect who she was, but I refused to let her have the satisfaction of knowing it. “I’ve met him, actually. Twice. He and his girlfriend moved back here a few weeks ago.”

As a child, Mom had used that clichéd parenting advice of ‘if you keep making that face, it’s going to get stuck that way.’ The way Calah kept scowling made me want to impart that same bit of sage wisdom.

“Well, it’s not surprising that neither of them reached out,” she said. “Not after everything that happened.”

I refused to give her the satisfaction of indulging her passive aggressive hints. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Wayne looking back and forth between Calah and me, a look of confusion on his face, but I refused to give in. I didn’t know much about the woman standing across from me, but I didn’t like her. Most of the time, my immediate reactions to people were accurate, Nate being a notable exception. I still hadn’t figured him out.

“I was Joshua’s girlfriend ages ago.” She broke first. “Back when we were at Julliard.”

Another pause where I got the impression she was waiting for me to gush about how amazing that was, and another silent minute of disappointment for her.

“Anyway, Joshua and I were so serious about each other. I was expecting a ring for graduation, but we didn’t get that far.” She sighed a deep, dramatic sigh. “Nate seduced me. Joshua’s career was taking off, and I was so afraid that he’d leave me behind, I was vulnerable, and Nate took advantage of that. He knew it would destroy Joshua and me, but he didn’t care. He saw me as something he couldn’t have, and decided I was a challenge.”

I didn’t want to believe her, but I recognized at least some truth in what she said. Nate did have a thing about getting his own way.

“I’m so glad I ran into you,” she continued. “I saw your picture in the paper with him, and I just knew that I had to warn you that he can’t be trusted.”

I had a brief flash of déjà vu back to when Nate’s ex, Roma, said something similar. Roma had told me to be careful about what he promised to give me. Calah wasn’t saying the same thing, but it was close enough to make me wonder if I needed to be more wary. And I hated myself for thinking it.

Calah put her hand on my arm. “I wish I’d had someone give me that advice before I’d gone anywhere near Nate Lexington.”

My mouth opened, ready to ask why she was here if she hated Nate so much, but I didn’t get a single word out before someone else’s voice interrupted.

“Enough!”

Thirty-Nine

Nate

Catherine had talked to her mom and then handed the phone to me. I’d honestly thought I’d be on the end of a tongue lashing, but I’d been surprised when Julia had thanked me for having Catherine call. She’d offered to come get her daughter, but I’d said I could take her home. I’d just needed to finish up a couple things at the office.

Now, Catherine and I were taking the elevator down to the lobby. I’d considered driving her myself but decided that I preferred to be able to talk to her without the distraction of trying to make it through New York traffic, so Angus was on his way.

At the moment, however, Catherine was absolutely silent. She’d been that way since I’d given her the signed gifts I’d gotten her at the release party. Her parents probably wouldn’t be happy that it seemed like I was rewarding her behavior, but I figured it was their call to make, not mine. Besides, I’d had twelve years of spoiling my niece and nephew to make up for. I made another mental note to find out what Jacob liked.

I didn’t get any further than that though because, as Catherine and I walked out of the elevator, I saw a brunette and a redhead standing together at the reception desk. Only the presence of my niece kept me from completely exploding, but as soon as I was within earshot, I heard Calah say something about how she wished someone had warned her about me, and I knew exactly what she and Ashlee had been talking about.

And I’d be damned if I let Calah fuck up one more thing in my life.

“Enough!” Both women turned to look at me, surprise written on their faces. I fought to keep my voice low and civil. “Calah, I’ve had enough of your lying. We both know why I did what I did, and we both know why I’ve kept my mouth shut about it all these years, but I’m through with covering it up, but no way in he…” I cleared my throat, sliding a look at my niece. “No way am I going to let you keep screwing me over.”

Calah folded her arms, her eyes flicking down to Catherine and then back up to me. “Whose brat is that?”

To my surprise, before I could even say a word, Ashlee stepped between Calah and Catherine. “I think it’d be best if you left.”

The dismissive look Calah gave Ashlee had me bristling, but Ashlee didn’t even blink. “You have no authority to tell me to go.”

“But I do,” I said. “Consider this your only warning, so listen well. I’m done letting everyone believe the sh…crap you’ve been spreading. I hear a single word or see a single interview, even if it’s some ‘anonymous source’ talking about this in any way that isn’t what actually happened, I’m coming after you. Slander and libel both. I’ll take every penny you have and hire a team whose sole purpose will be to prevent you from ever having a career in music. Anywhere.”

“You can’t threaten me like that,” she hissed, jabbing at me with one of those awful fake nails she always wore. “I’ll go to the police. I’ll tell them all sorts of things–”

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