Page 10 of The Hang Up

“Is that all?” I’d said it as a joke, but it fell flat between us.

His jaw tightened. “And after all that, I get to go home and deal with your son and all his crap, so yeah, it’s exhausting.” He tried to keep it together, but I could see his resolve cracking. “And then the stuff with Angel—” He stopped, his eyes widening as if he wished he could retract every one of his words.

I wanted to grab him and hold him. Make everything better. But to be fair, I would have always done whatever I could for Brock, even when he was younger. Now, it came with this annoying need to kiss him. “Is Angel doing okay?”

He shook his head, and I wasn’t sure if he was saying she wasn’t okay or that he didn’t want to discuss it.

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen her. What is she now? Fourteen?”

He nodded hesitantly.

“Is there anything I can do to help?” I asked, stepping closer.

His eyes flew to my face, and I could see the anguish he’d been trying to hide. “Stop, Joshua. I can’t—” He choked back tears. Then he lifted his chin, and his face hardened. “God, you’re such a fucking coward.”

CHAPTER4

Brock

I wantedto push Joshua into the brick wall of the building and punish him. Hurt him like he’d hurt me. The wholeI’m so worried about you, Brockthing pissed me off. Where had he been for the last five years? He was the one who’d sent me away. So, no. I wasn’t buying any of his crap. Because I knew why he was here. And it had nothing to do with me.

It felt good to yell at him. To call him on his bullshit.

I couldn’t believe he was back. I’d given up. Mostly. There were too many other things for me to worry about. Sean had something going on with his boss, and he was trying to keep it from me. Which meant he could lose his job at any moment. Angel had gone back to the doctor this week, and we were waiting for the results. Was the cancer gone? And Mom hadn’t mentioned the medical bills, but I had seen a stack of them when I was last there.

So when Nevaeh had bumped into me and whispered, “He’s back,” I’d just stared at her.

“Who?”

“Hot Daddy.”

“Are you sure?” It seemed unlikely.

She scratched her head as if she were thinking about it. “Is there another sexy-as-fuck—your words, not mine—Joshua Miller, who used to be a hotshot CEO but now spends his evenings eating at our restaurant, hoping to catch a glimpse of you?”

“What? That’s not—he stopped—”

She looked away. As if she were guilty of something. “Well…about that.”

“What?”

She shrugged. “He hasn’t. Stopped coming, I mean.”

“How long?” I glared at her.

“I didn’t keep track. But it’s been like every day for a while now.”

“Are you kidding me, Nev?” I asked a little too loudly, earning glares from the pastry chef. I lowered my voice. “How did I not know this?”

“I handled it so you didn’t have to. I wasn’t letting that asshole destroy you again.”

I pulled her over to the sink so I could wash my hands and we could get a little privacy. “And you’re telling me now because?”

She shrugged. “I don’t think he’s giving up, babe. You need to take whatever he’s offering. Or end it.”

So this was me ending it. Confronting Joshua Miller, childhood crush and billionaire CEO—well, retired CEO, but still a billionaire.

At that moment, I wished I smoked. It would’ve given me something to do with my hands. Not a great trade-off for not getting to taste food though.

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