Page 23 of Edge of Heaven

Crimson Edgejust finished their set when I see a bunch of missed calls and texts from Diane. Now that it’s quieter, I take a moment to call her back.

“Hi!” She sounds breathless. “I have great news.”

“Tell me.”

“You got everything you auditioned for!”

“Oh.” I’m startled. It’s been a while since I’ve had work, and I haven’t had multiple jobs at once in over a year.

“So you’ll need to go back to L.A. in two weeks for the first two, and then you’ll need to be in New York the week after that for the Rock Vibe catalog shoot.”

Crap.

Unease washes over me.

Callum is not going to be happy.

At all.

We’re going to argue, and I don’t know how to manage him when he’s mad. It was never a big deal before because I didn’t care if he dumped me. That was part of the appeal—we would fight like crazy and then the makeup sex was incredible.

Except he doesn’t put the effort in anymore, so the sex has become mediocre while his bad moods escalate to levels that sometimes scare me. He’s never hit me, but he definitely gets rougher than I’m comfortable with. His favorite thing is to grab me by both arms and shake me, like I’m some kind of child who’s misbehaving. It irritates the fuck out of me but no matter how many times I tell him I don’t like it, he continues to do it.

I put up with it for Toby.

I have no other choice.

I’ve got some money saved but not enough to fly back and forth to L.A. once a monthandhire a lawyerandfind us a place to live. I’ll probably have to move in with my mom for six months to save up even more, but first we need Toby to get through the treatment plan.

“Why don’t you sound happy?” Diane demands.

“You know how it is,” I murmur. “Callum will be upset and?—”

“What will Callum be upset about?” His deep voice in my ear makes me jump and my hand flies to my heart.

“Jesus, you scared me.” I glare at him. “Give me a minute. Anyway, Diane, can you send me the details please so I can figure out my schedule with Toby?”

“Of course.” Diane pauses. “If you turn this stuff down, you know they’ll never call you again?”

“I know,” I say. “Just send me the details. Thank you.”

I disconnect and look up at Callum.

“What will I be upset about?” he repeats, his dark eyes narrowing slightly.

“I’ll have to go away twice in the next month.”

“That’s not our arrangement.”

“I know, but I have to work.”

“Not right now, you don’t. I’m taking care of you and in return, I need you here with me.”

“You put a roof over my head and food,” I say. “But I don’t have spending money or money to send Toby for extras he needs. Or to get my nails done. Or anything else.”

“If you want more money, you need to give more in return.”

“What the hell does that mean?” I demand. “Youofferedto help me with Toby!” He’s hinted at me doing things I don’t want to do, and if that’s what he’s referring to, the answer is still no.

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