True for You(40)
“Did he know who you were when he hired you?”
“Yes, but let me explain.”
“No buts, no ifs… just answer the question.”
I can’t lie anymore. So I tell the only thing I’d been keeping back from him. “Your dad knew exactly who I was when he hired me. He made a promise to my daddy, and he said he had to keep it. So he created an intern position for me, paid me, and I got to come on tour, but only for the US part. Then I was expected to find another job, because he’d fulfilled his duty.”
“That’s it?”
“That’s it.” I hold out my hand. “Your dad was supposed to have come and gotten me when I was little. He was the one named as guardian, but he told the lawyer that he didn’t want me.” I look at Everett, but he doesn’t even flinch. Nothing bothers him, and he cares for no one but himself. “I heard you talking to her. I heard you tell her to put me in the system.”
“I couldn’t keep you, and risk the home visits. Not with her crazy ass,” Everett points out. Kathy whimpers, but I don’t feel sorry for either of them, only the boy standing beside me. “Both of you would have been taken from here. So I had to make a choice. I kept my son.”
“I’m no son of yours.” Jackson’s hand slips into mine. “Let’s go, Bliss.”
I look at his hand, and then up at him. “Where?”
“Home.”
Chapter Nineteen
Jackson
Bliss curls up next to me in the limo, her curvy body my anchor in the storm, but my mind is reeling. She’s the little girl that my memory would every so often interject into my present.
“Should’ve known it was you,” I say.
“Why’s that?”
“Those nasty hot snaps you love to eat. Dead giveaway.”
She giggles. “I promise not to make you eat them.” Her laughter dies down. “I thought I’d lost you in there.”
“You can’t get rid of me that easily.” But for a moment, I had been lost. I thought Everett had polluted my relationship with Bliss. I’d thought he’d been the mastermind behind everything. “But what about us getting through security?”
“Do you really think you’re the only one who doesn’t like your dad?” The limo stops at a red light. “Security was more than happy to let us take his car for a ride.”
Figures. “I think he actually believes his own lies.”
“What will you do now?”
“He’s not the only producer or agent in town.” But he does own my name, and his record label owns the rights to all the songs I’ve performed in the past. “Tomorrow, I’m hiring my own lawyers and getting rid of him.”
“Maybe you could talk to Violet and ask her what she did.”
The pang of hearing my ex’s name doesn’t come, and I pull Bliss into my lap, hooking a finger under her chin. “You wouldn’t mind?”
“She’s my friend, and she’s not in love with you. I’m not worried at all,” Bliss says confidently.
“I’ll call her, but you’ll be with me when I do it. No secrets and no feeling like she is your competition,” I say, kissing her lightly on the lips.
“I hope I didn’t embarrass you too much tonight, with what I said and what I’m wearing.”
I give her a look. “One—I should be down on my knees thanking God you didn’t walk out of there, with how you were treated. Two—I don’t give a damn about what you wear. If you like it, then I like it. Three—you met my family, right? We hit every crazy stick on the insane tree when God kicked the first Morgan out of Heaven.”
“Then our kids have no hope.” She glances away. “I mean… you know what I mean.”
Unsure of what to say, I simply hold her. Having kids with her hasn’t crossed my mind, not once. Yeah, we’re married, and yeah I’m committed to this working, but kids… I don’t know anymore.
Our driver takes us to the bottom floor of a parking garage. I help Bliss out and guide her to the elevator. While we were at my parents’ house, I had our stuff delivered here and the fridge stocked, not that I planned on leaving her alone like I had before. But I did plan on keeping her in bed for the next month or two.
The elevator doors open, and we step right into my apartment. After the doors close, I punch in a code. No one, beyond emergency services, is getting in my penthouse tonight.
Taking her on the grand tour, I show her the highlights: the kitchen, master bedroom, theater room, and my music studio.
Bliss walks to the wall of windows in the living room, and I tug at my tie, loosening it. Her hips sway from side to side, inviting me to come closer.