“Stop. I’m not saying this to make you feel indebted. I just...with your father out of prison, maybe you need to hear me say... Well, I want you to know that you don’t need anything he might have to offer, and what he did had nothing to do with you—wasn’t any kind of rejection, even though it has to feel that way. I would’ve been proud to have you as my son. I love you like a son,” he added, his voice suddenly gruff, and disconnected.
Dallas pulled to the side of the road. He knew he and Brian were closer than most employers and employees, but he’d never expected Brian to feel quite this strongly.
He chuckled as he recalled how quickly Brian had gotten off the phone. But the desire to laugh faded when he realized that Brian probably hadn’t hung up to save himself the awkwardness and embarrassment of saying something so uncharacteristically sentimental. He’d done it to save Dallas from feeling the need to respond.
He’d just wanted Dallas to know that he had the love of a father, even if it wasn’t a biological one.
20
Seriously? You think you’ve got the grounds to sue me?
Here it was: Ethan’s reaction. It had come by way of a bitter and angry text. But that was better than a bitter and angry phone call. At least this way she didn’t have to hear his voice.
“What took you so long to react?” Emery muttered as she debated whether to respond. She’d just arrived home from work, changed her clothes and gone down to the kitchen. Liam and Bentley were in their rooms, doing homework, Aiyana was still at her office and Dallas was on his way back from Santa Barbara. She planned to make dinner for the family so that she could feel as though she was contributing, and she wanted to get started on that right away.
But Ethan’s text proved too provocative to ignore. She wrote back:
I have grounds. You’re finally going to be held accountable for what you’ve done.
I haven’t done anything, and there’s no way the station is going to let you get away with this. You’ll never be able to work in television again.
She was afraid that was already true. And it wasn’t because of the lawsuit; it was because of him.
I’m not trying to get away with anything. I’m determined to see justice done—that’s all. You humiliated me and purposely ruined my reputation and career. Did you honestly believe there’d be no consequences?
You lost your job because you suck at it. Don’t blame me.
You’re delusional! I’m a better newscaster than you ever were.
You’re full of shit. I don’t know what I saw in you.
Believe me, the feeling is mutual. And I was the one who dumped you, remember?
She knew she shouldn’t add that last part. It was childish, petty. But she was so tired of taking his blows.
I don’t care. You’re the one who’s missing out. It’s truly over between us. And I’m telling you right now—you’d better drop the suit.
No way. I’m in it to win it, Ethan. After what you did, I won’t give up until justice has been served.
You’re going after the wrong man.
Is this where you tell me it was Tommy again?
She added a laughing emoji.
If you don’t drop this damn lawsuit, you’ll be sorry.
Because you’ll try to take revenge? Like you did before, when you posted that video? I’ve talked to Tommy, Ethan. And Tommy has already spoken to my lawyer. He’s going to tell the truth.
Leave Tommy out of this.
You’re the one who dragged him into it!
You fucking bitch! You’re trying to ruin my life.
She leaned against the counter for support.
Have you ever heard of a boomerang? You started this mess, and now it’s coming home.
I swear to God you’re going to wish you’d never met me.
Emery could feel the hatred oozing through those words and hesitated before blasting back another knee-jerk response. She felt safe while she was in Aiyana’s house, an hour and forty-five minutes away from LA. But she’d have to go back to the city after Christmas and stay until she could figure out what else to do. She was only a few months into an annual lease and, after helping her mother and grandmother, she didn’t have the money to buy it out. Even if she could scrape the necessary funds together, she wouldn’t also have enough to put down a first and last month’s rent and security deposit somewhere else.
She needed to be careful or, with Ethan behaving as volatile as he was, she wouldn’t feel safe in her own home. I already do, she wrote. Then she refused to engage again, even though he kept texting her, and what he said grew steadily worse until he was screaming obscenities at her in all caps.
“What’s the matter?”
At the sound of Dallas’s voice, Emery shoved her phone in her back pocket.
“What is it?” he said when she didn’t answer.
She shook her head. “Nothing. I—I have a headache—that’s all. I’ll have to get in bed early tonight.”
He walked over and lifted his hand to feel her forehead. But while she was distracted by that, he used his other hand to reach around and grab her phone.
“Dallas, don’t,” she said, but he wouldn’t listen. His eyebrows came together as he read her exchange with Ethan. She’d changed the name attached to Ethan’s contact record to Voldemort, but the context of the conversation made it easy enough to identify him.
“This bastard doesn’t know when to quit,” he muttered, sounding incredulous, and the next thing she knew, he hit Call.
“Dallas, no. I don’t want to drag you into anything. You’ve got enough going on,” she said, and tried to take her phone away, but he easily fended her off.
“Hello? Is this Ethan Grimes? My name is Dallas Turner. I’m a friend of Emery’s, and I need you to understand something... If you
