“My daughter is the most important person in the whole world to me. She’s gone to therapy, which has convinced her I’m the bad guy. I was an addict. I was a different person when I used, but that was the substance. Not me. You should know that. Your own brother was addicted to heroin of all things.”

“You keep talking in the past tense but you’re high right now. Try it on someone else. I’ve been around enough junkies to know. You’re nothing like Ezra. He took responsibility for the things he did. He got clean. He doesn’t blame everyone else for his bullshit. And he would never, in a million years, hurt his family the way you’ve made a hobby of. I know you’re rich. Why are you selling stuff to the tabloids? Have you blown your monthly trust check or something? Looking for cash to shut up?”

“It’s hard to get clean when no one believes in you. My daughter has abandoned me for you. You and your easy life and promises to her. If I had incentive to keep clean, I wouldn’t have to tell my story. Of course, also yes, I’d love to have her back in my life.”

Paddy snorted. “I’m not giving you a dime. I work for my money.”

“My daughter doesn’t. She’s got a fourteen million dollar trust and then she sits and condemns my life?”

Holy shit. Her trust was fourteen million dollars?

“Your daughter totally works for a living. She volunteers. She helps people. Which is more than I can say for you. Leave her alone. If you really love her like you claim to, stop exposing her to people who’d do her harm for page views. She has a quiet, private life. She wants to be left alone. You’re not helping.”

“But she seems just fine with her picture all over the place with you.”

Paddy got it right at that moment. Her father, that piece of crap, was actually jealous that Nat was getting coverage, even though she hadn’t set out to get it and was uncomfortable with it.

“That’s the real problem, isn’t it? Oh, Bob.” Paddy settled back, feeling vicious. He was so pissed off, and as he’d already hung up on his brother and chased Nat away, he had a better target for his rage.

“You can’t stand it that she’s got a life and she’s happy.”

“I’m going to pray for you. You’re leading my daughter down the wrong path.”

Paddy laughed and took another shot. “Save your prayers and use them on yourself. As for Natalie being led? If that’s not the clearest evidence you don’t know her at all, I don’t know what is. I’m going to say this one last time. Leave her alone. Don’t mention her. Don’t paint her with your own sins to make yourself look like a victim. For once in your miserable life, don’t use your kid and hurt her for your own benefit.”

“Or what? Is this a threat of some type?”

“It’s not a threat, Bob. It’s a promise. Leave Natalie alone.”

He hung up.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

BONE-DEEP TIRED and emotionally wrung out, Natalie keyed open the front door and headed into the house. Tuesday looked up from her place at her worktable, surprised to see her back.

She put down the pliers and the piece she’d been creating. “What’s going on?” Tuesday got up, concern on her face. “I thought you weren’t due back until tomorrow night?”

“I... He...” Natalie burst into tears. Now that the door was closed, now that she was home and with Tuesday, the walls she’d built around everything that had happened in the hotel room in Chicago came rushing back.

Tuesday put her arms around her and guided Natalie to the couch, sitting with her. “Oh, honey, what happened? Did you find him with someone? Did he cheat on you? I’m going to run his ass over with my car!”

Natalie shook her head, getting herself together. “No. He didn’t cheat.” She laid out the fight. “You know, it was so good when I got there. It was... I felt like this could be it, that forever person. Even as we were fighting, I thought he was being a dick, but it was whatever, you know how dudes can be sometimes. And who am I to talk? He has a button I pushed, and I did it without knowing that. I figured he’d burn off his mad and we’d get to what it was really about. Then we’d have great makeup sex.”

Tuesday blew out a breath. “And then what happened?”

“A few things. The main one is he walled me out. He took this thing between me and him, and he called Ezra. He was so cold. His voice was flat. He even turned his back on me. At the end. He told me to go. This was after he’d said to Ezra that my need to control everything had ruined things.” He’d taken what vulnerability she’d shown him, and he’d turned it around to hurt her.

She’d hurt him so deeply, he’d done that. She hadn’t meant to, but that’s what happened all the same. And he had reacted with so much hurt anger.

Tuesday sat back. “Like that?”

“Yes. He said I always ran. So I stayed. He said I didn’t give up control when I held things back so I went to him. And in the end, he flipped out when I shared because it wasn’t exactly how he’d wanted, and he shoved me away.”

“And you left.”

“I tried to stay. He told me to go. He told me to get my own hotel room and charge it to the band and that he’d see me when he got off tour. Claims he wasn’t breaking up with me. I did think about getting another room and trying to work it out with him again today. But by the time I got to the lobby, I was so humiliated. I just needed to come home. The really nice man who drove me to the venue to start with was around when I called, and he took me to the airport. He even stopped and made me get coffee.”