Page 27 of A Way Out (Rock Star #2)

Chapter Twenty-Five

M aria clutched her phone, staring at the darkened screen as she considered calling Oz for the fifteen billionth time. Just to hear his voice.

Except she knew he’d ask a slew of questions that she wasn’t sure how to answer yet.

“What are you doing in Washington?” would be first on the list, undoubtedly.

Her answer? “I’m not sure.”

Vic had been perfectly polite. Instead of sending a car, he’d picked her up from the airport, for God’s sake. And then he’d insisted she stay at the house.

“No expectations,” he said. “I had the housekeeper make up one of the guest rooms. I just think it will be easier. For Riley. That’s all.”

She’d agreed, mostly because she wanted to get this new development sorted and settled as quickly as possible so she could get on with her life.

They hadn’t talked about her conversation with Tim or Vic’s alleged plan to file for sole custody. In fact, they’d talked of very little.

“How was the wedding?”

“Fine.”

“Good, good.”

Long pause.

“Business is going well.”

“Great.”

Long pause.

“Did Riley have fun?”

“Of course she did,” Maria had snapped irritably. Vic had closed his mouth and stared at her like she was an alien. To him, she probably was. She’d changed a great deal in a very short time.

And she liked this person she’d become.

Unfortunately, she was still a little unsteady on her new feet, which explained how it was eight o’clock on Wednesday morning and they still hadn’t discussed the reason she was here in the first place.

Vic was waiting for something, although she had no idea what. For Tim to show up, maybe? That seemed odd; why wouldn’t they go to his office?

The doorbell rang, and she hopped up and hurried to answer, even though this wasn’t her house anymore. Although she was glad she was the one who opened the door—she needed a moment to compose herself.

Oz.

His hair looked like he’d run his hands through it no less than a hundred times.

There were deep shadows under his eyes and brackets around his mouth.

His hoodie and jeans looked like he’d slept in them.

Considering it was eight in the morning and he was standing on her ex-husband’s porch in Washington when she knew damn well he was supposed to be in LA, he may well have.

God, she wanted to hug him.

“What are you doing here?” she blurted instead. “It’s a really bad time,” she added, like there would ever be a good time for him to show up on Vic’s doorstep.

“Who is it, Maria?” Vic’s voice preceded him by about five seconds, and then he stood next to her, blinking owlishly at the rock ’n roll guitarist standing before them.

“Oh,” Vic said, oddly sounding more surprised than confused. “You’re…”

“Oz. Oz Garcia.” He stretched out his arm, and Vic grasped his hand.

“Nice to meet you, Oz,” Vic said pleasantly. “I’m Vic Bernard. Would you like to come in?”

Maria turned slightly to face him. “Vic, I really don’t think?—”

“Yeah, sure, I’d love to,” Oz said, stepping over the threshold, into Maria’s personal space, giving her one of two choices: essentially allow him to hug her or shuffle out of the way.

She shuffled out of the way.

“Maria made coffee,” Vic said pleasantly, leading Oz through the house to the kitchen. “I’ve practiced a couple times while she’s been away, but I’m not great at it. The Keurig is more my specialty. Anyway, would you like some?”

Maria would find it strange that her ex was being so polite to the man he had to realize she was sleeping with—or at the very least, was interested in—except this was Vic, and he’d been bred to be polite to everyone, all the time.

“Sure,” Oz said. “I could use a jolt of caffeine.” He gave Maria a cool look. “Does this mean you spent the night here?”

“Um…”

“I insisted,” Vic said as he poured coffee and pulled creamer out of the fridge. “I assumed it would make Riley more comfortable.”

Vic slid a coffee mug toward him while Oz stared stonily at her.

How had he gotten here? Probably drove, which meant, good Lord, had he driven all night? Either that or he’d arrived yesterday at some point and stayed at a local hotel.

Given his rumpled state, she suspected the drove all night option was the correct answer.

Why was he here? How had he figured out where she—no, Vic—lived?

Meanwhile, the three of them sipped coffee like this was an entirely normal scenario.

“Where’s Riley?” Oz asked.

“Upstairs,” Maria replied. “She’s?—”

“Oz!” Riley yelled, rushing across the kitchen and launching herself at his knees.

Oz, in a clearly practiced motion, placed his mug on the counter and caught her as she made impact, sweeping her up into his arms so he could hug her properly.

It was an utterly adorable reunion.

“I missed you,” Riley proclaimed, hugging him again for good measure.

“I missed you, too, kiddo,” he assured her. They’d been gone for a mere two days, yet he sounded so genuine .

Vic stood near the coffeepot, his face pale. He made no move to get involved in their conversation. He simply watched.

The double beep that indicated someone had opened an exterior door sounded off, and then the steady snap of heels on hardwood announced that someone else was in the house. Since the housekeeper never wore heels, it must be?—

The matriarch of Maria’s family glided into the room as if she’d been offstage, waiting for her cue. She wore a double strand of pearls around her neck, pearls and diamonds in her ears, and her hair was smoothed away from her face, not a strand daring to curl out of place.

A silk blouse with a cowl neck draped elegantly over her torso, complimenting a blue pleated skirt that fell below her knees. Sensible, expensive low-heeled pumps finished off the outfit.

“Grandmother,” Riley called out. Oz placed her on the floor, but she did not rush up for a hug. Elaine Hearsy did not tolerate hugs.

“Riley,” Elaine greeted, her gaze sweeping over her granddaughter. “You look well, all things considered.”

“What things, precisely?” Maria blurted. She was speaking out of turn, per Elaine’s expectations, but she couldn’t bring herself to care. This was all too much. First, Vic’s odd behavior over the phone. Tim’s call to let her know that Vic was filing for sole custody.

Then Oz showed up, out of the blue. And now her mother was here, walking into the house like she owned the place, despite the fact that her daughter was no longer married to the legal owner of this residence.

Ignoring Maria’s outburst, Elaine let her gaze travel over first her daughter and then Vic. After a deliberately too long moment, she finally deigned to acknowledge Oz’s presence. Well, sort of. She gave him a chilly glance and quickly dismissed him in two seconds flat.

Maria edged closer to him.

Elaine gracefully walked close enough to drop a file folder on the counter next to Maria. Maria snatched it up and flipped it open. It was full of pictures printed from the internet.

The picture of Oz and Maria and Riley standing on the stairs, about to proceed to the wedding ceremony.

One of Oz playing his guitar, late enough in the evening that he’d taken off his shirt.

It was a common occurrence during concerts.

And while Maria could appreciate how beautiful his muscular, tattooed torso was, she knew her mother saw the image through a much different lens.

Her lens implied that tattoos, piercings, and playing in a rock band were all bad things.

Inappropriate for Maria’s young daughter to be around.

Unacceptable for Elaine’s perfect middle child to be associating with.

The next picture was a snapshot of Maria and Riley, grinning at the photographer, both with champagne flutes in their hands. Riley’s had contained only water, but that wouldn’t matter when she and Vic battled for custody.

Another was of Riley on the dance floor, clearly having the time of her life, with Oz’s band on full display behind her. It was a shot Maria had thought would be perfect to post on Demigoddess Revival’s social media accounts. Her mother, instead, was using it against her.

There were a couple of photos from the concert in Tulsa, obviously having been pulled from some attendee’s social media account. They were location and timestamped, both taken after midnight. A sticky note was affixed to the front of each picture: “Where is Riley?”

The final item in the folder was a piece of paper. It looked like someone had been doing research on Oz.

Maria skimmed through the bullet points, her heart rate kicking up faster and faster, until she had to sit down because she was feeling lightheaded.

Elaine crossed her arms, a smug look on her face. Oz furrowed his brows, not yet aware that Maria’s mother was about to drag him into her battle for dominance.

“Vic cannot allow his daughter to be influenced by this man,” Elaine said, lifting her chin as she allowed Oz the briefest direct glance. She waved at Maria. “That’s only a few hours of research. I’m sure there’s more.”

“Research?” Oz said. He snatched the paper from her hands, and she watched as his tanned skin paled while he read all the sordid details of his life that he probably—hopefully—would have gotten around to telling Maria.

If they’d had time. If her mother hadn’t interfered.

“He’s a single parent,” Elaine said.

“So am I,” Maria pointed out.

“He’s raising someone else’s children,” Elaine added.

“That’s commendable,” Maria argued.

“Not when it’s his sister’s children. Not when his sister died at the hands of her own husband,” Elaine sneered.

How was that not commendable? It was tragic, yes, but Maria didn’t see how that made Oz a bad influence.

“Those children have suffered a terrible trauma, and they have not received assistance or therapy. They are ticking time bombs waiting to go off. Riley should not be in such an environment.”

“Are you serious?” Maria said. “You’re holding something they had no control over against them?”

“I am looking out for my granddaughter’s best interests.”

No. She was trying to control Maria’s life.

“Furthermore, this man is so far into debt, the only way he can wipe it all away is if he marries a very wealthy, unsuspecting woman.”

Maria’s gaze shot to Oz. She knew he didn’t have a lot of money, but he’d not mentioned any debt. Certainly not enough to justify what her mother implied.

“Lawyer fees,” Oz said tightly. “To change the kids’ last names. I wanted them to have my sister’s family’s name, not…”

“Their father’s?” Elaine suggested, faux sweetly.

Oz thinned his lips and did not respond to her goading.

“There are drug addicts in his family,” Elaine continued. “Someone he is close to. Someone who has regular contact with those children.”

“My cousin Carina,” Oz said tightly. “She’s a recovering addict.”

“She wasn’t recovering when she stole prescription medication from your mother less than two years ago.”

How had her mother found all of this information?

Tim. That was why she’d forced him to take Vic’s case. Because Tim was one of the best lawyers around. As Elaine was currently proving.

“You’re behind on your payments,” Elaine said. “Dangerously behind. Your mother is going to lose her house if you don’t do something soon.”

“What? You didn’t tell me that,” Maria said. She would have helped. Except, he’d refused her help, until he felt he couldn’t say no any longer. And even then, he hadn’t mentioned the debt. Only that he needed to support his mother and the kids.

Was it truly all a ploy to get her to fall in love with him? So she’d eventually marry him and then he’d have access to her inheritance?

Oh God, her mother couldn’t possibly be right. Could she?

Oz wasn’t capable of that, was he?

Was he?

“You shouldn’t be talking about this in front of Riley,” Oz ground out through clenched teeth. “Even a hoodlum like me knows that.”

Elaine arched one perfect brow.

Oz shook his head and shifted his glare to Maria. “I’m going to a hotel so I can crash for a few hours. If you want me to explain all of this to you, you can come find me. I’ll be on the not-rich side of town. But I’m only there until I head back to LA tomorrow morning. It’s your decision, Maria.”

He strode toward Vic, who stiffened, but all Oz did was crouch in front of Riley and spread his arms. Riley fell into his embrace, resting her head on his shoulder and closing her eyes.

Maria pressed her fingers to her mouth and willed herself not to cry.

“I’ll see you later, kid,” Oz said.

“I love you, Oz,” Riley replied.

Tears slid down Maria’s cheeks.

Oz did not glance her way as he stalked out of the room and a moment later, out the front door.

“You do not love that man,” Elaine scolded her granddaughter.

“Leave her alone,” Maria snapped.

Elaine’s eyes widened. Maria could count on one hand the number of times she’d ever talked back to her mother. And she wouldn’t use all the fingers.

“Leave,” Maria said, pointing at the foyer.

“This isn’t your house any longer,” Elaine said.

“You can’t have it both ways,” Maria replied. “Either you want us together or you don’t. Choose. Now .”

Elaine’s eyes widened once again. Maria held her breath. She honestly wasn’t sure how she’d prefer her mother to react to her ultimatum.

Finally, Elaine turned stiffly on her thousand-dollar heels and strode away, head held high, back as straight as a rod.

Maria leaned against the counter, clutching the edge to keep herself upright.

Now what?