Page 16 of Edge of Heaven (Crimson Edge #2)

Mick

I don’t see Taryn at all the next two days, and part of me is itching to reach out. She warned me not to text her—Callum is always looking at her phone—and I don’t want to get her into trouble. But not seeing her is driving me nuts.

I’m also worried.

She and Callum are usually all over the place, going to clubs or out to dinner and whatnot. Since we got back, she hasn’t been around at all. Not even at the show last night. And I don’t know what that’s about.

Maybe she doesn’t feel good.

Since I can’t text her, I approach Ryleigh on the bus as we travel to Denver.

“Hey. Would you do me a favor?”

She glances up from whatever she’s doing on her laptop. “If I can. What’s up?”

I hesitate. I don’t want to divulge any secrets, but everyone knows how badly Callum treats Taryn, so that much at least is general knowledge.

“Taryn wasn’t at the show last night,” I say carefully. “I’m a little worried.”

Her brows knit together a little as she stares at me. “Why are you worried?”

“We had a chance to talk while we were in New York and… well, I’m just worried.”

“Do you think Callum hurt her?” she asks, her eyes darkening with unmasked annoyance.

“Nooo.” I draw out the word because this is so hard.

I have to keep this thing between Taryn and me a secret.

I know Ryleigh wouldn’t do anything to hurt her, but gossip has a way of spreading when you don’t want it to, and I have no doubt Callum might do something to hurt Taryn if he thinks she’s cheating on him.

Not necessarily physically but if he doesn’t pay for Toby’s treatment, it’s not like I have the money to give her.

Hell, the photo shoot only paid me a grand, which is a nice chunk of change in my life but doesn’t make a dent in Toby’s treatment.

Obviously, I’ve hesitated too long because Ryleigh snaps her laptop shut and points to the seat next to her.

“ Sit . Talk to me.”

Angus snorts, not even looking up from the book he’s reading, but Ryleigh can be a force of nature, so I do as I’m told.

“What’s going on?” she demands.

“Look, I can’t tell you things she told me in confidence,” I say quietly. “But I’m worried about her, okay? Can you just reach out? Something innocent, like, hey, you want to go shopping in Denver? Whatever would be perceived as some girly thing that wouldn’t piss Callum off if he sees it.”

“Does he check her texts?” Her eyes blaze with intensity.

“I’m pretty sure he does. She asked me not to text her. That’s why I’m asking you to do it.”

“God dammit.” She looks pissed and yanks her phone out of her pocket, typing away on it. “There. Told her I missed her last night and wondered if she wanted to go shopping in Denver. That I’m itching for some retail therapy.”

“Thanks.” I’m about to get up when her phone buzzes.

“Don’t move,” she says, eyes glued to the phone.

“She says she caught a little cold in New York and doesn’t want to get anyone else sick, but she’ll be at the show tomorrow.

She’s planning to rest all day tomorrow, so she doesn’t think shopping is a good idea but maybe when we get to Reno.

” She holds up the phone so she can dictate her response.

“Do you need anything? I can stop by your room tonight and bring you chicken soup or whatever?”

She waits again, looking at her phone.

“Yeah, I don’t like this. She said she doesn’t need anything but sleep and she’ll see me at the show.”

She puts her phone down.

“If he put his hands on her.” I don’t know why I’m so afraid he hurt her, but I’ve never liked the guy and she’s so worried about upsetting him.

My gut tells me he somehow found out I was in New York—I told a few people before I left because I didn’t know it was some kind of secret.

“Dammit.” I drum my fingers on the chair.

“What’s going on?” Angus asks, apparently listening to our conversation.

“Did she say something in New York?” Ryleigh adds.

“She said a lot in New York,” I admit. “But I can’t tell you guys things she told me in confidence.” I rub my hands down my face in frustration. I need help navigating this situation, but I also don’t want to make things worse for her.

“Does he hit her?” Angus asks quietly. “Because if he does?—”

“No. I don’t think so,” I interrupt him. “The abuse is emotional. Verbal. But I know he’s wildly jealous, and I’m afraid he found out I was there and is keeping her prisoner or something.”

“Prisoner?” Jonny, who rarely takes off his headphones when we’re on the bus, has apparently been listening as well.

“Guys, for real—if you talk about any of this, it could make her life a lot harder. Please keep this to yourselves.”

Jonny scowls. “You think we’d do anything that might impact her? You don’t think much of us, do you?”

“It’s not that. It’s just…he’s not a normal guy. Things that are completely innocent—like me being in New York for the same damn photo shoot—could send him over the deep end.”

“I’m going to call her,” Ryleigh announces. “I’ll know by her voice if she’s okay. All of you be quiet!”

She makes the call, and it seems to take a long time for Taryn to answer.

“Hey.” Taryn sounds… subdued.

Fuck.

“Hey! Are you sure you don’t need soup or anything?

You guys are already in Denver, right?” Karnal Death flies from city to city—they just didn’t invite us to join them.

Well, they did, but the amount of money they wanted for the extra weight on the jet was exorbitant and Sasha said it wasn’t cost-effective.

Which is fine with me. The last thing I want to do is spend more time with them.

“Yeah.” Taryn doesn’t sound sick—she sounds…defeated. “And no, I’m fine. Callum… is taking good care of me.”

“Damn straight I am!” he calls out.

Somehow, his voice sounds more amused than concerned.

Asshole.

“Okay, well, if you need anything at all, you can call me. We definitely don’t spend enough time together.”

“I know. I’m sorry. I’ve had a lot going on.”

“No worries. Anyway, I’ll talk to you later.”

“Bye.”

She disconnects and no one says anything for a beat.

“She sounds tired,” Jonny says. “But I didn’t hear anything that was a red flag.”

“Well, what is she supposed to do?” I grunt. “Tap out SOS in Morse Code?”

“Look, if you think there’s abuse going on, I’ll be more cognizant of it,” Ryleigh says. “But there really isn’t anything we can do unless she asks for help.”

And I already know Taryn isn’t going to.

Not for four more months.

But that’s one of the things I can’t tell them.

I hate the position I’m in because I don’t want to betray her trust, but I also don’t want anything to happen to her.

“You hooked up in New York,” Angus says after a moment, narrowing his eyes a little. “And you’re worried Callum somehow found out. Or guessed.”

“We did not ,” I say firmly. “We had dinner and talked. That’s it.”

Well, she slept over, but since nothing happened, they don’t need to know that.

“I feel like there’s more to this story.” And now Tate jumps in.

We’ve been working on our personal dynamic after Angus hid his real identity from us, and we all agreed to be completely honest about important things in our lives.

Obviously, we’re not talking about every detail or intimate specifics, but anything that might impact the band or our relationships going forward.

I feel like this qualifies—it’s just not my story to tell.

“I can’t tell you certain things,” I say firmly. “I just can’t. She opened up about a lot of stuff… but it’s not my story to tell. I wish I could. It would make things so much easier.”

“Way to be vague as fuck,” Ryleigh mutters. “Is this stuff I know?”

“Definitely not.”

She scowls. “How are we supposed to help if we don’t know what’s going on?”

“Now you know how I feel.” I blow out a breath. “And I’m not going to bullshit you—I like her. I always have. But she’s in a relationship with someone else, and she asked me to give her time to sort that out. In the meantime, we are not sleeping together. That’s all I can tell you.”

“You really like her,” Jonny says, wrinkling his nose.

As if falling in love is incredibly distasteful.

And maybe it is.

Angus doesn’t seem to think so—he and Ryleigh appear incredibly happy—but everyone is different. I’ve never truly been in love as an adult so it’s hard for me to have an opinion. All I know is how I feel right now, and my feelings for Taryn are unlike anything I’ve felt for anyone else.

Is it love?

Maybe.

But until we can spend more than a day together, it’s impossible to know for sure.

“Look, we’re not going to say anything to anyone,” Angus says firmly, “but it’s kind of tough for us to help if we don’t know what’s happening.”

“Which is why I asked Ryleigh to check on her,” I reply glibly. “The rest of you fuckers are just being nosy.”

Tate laughs. “Fair enough. I am officially butting out.”

“Same.” Jonny puts his headphones back on.

“If Ryleigh’s involved, I’m involved.” Angus shrugs.

“What are we involved in?” Sam sits up in his bunk and yawns. He’s been asleep through the entire conversation.

“Nothing,” I say, chuckling. “Go back to sleep, bro.”

“Cool.” He lies down again and I go back to my original seat.

Tomorrow can’t come soon enough.

I won’t be convinced Taryn is okay until I see her with my own two eyes. And maybe not even then.