Page 27 of Edge of Heaven (Crimson Edge #2)

Taryn

Callum is in a foul mood when he gets out of jail, and though he isn’t mad that I didn’t get arrested, he’s suspicious.

I thought long and hard about what to tell him but figured it would be too easy to catch me in a lie if I say I’d already gone back to the room.

So I give him a version of the truth—that I was with Ryleigh, and Angus got us out of there because he knew the head of the hotel’s security.

I can’t tell if he believes me or not because he’s just pissed off about everything. The fact that they were raided. The fact that he got arrested. The fact that they had to postpone the Houston show.

He’s just mad and has been taking it out on me for two days.

Not physically, thankfully, but verbally. He’s just been awful, and though I do my best to tune him out, he seems to sense it when I do and that’s when he gets ugly.

“You think I don’t know what you’re doing,” he grumbles as we get ready to leave for the arena. “But I’m not stupid.”

“What are you talking about?” I ask warily.

“I know you’re going to leave me the second I hit the send on that final payment for Toby.”

I can’t deny it, but I won’t say it outright either.

“Have you given me a single reason to stay?” I ask. “You promised you’d ease up on the constant yelling, but you haven’t. Then, if I do the slightest thing wrong in your eyes, you spank me. I used to love you, but now I’m just hurt.”

I see the flicker of surprise in his eyes—as if he never expected me to say I loved him since we’ve never used that word—but it’s gone almost as quickly as it appeared.

“You’re just like all women,” he rumbles. “Using me. For money and status and whatever else. You think it’s a coincidence you’re getting more work now that you’re with me?”

I resist the urge to roll my eyes since we’ve been together over a year and the work just recently started rolling in. And that’s mostly due to Stevie’s help. I won’t argue that point with him, though.

“I’ve had most of these contacts a long time,” I say instead.

“What the hell are you wearing?” he asks when I come out of the bathroom in short shorts and a tank top.

“It’s a thousand degrees,” I say. “And an outdoor show. What do you want me to wear?”

“See, this is why we fight.” He shakes his head. “Put on a fucking dress. And lose the panties.”

“I’m not going to go without panties to a show,” I protest.

He growls. “I said, put on a dress and lose the panties. Unless you want me to call the bank and stop today’s payment.”

I suck in a breath through my nose, trying not to cry or lose my temper—neither of those things go over well with Callum.

“You just told me I dress too slutty to attend a country club even with you, but now you want me to walk around in a short dress with no panties.”

“That’s right.” He reaches out and roughly grips my chin with two fingers. “You want those final two payments made—you’re going to have to work a lot harder for them.”

“What does that mean?”

His smile is menacing. “I think you know.”

I shake my head. “I’m not fucking the band.”

“You will.” His eyes blaze with intensity. Or maybe it’s insanity. I can’t even tell at this point.

“Or little Toby won’t get his treatment,” he continues. “In fact, we’re going to make that happen tonight—because then I can call the bank and stop the payment.”

“Do it,” I say, though my stomach is churning and my chest is so tight I hope this is panic and not a heart attack. “And I’ll be gone tomorrow. I’m never going to fuck the guys in the band for your pleasure.”

“This about money?” He pulls out his wallet and starts counting out hundred-dollar bills. “How much, Taryn? How much is that cunt of yours worth?”

“There is no amount of money that will make me have sex with the guys in your band.” I don’t bother to mention that while Dusty is kind of cute, and Joker is okay, Shorty and Miller—Duncan Short and Miles Miller—are gross.

The only reason those two get laid is because they’re rockstars.

On top of that, they’re misogynistic assholes who don’t care about anyone other than themselves.

“Well, you have two choices,” he says. “Gangbang the band, or you suck my cock every night, in front of everyone, just before we go on stage.”

“So, you liked jail?” I counter. “Because that’s what will happen.

You can only get away with so much, and there are decency laws in Texas.

And I’m not going to do anything that might impact my ability to get custody of Toby.

If that’s your line, then I’m out. Don’t make the fucking payment.

” I turn and storm back into the bathroom, locking the door behind me.

My heart is beating so fast I feel like I might throw up, and my hands are shaking.

I might be able to scrounge up enough for two payments but definitely not three.

I’m so fucking close to being free.

I’ll do almost anything for Toby, but letting Callum’s bandmates have sex with me so he can watch—that’s too much.

I’m also not doing threesomes or any other crap he dreams up.

It’s bad enough he ties me up, spanks me, and does other things I don’t particularly enjoy when we’re alone.

I’ll be damned if I do it with other people and certainly not in front of other people.

I don’t know what I’ll do if he doesn’t make today’s payment, but I know as a last resort I can go to Mick. I was serious when I told him I want us to start our relationship with a clean slate, but I still have to think about Toby. We’ve come too far, and I’ve put up with too much, to give up now.

My mother can probably put one month on a credit card and then I’ll figure out the rest, but this is so damn hard.

“Are you coming out?” Callum yells. “We have to go.”

I’m not changing clothes.

Wearing a short dress with no panties isn’t the end of the world—I’ll do that before I sleep with the guys in his band—but I never know where he’ll draw the line of me defying him.

“Why are you still wearing the shorts?” he demands. “Put on the dress, lose the panties, and let’s go.”

Well, I guess that’s that.

It’s going to be a long night.

“No panties at all. Ever. You understand me? Your pussy is going to be available to me whenever and wherever I want it.”

I don’t respond as I pull off my top.

“Lose the bra too.”

I unsnap the back and toss it aside as I pull a short gold lame dress from my suitcase.

“That’s better.” He watches as I change. “Now those shoes.” He points to a pair of gold stilettos that he knows kill my feet.

But I put them on without a word.

“See?” He smiles. “Things are so much easier when you just do what I tell you.”

“I’m not going to have sex with you in public,” I say quietly. “You can’t afford to get arrested again either.”

“You’ll have sex with me when I tell you to,” he grunts, but he doesn’t press the point and I know by the expression on his face he grudgingly accepts that I’m right.

I heard the band’s label reaming them for the drug bust, warning them that this isn’t something they can sweep under the rug.

From what I understand, it’s going to cost them a fortune in legal fees to get out of this, so at least he’s being rational.

Rational for Callum.

“Leaving me would be a mistake,” he says in a gruff voice as we exit the hotel room.

“You’re the one who said I’m leaving,” I say, hoping to deflect. “I never said that.”

“I’m not stupid, Taryn. And you pretty much just admitted it.”

“I said you’re mean and don’t treat me right sometimes. Why can’t you be the way you were when we first started dating?”

He bursts out laughing. “The honeymoon period is a fantasy, baby doll. This is real life. Nobody has time for that romantic bullshit. Life is hard. Nobody gets anything for free. You think my success wasn’t without sacrifice?

This life I lead is fucking hard. You don’t get a pass because you have a pretty face and a tight cunt.

I can get pussy anywhere. You should be honored I chose you. ”

Honored? That’s laughable, though I don’t, of course.

“And frankly, why should anything be easier for you than it was for me?”

I’m not sure how to respond to that since I have no idea what he’s talking about. He’s never talked about his childhood much, and the band did pay their dues in the beginning, but how is that different from most bands?

“You think because you’re a woman you’re going to find some guy to take care of you, and you did. And I have. It just pisses me off that you don’t want to take care of me. That’s why I’m mean to you.”

“I’m sorry I won’t live out all your sexual fantasies,” I say softly. “But if that’s what you consider the most important thing in a relationship, then I’m not sure what to say.”

“You should say thank you.”

I have. Dozens of times. But it doesn’t seem prudent to point that out.

“No visits home this month,” he continues. “If you’re going to leave anyway, I’m going to get every ounce of pleasure out of you until you do.”

I want to cry but that won’t solve anything.

The one good thing about this is that it makes me steel my resolve to get out as soon as possible. I can probably survive one more month, but I don’t think I have it in me to stick around for two.

Especially once Crimson Edge leaves the tour.

Callum is getting meaner and more demanding, and as much as I love my son, I’m not sure how much more I have to give.