Page 7 of Edge of Heaven (Crimson Edge #2)

Taryn

The picture of Callum getting his dick sucked seems to mock me.

I stare at it on the flight to Albuquerque, trying to wrap my head around how I’m going to handle this.

He always threatens to cheat, especially when I’m going to be gone for a week, but I didn’t think he actually went through with it.

And while I don’t give a shit what he does—the more he gets it elsewhere the less he’ll demand it from me—I do worry about diseases.

And of course, the money he gives me for Toby’s treatment.

If he falls for someone else and dumps me, I don’t know if I can get the money together quickly enough to keep Toby in the program.

When I found out I was pregnant, my boyfriend Trevor wasn’t happy. His parents told me they wouldn’t give me a dime until after the baby was born and we got a DNA test to confirm paternity.

Then Trevor was killed, and they were wracked with grief. I didn’t have the heart to ask for anything from them, and they never reached out again. I’ve thought about calling them over the years, but my mother is against it, and since I technically don’t have custody of my son, it’s not my decision.

The plan is to change that, but I need money first.

A house or apartment to show that I’m settled.

Some kind of steady income.

Stability .

My mother won’t agree to relinquish custody otherwise, so even though I can prove that I’ve been sending money for most of his life, getting custody is going to be tricky.

It’s not that my mother is trying to be difficult.

I know she only wants what’s best for him, but I’m his mother.

He’s my responsibility and I’m determined to step up to the plate.

Which is one of the things that makes it difficult for me to know what to do.

Even if he cheats, I can’t leave Callum.

Not yet.

My trip to L.A. went better than expected, and I’ve got jobs coming up, both in New York in the next few weeks.

Callum won’t be happy about me leaving again, but I may be able to use his infidelity as bargaining power.

Fear churns through my gut, making me queasy, and I breathe through my nose as the plane touches down.

It’s already been a long day and Karnal Death has a show tonight, which I’ll be expected to attend.

I close my phone and stick it in my purse as I make my way through the airport.

I wrangle my suitcase and get in a cab to take me straight to the arena. I’m dreading a confrontation with Callum, but I have to find a way to navigate a balance between having him continue to pay for Toby’s treatment and me winding up with some kind of venereal disease. Or worse.

Callum is waiting for me the moment I get backstage and immediately wraps his arms around me.

“I missed you, baby doll.”

Yeah, right.

I push away, shaking my head. “You missed me so much you cheated on me,” I say dryly.

He sighs. “Look, you know how I get. I have needs .”

“That’s not an excuse.”

“If you didn’t leave me for a week at a time, I wouldn’t need to look elsewhere for some relief.” He looks down at me with what might actually be considered contrition. “And anyway—a little head isn’t cheating. I didn’t even kiss her. Literally, she just sucked my dick. No intimacy, no diseases.”

That, at least, is a relief.

And Ryleigh did say once they were interrupted, Callum stalked off in a huff.

“Come on—don’t be mad.” He leans in to kiss me, but I turn my face.

“Don’t, okay?” I keep my voice low since we’re not alone. “You know how I feel about you sleeping with other people and bringing shit back to me.”

“And I just told you I didn’t. You can’t get a disease from a blowjob.”

Actually, you can, but the edge in his voice is back, and I know to tread carefully—it doesn’t take much for Callum to get mad. Once he goes over that edge, it could take days to talk him down, so I don’t want to risk it.

“Are you going to do that every time I go out of town?” I ask finally.

“Are you going to keep going out of town every month?” He meets my gaze with a fixed stare.

“I have to,” I whisper.

“Then I guess you have your answer. But don’t sweat it, baby doll—no diseases from head.

So think before you start a fight and piss me off right before I play.

” With that, he tugs a lock of my hair hard enough to make me flinch, and then turns and heads in the opposite direction, calling to his guitar tech.

Asshole .

Tears of frustration well up in my eyes.

I don’t care if he cheats, but I can’t risk having him dump me for someone else. Not yet. Everything is so much more complicated than I anticipated.

On top of that, I don’t have anyone I can talk to.

Ryleigh has extended more than one olive branch, but I’m too embarrassed to tell her the truth of my situation.

I know I can depend on Mick, but I have to be careful with him because I think he has a crush on me.

And the truth is, I might have a little crush on him too.

But I can’t do anything about it, so it’s better to keep my distance.

Five-and-a-half months until I’m free.

* * *

Crimson Edge just finished their set when I see a bunch of missed calls and texts from Diane. Now that it’s quieter, I take a moment to call her back.

“Hi!” She sounds breathless. “I have great news.”

“Tell me.”

“You got everything you auditioned for!”

“Oh.” I’m startled. It’s been a while since I’ve had work, and I haven’t had multiple jobs at once in over a year.

“So you’ll need to go back to L.A. in two weeks for the first two, and then you’ll need to be in New York the week after that for the Rock Vibe catalog shoot.”

Crap .

Unease washes over me.

Callum is not going to be happy.

At all.

We’re going to argue, and I don’t know how to manage him when he’s mad. It was never a big deal before because I didn’t care if he dumped me. That was part of the appeal—we would fight like crazy and then the makeup sex was incredible.

Except he doesn’t put the effort in anymore, so the sex has become mediocre while his bad moods escalate to levels that sometimes scare me.

He’s never hit me, but he definitely gets rougher than I’m comfortable with.

His favorite thing is to grab me by both arms and shake me, like I’m some kind of child who’s misbehaving.

It irritates the fuck out of me but no matter how many times I tell him I don’t like it, he continues to do it.

I put up with it for Toby.

I have no other choice.

I’ve got some money saved but not enough to fly back and forth to L.A. once a month and hire a lawyer and find us a place to live. I’ll probably have to move in with my mom for six months to save up even more, but first we need Toby to get through the treatment plan.

“Why don’t you sound happy?” Diane demands.

“You know how it is,” I murmur. “Callum will be upset and?—”

“What will Callum be upset about?” His deep voice in my ear makes me jump and my hand flies to my heart.

“Jesus, you scared me.” I glare at him. “Give me a minute. Anyway, Diane, can you send me the details please so I can figure out my schedule with Toby?”

“Of course.” Diane pauses. “If you turn this stuff down, you know they’ll never call you again?”

“I know,” I say. “Just send me the details. Thank you.”

I disconnect and look up at Callum.

“What will I be upset about?” he repeats, his dark eyes narrowing slightly.

“I’ll have to go away twice in the next month.”

“That’s not our arrangement.”

“I know, but I have to work.”

“Not right now, you don’t. I’m taking care of you and in return, I need you here with me.”

“You put a roof over my head and food,” I say. “But I don’t have spending money or money to send Toby for extras he needs. Or to get my nails done. Or anything else.”

“If you want more money, you need to give more in return.”

“What the hell does that mean?” I demand. “You offered to help me with Toby!” He’s hinted at me doing things I don’t want to do, and if that’s what he’s referring to, the answer is still no.

Tears fill my eyes, and he lets out a put-upon sigh.

“Jesus, don’t start crying again.” He shakes his head. “Look, you’re my girl, so of course I’m going to help out with your sick kid. But I’m not made of money.”

“Which is why I need to work too,” I respond, swiping at my eyes.

“You can’t have it both ways, baby doll.” He shrugs his shoulders. “You want me, or you want to work?”

I open my mouth but close it again.

I don’t want him.

I need him.

It’s not the same thing.

And he fucking knows it.

He’s messing with me because he can, and I hate him a little bit more every time he does something like this.

“Why are you always so mean?” I ask softly. “Don’t you care about me at all?”

He frowns, as if genuinely confused. “You think I’d be paying for your kid’s cancer treatment if I didn’t care about you?”

“Then act like it,” I whisper.

“Don’t tell me how to act,” he says, his face hardening slightly.

“I just want us to get along,” I say in my most cajoling voice.

He laughs. “Get along? What the fuck does that even mean? I have friends, baby doll. That’s not why you’re here. There’s only one reason I need you around.” He pauses. “Okay, two.”

“Two?” I already know the first is sex, but I’m genuinely curious about the second.

“Arm candy.” He shrugs. “I like showing you off. Other men want what’s mine, and you fit the bill.”

I stare up at him, wondering—not for the first time—how I ever found him attractive.

He’s tall and dark, handsome in a scruffy, tattooed bad-boy way.

But he’s hideous on the inside.

Dating him was fun at first.

Now I’m stuck in a nightmare.

“I have to work,” I reiterate. “If you decide you get tired of me, I won’t be able to eat. So it’s not optional.”

“Our agreement was one week a month, so you can see the kid.” His face is a mask of nothingness.

“Working wasn’t part of the deal, so you’re going to have to choose.

Work or see the kid. You leave for more than a week, I may need more than head to keep me satisfied while you’re gone.

And you know there’s a line out the door after every show. ”

“Is that supposed to make me feel special?”

“I don’t care if you feel special or not. Those are my terms. You’re free to leave any time you like.”