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Chapter 14

14

"I brought groceries!" Sadie called as she got out of her car and retrieved Cosmo from his doggie seat. She glanced up at the cheerful yellow house that sat surrounded by redwoods and smiled. The craftsman had a wide window in front that overlooked the charming front porch. But what she liked the most was the second story sunroom that looked to be an addition to the attic. She could just imagine Briggs and King up there working on music.

"You didn't have to do that," King said, bounding off the porch to come help her unload her car.

"It's the least I can do," she said and popped the trunk open.

Cosmo ran toward King, his tail wagging and his tongue out.

King stopped to give the dog love before he grabbed her grocery bags.

"I think you've made a friend for life," Sadie said. "Usually it takes Cosmo a little longer to warm up to people."

"He just has good taste. He picked you, didn't he?"

Sadie laughed. "Okay, I can go with that." She grabbed her suitcase, closed the trunk, and followed King into the house.

After King dropped off the groceries, he led her to her room. "Make yourself at home. I'll put your groceries away."

"Thanks," she said as he retreated. Once he was gone, Sadie hauled her suitcase onto the bed and looked at Cosmo. "We lucked out, boy."

He jumped up, putting his paws on the side of the bed, making her shake her head.

"You're a handful, you know that, right?" The moment she put him on the bed, he curled up next to the pillow and closed his eyes. No doubt he was worn out from all the activity of the day.

Ten minutes later, with Cosmo fast asleep on the bed, Sadie made her way to the kitchen, where she found King sitting at the counter, frowning at his phone. "Something wrong?"

He glanced up at her, frustration in his expression. "No. I don't think so."

She raised her eyebrows at him. "You don't think so?"

"It's my mother. She keeps calling, and I keep ignoring her because she's mad that I won't fund her new Lexus. But…" He shook his head. "She just sent a text saying they are being evicted and will be homeless by the end of the month."

Sadie took a seat next to him. "I take it you're not sure if you should believe her."

"You got it." He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. "She only gets in touch when she wants money. Earlier this week it was money for a car after the one she had was totaled. I sent enough for a decent used car, but she wasn't happy. And now she's saying this."

"And the problem is you don't trust her," Sadie said as she reached across the table to squeeze his hand. "It's a rough position to be in."

King flipped his hand over and then entwined his fingers with hers. "I hate this."

"I know."

He cursed under his breath and picked up the phone with his free hand. Sadie was silent as he tapped the screen, making a call.

"Kevin. Finally!" his mom said so loudly that Sadie had no trouble hearing her. "What is so important that you couldn't call your mother back for a week?"

King rose from the stool and started to pace the kitchen. "What's going on? Why are you being evicted?"

Sadie could hear his mother talking but couldn't make out the details. But as he continued to listen, King's expression turned more and more stormy. Anger flashed in his dark blue eyes as he scowled.

Finally, King said, "Did you just threaten to go to the press and blame me for your poor financial decisions?"

The press? Sadie was horrified for King. What she'd heard about his parents was nightmare fuel.

"That's blackmail, Mother." King seethed.

Sadie wanted to tell him to end the call. To change his number. Put out a press release that he was divorced from the people who rejected him as a kid. Instead, she sat on her stool, fuming and desperate to make sure he knew that there were at least a couple of people in his life who were only interested in him for him , not what he could do for them.

"Give me the landlord's number, and I'll take care of it. But this is the last time, Mother. I'm done being the family bank account," King said.

"Just send me the money, Kevin!" his mother screamed into the phone. "I can handle the landlord."

"No," King said, shaking his head. "I'm done sending you money. If you really need this money for rent, I'll pay your landlord directly. Take it or leave it."

There was silence on the other end of the connection.

A few seconds passed until King pulled the phone away from his ear and looked at the screen. "I guess she didn't like my terms," he said as he tossed his phone onto the table.

"She hung up on you?" Sadie asked, stunned by what she'd just witnessed.

"Yep."

King looked so dejected, almost broken. Sadie didn't think, she just moved and wrapped him in her arms, holding him close. He clung to her, his body trembling, and Sadie tightened her hold on him, wanting to fill him up with the love she had for him.

They held each other until King finally pulled back and wiped at his eyes. "Sorry. I just…"

"You don't need to explain." Sadie took his hand in hers and led him into the living room. They sat together on the couch, their hands clasped. Sadie turned to him and gently brushed a lock of his dark curls back. "They don't deserve you."

He nodded, staring down at their joined hands. "I know." Then he looked up at her, his expression troubled. "How do I know if I'm handling this right?"

Sadie grimaced. "I'm not sure I'm the one to ask. I don't deal with my father at all. Not after everything that went down back in Salem."

He looked at her curiously. "Do you mind telling me about it?"

Normally Sadie didn't talk about her father. She preferred to pretend that he didn't even exist. But in that moment, she knew if she shared her story that King would feel less alone. "Are you sure you want to hear this now?"

He nodded, giving her hand a slight squeeze.

"Okay. Well, you already know that he showed up and forced me to go Back East with him, which I did not want to do. When my grandmother realized she couldn't fight it, she moved there, too. At least I had her, though she couldn't afford my father's neighborhood and got a house a couple of towns over." Sadie's voice caught as tears stung her eyes. She blinked them back as she added, "She died two weeks after she got there. They said it was a stroke. I think it was the stress of what happened with my father."

"Oh, Sadie," King said. "I'm so sorry. I had no idea."

She nodded and did her best to work past the pain that throbbed in her chest. "My father, who took me out to Salem because he was supposedly so concerned with us being a family, refused to let me go to her service. He said I needed to settle in and get to know my stepmother."

"Was she terrible, too?" King asked.

"No, actually. I rather liked Sherry. She was a sweet woman who didn't deserve the way my father treated her. It didn't take me long to recognize that my father was all about appearances. He literally made me leave my grandmother because he wanted me to date the son of a powerful developer so that he would have an inside track to get a meeting with him."

"He did what ?" King stood suddenly, staring down at Sadie in horror. "Your father was pimping you out?"

"Not quite." Sadie shook her head. "It's not like he wanted me to sleep with the son. He just wanted me to date him long enough for my father to gain access to his dad. Everything Sherry and I were expected to do always revolved around connections and business deals. He used us both when he needed a respectable family to show off. When he didn't, he ignored us."

Sadie got up and took King's hands in hers. "It was ten months of living with a selfish narcissist, and the final straw was when he tried to sell my mom's house without telling me. He had it on the market and even had a buyer. I found out about it when Melissa's mom, Rachel, called to make sure that was what I wanted. She was the executor of Mom's estate. If it hadn't been for her, I'd have lost my mom's house, and my dad would have taken the money. Rachel refused to let the sale go through, even though my dad hired lawyers and threatened to bankrupt the estate if she wouldn't do what he wanted."

"Your dad sounds like my mom," King said, his voice flat and emotionless.

"Yeah, they aren't far apart in their ruthlessness to use their own children for personal gain. Pretty disgusting." She gave him a sad smile. "I'm sorry to say that I completely understand that ball of rage inside of you that is covered in a healthy layer of guilt because you're not doing what they want you to."

"So, you do know how I'm feeling." He laughed suddenly. "Except you ran away and I was kicked out. We're quite the pair, aren't we?"

"Bonding over trauma. It's what we do best." She winked at him.

He nodded and then sat back down on the couch and leaned back, staring up at her. "So how am I supposed to deal with this now? She won't let me just pay her rent to the landlord. She says that will make her look unstable, and she won't have her son meddling in her affairs. I'm supposed to just transfer the money to her, or she's going to sell her story to a tabloid."

"Sell what story? That she kicked you out, making you homeless?" Sadie gasped out.

"No, the one that says her celebrity son won't help his struggling family," he said bitterly.

"Holy hell." Sadie flopped down next to him on the couch. "I don't know, King. I haven't had to deal with celebrity stuff. I don't have a reputation to protect, so I just ignore my father. He's been cut out of my life. If he started threatening me now, I suppose I'd have to get a lawyer."

"And a PR person," King said, sounding resigned now. "If I keep giving her money, she's never going to leave me alone."

"I'm sure that's true." Sadie felt lucky that at least her father didn't have money issues. If he did, she was certain he'd try the same kind of garbage with her if he got wind she was having any success. However, she was confident that he wouldn't want any kind of scandal following him around, so the idea that he'd sell a story to the tabloids was laughable.

"But if I don't continue to help her financially, my past is going to be splashed all over the gossip sites." He ground his teeth together.

"I wish I could wave a wand and make this all go away for you," she said. "Celebrity seems pretty awful if you ask me. Between your mother's BS and those groupies, I don't know how you deal with it."

He glanced over at her. "You do realize that once our song is out in the world it's very likely you'll end up dealing with similar stuff, right?"

Sadie just raised both hands palms up. "You and Austin keep saying that the song is going to be a hit, but it's hard for me to imagine that. It's not real to me."

Chuckling, King pulled her close and gave her a soft kiss. "It's going to be very real. I think maybe both of us need to see a PR person tomorrow. Right after I call my lawyer."

"Does this mean your mom is cut off?"

He nodded. "It's what I have to do, even if I have to book an interview to set the record straight. I can't keep letting her use me like this."

Sadie reached over and pressed her hand to his heart. "You're a good man, King McGrath. No matter what your mother or anyone in the media says. You remember that, okay?"

He caught her hand with his and brought it to his lips, giving her palm a kiss. "I will."

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