Page 141 of Tortured Tones

I sucked in the cold air and cleared my head. I couldn’t do this on my own. I needed help. Luckily I had friends who’d do that. I’d always been afraid to ask them, thinking my problems were insignificant compared to theirs and they had enough of their own issues to deal with. I’d been even more afraid to lose them, disappoint them, but true friendship survived everything. Flint, Slip, and I were living proof of that. Lewis may have been relatively new to our family, but he had become embedded in our circle too.

We were stronger together. Strength in numbers. Always.

Skipping through the snow, Ashleigh and Charlotte came toward us. Their cheeks were bright red from running around.

Ashleigh jumped up and down in front of Hunter. Her glittery pink boots sparkled in the sunshine. “Daddy, can we make snow angels? Out there.” She grabbed his hand and tugged him toward the gate and the snow-covered hills beyond.

“Us too.” Charlotte raised her arms toward me. “Up.”

How could I say no? I scooped her into my arms and we headed for the gate.

“The things we do for our kids.” Hunter laughed, chasing after Ashleigh.

And the things we’d do for those we loved. “Yep. We’re suckers. But I wouldn’t have it any other way.” That was the truth.

After Hunter and I ran around on the hills with the kids, made snow angels, and had hot chocolates with them at a nearby café, Charlotte and I headed back to the hotel. Beckett was always my shadow.

As I showered and got dressed for the dinner I had to attend, thoughts of Ava filled my head.

She wasn’t my bodyguard anymore.

There were no rules and restrictions keeping us apart. If we were to work, we’d have to make sacrifices and compromises. Our life would be far from conventional. But that was what would make it fun, exciting, and worthwhile.

If she’d give me a chance, I wanted to be hers.

I had to make things right.

A crazy plan formed in my head. All thanks to Hunter.

First . . . I’d call my lawyer.

Second...I’d rope my friends into helping. I’d use every damn one of them if I had to.

Third...I’d call my former casual fling, Min. Ava may have followed the rules, but I didn’t. If anyone could dig up information on someone in LA, it would be my supermodel friends who attended more parties than I did. Those girls knew everyone and everything that happened behind closed doors. And most of them would do anything for me.

I needed intel on Luther. No one that powerful was clean.

Fourth... I’dfinish the US leg of our tour and get back to LA.

To Ava.

If Luther wanted to play dirty over custody, he’d met his match.

Never fuck over a rock star and the woman he was determined to win back.

Chapter 32

AVA

“I want full custody—nothing less.” My heart screamed as Wilson, my lawyer, lazed back in his big leather chair and glanced at me over the rim of his glasses. I clenched my fists in my lap. I wanted to shake the shit out of him, knock some fight into him, but he just sat there rocking like a content old man on a porch swing. Ergh!

“Ava.” He grabbed one of the notebooks where I’d recorded every instance Luther had failed to meet our parental agreement conditions. “I’ve reviewed all your entries. It’s great that you have documented the times Luther was late, changed schedules at short notice, and was inflexible. But the photos you sent of the bruises on Josh’s arm could just be from playing in the playground or from sport. The stories you’ve told me about Luther’s wild parties are irrelevant. We don’t have enough evidence to go for full custody.”

“What?” Bile pooled in my gut. No. No. No. This wasn’t happening. My head spun as my mind sifted through the material we’d gathered for my case. “What about Josh’s psychology assessment, reports from his teachers, or testimonies from my family? My reviews?”

Wilson splayed his hands. “I’m sorry. They’ll help, but none of this information holds more weight than the damning evidence he can provide against you—your job was dangerous, and your time away from home on assignment could be construed as a lack of involvement in Josh’s well-being. Your public behavior, drinking with The Flintlocks at parties, isn’t favorable. Being swamped by crazed fans and the paparazzi is not ideal. You’ve been in your new role for less than two weeks. It’s not a strong enough foundation to support stability. You don’t have enough grounds to get full custody. Our best hope is to negotiate more time in your parental agreement.”

“Luther can’t do this to me.” My breath shuddered and lodged deep inside my lungs, spearing pain throughout my entire body. “He can’t use my work against me. I was doing my job as a security guard—now I’m in the office. There’s no law against going to a party in my personal time. My short-term, less-than-casual, now nonexistent relationship with Cole has nothing to do with my ability to look after my son. I’ve passed every mental health assessment and met every criteria required by the law to get more custody. Luther’s the one who should be judged. Not me. Why does my behavior matter and not his?”

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