Page 58 of Key Change

He sighed. “Yes.”

She opened the door. “Oh, you’re busy.”

“Applying for jobs. I run, I look for work, and if I’m lucky, I see Cillian. That’s all I do. Every day.”

“We only want what’s best for you. To help you.”

Maybe she believed that’s what they were doing, but he didn’t care anymore. “You might; Hayden doesn’t. He will use anything he finds against me. That’s why he had me followed.”

“You aren’t five anymore. I know you’ve had your differences, but it’s time to move on.”

“Did you tell him that? Did you tell him to stop putting the boot in?”

“Dad wanted you followed. You don’t know what it was like for us during the trial. It was awful. The media dragged everything they could up. They camped outside our houses. Mum barely left the house.”

“She’s managing now,” he said dryly. A six-month cruise, timed for his release. “Do you think it was a delight for me?”

“You committed the crimes, but you dragged all of us into your mess. We don’t want to go through it again.” She sighed. “So we did what we thought best.”

Would she tell Hayden if he told her about the blackmail? Probably. There was no point in doing anything other than extricating himself from his family as quickly as possible.

“Well, it’s no longer needed.”

She made a noise, and Anthony figured that meant he was going to continue being watched. Fine, if that’s what they wanted to spend their money on, he’d make it worth their while.

Anthony nodded. So that’s how it was going to be. “I’m grateful that you took me in. Which I’ve said several times, but it wasn’t done out of concern for my wellbeing. As soon as I can, I’ll find somewhere else to stay, and you won’t hear from me again.”

“Don’t be rash. You don’t even have a job, and I don’t want you hanging around criminals in state housing.”

“Who do you think I’ve been hanging around with for the last ten years? Did you ever stop and consider the man who went in isn’t the same as the one who came out?”

“You can be him again.”

“I don’t want to be him, Margot. Besides, I’m never going to fit back in as if nothing happened.”

Anthony didn’t know who he was anymore. He wasn’t the risk-taking high-flyer who’d never thought it could come crashing down, and he didn’t hunger for status and money the way he once had. He wanted the time and space to figure the next ten years of his life.

CHAPTER

THIRTY

Cillian pulledout the leather chair and sat opposite Dahlia Edwards. He hadn’t seen his agent face to face in about six months, and that had been at a restaurant. However, her office was exactly as he remembered, white and metal, with not a page out of place. There was no clue about the kind of work that she did.

As always, Dahlia was smartly dressed in a suit, with her hair perfectly done, and she had welcomed him in like an old friend. They usually dealt with everything via email or phone calls.

Thisproblem, however, was a touch more serious and required more privacy than a lunch date. Cillian thought he might throw up.

Dahlia rested her elbows on the table and leaned forward. “You look very serious for someone who just signed a rather nice contract.”

At least the movie contract was signed, though there were ways to break it. “I have a small issue that I thought better discussed in person.” Then there would be nothing on paper, and he could gauge her reaction.

“Well, if you were engaged, I’m sure I’d have heard about him before now.” She narrowed her eyes. “And I doubt you want to quit and return to the farm…”

He resisted the urge to fidget under her stare, but only just. “I’m being blackmailed.” The words fell bluntly off his tongue and hung in the air like an off-keynote. He swallowed. “It’s been going on a while, but it’s getting worse.”

“Um…” She blinked and stared at him. “That is the last thing I expected from you.”

Cillian smiled thinly at the compliment. He wasn’t crawling out of gutters or creating embarrassing stories. He played, he taught. He didn’t make her life difficult by being a diva—though sometimes he was bloody tempted. “Do you remember how we met?”

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