Page 74 of A Way Out
Finally, Elaine turned stiffly on her thousand-dollar heels and strode away, head held high, back as straight as a rod.
Maria leaned against the counter, clutching the edge to keep herself upright.
Now what?
Chapter Twenty-Six
Maria had already made her choice. Oz could tell by the look in her eye. The question.
Is my mother telling the truth?
He wasn’t surprised, although he was definitely disappointed.
And pissed.
And, damn it, sad.
For a hot minute, he’d believed she wasn’t like all the other wealthy women who had passed through his life. Sure did suck that money defined people’s personalities like that.
His palm slapped the glass storm door, shoving it open so he could get the hell out of this oppressive-as-hell house.
A fine mist drifted from the sky, not a full-on rain but still damp and cold and annoying. It was probably par for the course in this state. Oz really had no idea; he’d never been here before.
He doubted he’d ever come back.
No, that wasn’t true. He’d be back. For concerts. Because Demigoddess Revival was well on the way to being just as big, just as popular as Panic Station. He’d bet money they’d be touring before the end of the year.
If he had any money to bet.
Which was the problem, wasn’t it? Although Maria’s mother had twisted everything into the worst possible light, what she’d said about him, his life, was all true.
His sister had been abused by her husband. She hadn’t left him, despite resources available to assist her. And the psychopath had ultimately killed her.
His nieces and nephew probably were damaged from what they’d experienced, and he did not have the financial means to get them the help they undoubtedly needed.
His cousin Carina had been an addict, had stolen prescription drugs from his mother, among a handful of other family members.
He was a tattooed and pierced guy trying to be a rock ’n roll star. He hadn’t bought a new tattoo or gotten a piercing since well before he took custody of the kids, but if he thought too hard about it, he had a lot of money invested in his body, and he couldn’t return any of it for a refund.
And yes, his mother was about to lose the house if he didn’t come up with some serious greenbacks, quick.
That was why he’d been so afraid to venture out with the band. Walking away from a regular paycheck, even if none of them had been enough to truly make ends meet, was scarier than sticking with status quo and hoping a miracle would happen.
He'd convinced himself that Demigoddess Revival was that miracle. Actually, he’d let Maria convince him. He’d believed in her.
When it came down to it, she hadn’t reciprocated. She didn’t believe in him.
Flipping up his collar and stuffing his hands into his pockets, he hunched his shoulders and strode through the cool, damp mist to his car, which totally stuck out like a sore thumb in this ritzy neighborhood. Hell, he’d parked at the curb instead of pulling into the driveway. He was that intimidated by his surroundings.
What the fuck was he going to do? The lawyer he’d hired to help get the kids’ surnames changed had been super flexible and understanding, but after months and months of being unable to make a dent in the giant bill he owed, Oz had convinced his mom to take out a second mortgage on her house. He’d paid off the lawyer, but now he couldn’t pay the house note.
Oz aimed his car back toward the little downtown area. He figured he needed to get out of Roma before he could find a hotel cheap enough for him to afford even a single night. Truthfully, he couldn’t afford it, but he needed to grab a few zzz’s before heading back home.
His phone vibrated. He ignored it. Might be Maria. He had nothing to say to her. Yeah, he’d said he’d tell her everything, lay it all on the line, but that had been bravado and he already knew it was fruitless.
She wasn’t going to come find him. She was already ensconcing herself back into her perfect life in that glass house up on the hill. Wouldn’t surprise him in the least if her lawyer was able to make the divorce go away like it never even happened in the first place. Money could do shit like that.
The kicker was, Oz didn’t think Maria’s ex-husband was behind this mess. He’d appeared as shell-shocked as Maria when Elaine Hearsy had rattled off Oz’s list of supposed sins.
