Page 69 of I Need You Tonight
“I have every right to be here. He was my father as much as he was yours,” Mason said, his voice low and dangerous. I had a feeling I was the only one who could hear the edge of hurt in it, but that was because I had seen how broken he’d been upon finding out that his father had died, how torn up he’d been when he realized no one had told him his father had been battling cancer. It wouldn’t have been hard to track Mason down. They could have contacted his recording label and had them tell him.
“You lost the right years ago,” the man said.
“So you’re telling me I can’t even say goodbye to my own father?”
The man scoffed. “That’s exactly what I’m saying. You fucked up his life, and now that he’s dead, you want forgiveness.”
A muscle in Mason’s jaw twitched. It was a look I wasn’t used to seeing on him, and one I’d be happy never to witness again. “That’s not true. I contacted him numerous times and apologized. I did whatever I could to make everything up to him. He was the one who walked away, not me.”
For the first time since I’d met him, the Mason standing next to me was nothing like the man I’d fallen in love with. That man was filled with passion and life. This Mason was a mask of the real man.
“Why are you here, Mason?” a petite woman with graying strands in her short, curly black hair said as she came toward us. Her eyes were red from crying and her mascara had smudged beneath them. I shivered at the chill in her tone and at the way she glared at Mason, like she wished it were his body in the coffin instead of the man who was currently there.
“I wanted to pay my respects, Mama.” Mason’s voice was noticeably softer now, but also wary.
“You don’t belong here,” she said, voice shrill and easily heard by everyone in the chapel. “Leave before I get security to remove you.”
What the hell had Mason done to deserve this? They were acting like he had killed someone. Obviously I didn’t know the history behind all this, but that didn’t prevent me from wanting to comfort the vulnerable man standing beside me, his hands shaking.
“Look,” I said, somehow finding my voice, even if it did sound rusty from lack of use, “he’s sorry for what he did, and he just wants a chance to say goodbye to the man who raised him. He flew all the way from New York City last night to do that. Can’t you just give him a chance?”
The woman turned her chilly regard on me. This time I stood my ground, ready to do whatever was necessary to defend him.
“I don’t want you or your…your hussy here,” she bit out. “It’s as simple as that.”
“Nicole isn’t a hussy,” Mason said, his words strong and certain. He might’ve been hurting from everything else, but his love for me pushed that aside for the moment. “She’s a sweet and loving woman, and no matter what you may think of me, she doesn’t deserve to be called that.”
The way his mother studied me warned me that no matter what either Mason or I said, she would see me as someone I wasn’t. She would see me as someone well beneath her.
“Son,” a man said behind me, “you should leave.”
I turned to find a cop standing there. Great—they had called the police to have him removed. Unlike with Mason’s mother and the other man, the cop’s tone was free of anger. If anything, it held a note of compassion.
Mason nodded, the fight now burned out of him. His head dropped forward slightly and he made a move to leave. I tried to blink away the tears threatening to fall, but one broke free. I sniffed and wiped it away as we walked out of the chapel and through the main doors.
“I’m sorry, Mason,” the cop said once we were outside. I started at hearing him use Mason’s name. “I’m sorry no one told you about your father. And I’m sorry ’bout what happened in there.”
Seeing the confused expression on my face, Mason said, “Nicole, this is my uncle T.J.”
“Nice to meet you,” the hulking man said, holding out his beefy hand for me to shake.
“Nice to meet you too,” I said, hoping he didn’t notice I was trembling slightly from what had transpired a few minutes ago.
“Are you staying in town long?”
Mason shook his head. “We have a flight to Atlantic City in two hours.”
His uncle raised an eyebrow. Mason answered it with an almost negligible shake of his head.
“So, are you two dating?” T.J. asked.
Good question. We might’ve said the “love” word to each other two nights ago, but otherwise nothing had changed between us. And after discovering that Mason’s father had died, we had been too focused on that to discuss us. He was still my boss as far as I was concerned. A boss whom I was now officially having sex with.
“Nicole manages the band’s social media accounts,” Mason said, “and has been organizing a few promotional events beyond what our label does for us.”
His uncle chuckled. “I have no idea what you said, but it sounds good to me.” He looked back at the building. Gospel music now drifted from the open doors. “I should go back inside. I just wanted to make sure you’re okay.”
They gave each other a one-armed man hug. T.J. wished us a safe flight and told Mason not to be a stranger anymore as far as he was concerned. There was a message in the look he gave Mason as he said it that was lost on me.
“Is everything all right?” I asked Mason once his uncle was inside and we were walking back to Mason’s car. “I mean with your uncle.”
“Considering he’s the only member of my family who can stand the sight of me…”
I waited for the remainder of the sentence, but was met by the click of the car doors unlocking instead.
“What happened to make your family act like that?” I asked, temporarily forgetting what he had said about telling me everything once he was ready. But as soon as the words were out of my mouth I regretted them. “I’m sorry, Mason. Forget I asked. I know you’ll tell me when you’re ready.” He had gone through so much in the last twenty-four hours, he didn’t need me interrogating him.
“I just can’t right now….I’m sorry. I made a mistake and have been trying to make up for it. They obviously will never forgive me, and it’s about time I accept that.” He turned the key in the ignition, making it clear that whatever had happened in his past wasn’t up for discussion.
