Dare to Rock (23 page)

“I’m sorry to hear the papers are dredging up the past,” he said, looking at Avery.

“What?”

Even Rick tuned in now, stepping in closer.

“What do you mean?” Ella asked.

Gary’s cheeks burned red. “I’m sorry. I thought you knew.”

Avery believed him. Gary wasn’t a gossip. He was a solid neighbor and decent man. “Tell me what you know,” she said.

“This morning’s paper. They’re rehashing your father’s dirty laundry. The second-family story.” He glanced away, unable to meet Avery’s gaze.

Since that story was old news, Avery just knew there was more. “Gary, please. I’d rather hear it from you than some stranger.”

“Come on, hon. Maybe we should go upstairs and let me pull it up on my laptop,” Ella said.

“That’s a good idea.” This from the usually silent Rick.

“No. I’d rather get it over with. What are they saying?”

Gary sighed, obviously resigned. “Stupid, mean things, Avery. Uncalled for and untrue, I’m sure. Things about your father using you to save the sister he loved more.” Gary forced a laugh. “See? Ridiculous.”

Not so much, Avery thought. Lights flickered behind her eyes, and she suddenly couldn’t breathe well. Anxiety. She drew in deep breaths.

“I mean, anyone who knows you knows how amazing you are. Same with Olivia and your brothers. Of course your father loves you all.” He was rambling now.

“Thank you, Gary. We’ll read the rest ourselves,” Ella said, grabbing Avery’s hand and pulling her along.

Avery couldn’t believe her father’s past was coming back to haunt her again. But it was
her father’s
past, she reminded herself. Not anything she’d done. She’d survived the gossip, the talk, the speculation then, and she’d survive it a second time.

They reached the apartment. Rick deposited Ella’s suitcase in the apartment and locked the door behind them. “Pack now. I’m getting you ladies out of here,” he said.

“No. I want your laptop,” she said to Ella.

Rick shot Ella a warning look, but Ella was Avery’s best friend. She pulled her computer from her bag. “I think it would be smarter to ignore it.”

“And not know what I’m in for the next time a reporter ambushes me? No.” Avery settled into a chair in the living room and began tapping on the keys.

She found an article with today’s date immediately.

Kingston’s Girl Holds on with Iron Grip.
She read the headline and winced.

She felt Ella looking over her shoulder. Drawing strength from her friend, Avery read on. After a rehash of Avery’s sad past, her father’s betrayal of his wife and kids, and the existence of another life and family, the article went on to say that Avery had visited Grey at his Miami concert in the hopes of rekindling their high school romance. Grey had a weak spot for Avery and always had, according to a source who’d asked not to be named.

And because of her past, Avery was too insecure to keep any of the more recent men in her life. They’d managed to get a quote or two from the few guys she’d dated and gently let down. They’d obviously held a grudge or had been paid well, because they claimed she was clingy and needy, all stemming from the daddy issues she had, and they’d been the ones to dump her.

Once she’d gotten her hooks in Grey Kingston, the wealthy, beloved member of Tangled Royal, she held on for all she was worth. She was, in fact, the reason for the breakup of the much-loved band. Again, quoting a source who’d asked not to be named.

“What the ever-loving fuck?” Ella yelled, obviously finishing the offensive article at the same time as Avery.

Avery shook her head, unable to clear the spots that had taken up permanent residence in front of her eyes. Her hands were clammy, her skin damp.

“Avery?”

She heard Ella’s voice as if from a distance before she collapsed, everything going dark.

Chapter Twelve

A
very came to with a cold cloth on her forehead, Ella standing over her with a worried expression on her face.

“I can’t believe I passed out.”

“Emotional triggers can do that to you,” her friend said gently.

“Well, I’m sick and tired of dealing with the emotional fallout from my past.” Avery yanked the cloth off her forehead and struggled to a sitting position.

Ella put a hand on her shoulder. “Stay put until you know you’re okay.”

Avery brushed at her now-damp hair that stuck to her forehead. “I feel fine. Can we just forget this ever happened?”

“Umm … I don’t think so.” Ella trailed off and winced. “I called Grey.”

“Seriously?”

“I was worried and so was Rick.” She glanced over her shoulder at the bodyguard, who stood against the wall, arms folded across his chest. “I didn’t want to upset Olivia, her being pregnant, so it was either Grey or one of your brothers. I made a judgment call.”

Avery nodded. “I’m not upset with you. I’m angry with myself. I hate that I still let him get to me,” she said of her father.

“I have to ask you something.” Ella scooted closer on the couch and leaned in so they could speak quietly. “Have you ever had it out with him? Told him how you feel about what he did, how his actions affected your life?”

Avery shook her head. “My mom was my rock, and she made sure I got help. And he wasn’t around much, especially right after … By the time he tried reaching out to us again, I’d built up all these walls so I couldn’t be hurt again.”

Ella wrinkled her nose in confusion. “Then why did you go to his birthday party every year?”

Avery sighed. Her father held a yearly birthday bash at The Meridian Hotel, a formal affair for family, friends, and business associates. Avery and her immediate siblings always felt the event was more to show the outside world that things in the Dare family were
fine
, when in reality, all of Avery’s full brothers and her sister, Olivia, had their issues with Robert Dare.

“I know it’s hard to understand, but I just never wanted Sienna or the others to feel bad for something they’d had no control over.” Even if she and Olivia had to twist their brothers’ arms, they all made an appearance, usually to support each other.

“I always said you’re too good a person,” Ella said. “And in this case, I think you need to get those damaging emotions off your chest before you lose the things most precious to you.”

Avery’s cell rang. Noticing her bag on the table, she pulled out her phone and glanced at the incoming number. “Speak of the devil.” She wondered why he’d be calling now. “Might as well get it over with.”

She accepted the call. “Hello?”

“Avery, it’s your father.”

She didn’t mention that she’d already figured that out. “Hi, Dad.”

“Where are you?” he asked, sounding extremely stressed and unhappy.

“I’m home in my apartment, why?”

“Because we need to talk. I’ll be there in about twenty minutes.”

“About what?” she asked, but he’d already hung up. She met Ella’s concerned gaze. “Guess he’s coming to talk.”

“Could this day get any weirder?”

Avery shivered, still cold from passing out and uneasy after speaking to her father. Ella rose and grabbed an afghan from the chair across from the sofa and wrapped it around Avery’s shoulders.

“Thank you.” She snuggled into the warm blanket and scrolled through her phone. “Wow.”

“What’s up?” Ella asked.

“That wasn’t the first time my father called this morning,” Avery said, glancing at three missed calls and one voice message with his name on it.

She tapped on the voice mail and played his message out loud.

“Avery, this is your father.”

“No shit,” Ella muttered, and Avery couldn’t help but grin.

Her father continued. “I don’t appreciate the fact that your new relationship is dragging up my ancient history, and you need to make this go away. Call me immediately.”

“Is he kidding?” Ella asked in disbelief just as a knock sounded at the door and Rick let Grey inside. As Grey entered, Rick turned to her. “I’ll be right outside if you need me.”

“Thank you.”

“And I’ll be in my room so you two can talk. But same thing. Yell if you need me,” Ella said. “Especially when you-know-who gets here.”

Ella and Rick both left them alone.

Grey, looking edible in a pair of jeans and a faded Tangled Royal concert tee shirt, slid onto the couch beside her.

“Are you okay, sugar?” He skimmed his knuckles down her cheek, his green eyes boring into hers.

She didn’t realize how much she’d been holding inside her until she heard the concerned tone in his voice, and she broke down. Tears came, unbidden and unwanted, but she couldn’t make them stop.

“I’m just so tired of … this.” She gestured to herself. “I want to be stronger than this. I am stronger than this.”

“Crying doesn’t make you weak. Your actions are the thing that define you, and you’re doing pretty damn good if you ask me.”

No, Avery thought. She wasn’t. But she would be. “My father called. He’s coming to talk. Apparently he’s upset that my personal life is bringing up his past indiscretions. Can you imagine that?”

Grey blew out a deep breath, managing to hang on to control by a thread despite the blood pumping hard through his veins. First she was put through the wringer by the press because of him, and now her father was blaming her for it?

“No. And I’ll make damn sure he knows if he wants to get to you, he needs to go through me.”

She reached out and touched his arm. “It’s time I handled my father.” Because she believed Ella had had a point earlier. “He needs to know how much damage he’s done to me and my life.”

Grey didn’t like letting her deal with her angry parent, but he respected her need to do it. “I’ll be by your side,” he said. “That’s nonnegotiable.”

A smile lifted her lips, and some color finally returned to her face. “Deal.”

When he’d walked in, she’d been so pale it’d frightened him. And considering he’d driven here in a panic, ignoring the speed limit to get to her, that was saying something.

“If I were a better man, I’d let you go. I’d settle in L.A. and make sure that the press and the paparazzi never had a reason to come near you again,” he said, the words taking him by surprise.

She narrowed her gaze. “Don’t you dare make those kinds of decisions for me.”

He appreciated her guts even as guilt swamped him. He’d never wanted the uglier side of his life to touch hers. But he wasn’t leaving her.

“Don’t worry. I’m not that better man,” he said wryly. “I came home and made my play. What kind of fool would I be to walk away from you now?” He chuckled but sobered quickly. “But you’re the one suffering from being with me.”

“You’re wrong, Grey.” She grasped his hand tightly and opened her mouth to continue when the doorbell rang. “We’re going to have to pick this up later, okay?”

“I’m not going anywhere,” he promised her. If she couldn’t handle the shit that came with Grey Kingston, she was going to have to be the one to walk away.

The
thought
made his stomach cramp and his heart feel empty, but he refused to dwell on the negative. From everything she’d said and done so far, Avery was willing to step up and fight for them.

Starting with her father.

*     *     *

Avery braced herself as she let her father inside her apartment. She wanted to have a calm, rational, thoughtful conversation with her parent. One that let her explain the things she kept inside and maybe helped forge a new understanding.

“What’s with the bodyguard?” he asked, and that one question destroyed any chance for Avery to remain calm, rational, or thoughtful.

Avery blew out a long breath. “Really, Dad? You have nine children, and none of them told you what’s going on in my life? Or is it that you only pay attention when something impacts you? Or one of Savannah’s kids?” she asked, that last part shocking even Avery.

Robert blinked, obviously startled. “Now, Avery—”

Suddenly, she felt Grey’s hand on her shoulder, his strong presence telling her he had her back. A massive lump the size of a boulder formed in her throat, and tears threatened once more. She’d had her mom and her siblings, but until now, this very moment, she’d always felt
alone
.

“Dad, this is Grey Kingston.” Avery didn’t know if her father remembered her high school boyfriend, and she didn’t care.

“I recognize you. And I wish I could say it’s a pleasure, but your antics are having a negative impact on my family and my business, young man.”

Grey’s fingers tightened around her shoulder. “I promised Avery I’d let her deal with you, sir, but make no mistake, if you insult her or hurt her in any way, that promise will mean nothing. So I suggest you tread lightly.”

Avery swallowed hard, her heart bursting with emotion and love for this man. She needed him in her life, appreciated how he was influencing her to fight for herself and, as a result, for them.

“Avery, we need to talk alone.”

She shook her head. “No. Grey stays. Say whatever it is you came to say.” Then she had words of her own for her father.

“Fine. I want to know what you plan to do about the fact that my old dirty laundry is being dredged up again thanks to your relationship with this man?”