33. Wesley
Wesley
“ T he reservation should be under Baron.” I wipe my sweaty hands on my jeans. Fifteen minutes, in and out. I’ll see what she wants and then put as much distance as I can between us.
Breathe and get through this. I know what’s coming this time.
“This way, please, she’s waiting on you.” The hostess gives me a bright smile.
Already here. At least I won’t have to wait.
I follow her through the restaurant clamoring with families having lively conversations and around the corner to a secluded part of the restaurant, and my pulse quickens. Then I stop dead in my tracks.
“You can’t be here. You have to leave. Avery, please.
” I take her hand and try to urge her to get up.
It was silly of me to think she’d let me do this alone.
She’s been quiet about this situation for days and I thought that meant she accepted my choice.
“If Maddie sees you here—” I don’t dare to finish the sentence.
She wasn’t necessarily jealous of Avery, but she saw her as a threat to her hold over me, as the one person who I’d listen to instead of her.
“Don’t worry, Maddie isn’t coming.” Avery uncrosses her legs and leans over the table. She rests her elbow on the linen and uses her fist to prop up her chin. “She and I had a great talk this morning, and she graciously offered me this reservation.”
Her lips twist into a wicked grin that’s terrifying and absolutely enthralling. I nearly forget myself and the circumstances of why I’m here.
“Your server will be with you shortly,” the hostess says, fidgeting and visibly uncomfortable to be caught in the crossfire of this moment.
“Actually, could you do something for me?” Avery asks.
“Of course,” she eagerly agrees, from the shine of familiarity in her eye she recognizes us but is trying not to show it.
Avery slips a hand into her bag. When she pulls it out again, multiple hundred-dollar bills are folded between her slender fingers. “Hold off on seating anyone else here for a minute. And don’t worry, I’ll tip enough for the entire section.”
Without hesitation, the hostess grabs the cash from Avery, tucks it into her pocket, and leaves the way we came.
I take the chair across from Avery. “What are you doing?”
“What I should have done years ago. It’s taken care of.” Her voice is unyielding.
“And that’s why you have bribe money?”
“You mean my pocket change?” she challenges, brows raised.
But then her expression softens. “I didn’t bribe Maddie.
I beat her at her own game. I investigated the articles that came out eleven years ago and they all led back to her.
Kendal helped me establish a paper trail and Garrett helped me with this.
” She reaches into her bag again, pulling out a stack of papers.
“She’s waived all previous rights to your work.
She won’t make another penny off you. I’ve already sent a copy to Garrett so he can process it. ”
“This…” I start to flip through the pages, catching snippets of legal language that I don’t completely understand, but from what I pick out Avery is right. “I can’t believe this is real.”
I had reached a state of acceptance that Maddie would always hold on to not only a part of me, but to the best years of my life.
I knew that if I mentioned Fool’s Gambit in an interview or played a song at a show, she’d inevitably benefit.
It lived in the back of my mind when all I wanted to do was enjoy music and people I cared about.
And now? Because of the brilliant woman sitting across from me, I don’t have to worry any more.
Avery was the first person to give me music, and now she’s done it again, helping me reclaim ownership of what was taken from me.
After a decade, I get to celebrate the music I love, the time I spent with the band without it being tainted.
Joy. That’s what she’s given me.
“There’s a chance she retaliates and leaks the truth about our wedding,” Avery says. “But I don’t care. The truth is you were there for me when I needed you, and for years after we both held on to each other no matter what.”
“I’m sorry I dragged you into this.”
“You didn’t. I want to be there for you and make your life easier when I can. I much prefer fighting for you than fighting with you.”
I look down at the contract again.
A piece of myself I thought I’d lost forever.
Returned, at long last.