Chapter 20
CHAPTER TWENTY
“No ma’am, that’s okay.” I hear Allie’s tight voice on the phone. I watch her in the mirror as she sits on the couch while my hairstylist finishes the final touches before I head out on stage in a few minutes.
“That won’t be necessary. Please stop calling my mother, Bridget.”
I whip around and look at Allie. Why is she talking to Bridget? I look over to Thor who is watching Allie intently.
“Allie, what’s going on?” She looks at me and shakes her head, trying to wave away my concern.
“No, that’s not happening right now either. You need to stop, Bridget. This is not okay.”
While I appreciate the sentiment, I don’t need Allie to stand up to her for me.
“Allie, give me the phone, please.” I hold out my hand and she shakes her head, looking mortified at the thought.
“It’s okay, Allie, just give me the phone.
” I emphasize my hand and she reluctantly places her cell in it.
“Bridget. Why are you calling my cousin? Do we need to get a no-contact order for you as well?” I do my best to make my voice sound as bored as possible, even though my heart rate is picking up speed like a racehorse that just heard the starting gun.
“Tinsley? Why haven’t you called me back? Did your phone break or why can’t I call you anymore?” My mother’s southern draw is only slightly slurred, so while she is intoxicated, she is hopefully sober enough to remember this conversation.
“You can no longer call me because you no longer have my number.”
“No, that must be some mistake. Have Allie text me, or even better, you text your own damn mother. I raised you better than this, Tinsley. Why do you think you can ignore me? Do you have any idea how this all looks?”
“Oh, I don’t know Bridget, maybe because you ignored the abuse your husband subjected me to for over two decades?
Maybe that had something to do with it.” Allie tries to reach for her phone and I shake my head.
I can handle Bridget Wilson, and if this is the last time I ever talk to her, I have a few things to say to the woman.
“Always so dramatic.” She has the audacity to huff into the phone. “You’re making a big deal out of nothing, honestly, Tinsley. You were a spirited child and needed a firm hand growing up, which is exactly what Rick did for you. And you should be grateful—look at what he built!”
A bark of laughter escapes me. “Grateful for a firm hand? Is that what you call when he would backhand me so hard I would black out? And don’t get confused, Bridget,” I spit her name out like a curse.
“He didn’t build jack shit for me. I built everything.
Me. Not him. I am no longer a child either.
It’s my empire, they are my songs, they’re my fans, and it’s sure as hell my motherfucking money. ”
“Don’t swear, Tinsley. It’s so unbecoming and not at all how a lady carries herself.
You really have gone and revised history and the truth, haven’t you, young lady?
You wouldn’t be anyone without Rick’s assistance and guidance.
He made you,” she seethes at me. There is no love in this exchange; there is only anger that I’ve removed their access to my money.
“We are going to have to agree to disagree. I won’t be speaking to you again, so you can go ahead and contact Wells or my attorneys if you need to reach me. Do not call Allie ever again. I’ll be having her change her number too anyway.”
“Listen, you little bitch, you don’t get to do this.
Do you know what they’re saying about me in the press?
Some moron had the nerve to write an article for The Spill about how my children are exceptional despite having me as their mother.
Despite?! You would drag me through the mud like that?
Your own mother?” There it is, what’s really bothering her, in addition to whatever financial issues I’m sure they’re dealing with—it doesn’t really have anything to do with me.
No, it’s not her lack of access to me as a person.
It’s that people are seeing her for who she really is, despite her best efforts at controlling her image over the years, well, when she was sober enough to care, that is.
“This has really been great, Bridget, but I have a show to perform for my fans and a life to live with people that love me. I really don’t think there’s anything else to say here.”
“Like hell do you get to dismiss me. You don’t get to walk away from me, you—” she’s cut off by a rustle on her end.
“You will pay for this,” Rick sneers into the phone; he must have taken it from Bridget.
“Do you think I was pretending when I told you what I would do to your brother and mother if you dared to defy me? I didn’t lose any sleep over Mikey, and I won’t lose any sleep over ending theirs either.
Oh, shut up, Bridget. Fuck. Go drink something and pass out already.
It’s the only way you’re tolerable. Or even better, take more of those pills, and maybe you won’t wake up.
Not that I’m that fucking lucky.” A door slams on his end before he continues, “Do you remember that knife you pulled on me when you were thirteen, Tinsley? I still have it. I let it get rusty and mostly dull, except for the tip, and it’s just been waiting.
I’m going to drive that fucking knife into your brother’s heart and every single drop of his blood will be on your hands.
But I’ll start with your mommy first, then at least I can get some fucking peace and quiet around here.
Once Wells is gone, you can live with the knowledge that your family is dead because you chose to defy me. ”
I gasp at the threat, which only eggs him on. “You can stop all of this. Give me my fucking money and this all ends.”
“What money, Rick?”
“The money you took from me when those lawyer bitches took my name off your accounts.”
“That … that’s my money Rick. It was never yours.”
“IT WAS ALWAYS MINE,” he bellows into the phone, and his tone makes me jolt in my seat and my hands start to shake. I know without seeing him that his forehead vein is throbbing, and I can just imagine the spittle flying from his mouth.
“I own that money, I fucking own you, and no one is taking any of it away from me. I will get what it is mine one way or another. I don’t care who stands in my way.
I will not stop until I am paid what I am owed, no matter how bloody and messy the process, and I will not stop until I get everything back that is mine. ”
Allie suddenly grabs the phone out of my hands and ends the call.
My breathing is shallow, despite trying to take a deep breath.
I can hear myself gasping for air, but it’s almost like I’m watching the scene unfold above the room as black spots interfere with my vision.
It’s been almost three months since I heard Rick’s voice, but one brief phone call and I’m right back on the floor, cowering away from him.
I blink, coming back to myself and realize I am literally on the floor—when did I move here from my chair? Allie and Thor are kneeling in front of me as they both keep telling me I’m safe and to take a deep breath.
And then I hear it.
“Tinsley? Baby? You’re okay. Take a breath. You’re safe, Red, he isn’t there.” I look around for Jack, but the voice is coming from a phone Thor is holding in his hand on speaker.
He called Jack.
He knew I needed Jack—and Jack answered.
“Jack?” I manage to croak out.
“That’s right, I’m right here. Thor knew to call me if anything happened. But look around the room, Tinsley, Rick is not there. You’re surrounded by people that care about you and will keep you safe. I don’t know what he said, but I’ll ensure that doesn’t happen again.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t think Bridget having my number was a big deal,” Allie says. “Tinsley, I’m so sorry.”
“It’s not your fault, Allie. Thor is going to handle that and you’ll have a new number today, right?” Jack asks.
“Yes, sir. I will handle it,” Thor says with authority, before his voice lowers and he says to Allie directly, “You didn’t do anything, elskan mín. We will set it right.”
“Tinsley, are you okay now?” Jack asks over the speaker.
“Yeah, I’m…” A mess. It took a few words for Rick to pull me right back into a place of terror. “I’m going to be okay.”
“Of course you are.”
“Okay. Thank you, Jack. I … I miss you.”
“I miss you too, Red. But even when I’m not right there, I’ve still got you. And Thor? Thanks for calling me right away.”
“Yes, sir. I’ll notify you and Mr. Sinclair when Allie’s number is changed.”
“Sounds good. Tinsley, call me after your concert, okay?” Oh, shit, I have to go on stage in fifteen minutes. I totally forgot about the concert. Fucking Rick and the PTSD he managed to program into me. I refuse to feel weak though, not because of that man, not ever again.
I clear my throat before responding to Jack, “Yeah, I will.”
He hums, as though he can assess my well-being by the three words I just said.
“Thor, can I talk to you for a moment off speaker?” Thor stands and walks away to speak to Jack directly.
I don’t know what it’s about, but it’s likely to do with my security.
I know Jack, and I know that he will do everything he can to ensure I feel extra secure tonight after that call.
Jack may not physically be here, but he is still taking care of me; he’s still showing up for me.
I’ve always wondered what it would be like to be his—and it’s even better than I ever dreamed. In less than two weeks, we can take our relationship public and stop hiding, and then I will finally be free from the secrets in my life.