Page 72 of Indescribable Love
“I’ll go, but I’ve got one more thing to say.”
“Fine.”
“She’s miserable too. She may put up a good front and all, but she thinks she’s doing right by you by staying away.”
That got his attention, and he shot up straight. “What the hell are you talking about? How do you know?”
“Because Mick, Noah, and I went to see her.”
“Where? Is she here in LA? Back in New York?”
“She’s back at her place in New York,” he replied. “And she just looked…I don’t know…sad. We tried to convince her to come back here to LA with us, but she refused.”
“Because I hurt her.”
“Because she didn’t want to hurt you, bro. Seems to me you both need to talk to each other.”
“I don’t even know what I’d say or where I’d begin.” It was almost ludicrous to admit that because he made a living out of writing songs and knowing exactly what to say, but where Juliette was concerned, Simon didn’t think there would ever be the right words to tell her exactly how he felt.
“Figure it out,” Jax told him. “Soon. This isn’t a life, and it doesn’t have to be like this. Don’t let Dad or that Max guy win.”
And as much as he hated to ask, he had one last thing on his mind. “Did you talk to him?”
“Who? Dad?”
Simon nodded. “He mentioned something…you know…that day…about wanting to talk to us about something that concerned all of us. I was so freaking livid that I didn’t want to hear anything he had to say, but…I guess I’m stupid for being curious.”
“You’re not stupid, and yeah, he called me, but I was really pissed off that he did that to you and didn’t want to hear whatever he had to say either.”
“It was probably just him looking for more money. That’s all it ever is.”
Raking a hand through his short hair, Jax let out a long breath. “I tried really hard to keep him out of your life, Simon. I’m sorry that he played us both. All my life, I made excuses because I knew I had a different relationship with him than you and Noah did. When he saw you getting successful, I honestly did everything I could to distract him so he’d leave you alone. I had no idea you were giving him money too.”
“I know. You don’t have to apologize for anything. It’s not your fault.”
“But I feel like it is. He’s always used the threat that if I didn’t give him money, that he’d go to you and make a big public spectacle so you’d pay him off to go away.” He shook his head. “So I knew how messed up he was. I just kept thinking that it was all empty threats, and no father would actually do that.”
“It’s not a surprise. He’s been doing it for years. I just made sure things were in place so I never had to see him. That day was the first time I’d actually seen his face since before I went on that reality show.”
“Wow.”
“What did you say to him? How did you even find him?”
“Nikki found out where the film guys were putting him up. She called me pretty much immediately after it all went down. I went to the hotel the next day and threatened him. I actually think I scared him because I’d never seen him like that before—he was almost cowering as I berated him for what he did.”
Simon studied him. “Did you give him money?”
It took a moment, but he ultimately nodded. “I told him it was the last time. He’d done the damage he always threatened to, so there’s nothing he can hold over anyone’s head anymore.”
“How did he react to that?”
“That was the weird part, he got really contrite and tried to tell me he had something important that I needed to know. But I didn’t want to even look at him at that point. I threw the check at him and walked out.”
He tried to envision that scene, but one thought came to mind. “Do you think he’s sick? Or dying? It just seems odd that he would mention to both of us, at the worst possible moments, that he had something important to talk to us about. You’d think if it were really important, he wouldn’t have screwed me over the way he did.”
“That’s the thing, Simon. He didn’t think that was what was happening. He truly believed that Juliette called him and that you wanted him there with you as part of the documentary.”
It pained him to ask. “And we’re sure…?”