“His estate could still come after you,” she retorts, irritating me with her smug superiority.
“You thinkmy sonis going to sue me?” I snap.
“Icould,” Vivien says, slamming her empty glass down, almost shattering it. “But you knew I wouldn’t. You knew Reeve wouldn’t. You waited until the villain was dead before assuming his mantle.”
I say nothing because I can’t defend myself. While Simon was alive, my hands were tied. I knew the only way I could exact revenge was to manipulate the media into breaking the news, in a way that couldn’t be linked back to me, or to wait for the bastard to kick the bucket. I had been working on Plan A when Plan B happened, but I will take that secret to my grave.
“Have your PR person draw up a press release and a contract,” Vivien says, speaking to Ash. “Send it to me and copy Edwin on it. I want the details of what’s to be said at the interview listed in bullet points and a commitment from Dillon that he will not deviate from the agenda.”
“I won’t say anything that will hurt you or Easton.” I offer her what I hope is a sincere expression. “I will deflect the attention off you. I promise. I’ll make it about Simon and the poor little abandoned Irish boy he gave away. I’ll ensure the focus is all on me.”
“Make sure you do.” She grabs her bag, ready to leave.
“When can I see him?” I blurt.
Ash rolls her eyes and shakes her head. Audrey glares at me again, and Viv stares at me as if she’s looking through me. “When he’s ready.”
“Can you give me a ballpark idea of when? I’m going out of my mind here, and we’re leaving on a US tour in seven months. I—”
“Don’t pressure me, Dillon,” she snaps, cutting me off midsentence. “And there is no timeline for this situation. God, it’s like you’ve never been around children. Like you don’t have nieces and nephews.”
Shit. She’s right, and I know I’m being unfair. I’m just so desperate to spend time with my child, and believe it or not, I know I can help. I can help them if she’ll just let me in. Even a little bit.
“Easton is going through a rough time, and I won’t do anything to upset him. He’s not ready to meet you yet. I will contact you when the time is right. Until then, stop fucking harassing me.” She stalks off with Audrey, and Ash races after them.
I’m too heartsore to follow so I sit back down, sulking as I drink my beer.
“Dillon. What the hell?” Ash says, storming toward me a few minutes later. “How can someone so talented and so smart be so fucking dumb at the same time?”
“You’ll have to enlighten me because I’ve no idea what you’re talking about,” I truthfully reply.
She sighs, kicking off her heels and rolling up the legs of her trousers. Carefully, she maneuvers down at the edge of the pool, dipping her feet and lower legs in the water. “Come over here, dumbass, and let me explain it to you.”
I push the legs of my jeans up to my knees and join her, welcoming the tepid water as it laps at my bare flesh. I hand her a beer, and she readily accepts. We have no other appointments today, and I plan to vent my frustrations in the studio as soon as this little chinwag is done.
“I know you’re dying to meet Easton. We all are, Dillon, but you’ve got to stop making this about you. This is about Easton and Vivien, and they’ve just been through hell.”
“I know that, and I want to help. How is wanting to be there for them so wrong?”
She rubs my arm. “She’s not ready to hear it or accept it, and, Dillon, you’ve got to at least consider the fact she may never want you like that again. You have hurt her, time and time again, and a lot of years have passed since you were together. People change. Feelings change.”
“I love her, Ash.” Pain bleeds into every corner of my being. “I love her so fucking much it kills me to see her in pain and not be able to do anything about it.”
“You can’t force your love on her, Dil. You can’t force anything on her. Especially not when she’s grieving.”
“What do I do? I’m not walking away from her, and I’m sure as fuck not walking away from my son. I have missed out on so much of his life already, and he needs me now.”
“You need to be patient.” I scowl, and she chuckles. “I know it’s about as natural as a colonoscopy, but you can’t fuck this up, Dillon. You have one chance to make this right.” She drills me with a warning look. “One last chance, Dil.” She jabs me in the arm. “Don’t blow it.”