Page 196 of Fame & Rhythm

And I see her.

Christ! She’s wearing tight pants that cling in all the wrong places, her top just as tight, leaving nothing to the imagination. My stomach twists as I take her in, a sharp, instinctive recoil I can’t quite control.

At least she isn’t wearing leopard print.

Her eyes lock onto mine, and her face lights up. Before I can react, she’s already moving toward me.

“Annie,” she calls, her voice loud and gravelly, and my entire body tenses.

Mum steps in front of me before Loretta can reach me, blocking her path, and I grip Aston’s hand so tightly it has to hurt.

“I think we need to talk a bit more before you start getting physical with my daughter, don’t you?” Mum says, her tone sharp.

Dad winces.

So does Loretta.

“Okay, I get it,” Loretta replies, lifting her hands slightly. “You think I’ve come here to take your daughter away from you, but I’m not, Deliah. I just want to know my daughter.”

Something in her tone makes my chest ease just a fraction.

“She wants to know you too, Loretta,” Mum says, though her voice stays firm. “But let me make one thing crystal clear… if this test comes back and you are not related to my daughter, then you do not come near us again. Annie doesn’t need people tormenting her about her past.”

Loretta nods slowly, her hands still raised. “Okay. But I can tell just by looking at her that she’s mine, and you can too, Deliah. That’s why you’re so scared.”

Mum stiffens immediately, shaking her head.

“Right, ladies,” Dad cuts in, his voice calm but firm. “This is an anxious time for all of us. Let’s take a breath and remember we all want what’s best for Annie.”

“That’s all I’ve ever wanted,” Loretta says, her gaze flicking back to me, her smile stretching wide enough to show her rotted teeth.

Goddamn! My stomach churns.

“Well, we have too,” Mum replies, folding her arms tightly across her chest.

“I know,” Loretta says softly. “I’ve watched her grow up… from a tiny little thing into the superstar she is now. I’m so proud of you, honey.”

A cold prickle runs down my spine, and I ask before I can stop myself, “How would you even know that? And if you’ve known I was yours all along, why didn’t you come sooner?” The question hangs, pressing in on me from all sides. “Why now?”

Her smile falters, her head shaking slightly. “I wasn’t in a good place, Annie. Let’s just leave it at that, yeah?”

Something inside me snaps. “I’ve been waiting my entire life to know what happened,” I say, my voice tighter than I expect. “You could have come sooner. You could have told me everything. But you didn’t. You waited until now?”

Loretta exhales slowly, her expression shifting. “I was a drug addict,” she admits. “I wasn’t sober, and when I saw you going down the same path… it nearly killed me. Seeing you heading where I’d been, where Colt had been…” She swallows. “When I heard you were better, doing well, I told myself I had to get my shit together. If my daughter could do it, then so could I.”

My chest tightens as she continues, “So I got clean. I stayed clean. And then I came looking for you. I waited until you were home from your tour, because I didn’t want to mess anything up for you.” Her voice softens. “I never wanted to give you up, Annie. But I had to. You deserved better than what I could give you. And you got that. You got a family that gave you everything I couldn’t.”

Silence settles over us.

“Where’s my birth dad?” I ask quietly.

She exhales. “I don’t know.”

“Who is he?”

Her gaze drops. “I don’t know.”

Mum scoffs under her breath, a sharp, humorless sound, followed by, “Of course you don’t.”