Hearts the Last Beat (Angel Fire #6) - Ellie Masters Page 0,40

see his point.

“She can borrow my car.” I toss the comment into the middle of the fray. For a moment, I don’t think anyone hears me above the shouting, but Bash responds.

“She lost her license.”

“Again, it wasn’t my fault.” Angel shakes her head in frustration. “And I didn’t lose my license. You took it.”

“You were on your phone, texting. The cop’s…”

“Don’t know shit. That truck rear-ended me. How was that my fault?”

“Because the light turned green.”

“And the truck driver couldn’t step on the brakes? You’re not pinning that one on me.” Her frustration is palpable.

“What about when you ran off the road? You were lucky you were coming back from Santa Monica and ran into the side of the cliff rather than off it. If you’d done that, you would’ve gone over the cliffs and…”

“And yet I didn’t.” Angel stamps her foot. “That wasn’t my fault either. You put me in a used car with shit for tires. The tire blew out. I didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Except your phone…”

“Wasn’t on.” She vents a frustrated growl. “How many times do I have to say it before you believe me? I turned it on when I crashed to call the police and you. Someone I thought might care, but no, you were pissed off because it was my second wreck.”

“In two weeks!” Bash’s face turns beet red.

“Well, maybe if you’d bought me a new car instead of that clunker, that wouldn’t have happened.”

“The car was sound, and I didn’t have a new car when I started driving.”

“Oh, I know. You tell me that all the time. You were poor, struggling to make ends meet when you were sixteen. Well, I didn’t have the luxury of driving at sixteen. I was too busy taking care of Mom. And you have gazillions but won’t spend a penny more than to pay crap on a crap car for a daughter you never wanted.”

“You have to earn…”

“Oh, I know all about earning my way. You make me feel like I should be gracious and thankful for all of this.” Angel spins in a slow circle. “Mom never made me feel like I was a burden. With you, I have to beg for scraps. It’s impossible.”

“Because you’re ungrateful.” Bash’s voice cuts, and I can’t help but cringe. He’s doing nothing to deescalate the situation. If anything, he fans the flames, making Angel angrier and angrier.

“And you’re an ass. I wish you’d died instead of her.” A tear trickles down her cheek.

“Angel!” Holly jumps in. “You don’t mean that.”

“Don’t I?” Angel’s angry words turn to sobs.

I’m on my feet.

Everyone else goes silent.

“Look, I’m not doing anything during this downtime,” I say. “I can give her pointers. Take her out and practice driving?”

I feel her pain but tread a very uncertain line. Given a choice between her and the band, there’s no question that I choose Angel, but this isn’t the time to die on that sword.

I’ll give up Angel Fire if I have to, but I want to keep both. “What do you say, Angel? Do you mind spending time with me?”

God, I hope her emotions aren’t too enflamed that she doesn’t see this is exactly what we need. And I’ll do more than teach her to drive. I’ll show her how deeply Bash cares. If I can smooth over their relationship, maybe it won’t feel like such a betrayal when I tell Bash the truth about me and his daughter.

The thing is, we’re family. I don’t want to break that up. We built Insanity as a group home because we’re closer than family, bound together by fate and the crazy insanity that comes from playing in a band.

Angel swipes her tears from her face, and I can see she wants to run to me for comfort, and I want to give that to her.

But I can’t.

And she can’t.

I face Bash. There’s no mistaking the hurt on his face. He’s stuck dealing with a daughter he never knew he had, mourning the loss of seventeen years of being there for her, and Angel’s words cut deeper than any weapon. His pain is palpable.

“Bash, what do you think?” I press the point, happy they’re not arguing anymore.

“If you want to put your life on the line, go for it.” He turns to Angel. “If I could, I would’ve taken your mom’s place, died instead of her, if only so that you never had to go through the pain of losing a loved one. You’re not alone. I know what