Page 106 of The First Chord

Beginning to pace, I shook my head. “I’m sorry, guys, but I can’t work for them. I don’t give a shit what amount they sue me for, I won’t do it. I’d rather take Amber and live in my auntie Mo’s shed than carry on with them.”

“I’m with Ronnie.” Beau stood up and put a hand on my shoulder. “You’re not on your own, mate. I’m not doing it either.”

“None of us are,” Elliot added.

When I turned to look at him, both he and Joey had also got up and were looking at Ali with determined expressions on their faces.

“Don’t look at me,” she cried. “I’m with you.”

“You think they’ll sue us for millions?” Beau asked. “I mean, we’ve got millions, but I would like to have some left. Unlike Joey I do not want to take Sim and Ethan and live in my mother’s bloody shed. In fact, I don’t want to live within twenty miles of my mother.”

“I agree with Beau,” Joey said, shoving his hands into his pockets. “I’m happy to fight them but don’t want them to take us for every penny. I don’t care if we have to start again, though.”

“So why don’t we?” Elliot’s voice was excited, and he was bouncing on his feet, like this wasn’t a new idea to him. Like he’d just been given the ideal opportunity to voice it. “Why don’t we start up our own record company? Run it the way we want, with the kind of bands that we want.

Ali stood up and went over to her iPad on the table and picked it up. “If I can get you out of this current contract you may have to wait for a while,” she said over her shoulder, thankfully already on board. Like she always was when we presented her with a great idea. “It depends if there’s anything written into your contract or if they add it as a clause to any agreement for you to leave.”

“You think we could do it?” I linked my hands at the back of my head, loving the idea more and more with each passing second.

“Are you serious about it?” Ali asked. “If you are you need to keep it confidential so that Concepta don’t find out until you’ve gone. And I mean not even your girlfriends or family.”

We all looked at each other and grinned. “Yes, we are,” Elliot replied, always our spokesperson.

“It’ll take a lot of money and time and effort,” she added. “Two of you are about to have new babies coming into your lives.” She pointed at Beau. “You’ve got your adoption order going in next week. And you,” she said to Joey, “have that Netflix series.”

I shrugged. “We can hire people for the stuff we can’t do. You know how to run a record company,” I said to Ali.

“Oh no, sunshine, I’m retiring. I told you that.”

“Yeah, but what about consultancy work?” Elliot asked. “Just to help us get the right people. We can deal with the music techies, the producers and stuff, and you help us with the rest.”

She was definitely thinking about it. I could tell by the way she was cursing under her breath. “Okay, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Let me get you out of this contract first. Well, let me advise a lawyer who can get you out of it. Then I suggest you take a break, think about it for a couple of months and if you’re still interested, we’ll talk again. But remember, not a bloody word to anyone.”

She was right. That was the best plan, but I knew I wouldn’t be changing my mind. Looking at my bandmates I could see their minds whirring too, thinking about the possibilities.

“Good idea,” Elliot said. “Now let’s have a look at that contract.”

* * *

Plans had changed and we were flying back to the UK instead of taking the bus, so we’d had an extra night in Germany. I didn’t want Amber travelling on the bus with her injuries and the guys were all ready to get home quickly rather than hours driving, so we were all flying together.

Blind Devil had gone home the day before, on the bus minus Jimmy who was in rehab. We still didn’t know how he’d managed to get down the stairs and make himself look innocent. My money was on the woman being a shag partner, but there was no evidence and nothing we could do about it.

“I can’t believe how well you’ve taken it,” I said, dropping a kiss to Amber’s bare shoulder. “I wanted to go out and destroy something.”

She shrugged and lay back against my chest as we lay in the luxurious, warm, bubbly water in the bath. “Nothing I can do about it. He’s away from me and I won’t have to see him ever again if I’m lucky.”

“Ali is releasing the statement about us tomorrow evening. That should give us at least enough time to get home before the paps go into a frenzy.”

“And she’s including my part, the quote about my relationship with Jimmy being challenging and toxic and it being over a long time ago?”

I laughed because she’d been so determined that was included and that it was noted as a direct quote. We weren’t sure how Concepta would take it but fuck it, at least she hadn’t told the absolute truth about him being a wife beater. We’d also decided not to mention the baby. Her stomach was still flat and there was no sign that she was pregnant, and besides, Amber was right, it was very early days.

“It’s being included.” Moving her hair over one shoulder, I dropped a soft kiss to her neck, inhaling the floral smell of the bubble bath that she’d put gallons of in the water. “How are your ribs feeling?”

“A bit sore but getting better.”

“That’s good.”

---