Page 36 of The First Chord

“The whole business is full of them,” Elliot added. “Maybe we should manage ourselves once Ali goes.”

As the silence engulfed us, the only person I could think of was Amber and how I needed to be with her. She had to be warned about what they were going to ask her. I had to beg her not to agree.

“I’m going home.”

“We’ll come with you,” Elliot offered.

Shaking my head, I made my way to the door. “Nope. I want to speak to her alone.”

“Just think about what they said, Ronnie,” Ali said, her voice breaking. “I don’t agree with it but if she says yes then I swear to you I’ll protect her.Wewill protect her.”

My stomach churned at the thought of her being even within spitting distance of Jimmy again. I couldn’t speak for the golf-ball sized lump in my throat, so I just nodded, opened the door, and left.

CHAPTER18

AMBER

There must be something in life that says every day has to have a balance of good and bad. If you start the day with good then it has to end with bad, and the phone call I’d just taken was proof of it.

Earlier I’d had a look at the house that Ronnie was buying and had offered to rent to me. It was perfect. A sweet little cottage with a barn type back door which opened onto a cute garden, with beds of wild flowers and an apple tree at the bottom. The main bedroom was light and airy and perfect, even if it only had room for a double bed and a chest of drawers. As for the bathroom, the clawfoot bath was nice and deep and sat under the window with a view over fields full of cows.

All that had been balanced out with Concepta’s ‘request’that I go back on tour and act as though there was nothing wrong with Jimmy and me. At first I’d laughed, thinking it was some sort of a joke, but when I was met with silence on the other end of the line it was blatantly obvious they were being serious.

They’d said that I didn’t have to actually go back to him but just pretend that I had never left. We would have separate rooms; I would travel on Warrior Creek’s bus, and I would never be alone with him. We would do photo opportunities and interviews where I might have to hold his hand, but otherwise it would be like we were strangers. I argued if that was the case then what was the point, and was told that Blind Devil were on the way up and they didn’t need any bad publicity spoiling their rise. Warrior Creek becoming an album only band meant that they needed a new cash cow, and Blind Devil were it. Concepta didn’t want me spoiling that for them. According to the bigwigs on the conference call, whether anyone else liked him or not, Jimmy was a big draw and was their biggest selling merchandise. It seemed people liked a bad boy, but not one who hit their wife, so I had to keep quiet, unless…

“Amber.” Ronnie came barrelling through the door into the lounge. “There’s something you need to know.”

I gave him a sad smile. “They already called.”

“Fuck.” He rushed to my side on the sofa and pulled me into a hug. “I’m so sorry. Did you tell them to piss off?”

I shook my head. “I-I erm, I couldn’t.”

Letting me go, Ronnie closed his eyes and dropped his head back. “No, no,” he groaned. “You have to tell them to shove it. You can’t put yourself through that. We’ll refuse to go back on tour. I won’t let them do that to you.”

“I’ve already said yes.” I took his hand and wrapped it in both of mine. “They gave me a lot assurances.” And not just about how they’d protect me from Jimmy.

Ronnie looked at me with a narrowed gaze. “What did they say? What did they pressure you with?”

“Nothing. Other than they’d make sure I was safe.”

“They threatened to sue Ali, Jimmy’s solicitor threatened to sue you, and,” he sighed heavily, “we know that they threatened me.”

My eyes widened. “You do?”

“Ali didn’t say how, but she intimated that they had. What exactly did they say?”

I’d been determined to keep it from him but there seemed little point if he already knew. “They will leak it to the press that we were having an affair and that we left Jimmy feeling suicidal.” I swallowed back the emotion, wishing that I’d called someone else that night. Someone whose life wouldn’t have been turned upside down by me. “It would ruin both our reputations. Mine, I don’t care about, but yours I do.”

He shook his head. “I don’t care. We are big enough for it not to matter.” He paused and let out another sigh. “You, though, I don’t want that for you.”

“Seems like they have us over a barrel.”

“Bunch of bastards. Just so you know, we’re leaving as soon as the tour and our next album are done. We’ve had it with them, and this is the last straw.”

Worry settled in my stomach. “I don’t know how they found out I was here. Hugo and Amelie swore they wouldn’t tell Jimmy.”

“They didn’t. It was Chris.” Ronnie groaned and settled back against the cushions. “Fucker barely ever speaks yet manages to tell Jimmy you’re here.”

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