Page 114 of Touch in the Dark

“Jordan was going to call the police and have Derrick arrested.”

“For what?”

“Psychotic parental kidnapping.”

“Is that even a thing?”

“It is in his head.”

When we get back to Nick’s apartment the band are all there with Jenna. And their manager Bianca. Nick goes white when he sees her. I’ve heard all about her from Jenna but never had anything to do with her. Standing here watching her tear into Nick, I lose my shit.

“Hey,” I shout, stepping forward.

Bianca is in her late thirties I’d say, she’s got the whole Marilyn Monroe figure going but with dark hair and eyes. I know she’s been with them their whole career and even though they tend to moan about her, she has never steered them wrong. Still. She doesn’t get to rip into Nick for taking time for himself when he’s suffered a trauma. Which is what this is.

Everyone looks at me, but I don’t falter.

“He’s fine, nothing happened, and he got what he needed by taking the time away. No one needs to give him any shit or make him feel bad. No one needs to chastise him for looking after his own mental health. Everyone in this room is here supporting him, except for you. And if you continue giving out this negativity and nastiness, then I’ll kick you out of here myself.”

There is a prolonged silence, broken only by Jordan laughing behind his hand, which draws a sharp look from Bianca. But she knows she is on her own here, everyone is backing me up, even without having to open their mouths. Nick walks over and puts an arm around my neck.

“Sexy as fuck,” he whispers to me. “Bianca. What my beautiful woman is trying to say is, I needed a minute. I might have fucked up given who I am to the public, but nothing happened. I was safe.”

She crosses her arms as she looks at us. Jenna is whispering to Adam, but he shakes his head and kisses her hand. I’m sure she wants to step in and he’s telling her not to.

“Fine, I apologise for being a bitch,” she eventually says. Adam’s brows shoot up and Jenna’s mouth drops open.

“Did B just say sorry,” Archer mock whispers.

“Shut it, Harris,” she doesn’t even need to turn to know who spoke. “I did, and I meant it. But at the same time,” she starts.

“Here we go,” Archer drawls.

“I’m your manager and your safety is my biggest priority. We pay a security firm a massive amount of money to keep you safe. I get that you needed space and in the moment you might not have been thinking straight, but Nick, you switched off your cell, you didn’t tell anyone where you went. It’s a given to you that these guys will worry but I worry too.”

Everyone goes silent at that admission. I glance at Jenna, we’re the odd ones out here but even we can see something huge is happening.

“Okay,” Bianca shakes herself and glances around, as if realising what she just said and didn’t very much like it. “No more running off, no more crazy stunts, I don’t want to see anything bad happen to any of you. So just… behave and have a merry fucking Christmas.”

We all watch her walk out. She doesn’t slam the door like I expected. It’s infuriating. I like it. I like her. It’s got to be hard wrangling these four. I grin at Nick, he’s just staring at the front door.

“I told you she loves us,” Jordan says.

“Shit, that was surreal,” Adam adds.

“We’ve definitely tested her patience these last couple of years,” Archer says.

“Should we go after her?” Jenna asks.

“Nah, she’ll be mortified by what she just said,” Adam laughs. “I wish I’d filmed it to show her.”

“Don’t be mean,” Jenna pushes him. “Who wants pizza? I’m starving.”

“You’re always starving, sis,” Jordan bounces onto the sofa and grabs the remote for the TV. “Something you want to tell us?”

Everyone turns to stare at Jenna, who looks confused. Then she gets the not-so-subtle suggestion he was making. “I’m on the pill!” she shrieks.

“Not sure everyone needed to know that, Slugger,” Adam snorts.

---