“Promise me.”
“Always, but you realise your girlfriend’s as stubborn as a fucking mule. I’m not sure no is in her vocabulary, so short of physically restraining her, I’m not sure—”
Spook’s one good eye remained on him. The other was closed tight, the skin so swollen and tight it hurt to look at it. Still, Spook didn’t break his gaslight glare, not even to blink.
Xane raised his hands. “I’ll do what I can. I don’t know if the guys have even tracked her down yet.” They surely had to have done by now. Gingerly, he settled his hands on the bed again, felt Spook’s cool fingers wrap around his knuckles. He was missing something, could sense it in the air between them, the itch beneath his skin, and the way Spook was looking at him. He quirked an eyebrow. He hated having only half a picture. That sort of mystery had a habit of sticking like gum on his shoes, leaving him in a state of agitation until he had a full frame of reference. “Spook, does Alle have something to do with this?”
He didn’t expect to get a reply.
Spook locked his lips up tight. It didn’t matter, words weren’t necessary between them. Xane could read that affirmation right off him.
Fuck! Had he been wrong to encourage the relationship?
No. Wait! She couldn’t possibly have physically done this herself. Wouldn’t even, because she loved Spook.
Had someone used her as their excuse?
That’s when he knew that things were about to get really ugly.
“I’m going to step out and update the guys, okay? I’ll find out about Alle and tell them there’s no visiting, but it’ll only stall them a while. Be back in five. Don’t go anywhere.”
That earned him the tiniest of huffs, but even that felt like a boon after the last few hours.
-2-
Allegra
Alle had steam coming out of her ears by the time she was midway through the first paragraph of Marshall’sBang!article. Spook didn’t deserve this. Bad enough to have your dirty laundry aired, but for it to be twisted in such a cruel fashion… that made it infinitely worse.
“I’m going to kill him. I’m going to pull his fucking testicles out through his nostrils.” She’d been muttering the same phrase repetitively for the last five minutes. Ewan cast her the odd worried glance, but he hadn’t attempted to assuage her. By the time she’d read the whole article, they were back at the docks.
In the few minutes since they’d left, the crowd had swelled. In addition to the hordes of journalists who’d already set up camp, there were now scores of ordinary people. Fans, she supposed, and whatever the opposite of that was. Haters? The result was a near impenetrable wall of flesh that made getting anywhere near the barrier a feat that could only be achieved by employing a great deal of elbowing and raised voices. Ewan had it easier. Being a big guy, people were more inclined to move out of the way for him. Alle didn’t like it, but forward motion was definitely easier in his wake, and she was hardly petite.
The barriers were down when they finally made it to the front. A line of security staff was holding the crowd back. Alle marched forward. She still had her laminate, thank God, even if her phone was AWOL. They’d let her in and then she could find Spook. He’d need her now more than ever. There was no telling how badly he was taking this, and just when she’d finally got him to open up a little and start living.
“I’m with the band,” she announced.
“Me too,” someone behind her shouted.
The security guard gave her laminate only a cursory glance. “Then how come you’re out here and not in there?”
“I got sent out to get something, and now I need to get back in.”
“Yeah,” he drawled, clearly dubious. “Sent out to get what?”
Alle floundered. “That’s none of your business.”
“Sure, except you’re not moving past this barrier until I’m convinced. So, you want in, you call them and get someone to confirm your story.”
“I’m Spook’s girlfriend, for fuck’s sake,” she grumbled.
“Join the queue, lady. There are another five of his girlfriends right over there.”
“None of whom have a laminate.”
He reached over and took another look at her ID. Then he nudged his partner. “What do you think?”
“It looks legit. Phone it through?”
