“Is there anyone in the entire universe who wouldn’t?!”
I focus on my breathing.He’s a client. He’s a client. He’s a client.
There’s a glorious smirk on his rockstar face. “Maybe your grandma. Unless she’s a hard rock fan. Maybe she is. Who knows with a chick like you.”
“Gran, no, but my mum knows the beat to Roar to the Rage by heart. She had to put up with it bellowing through the floorboards for years.”
I love his laugh, my skin prickling as he crouches in his onstage stance and let’s rip with the first line of the track, his thunder of a voice booming through the foyer.
You gotta roar in the silence, baby. You got to let the world know it’s your own!
I clap and cheer, flying high in the world of dreams.
“Feeling’s mutual anyway,” he says as he approaches. “I had to go through fiveAgenciesto track you down. Five of the deepest hidden ones on the web, you elusive minx.”
“Me?! You were trying to find me?!”
He holds his arms out like I’m a trophy.
“The great Ella Edwards, from the city of London. How could I resist? I had to get myself a try-out with the rep you’ve got.”
I shiver at that. Fuck my life. He knows who I am. Vinnie Hampton knows who I am!
“I hung out with Connor for a bit,” he says. “What a joy. No wonder everyone’s sacking off his bloated wannabe ass. A couple of TikTok virals and the guy thinks he’s hit the hall of fame for good. It was obvious from day one he’s a clown who wants to be a god.”
“You met Connor?!”
He nods. “We did Rock Rave Fest together a few months back. Whenever he wasn’t busy getting his dick out and gloating about hissoul filled talent, he wouldn’t shut the fuck up about you.”
“I didn’t cheat on him,” I tell Vinnie, like I’m a criminal on trial. “That’s just rubbish he made up, I swear.”
“Gathered that, not that I’d have blamed you if you did. I also gathered that you’d make one hell of a play girl. He wouldn’t shut up about your pussy.”
“For real?” I laugh in disbelief, because this is crazy. It’s absolutely insane. “You heard I was a hot hooker from Connor and chased me down? Are you kidding me?”
He looks at me like I’m the mad one, crossing the grand foyer to step up close. He smells of expensive cologne and Scotch, towering over me like the lord he is on stage.
“Saw the pics of you and they drove me mad. Connor was passing his cell around when he was wasted, showing off your dirty talents.”
My head is spinning so bad I feel unsteady. Rock Rave is huge, with some of the biggest stars around, and they were looking atme.
“A fair few of us were out to get a piece after that,” Vinnie says. “I always like to be the one to win the race. Give it some time though and the others will be catching up.”
I can’t let myself dwell on that thought, because it’ll send me into a fangirl frenzy. I want to ask him who, what, why… so many questions. But now isn’t the time for it. He’s my client.
MY FUCKING CLIENT!!
“Am I allowed to call you Ella?” he asks. “Holly suits you, but it’s bullshit. I live with facades around me every day. I don’t want them in the bedroom.”
“Sure, yeah, um, you can call me whatever the hell you like.”
He steps up close and breathes me in, giving me flutters on top of flutters. He brushes some of my long, freshly waved hair behind my ear, then tips my chin up.
“How about slut? Whore? Dirty little bitch? Can I call you them?”
My breaths are so shallow, I could hyperventilate.
“I love all of them.”
