“She and the kids are with a neighbor for the night.He’s locked up.For now, anyway.”
“Can you bring her to my office in the morning?”
“She can’t afford you.”
“We’ll worry about that after we ensure the safety of her and her kids.”
“She won’t be able to pay for anything.I think he’s probably wiped them out.”
“We have some leeway for pro bono work.”Julian didn’t have time for pro bono, but he’d do it for Denny.They’d been playing together in one band or another for more than twenty years.“You okay to play tonight?”
“I will be.”Denny ran both hands through his hair, trying to pull himself together.“I wish she’d told me it was this bad before it got to this point.Maybe I could’ve gotten her out of there.”
“I’ve found that not much can be done until the injured party decides he or she has had enough.”
“I think maybe she’s there.She sent me pictures of the apartment.It’s total carnage.”
“Could I see the pictures?”
Denny pulled out his phone, found the pictures of the destruction and handed the phone to Julian.
“Holy shit.”
“She said there’s almost nothing left except clothes and the kids’ toys, and even that is covered in broken glass.”
“What’s his deal?”
“I honestly don’t know.She’s kept her distance from me for almost as long as they’ve been married.I probably messed up by telling her straight out not to marry him, but I had the strongest feeling that it was a mistake.Of course, she didn’t want to hear it, and it really changed the groove between us.I had no clue about what she’s been dealing with, and I feel guilty about that.”
“All right.I’ll do what I can to get her off the merry-go-round, but I have to caution you… Unless she’s fully on board with making a break, there’s not much I can do for her.I can ask for a restraining order that’s not worth the paper it’s printed on if she’s not determined to keep him away from her and her kids.”
“I’ll talk to her again later and get a feel for where she’s at, but I think she knows it’s over.”
“Keep me posted.I’ll do everything I can for you and your sister.”
Denny gave him a bro hug around the heavy bass guitar.“I owe you one.”
“It’s no problem.”
“Yes, it is, and don’t pretend like I’m not taking you away from shit that earns you seven hundred bucks an hour.”
Julian grinned.“You’re never going to let me forget I told you that, are you?”
“Not in this or any other lifetime.”
“What can I say?When you’re good, you’re good.”
Denny rolled his eyes and went to set up his equipment.“Try not to sprain your ego, Counselor.”
“Haha, my ego is unsprainable.”
“What’s lawyer boy spewing about now?”Troy Warren asked as he joined them.The keyboard player wore a black leather vest full of patches and pins collected from every club, bar, festival and event he’d ever played at.The vest put his sleeve tattoos and impressive biceps on full display, which helped to ensure he wouldn’t go home alone.
“His ego is as healthy as ever,” Denny said.
The band’s drummer, Stix Murillo, and his sexy girlfriend, Vixen, one of three lead singers, came rolling in, holding hands as always.The guys liked to tease Vixen about what her mother was thinking when she’d given her daughter that name.She always had a saucy reply such as, “Wouldn’t you like to know?”
In fact, Vixen was her stage name, and she hoped to become as famous as other single-name stars such as Pink and Cher.Her real name was Vivian, but Stix had warned them never to call her that, as she was fully committed to building a career in the music business as Vixen.
