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Xander walks into the kitchen to start to make coffee and James slowly lifts his eyes to mine, not one flicker of emotion on his face.
“Do you fuck all your bandmates?”
Shit. His voice is casual, as if he’s asking about the weather. Xander stops dead and looks slowly at us both, standing stock still, facing each other in the sitting area.
“No. I don’t fuck Gabe, either. We just share women who want to be shared.”
“Wow. In full view of the kids. No fucks given. Oh sorry, yeah they are. But to your fucking entourage.”
I have a really bad feeling about how this is turning.
“James, we’re all adults here,” I remind him.
“Yes, we are.” He turns his head to look at the steps as Amber and Gabe come through. Amber with no clothes on at all, Gabe in just sweatpants. James laughs. And not in a good way. He stares at Gabe and ignores Amber.
Gabe looks at me and stops dead in his tracks. “James,” Gabe starts, but James holds his hand up to stop him.
Gabe shuts up, but Amber unfortunately does not. “James, you could have joined us. You’re over eighteen.” She touches her tits and makes a move towards him.
“Stay there,” he commands, his voice taking on a dangerous edge.
“Take her out.” I flick my eyes to Gabe who grabs Amber and starts to move backwards away from James, who is glaring at him with a look I’ve only ever seen on Jonno’s face. Again, not in a good way.
Xander looks panic stricken, and moves to try to placate James. “James, please. We are all adults here, even though your Dad’s an idiot. Please, James,” he’s begging him, whilst glaring at me.
“I am an adult. And I do know the score,” he says in that very dangerous mild voice. But then he turns to look at me and the venom drips from his words. “But I’m also your son. Do you think my mother would have done that to me? Or my uncles for that matter? Slapped that in my face.”
Xander looks like he’s going to cry. I’ve never seen him look like that. Ever.
I just stand and stare at James. I have no words. Because I know the answer is ‘NO.’ And so does he.
“Yeah, thought so,” he says. No shouting, just quiet. “I’m leaving. We’ve got a hotel in Beverly Hills. Might as well see the other sights while we’re here.” He smirks at us both with a sneer on his lips.
“Where are the others?” I ask him.
“Gone already. Not that you're clearly bothered where the hell they are. I stayed to tell you. Showing you a courtesy you did not show us.” He goes in for the kill, digging the knife in with each statement. “Don’t contact us, any of us. We’ve made arrangements to go home. We won’t be signing with your label. And stay the fuck away from me and my family. I’m sure your boyfriend and miss tits-a-lot will keep you occupied for the rest of your life. I’d like to say it was nice meeting you, but I can see now why my mum never bothered, Marcus.”
He walks past me and I’m rooted to the spot. I can’t move. What the fuck have I done? I promised her I would put him first. I promised her. It’s all I can think about.
Darryl appears and picks up James’s bag. James doesn’t look back, doesn’t acknowledge either of us as he leaves.
I sink to my knees. Xander has tears in his eyes.
“Marcus, what have you done?” He’s grabbing at my shoulders, trying to pull me up. “Go after him, Marcus. Go. Sort this shit out. GET MICK!” He’s shouting now. “MARCUS, DO SOMETHING.” Gabe and Amber rush back in at the shouting and Xander turns his rage on them. “GET THE FUCK OUT!” He’s lost it. He’s shouting at Gabe, telling him it’s his fault for letting her stay. His fault for touching me. Spitting in fury that he’s leaving the band. Fucking us all off. Gabe is as white as a sheet.
Amber decides her best bet is hysterics on the floor. Xander grasps her by the shoulder dragging her off the floor practically screaming in her face to get out. Mick arrives at that point, drags Xander away from Amber, and pulls her towards her room to get her stuff. She’s wailing and shouting.
I’m still on my knees staring forward. I’ve lost my son. It keeps moving around in my head. I’ve lost my son. How could I fucking do this? What the fuck was I thinking? Even though I was plastered, how did I allow this to happen? He’s gone. I’ve lost him.
“Marcus, you need to fucking do something. Ring Evie. RING her. She can speak to him.” Xander is standing, facing me, pulling at his hair apoplectic with rage.
I laugh, and say sardonically, “What, Xan? And confirm that everything she was concerned about happened. That I have no fucking self control. I’m a bad fucking influence. That I started to fuck a woman—a woman who shouldn’t have even been in my fucking house—and my bandmate in front of a crowd that included my son. That I practically condoned an orgie in my home. And one of my mates invited my eighteen-year-old son and his friends to participate? Yeah, I can see that playing well.”
Gabe has gone green and looks like he’s going to pass out. “Marcus, I didn’t think. I was drunk and…” He looks around at us both. “Do you think he won’t come back? They haven’t any money, how can they get a hotel and flight home?”
I laugh at that. “You have no idea who he is, who they are. They’ll have the best suite in the best hotel in the city. Someone will come and collect them, they have a plane themselves. Probably bring a hit team for me.”
My phone pings, and I daren’t look at the screen, but I know who it is.
