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“Stop being stupid and just come back to my flat.”
Two things struck me. It had been two weeks and he hadn’t even attempted to come and see me and most telling for me, was that he’d said his flat. Not ours. Not home.Hisflat.
Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Ronnie flexing his fingers asking silently for my phone. I shook my head and half turned my back on him.
“I’m not coming back, Jimmy. You hit me.”
“One fucking slap,” he scoffed. “Now stop dicking about, get your stuff and come back. I don’t want you staying with Ronnie fucking Dwyer any longer.”
“I don’t care what you want. I don’t answer to you.” I drew in a fortifying breath and pinched the bridge of my nose. My heart was racing as I thought about the fact that he couldn’t admit he’d been wrong. Had always been wrong. The need to punch him was strong which made me as bad as him and that thought stung. “Jimmy,” I sighed, “I’m not coming back. You have disrespected me so many times it’s a joke and then you punched me, you didn’t just slap me, you actuallypunchedme in the stomach.” He was silent on the other end. Not even a sigh or a sharp intake of breath. “You slapped my face and then youpunchedme.”
Still there was no reaction, except for him to say, “So, you think it’s okay to shag Dwyer then?”
I chanced a glance at Ronnie whose jaw was tight and his nostrils flaring. “We’re just friends, but you wouldn’t understand that because the only thing you have the ability to do is care about yourself. Your ego doesn’t let you have room to love anyone butyou. You never look out for a friend, even if you had any.”
“That’s fucking shit and you know it.” His voice was hard and was not lending itself in any way to persuading me that he’d changed. “The record company will make you come back. They’ve said they’re going to and unless you want me to ruin that boyfriend of yours then—”
My phone was pulled from my hands and Ronnie put it on the table, turning on the loudspeaker. “I heard you, you little fucker,” he spat out. “You just try and ruin me and see what happens. I know people in this business that you can only dream of wiping the shit off their shoes, so believe me when I say it won’t be me who is ruined.”
“I want my fucking wife back. She’s not yours to keep.”
“She’s not anybody’s,” Ronnie yelled. “She’s her own person. Now fuck off and leave her alone.”
Jimmy paused, obviously struggling for a comeback, and I sagged back into the chair. A fight with Ronnie was one he had no chance of winning, but his ego was what petrified me.
“Fine,” he finally snapped. “But she’d better act like the doting wife on tour. I won’t lose my career because of some stupid whore who can’t take a slap or keep her legs closed.”
“What did you say, you—” Ronnie’s face was crimson as he pushed out of his seat, his arms straight as he leaned on the table and stared down at my phone.
“How dare you?” I cried.
“If you ever say that again I’ll fucking kill you,” Ronnie blasted.
The line went dead, and I hoped that he took heed because looking at the blackness of Ronnie’s eyes, he definitely wasn’t bluffing.
As the silence descended it only took a few seconds for my resolve to disappear and I broke down in tears.
“I hate him,” I sobbed. “He’s vile.”
I was in Ronnie’s arms in an instant. His hand smoothed down my hair as his other arm wrapped around me, holding me against his chest, and the one word that rushed around my head was safe. Nothing could hurt me. Jimmy’s words meant nothing while Ronnie held me. He could say whatever he liked but it would hit a brick wall while I was against Ronnie’s broad chest. Nothing would penetrate the protection that he surrounded me with.
He soothed me with his hands, softly rubbing them up and down my back and hair while we rocked gently to a silent rhythm. I nuzzled against him and inhaled his smell of fabric conditioner. It was comforting, nothing like his expensive aftershave which was heady and sexy, but in that moment was exactly what I needed.
“I can’t go back on tour,” I whispered. “Can we just stay here, like this?”
Ronnie chuckled. “We might get hungry if we stay like this for the next few months.”
Months. Now, that would be lovely.
“Seriously, though,” I said, lifting my chin to look at Ronnie. “I’m not sure I can do it. Be near him.”
The hand on my hair moved to cup my cheek. “I’ll speak to Concepta and tell them you’re not going. If you don’t want to do it then you won’t.”
Dropping my head back against his chest, I almost believed him, but I knew I didn’t have a choice. If I didn’t go it would cause so many problems, not least for Ronnie. I knew that Warrior Creek were huge mega stars, but it didn’t mean some of Jimmy’s crap wouldn’t stick if he decided to throw it.
“I have to.”
“You don’t have to,” Ronnie replied, his tone hard.
