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“All I did was tell a joke about a drummer.”
I gasped. “It wasn’t Joey, was it?”
“Fuck no.” Her eyes went wide. “He was good for a fuck but not a relationship. No, he was in another band. A pretty big band actually, but I’m not going to say who. Mainly because that fucker doesn’t deserve his name to be on my tongue.”
I smiled, wondering how she could be so matter of fact about things. It was undoubtedly an awful time in her life, yet she was talking about it because she thought it might help me.
“After the pinch, a week later came the slap. He swore that he wouldn’t do it again and I stupidly believed him.” She cleared her throat. “I spent three years being beaten and abused by him all because I thought he didn’t mean it and wouldn’t do it again.”
“H-how, w-what made you leave?”
My hand moved to take Destiny’s, but she frowned and pulled hers back. “I don’t want any sympathy.”
“Sorry.”
“I left because he broke my arm and told everyone that I’d been pissed and fallen down the stairs. Made up this whole fucking hilarious story about it that made everyone laugh.” She took a deep breath. “The worst part, apart from the fact that I backed him up, is that his band members knew the truth and did nothing about it. I was trapped by my own stupidity, but they were just thinking about themselves and the money they were going to make. Then Ali came to see me. We’d known each other a long time and she wanted me to run a small tour for a band she’d discovered.” She glanced out of the window towards the other bus. “I said I’d need to check it was okay with him, and if it was then I’d be out of plaster in a week’s time. Ali must have guessed what was going on because she told me to pack a bag because she needed me to start the next day.”
“Wow, and did you?”
She shook her head. “I knew he’d never let me go that soon, if at all, so I said it was too short notice and that I’d have to decline the job. That night when I told him about it, he gave me a black eye and a broken rib. I wasn’t sure whether it was me saying that I’d initially taken the job or the fact that I then turned it down that sent him into a rage, I had no fucking clue. He never said. I knew, though, if I didn’t get out then I never would. So, when he went to dinner with a friend I called Ali. She was there within forty minutes with two blokes with a removal van. They packed my stuff into the van, and I never went back.”
“Shit, Destiny, that’s awful.”
She gave me a one-shouldered shrug. “Life hands you shit from time to time. It’s your choice whether you clap with it in your hands or throw it away. The point is, Amber, he could have killed me. He would have if Ali hadn’t saved me. His band mates didn’t care about anything except themselves, but then how could I blame them if I didn’t give a shit about myself either? But you, Amber, youdohave people who give a shit about you.Yougive a shit about yourself, so that means King Turd up there will never win. He’ll never hurt anyone who wants to protect you, because he doesn’t have the balls. And besides those people who want to protect you are fucking amazing people, well, Joey aside. He’s a twat.”
I couldn’t help but smile, knowing about the love-hate thing she had going on with Warrior Creek’s drummer. I got it, though, he was a drummer, and she definitely had an aversion to them after what had happened to her.
“Did he ever come and try and get you back?” I asked.
“Nope. Had a new girlfriend moved in within the month. I’m happy to announce he died a very painful death a year ago.”
My mouth dropped open because I then knew exactly who she was talking about. They were massive stars and the band had even held a benefit concert for Cancer Relief on his behalf.
“Yeah, keep that one to yourself.” I nodded. “What I’m also trying to say is, why the fuck put yourself through this? Why stay on a bus where the rest of the band are only worried about the money Jimmy makes for them? I’m betting the little Princess with the camera didn’t offer you a home or help with buying a new car, did she?”
She was right, Amelie had only offered platitudes and a place to stay once I’d asked for it. Even then she’d had to think about it.
“That bus over there,” she said, thumbing over her shoulder, “is where the people who care about you are. Not this one. That bus over there has powerful, honourable men with a pretty big fortune behind each of them. They have the fiercest manager in the business and, while I don’t condone violence, all of them, me included, would punch him,” she pointed to the ceiling, “in the bollocks if necessary.” She leaned closer. “He can’t touch them, Amber, so don’t hang around so that he has the opportunity to touch you.”
“But this bus has been altered.”
“I’ll let you into a secret.” The grin instead of a scowl was a surprise. “That bus has been altered, too.”
That surprised me even more. “It has?”
“Ali insisted on it in case you changed your mind. See, she has your back. They all have your back.”
Swallowing back the emotion, I hugged my still warm mug to my chest and looked across the car park. Destiny stood up and tapped the table with her fingertips.
“I didn’t take your bag to the room.” She nodded to the other bench seat. “It’s there. We leave in twenty minutes, so you have time. Plus,” she said with a huge sigh, “I really want to get back on my bus, my bed on there is so much comfier and Jack one of the backup drivers gives us a glimpse of his sexy arse in his boxers every morning.”
When I heard a banging noise above us, my mind was made up. I was going to give a shit about myself and let those who cared give a shit about me, too.
CHAPTER27
RONNIE
Joey and I were talking to Elliot when I heard the crunch of the gravel. Beau was on the bus with Simmy, getting themselves settled in the bedroom that Amber wouldn’t be using, so I assumed it would be a member of the road team. When Elliot stopped talking and stared over my shoulder, Joey followed his gaze.
