Her Song

25 - No Way, Get F@#%*d, F@#% Off

**Van**

"So...how about it? I could...I could...I could show you a really great time."

How about no way not ever, never in a million years? I took a small step backwards. Just far enough that the trembling hand reaching to touch my forearm fell short but not far enough that I looked as though I was recoiling in horror. Because this girl wasn't one of the hardened groupies that I was used to dealing with, she was a fan club competition winner. She'd clearly thrown herself out on a limb when she made her offer to 'entertain' me for the evening.

"That's really kind of you but I have a girlfriend." Fuck I was so tired it was hard to reject her offer with even a semblance of courtesy. It had been a massive day of promos and interviews followed by the show and jetlag was kicking my ass. The high of performing only lasted so long. The fangirl gave me a sad little attempt at a smile and slunk off. I glanced around looking for Kim. If I was dragging this hard she must be exhausted. I ran a hand through my hair in frustration, and ignored the sigh of admiration from the nearest girl, before I finally spotted her on the other side of the room talking to a couple with their backs to me. Well she was going to have to wrap up her conversation quick smart because we had a king-size hotel bed calling our name, the tragedy was I had a sneaking suspicion that sleeping was the only thing we'd be doing in it.

Pushing my way through the crowd I gave Kim a wide smile as I got closer and caught her eye. "You ready to go?" I mouthed silently. Her eyes went wide as she glanced from me to her companions and then back again. It was only then that I realised the smile on her face wasn't the relaxed one she wore with friends and neither was it her 'let's sell these assholes some shit' professional one. It was a gritted teeth rictus of horror. Who the fuck was she talking too? Using my elbows more than was strictly necessary I forced my way to her side. Feeling the need to soothe her more than I felt the need to be polite to her companions, I slid an arm around her waist and kissed her long and soft before I turned to join the conversation in pursuit of answers.

"What...The fuck...?" I exploded.

"Good to see you too brother," Rich, that immovable chain around my neck constantly trying to drag me down, smirked.

My hand clenched. What the actual fuck was the asshole doing in New York? I'd spoken with him a few days before the band, Kim and I had flown out, fuck I'd even mentioned New York and he hadn't said a word, not a fucking whisper, that he was planning a trip. And who the hell was the girl beside him? Another leggy model, as per his usual taste although this one was blonde, she had to be at least ten years younger than him. She looked fresh. Unsullied. Wealthy. Obviously he didn't have his hooks too deep into her yet. I'd seen it time and again, the girls he took up with started out looking like the girl next door and wound up looking like the crack whore on the corner.

What a shit show.

This girl, beaming at both me and Kim looked disturbingly familiar and it wasn't just that I was certain I'd seen her before. There was something in the shape of her eyes and the slope of her nose that had my gut clenching in panic. Then the blonde spoke and my sick suspicion became a reality. "Oh my goodness! I've just realised! It was you! You're the one who picked Kim up from Ainsley and Letty's house," she exclaimed in delight. "Kim! You never told me you're friends with Van Williams! Is this who you're living with? Oh my god babe, my sister isn't just working with your brother, she's sharing a flat with him!" Her fast paced babel of words flowed out and filled the silence from Kim and me. My previous exhaustion was nothing on the sense of dread that washed over me. I prayed fervently that I'd misunderstood something that she'd said in that cut-glass accent so similar to the one that Kim tried so diligently to hide.

Kim sucked in a breath, leaning in to me for support.

"Van this is Araminta, Minty, my sister. Minty this is Van." As introductions went it wasn't an enthusiastic one. Not that I could blame her. In all the fucked up scenarios I'd imagined Rich landing me in this was one that had never, not in a million years, crossed my mind.