Angel’s suite was furnished in much the same rustic-luxury style as the room Eamonn and Nell had been given, only larger, with a half-wall and two steps up separating the bedroom area from the lounge, which had a couch, loveseat, and armchair in mocha leather arranged around a coffee table.
“He said ‘band meeting’ — are you sure I should be here?” Nell asked Eamonn quietly, hesitating at the door.
With the hand that held a plate of chocolate caramel torte he’d taken from the dessert table on the way out of the dining room, Eamonn gestured for her to enter; in his other hand, he carried a couple of tumblers he’d acquired at the same time. “Band meeting just means inner circle. Look, Crys and Sally are here too.”
Crys was settled in one corner of the big couch, sipping soda water with a slice of lemon, Blade beside her with a protective arm around her shoulders. Angel took up the couch’s third seat, leaning forward as he poured whiskey into three glasses on the coffee table.
Sally perched on the arm of the couch next to Angel, waving Nell and Eamonn forward to take the loveseat. “Lots of room, make yourselves comfortable and let’s fill your glasses.”
Eamonn clunked the two tumblers he carried onto the table. “While we’re waiting for the others,” he said, “I should warn you, the tour’s going to be short a driver when it’s time to hit the road.”
Angel poured a generous slug into each one. “How’s that? Also, cheers.” He picked up his glass and held it aloft.
“Sláinte. Well, let’s put it this way — Smidge had a dealer in the crew. He’s gone now.”
“I thought we got rid of Roach a long time ago,” Angel said slowly.
“We did,” Sally confirmed. “But I suspected there might be another. It was one of the drivers?”
The two of them turned to look at Blade, who couldn’t hide a flush of embarrassment rising up his neck. He took a too-big sip of his whiskey and grimaced at the burn of it, or maybe at what he had to say. “Donnie had a lot of dirt on me,” he muttered. “After Seattle, I told him to stay away from me if he wanted to keep his job with the tour, didn’t want to push him further than that.”
“Or maybe part of you wanted him to stick around in case you changed your mind, dumbass?” Angel asked, his words harsh but his expression kind. “You know it doesn’t help to keep temptation within reach.”
“Maybe at first, I don’t know,” Blade said, shame evident on his face. “I’m such a fuck-up.”
Crys gave his thigh a sympathetic squeeze, then took his hand and laid it on her belly. “No, love! You’re stronger than anyone I know, and you’ve got us to live for now,” she reminded him.
“I’ve been clean since San Diego, I swear, but… I’ve thought about it. I knew Donnie was around, knew he’d get me some if I asked.”
“I know it’s hard, man,” Angel said. “But you didn’t give in, and you won’t.” Beside him, Sally nodded her agreement. The three of them were looking at Blade with so much love and affection and concern that witnessing it made Nell feel mildly uncomfortable.
I have no business being here for this. But she couldn’t very well get up and leave. Turning away to give them at least a modicum of privacy, she caught the look on Eamonn’s face and almost gasped at the complex mix of surprise and guilt and envy there. Flipping hell. There’s an inner circle within the inner circle, and he’s just been admitted to it.
Everyone’s eyes were drawn to the door as footsteps echoed outside along the walkway. Dice came in, tossing a coffee mug from hand to hand like a juggling ball as he walked. He caught the mug and turned it right side up as he reached the coffee table, and held out a hand for Angel to pass the whiskey bottle.
Rhys followed. He too had a mug in his hands, but his was full of coffee. “I hope we didn’t keep you waiting,” he said. “We stopped by the coffee station.”
“I can see that.” Sally looked pointedly at the mug Dice was pouring whiskey into.
“I know, I know,” Dice said, “but the mugs were right there while Risk was getting his coffee, so I wasn’t going to go looking for a glass.” He dragged the desk chair over and turned it around to sit astride it, waved for Rhys to take the armchair.
“Sally, would you like to sit here?” Rhys asked.
“Nah, I’m good like this,” Sally replied, patting the arm of the couch where she was perched.
So Rhys sat. “You guys—” he began, looking earnest, but Eamonn cut him off.
“I didn’t come back to take your job or make things awkward. I wasn’t even thinking about that. I just needed to see Blade and apologize for what went down last year.”
“But you are staying,” Angel put in, somewhere between a statement and a question.
“I never expected…” Eamonn shook his head in disbelief. “But I don’t want to take someone else’s dream job away to get mine back. I could… I could play keyboards, or…”
And Rhys laughed. Kindly, gently, and with no malice; still, he was definitely laughing. “When I was in school, I would have called it my dream job. Maybe even up until now, part of me thought it was. The thing is — I’m an actor, really, more than I’m a musician. So I’m ready to bow out gracefully here. It’s not a problem.”
That stunned everyone into silence.
“I mean it,” Rhys said. “Don’t get me wrong, it’s been a blast. I’ve loved playing bass with Smidge, I truly have. But I survived by acting you, Easy. Must have watched hundreds of videos to learn your
