He’d dressed in black T-shirt, jeans, a jacket that screamed gothic fantasy, and contact lenses meant to shock. The outfit wasn’t as bold as his stage attire, but it remained pretty flamboyant, and coupled with his leather wrist bands and various bits of silver jewellery definitely marked him out as different.
For herself, Dani opted for another of the outfits Xane had bought her, this time choosing a pretty black and white cotton print dress with a belted waist and flared skirt. It looked classically stylish, until you realised the repeating pattern was of vampire bats. It was a very different look from her normal student-like style, and lent her confidence. Anyone looking out for Dani Fosbrook wouldn’t be seeking a girl so classily dressed.
They visited le Parc paysager de Fontvieille first, where they followed part of the sculpture trail, a curious outdoor exhibition of work dotted about the city, some poignant, some fanciful and others grotesque. From there they took a taxi to the cathedral and saw the palace, then the Musée Océanographique, where Xane spent an eternity baring his teeth at the sharks, performing in some kind of brinksmanship contest for predators. Much as she adored him, she had to admit that the sharks won. Even on stage, Xane simply wasn’t as chilling. He was too vibrant, too passionate, too alive. The sharks only did cold.
‘Did you genuinely mean that only Ginny calls you?’ Xane asked, as they boarded the little tourist train that would take them around some of the older parts of the city. They’d started to attract attention and the train seemed like a good way of getting some space without making a beeline back to the hotel. ‘Isn’t there anyone else who might check in and see if you’re all right?’ He seemed to be digging for information, but she wasn’t sure why.
‘Not really.’
Dani settled beside him, enjoying the open-air ride and the escape from people with cameras who seemed to consider it their right to randomly snap photographs of anyone they pleased. She hoped they were all innocent, and none of them were taken with the explicit purpose of identifying Xane’s date. The last thing she needed was someone digging around in her past. Xane wouldn’t forgive her for having his name linked with St Agatha’s. One only had to look at their website to realise what a narrow-minded, xenophobic lot of nutcases they were. Although he’d been good so far about not prying into her personal issues, she couldn’t hope that would stay the case if the two of them started being associated in the press. He’d want to know everything then, so he could head off any PR nightmares before they happened.
‘What about your mum? Doesn’t she call?’ Xane enquired.
Was this really about her broken phone? She’d already told him she wasn’t bothered. The fact that nobody could reach her struck her as a kind of blessing after years in the commune reporting her whereabouts hourly. Besides, he’d already promised her another.
‘Well, occasionally, but mostly she prefers if I visit. She’s the sort that likes to keep a close eye on what I’m up to.’
‘So she knows you’re here.’
Dani sucked her lower lip. ‘I didn’t say that.’
‘Meaning she doesn’t.’ Xane’s smile broadened and he gave a chuckle. ‘You naughty little rebel.’ He affectionately nudged his knuckles against her shoulder. ‘Let me guess, she wouldn’t approve of the nasty sex-maniac, demon-worshipping rock star.’ He settled more comfortably, with his arm around Dani’s shoulders. Dani snuggled closer to him in turn, savouring the opportunity to cling to his warmth.
‘She doesn’t approve of much, but I’m reliant on her. I have to keep her happy, Xane, else it’s bye-bye to completing my degree. That, and she’s the only family I’ve got. I’ve no siblings or grandparents or anything.’
‘You’ve me.’
Yes, but for how long for? Once the hubbub of the band break-up died down and he got over Elspeth, he’d probably grow bored with her and move on.
‘You’ve gone curiously quiet,’ Xane remarked, lifting his shades off his nose so that he could look at her without a filter. ‘Something up? Maybe you’re thinking having me isn’t such a great thing – that I’m too high maintenance to put up with for more than a fling.’
‘No. I’d never think that.’ She gawped at him a moment. ‘What, are you even interested in more than a fling?’
Xane surreptitiously slid his sunglasses back into place, so that all she saw was her own hopeful image reflected back at her.
‘We ought to get off here if we’re going to the casino next,’ he said, changing the subject.
‘Right,’ she replied, disliking his evasiveness. She wished he’d be honest and open about what they were doing together. If this was only a short love affair, then that was fine. She’d grieve at its finish, and hold dear the memories of her time with him, but his refusal to answer properly encouraged false hope. It meant she dared to dream that he was interested in something longer, something more permanent. And that was likely setting herself up for a major heartache.
‘What shall we play at the casino?’
‘Oh, I don’t actually want to gamble. I only want to look around, to spot the bits that have been in the movies, that sort of thing.’ She didn’t have money to throw away. She could barely afford to pay for lunch in this place, though she’d offered to do so anyway. Xane had laughed off that suggestion and handed over his credit card. ‘You’re my guest here,’ he’d insisted. ‘And I like being old school about this sort of stuff.’
‘You’re not willing to indulge in even a little flutter?’ Xane’s breath tickled the back of her neck.
God help her, he set her aflutter with only minimal effort. Having already gambled her heart simply by coming here with him, taking further chances would be insane. She was already at risk of losing.
‘You have to gamble in the casino, else where’s the fun?’ Xane bemoaned. He gave her a friendly squeeze. ‘We’ll buy some chips and see how we do. You can cheer me on, if you won’t play yourself.’
‘Are you any good?’
‘Atrocious.’ He grinned as he squeezed her hand. ‘But you’ll bring me luck.’
* * *
The Casino de Monte-Carlo dazzled in much the same way as the foyer of the Hotel de Paris did. Dani found her attention drawn by the décor rather than the gaming tables. The building, another Victorian masterpiece, consisted of room upon vast room, each decorated more lavishly than the last. Enormous frescos covered the walls, and twenty-two-carat gold leaf detailing decorated elaborate mouldings. It felt more like a palace or an opera house than a den of iniquity. She soon learned that each of the vast halls housed a different set of games: popular imports such as blackjack and craps were played in the
Salle des Amériques
, slot machines in another area, and
Trente et Quarante
and European roulette in the
Salon de l’Europe
, the central nave of which rivalled that of a cathedral, and boasted onyx columns circled in bronze, as well as a vast dome and eight monumental chandeliers of Bohemian crystal. There were restaurants within too. The fragrant spices of their Thai and Italian dishes gently perfumed the air, encouraging a different appetite once people’s lust for the gaming tables was satisfied.
Xane exchanged some cash for chips, despite Dani’s insistence that it wasn’t necessary. ‘I’d much rather you spent it on something sensible. Sinking money on the spin of a metal ball seems horribly frivolous.’
‘He’s never sensible,’ the man who had stepped up to the table beside them remarked. Dani glanced across at him. He wore white-tie evening wear and looked a pro compared to them; she guessed it was someone Xane had happened upon before on a previous visit.
‘Are you in?’ the croupier enquired.
The man deferred to Xane who had arrived first.
‘No.’ To Dani’s surprise, Xane backed away from the table. ‘Not here. Why the fuck are you here?’
Dani swivelled round to observe the man properly, this time fully digesting the details of his appearance: crooked, wire-thin moustache, a tiny devil’s beard, blue eyes like an azure pool, a cute scar above the left brow where a bottle had once hit him on stage, and then the real telltale clue, the ludicrously pointy-toed winkle-picker boots. Steve Matlock. How had she ever not recognised him?
Oh, God! They’d been found.
While her heart went giddy-up, she turned frantically, anticipating the arrival of the rest of the group. Ever since the conversation with Paul Reed that morning she’d known the band weren’t going to give up easily. Dammit, she even wanted things to work out between them. Black Halo were her band. She wanted to see them together on stage again. Still wanted to be able to stand in the crowd chanting along with several thousand other fans, but she knew too that the group’s persistence wasn’t going to change Xane’s mind. If anything it made him more adamantly opposed to giving things a second chance. And she understood his reasons. They’d been unbelievably shitty to him. He had every right to be hurt, especially by this guy, the prick who’d not only stolen but married his girlfriend.
What sort of crazy fools were they to send him to negotiate?
‘Xane, we need to talk.’
‘Fuck off, Steve.’ Xane had already begun backing towards the door, or else Dani suspected the croupier might have called for security. She suspected trash talk wasn’t tolerated in here. It didn’t fit in with the genteel ambience.
‘Shall we go?’ she asked Xane, hurriedly catching up with him and looping her arm around his.
‘Rock Giant said he’d spoken to you.’
Xane disentangled his arm. His fists clenched tight. ‘Yeah, I told him where to go too. You screwed it up, Steve. There is no going back.’
‘We weren’t trying to hurt you. We both care about you, Xane. You know that.’
‘Actually, no, I don’t. I thought you did.’
‘This has all been a gross misunderstanding.’
‘No!’ Xane bellowed, drowning out whatever else Steve had to say. ‘You do not get to tell me I’m imagining crap. You fucking well got married behind my back. You knew what you were doing and how it’d make me feel, as if what you’d already done and said weren’t enough.’
Xane grasped Dani’s hand. He turned his back on Steve and stomped back to the vestibule through which they’d entered. All the glamour seemed to have faded from the decorations as they crossed the vast area of open carpet.
‘Xane, please. I never wanted things to be like this. I never meant to hurt you.’
Dani let Xane lead, hurrying along as fast as her heels would allow her. His grip remained firm on her hand, but he neither turned nor spoke to her. On the periphery of her vision, she became aware of shadows following them – security, she supposed, not intervening because they were clearly leaving.
‘Xane.’ Steve was at their heels. ‘Really, it wasn’t supposed to be like that. I thought you knew and you were cool with it. I swear if I’d had any inkling … Xane, you know what she means to me, but fuck, you and the guys … you’re just as important.’
Dani wasn’t entirely sure why Xane came to such an abrupt halt. It nearly wrenched her arm from its socket. He swung her round as he turned to face Steve again.
‘Me and the guys! Oh, that’s nice. So you’re here because of what it’s done to the band, not because of what you’ve done to me. You’re a total dickhead, Matlock. Just piss off. We’re done. Didn’t I make it clear enough at the gig?’
The scent of Steve’s aftershave caught in Dani’s nose, sharp and citrusy. It made her sneeze.
Steve reached out. He clasped Xane’s shoulder as Xane started to turn again. ‘You weren’t listening then, and you’re still not listening now. Nothing needs to be any different. It can be
exactly
as it was.’
Xane spun out of the hold. ‘It’ll never be how it was,’ he growled right into Steve’s face, getting up so close their mouths were almost touching. ‘You signed up to exclusivity.’ He shoved Steve hard in the chest, sending him sprawling backwards onto the floor like some sort of gangly spider.
Dani’s hope that that was the end of it proved short-lived. Immediately, Xane waded forward to tower over his former band mate. Shivers ran through his tensed muscles as his anger sought a physical outlet. ‘Fourteen years we’ve been mates,’ he moaned, waggling a finger in Steve’s upturned face. ‘I thought you, out of any of them, were the one I could trust. Actually, what I’ve learned is that you’re the biggest user of them all. Did you ever give a damn? Did any of it mean anything, or was it all just show to get you into her knickers?’
Steve’s eyes were pleading, his voice low and soft. ‘Xane, you’re not listening. I swear, I thought you knew. She said you’d spoken, and that you were cool with it and that you understood. That you appreciated how close we’d grown.’
Xane went down on one knee. ‘Yeah, course I did. How bloody likely does that sound?’ He fist tightened around the front of Steve’s shirt, lifting him up so they were nose to nose again. ‘You know how I felt. Why would I give my blessing to her getting you?’
‘But Elspeth said –’
‘Then she was lying to you.’
‘Why? Why would she?’
Maybe because the sly bitch was playing the pair of them off against one another? Dani shook her head. She couldn’t justify her thoughts. She’d not met Elspeth, and in fact knew very little about her. For her, Black Halo had always been about Xane and the guys, not their wan, ghost-like keyboardist.
‘Why wouldn’t she? Elspeth never spoke to me, not until after the fact. And you never said a bloody thing. I thought you might at least have respected me enough to do that.’
Steve suddenly seemed reluctant to speak. His attention slid away from Xane’s face to the rather bloated crowd of onlookers they’d attracted. ‘Xane, we should take this elsewhere. I’ll happily explain my side. I swear, I really didn’t mean to screw up like this.’
‘He’s right about leaving, Xane. Let’s go. Please.’ Dani tugged on his arm, hoping to persuade him to walk away. ‘Don’t do this here.’
A row of security officers had filtered through the ranks of onlookers and were now forming a tightening circle around them. ‘Break it up, gentlemen.’
Dani’s grip tightened on Xane’s arm. She wasn’t sure he even felt it. He was too swaddled in his own anger, his tendons tightened like corded steel.