Nola

Part of me thought that Darius had been exaggerating when he said he could arrange a car and an apartment for me in less than twenty-four hours, but by the next day a blue Honda Civic had been delivered to my parents' house, with the address to my new apartment already entered into the SatNav.

"Are you sure you're not dreaming?" I muttered to myself.

The car didn't answer.

The apartment was in Covent Garden, and navigating central London during the morning rush hour really wasn't my idea of fun, but since I was in a new car heading to a new apartment that I hadn't paid for, I could hardly complain.

The apartment was on the third floor of a new development at the heart of Covent Garden, with space for parking, and a lift that carried me to my new home. The apartment itself was more than I could have expected. The open plan living room featured dark parquet flooring, white walls with blue curtains on each side of the two large windows, and two grey sofas with a patterned rug between them, while the kitchen, at the other end of the space, was made up of white wooden cabinets and flecked marble counters. I didn't need to open a single cabinet to guess it would be fully stocked. A small eating area was next to the kitchen, with a glass-topped table and padded chairs.

There were two bedrooms, one in soft blue, one in warm grey, and for a moment I froze, because blue and grey had been Mike's colour scheme. But everything about this was softer and more stylish than Mike's place. The bedrooms were separated by one bathroom, all done in grey-veined white marble, with two glass panels partitioning the shower from the rest of the room.

I dropped my rucksack on the bedroom floor and sank onto the edge of the bed, holding my head in my hands as I tried to make sense of everything. I had no idea what an apartment like this would have cost, but in a desirable area in the heart of London, it'd be more than I'd like to imagine.

I knew Darius was wealthy – Incarcerated was one of the most successful bands in the rock world right now – but he couldn't do this for all his employees. Could he?

Someone knocked on the door and my head snapped up.

Oh God, was that someone coming to tell me that this was all a mistake? That this beautiful apartment couldn't possibly be mine? That, as I'd feared, this world wasn't for me?

I shuffled to the door and opened it.

"Nola Collins," Darius said, treating me to a beaming smile. His hair was loose today, spilling in thick, gorgeous waves around his shoulders, and though his eyes were hidden behind sunglasses, I'd bet he was rocking his usual eyeliner.

"Hi," I squeaked.

"How are you settling in?"

I glanced back at the apartment. "I can't – this is too generous . . ."

Darius strolled inside, looking around. "It was what was available at short notice."

I wasn't entirely sure I believed that. There was never a shortage of properties for sale across London – Darius could easily have secured something smaller and cheaper.

That niggle of unease surfaced again. I still hadn't found the catch, but there had to be one.

"Do you need anything else?" Darius asked.

"You've already done more than enough," I said, twisting my fingers together.

Just a couple of weeks ago, I'd sat in this man's kitchen and poured out my shitty former relationship to him, and now I felt like a tongue-tied groupie. Maybe Rhydian's hostility had acted as a buffer last time. Now it was just me and Darius.

Darius took off his sunglasses and lounged on one of the sofas, stretching out his long legs. "We need to discuss a few things," he said.

"Okay." I sat on the opposite sofa, clutching my hands in my lap to stop myself from picking my fingers.

I needed to focus, because Darius was giving me a chance to completely reinvent myself and change the whole direction of my life. I couldn't screw this up.

But now that I'd had two weeks to distance myself from the fear and confusion and emotion of the night I'd left Mike, I couldn't help being extremely aware that the most beautiful man in the world was sitting opposite me, looking like a wet dream come to life with that hair and those cheekbones and those long-lashed eyes. It was hard to focus on what he was saying when my brain just wanted to drool over him.

I gave myself a mental shake and tuned back in. I couldn't blow this opportunity just because the man giving it to me was hotter than anyone had a right to be.

"You get all that?" Darius asked.

I nodded, hoping I hadn't missed anything important. Still, if I had, I doubted Darius would fire me over one mistake, not after everything he'd done for me.

"Great. We've got an interview booked in with Guitar Smash tomorrow so we need to be at the Waldorf Hilton by 10 a.m," Darius said.

"Right," I stuttered.

"You'll start every day with a coffee run – latte for me, hazelnut americano for Rhydian. We're meeting Joe and Nathan at the hotel, so grab a flat white and a green tea too. Make sure you get them from Bean Brew. None of that Starbucks shit."

Right, I still had the rest of the band to meet yet. I wasn't relishing seeing Rhydian again, but I'd have to suck it up. Maybe he'd be less dickish this time.

"And whatever you want," Darius added. "You can always add your drink to a coffee order."

"Thanks," I mumbled, wishing I had something more interesting to say. "Uh, did you want a coffee or anything now?" I gestured towards the kitchen, hoping that if he said yes, I'd be able to find everything quickly.

"I need to get going." Darius stood up, so I scrambled to my feet too, almost tripping over myself.

"But I'll see you tomorrow," Darius said as he headed to the door.

"Right. Yes. See you then." I gave him an awkward wave, then slapped my own forehead as soon as the door closed.

Why had I turned into such an idiot around him? Because he was crazy-pretty? Because he was my boss now?

Holy shit, Darius Keller was my boss now.

How had my life suddenly become this?

My phone pinged again, and I rushed to it, wondering if Darius had forgotten something.

But it was Mike.

My heart sank and I put down the phone without opening the message. Just like I hadn't opened any of the approximately eleventy billion texts he'd sent over the last couple of weeks. Not that that stopped him from trying.

And ignoring his texts didn't stop me from hearing his voice in my head.

What the hell are you doing, Nola?

He'd asked me that so many times during our relationship – when I tried something new with my hair, bought a new outfit, wore a different shade of lipstick, moved the furniture even a little bit, did absolutely anything outside of his very narrow approval.

You think you'll actually succeed at this?

He'd never said that to me, but I heard it nonetheless, my self-doubt and internal fears taking on Mike's voice.

You'll fail, Nola. You don't deserve this.

I closed my eyes.

Mike wasn't here, but at the same time I still hadn't got away from him.

Maybe I never would.

Darius

"Okay, just to check, a latte, a hazelnut americano, a green tea, and a flat white." Nola rattled the band's coffee order back at me the next morning.. She sounded vaguely panicked, as if this first day on the job was already almost too much for her.

"You need me to write it down?" I asked.

Nola scratched her head, tugging a wisp of hair free from her ponytail. "No, no, I got it."

She sounded even more panicked now, clutching her phone with both hands, her lips moving as she silently recited the coffees. I wasn't sure she realised she was doing it.

"Nola?" I prompted, when she didn't move.

She blinked at me.

"Today would be good," I said, trying not to smile.

Colour flooded her cheeks. "Right. Yes. Sorry. I won't be long." She spun around, almost hitting her hip on the kitchen table, before scuttling through the double doors. A few seconds later, she poked her head back inside the kitchen. "The Bean Brew, right?"

"Right," I said. "Remember to get whatever you want too."

Nola disappeared again.

Rhydian had been silent throughout the whole exchange, but I could feel his eyes boring into me.

I sighed. "Say it."

"She doesn't know what the fuck she's doing," Rhydian said.

I turned. Rhydian leaned against the breakfast bar, resting his weight on his elbows, staring pointedly at me.

"You know that, right?" he said, when I didn't respond.

"Yeah, I know," I said.

"So why is she here?"

"What other job was I supposed to give her?"

"Why'd you have to give her any job?" Rhyd sounded confused rather than confrontational, though people who didn't know him might not have been able to tell the difference.

"Because she needed a fresh start," I said, thinking again of the moment I'd found her huddled at the back of the tour bus, terrified and exhausted. "Someone had to give her that."

"Right, but why you?" Rhydian asked.

"Why not me?" I countered.

"It's not your responsibility."

He'd said that to me before, when we were kids, and the memory filled the space between us, painful and jagged.

"I made it my responsibility then, and I'm making it mine now," I said.

Rhydian lowered his eyes, and for just a moment, he looked like Nola had when I met her, hunched into himself, trying to make himself as small as possible.

"Rhyd," I said softly. "Stay here."

He blinked, lifting his eyes to meet mine. "I am," he said, but we both knew he'd slipped away just then, disappearing into the darkness of his own memories. I hated it when he did that, but at least he wasn't alone anymore. I'd pull him out of the darkness every single time.

"You're bringing her with us today?" he asked, steering things back to Nola.

I nodded.

"You sure she'll cope?" he asked.

I considered it. "Honestly, I'm not sure. I think she'll find it overwhelming, but she's got to start somewhere."

"Sink or swim," Rhydian mused, rolling his skull ring around his finger.

"Something like that."

"What if she sinks?"

"She won't."

Rhydian cocked his head. "Why have you got so much faith in this girl?"

I thought again of the flash I'd seen in her eyes when she'd suggested I might be arrogant. It had been playful, teasing, but with a hint of challenge too. Her ex had ground her down to almost nothing, but he hadn't broken her. I wasn't sure she realised that yet, but I was determined that she would.

I shrugged. "Same reason I've always had faith in you."

Rhydian had nothing to say to that.

***

Nola

I was drowning.

I couldn't do this.

I'd successfully tracked down Bean Brew, Darius's chosen Italian café – I'd never even heard of it until yesterday – and ordered the coffees, along with a small cappuccino for myself. I'd also looked longingly at the shelf of freshly baked muffins, which smelled like sugary heaven, but had left without one. Darius had said I could order anything I wanted, but he'd already set me up with a job, a car, and an apartment. Adding a blueberry muffin to that felt like a step too far.

Then I'd driven to the hotel, leaving plenty of time for London traffic, and had arrived with time to spare. Everything had seemed like it was going so well.

That hadn't lasted.

Somewhere between the band arriving – and Rhydian's dirty glare making it clear that he still didn't like me – and the actual interview getting underway, I got completely lost.

Not physically of course. It would have been pretty hard to lose sight of a pack of famous rockstars. But it soon became painfully clear that I didn't have a clue what I was doing.

A PA should probably know how events like this were run, but I had zero experience and zero understanding. I always seemed to be getting in everyone's way. Within the first ten minutes, I'd spilled coffee down the dress that I'd carefully chosen for today, hoping to look professional. I'd said 'I don't know' more times than I could remember. Joe and Nathan, the bassist and drummer, were nice enough but they were both visibly confused about why I was here, and Rhydian didn't hide his sneer every time I got something wrong. Only Darius seemed oblivious to how much of a fish out of water I was.

After the fourth time someone had snapped at me for getting in the way, tears welled in my eyes. Who the hell was I kidding? I couldn't do this. Maybe it would be best for everyone if I quietly slipped away while no one was looking.

As if he knew what I was thinking, Darius met my eyes and gave me a little smile.

Something shifted inside me.

I could slip out of this room, leave my car keys where Darius could find them, and jump on the nearest Tube back to my parents' house. I could accept that I'd never belong to this kind of life, and the Mike-voice in my head was right about everything.

Or I could punch my fears in the throat.

I would never get an opportunity like this again, and I couldn't let it slide through my fingers.

It wasn't just about the money, the apartment, or the car, I realised. It was about Darius. He'd done so much for me, and I couldn't bear the thought of letting him down.

Darius's phone lit up with an incoming call, Black Sabbath's "Paranoid" filling the air. He glanced down, and his smile vanished. Clearly not someone he wanted to talk to. The call ended. Two seconds later, it started again. Darius continued to ignore it, but a muscle ticked steadily in his jaw, and when he smiled at something Joe said, it didn't reach his eyes.

Whoever was trying to get hold of him called a third time, and Darius finally caved and answered, holding up a hand to pause the interview. "This isn't a good time, Bianca," he said, and I caught an edge of tension in his voice.

A vaguely irritated female voice chattered away at the other end of the phone, and Darius pinched the bridge of his nose.

"No, I can't," he said.

Joe and Nathan seemed oblivious to the one-sided conversation, but Rhydian glared at Darius's phone like he wanted to smash it.

Darius held the phone away from his ear, his jaw tight.

"What does she want now?" Rhydian growled.

"She's been shopping and she wants someone to pick her up," Darius said.

"Tell her to get a damn taxi." Rhydian raised his voice enough that the woman on the other end of the phone could easily hear him.

She said something back, but I couldn't hear what, then made a noise like she was starting to cry.

Rhydian rolled his eyes.

Something clicked into place in my head.

Bianca Caparelli – Darius's half-sister. She didn't have any claim to fame beyond her connection to Darius, but that seemed to be enough for her to start climbing the social ladder. I wasn't exactly up to date with celebrity gossip, but even I knew who she was.

"I could pick her up," I suggested.

Darius and Rhydian both stared at me.

"What?" I said. "You don't need me during the interview, right? I can get her and then come back here. Where is she?"

"Bond Street," Darius said.

I checked the distance on my phone. "Traffic should have eased up by now so I could be there in about twenty minutes?"

"You sure?" Darius asked.

It struck me as an odd question. "Isn't that why I'm here? To be your assistant?" I said.

Darius didn't look happy about it, which only puzzled me more. Wasn't the whole point of a PA that they handled the jobs the boss didn't want to? Or was I just ignorant about the whole thing?

But he nodded, and I felt a little surge of elation. Maybe I could do this after all.