Johnny couldn’t help but feel his heart sink, a feeling he’d once thought people just made up, nothing but a figure of speech, but no, it was an actual sensation. And he was feeling it now. Had he ever really stood a chance? Should he have made his move sooner? But Mark well and truly had her now. Any last glimmer of hope that Johnny might have had was now gone.
He looked at Mark. He seemed like a different person. Happier, calmer. For now, anyway. But he’d always be Mark Cassidy, Johnny knew that. Even a baby wasn’t going to change that. Or Stevie. So he forced a smile and hugged his best friend. “Congratulations.”
Mark smiled, suddenly feeling as if the last piece of a very complicated jigsaw had just slotted into place. He was Mark Cassidy – husband, daddy-to-be; rock star. Life was fucking great!
***
“So, the woman who said she would never be a mum is suddenly about to become one. Again,” Ava smiled as she sat down next to Stevie.
Stevie smiled back. There was no malice anymore, no tension in Ava’s voice this time. She seemed genuinely pleased for her and Mark.
“Well, maybe I was just kidding myself when I said I’d never get serious with him, Ava. It was always there. We were just too blind to see it.”
“You’re together now, Stevie. That’s all that matters. And…I’m sorry, ok? For all the times I might have come across as stand-offish or judgemental, that was wrong of me. I never really gave you a chance. I guess the rock star lifestyle just took a bit of getting used to for me.”
“Hey, you’ve got Billy. You got the good one. The rest of them need keeping on a tight rein.”
“You can rein me in anytime you like, sweetheart,” Jack smiled, sauntering over with a cigarette hanging out of the corner of his mouth and trousers tighter than they should legally be allowed.
Stevie and Ava looked at each other and smiled. Even Ava was slowly getting used to Jack Warner.
She stood up and flicked the cigarette out of his mouth, high five-ing Stevie as she sat back down, both of them laughing.
Jack looked at them. “What?”
“Mum-to-be here, Jack,” Stevie said, flattening her dress down over her tiny baby bump.
“Oh, Christ, spawn of Cassidy’s on the way. I forgot.”
“We only told you ten minutes ago.”
“Yeah, well, there are a couple of glamour models over there that are slightly distracting, so, if you don’t mind…”
“Be my guest,” Stevie laughed.
“Rather them than me,” Ava said, watching as Jack swaggered off in the direction of two incredibly pretty, young, and possibly unsuspecting, brunettes before turning back to Stevie. “Seriously though, if you need any help, any advice, just call me, Stevie. I mean that.”
Stevie smiled. “Thank you.”
“And Luke…he seems like a lovely young man.”
Stevie looked over towards one of the marquees where Luke was talking to a couple of rather famous rock stars, taking it all in his stride. Her tall, handsome, wonderful boy.
“He’s a credit to his dad, Ava. And I’m so lucky that I’ve got this chance to get to know him. So, so lucky.”
“Who’s lucky?” Mark asked, coming up behind Stevie and straddling the bench behind her so she was sitting between his legs.
“Me,” she replied, sliding her fingers between his as he kissed her neck. “To have you.”
“You got that right, beautiful.”
Ava got up, smiling at Stevie. “Like I said, anytime, ok?”
Stevie nodded, and mouthed “Thank you”, before Ava left to rejoin Billy at the bar.
“You two the best of friends now then?” Mark asked.
“Hardly. I think we just understand each other a bit better, that’s all.” She turned to look at him. “Is Johnny ok?”
“’Course he is. Look, how about us escaping this circus for a bit, going upstairs and getting this marriage started the way we mean to go on?”
“Doing what?”
He smiled at her, that Mark Cassidy rock star smile that she’d never get tired of seeing. He may give that smile to every female fan that looked his way but he kept the best of it for her. Just for her. And she loved that.
“Doing you, that’s what.”
“So eloquently put.”
“Big word for a Swedish woman.”
“Fuck you, Cassidy,” she laughed, pushing him away.
“I wish you would, baby, and I’m trying my freakin’ hardest to make sure it happens.”
He pulled her closer, kissing her gently at first, then harder and deeper and she held onto him, knowing she was never going to let him go again. She should never have let him go in the first place because they belonged together. They were soul mates. Mark Cassidy and Stevie Stone. Rock’s most beautiful couple.
And this was going to be one hell of a crazy journey they were about to embark on, but she was ready for it. It was everybody else who were going to have to fasten their seat belts.
EPILOGUE
Daniel Madison was learning to live without Stevie Stone. He had to. The news of her wedding to Mark Cassidy and the birth of their baby boy had meant he had no choice. But he never stopped thinking about her. She was one half of one of rock’s most powerful couples now, and he was happy for her, he really was. Even though it still hurt. It hurt every day he was without her.
But he’d moved on. He was still one of the most popular Prime Minister’s Britain had seen for decades, thanks to his direct line of speaking and his no-nonsense attitude to issues that needed dealing with swiftly and delicately. He was still a very successful business man, a good person, well liked and respected. His career was on the up, even after the pit falls and problems it had had to endure.
But Daniel Madison had weathered every storm and come out the other end with almost everything he’d ever dreamed of. The only thing he needed now was someone special to share it all with. Someone who could be there for him, waiting for him with an incredible smile and an evening of things to take his mind off the day’s events, the endless meetings, the ‘phone calls. Someone like Stevie Stone.
***
Samantha Madison was happy. She hadn’t thought she could be after everything that had happened, but one evening, at the Hunt Ball, she’d met a man called Jonathan Piers-Windsor, the son of one of her father’s business associates. A man who was everything Samantha needed. Well-bred, successful, and in need of a wife who could help him in his new-found political career. Jonathan Piers-Windsor MP was about to take his place in the House of Commons. And Samantha was going to help him every step of the way.
***
Angus Gordon was learning to live life in the shadows. The back benches weren’t where he wanted to be, or where he intended to stay. But he wasn’t going to argue with the Prime Minister. Daniel Madison just needed some time, then he’d soon realise he needed him back by his side. He’d soon realise that Angus had only done what he had because he’d wanted the best for his friend, and when that time came Angus would be more than ready to step back into the shoes he’d unwillingly vacated all those months ago. Then he and Daniel Madison would once again be the team he’d always dreamed they would be. A legendary political team. He was just waiting for the nod, for Daniel to tell him he was sorry; that he understood. Then he’d be back where he belonged. And that’s when his own lifelong dream of becoming Prime Minister could finally begin.
***
Dave Deacon watched as Mark Cassidy – new father – took to the stage, the crowd erupting as one of the world’s newest, greatest rock stars held 30,000 people in the palm of his hand. Better than he ever had done before. And Dave knew it was all down to Stevie Stone. Without her Mark was a diluted version of everything he should be and that hadn’t been right. But with her he was this incredible creation, a true Rock God. Getting married, becoming a father, everything that, in the past, Dave Deacon would have thought would have killed the band off, had only served to add to it’s success. They were living the dream, a
nd he was helping to take them to new heights.
This tour was just a taster, a handful of gigs to showcase the new live album and test out a few tracks for the next studio album, due to start recording in L.A. in the coming weeks. And with a major world tour scheduled for the end of the year it was all happening in the world of Black Rock Diamond, and it was fast becoming a family affair.
Despite the fact that Stevie Stone was rapidly becoming a celebrity in her own right now, as a photographer of all things, she was still very much involved with the band. She was training Luke, after all, a young man who’d become an asset to them all and Dave liked him. A lot. He was doing well, learning fast and he worked hard.
But it wasn’t just Stevie and Mark who were the family here, Dave knew that now. The whole band, everyone involved here was a family. That’s what they were, what they’d always been and he’d nearly ruined all of that because he’d thought he’d known what was best for everyone. But he hadn’t. And he was just lucky that events had brought Stevie Stone back to them. Back where she belonged. The fifth member of Black Rock Diamond. As she always had been.
***
Johnny had been honoured to be Godfather to Mark and Stevie’s baby boy. It guaranteed the kid was going to grow up more dysfunctional than anyone could possibly imagine but it also meant that Johnny was always going to be there, in the life of his incredible mum.
He was still her best friend, still there for her if she needed him and she still did, at times. Getting married hadn’t meant her and Mark had suddenly turned into love’s young dream, far from it. They still argued like they always had, the legendary screaming matches were ever present, and when Mark pissed her off she’d call him and he’d help her take her mind off things until she calmed down. Just not in the way he’d used to. Now they went for a drink or played guitar or just sat and talked, and it was good. But he still missed the old days when she’d needed him for sex, made love to him just to get back at Mark - but all that had changed, and he had to get used to it. Stevie Stone was married. To his best friend. And Johnny knew he’d be able to deal with that a whole lot better when he could finally start to accept it.
***
Connor missed Luke but knowing his son was out there, with his mum, living this new and exciting life that he loved beyond anything helped him get through every day. Hearing Luke’s excited voice down the ‘phone, telling him everything about where they were, the gigs he’d worked on and the people he’d met, Connor knew he could never have denied him that. He could never have stopped him from doing this. Even if the hole it had left in his life seemed as though it could never be filled.
It was tough, but he was moving forward. He had a lot of work coming in, and he was even toying with the idea of writing a book. After all, he had a lot of ideas to work with within the perimeters of his own family. Stevie Stone had made sure of that. She’d crashed into his life a second time with almost as much impact as she had done all those years ago, and who knew what else could happen in that weird and wonderful life she was leading? The only thing Connor did know was that he was glad he was around to find out.
***
Luke woke up every morning knowing he was living a dream. He was eighteen years old, living in L.A. with his rock star step-dad and his incredibly cool mum, out on the road, travelling on amazing tour buses with people he loved hanging out with. He wished he had more time to text his mates with pictures of every gig he worked on, give updates on his fantastic new life, but he just didn’t have the time. Although he loved updating his Facebook page whenever he had the chance. The comments he got back always made him smile. They were still his mates but they were as jealous as hell, all of them trying to keep a lid on it because they wanted to be the ones he invited over to stay with him. Stevie had said that when this small tour was done he could have a couple of mates over to L.A. and he was keeping them all dangling as to who he was going to pick. The ones who fancied his mum were way down the list though. He just found that too weird. He’d become very protective of his mum since the arrival of his baby brother, who he loved like crazy. Just like he was growing to love his mum. His beautiful, wild, Swedish mum.
Luke Franklin was living the dream. And he was the happiest kid alive.
***
Baby Milo Isak Benjamin Cassidy had been born at home in Los Angeles with his rock star daddy by his mum’s side. Three week’s later his baptism into the crazy world of rock and roll in which he was going to be living began as he took his first ride on the Black Rock Diamond tour bus. No way was Stevie Stone going to be a stay-at-home mum. Hell would freeze over before she even considered it. No, she was back out on the road with Mark and the band and she couldn’t be happier.
And Milo, of course, was the most beautiful baby. A half Swedish, half American little man with lots of dark hair and a definite look of his mum about him, he was going to grow up to be a stunner, just like his dad. At least, Stevie hoped so.
Mark had taken to being a dad much better than she’d thought he would. Every time she saw him and Milo together it made her fall in love with him all over again, even through the rows and the sleepless nights and the times when she could quite happily throttle him just because she was so tired and he was flat out in bed.
She loved Mark Cassidy beyond anything. He loved her back twice as much. And they both loved Milo more than life itself.
Stevie Stone had an amazing life. She really did. And it just continued to get better. She’d found that she had a natural talent as a photographer after a set of pictures she’d taken while they’d been messing around on the tour bus had impressed Dave so much he’d passed them onto a magazine he had connections with. They’d contacted her, asked for permission to use them, and then had asked her to do a photographic piece on life on the road with a rock band.
After that had been published she’d started getting ‘phone calls about her work, with a number of bands eager to work with her, and although at first she hadn’t really thought much about pursuing it further, after doing a couple more pieces for magazines and then taking the official photographs for a major rock band’s tour programme, she’d realised just how much she loved the work. She felt comfortable, she could do it and she was good at it. Very good. It was a natural talent she hadn’t realised she’d had so she was now building on that, and was fast becoming a force to be reckoned with in that area. People were sitting up and taking notice of her and she felt a great sense of achievement because of that. But she would never give up working with the band. They were her life, her family. All of them. And that’s the way she wanted it to stay, no matter what else was going on around her.
But the best thing of all, the thing that made her happier than anything else ever could was that she had her three boys beside her. The men in her life were the most important people in her world; her beautiful baby boy, her incredible teenage son and her amazing, drop-dead gorgeous husband. Did she still think about Daniel Madison? Of course she did. But that time in her life was over. It was a beautiful memory and she’d never forget what they’d had. She’d never forget him completely. But it was over.
And now, as she watched from the wings as Mark looked over to her from the stage, smiling that famous Cassidy smile that still made her stomach flip over, she knew she’d never felt happier. Or luckier. He was one hell of a man and he was all hers. No more groupies, no more sharing him and pretending she didn’t care. No more thinking about Daniel. All of that was behind her. He was hers. Mark Cassidy and Stevie Stone. Together forever. Just as it should be.
THE END.
ALSO BY MICHELLE BETHAM
No Matter What
Too Much Trouble in Paradise
Bon Voyage
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See You at the Show Page 34
