Lying in Shadows

by Sofia Grey

  She recognised Jordan from the TM-Tech website. He looked like a younger and more striking version of Thaddeus.

  Jordan climbed onto the stage, microphone in hand, and waited for everyone to quiet. He grinned at the gathered crowd and began to speak. “I’m only going to say a few words; you don’t need to worry. Thanks to everyone for coming today. When Kate said she wanted to throw a small party... well, I wasn’t expecting this.”

  Laughter rippled through the audience.

  Jordan went on. “As you all know, we’re gathered here today to celebrate the marriage of Jon and Anita. Come here, you two.”

  A familiar-looking, handsome man stepped up, his wife clutching his hand. Tall and pretty, she blushed fit to burst.

  “Jon Craigowan, the racing driver,” said Marcus. That was why Marianne recognised him. She’d seen his face in the news more than once.

  “Shouldn’t you be looking for Louisa?” She kept her voice low.

  “I’d rather stay with you.”

  God. He couldn’t keep saying things like that. She forced herself to move to the right, crowding Aiden’s space. He politely moved over to make room for her, and Marianne focused on the stage.

  Jon said a few words about the happy couple, kissed his wife—to many cheers and whistles—and handed the mic back to Jordan.

  One thing Marianne hadn’t factored in tonight was the overabundance of lovey-dovey couples all around. It was a wedding party. Love was everywhere, while her heart crumbled around the edges. Wonderful.

  A waitress approached, a tray of champagne glasses in her hands, and Marianne claimed one. A double vodka would be preferable, but this would do for the moment.

  The crowd parted, and Marianne saw another familiar face near the stage. That was Charlie Jones, his blond, spiky hair instantly recognisable. Was he one of Jon’s celebrity friends? Did he have news of AJ? Her heart beat faster.

  Jordan proposed a toast to Jon and Anita. Marianne drank to their health, and her mind wandered. She snapped her attention back when Jordan spoke again. “One last thing. We are privileged to have a very special band performing tonight—one you may all have heard of, even if you come from Rhosneigr. Led by our neighbour and good friend Alex Hamilton, ladies and gentlemen, I give you Event Horizon.”

  What the holy fuck?

  If she’d been smacked on the head with a plank of wood, it couldn’t have stunned her any more. Her knees wobbled, and she grabbed the nearest thing—Aiden—to stay upright. Maybe there was something in the champagne, and she was hallucinating?

  No. Jordan said it was his neighbour. AJ lived next door? There was gossip about him living in the countryside, and this was pretty remote.

  Perspiration dotted her forehead, and her heart thudded so fiercely, it hurt. She rubbed her chest. Where was he? There was Charlie, and Mick settled behind the drums. A smaller kit than he normally used. A girl with her back to the crowd picked up the bass guitar. A chick playing bass with them? Weird, but hey.

  Jordan mentioned AJ by name. He had to be here.

  Marianne took a step forwards, easing through the crowd, and there he was. AJ. Standing tall and proud, and slipping a guitar strap around his neck. He was thinner than he used to be, his hair longer, and he sported a goatee instead of being clean-shaven. Same sparkling eyes. Same beautiful lips.

  Tears pricked at her eyes, and she raised a hand to her mouth, happy to watch him for the moment. He lived here. Next door. And he was playing again. He looked sober. He looked fucking amazing.

  Her AJ. Nothing could stop them now.

  She dodged and weaved her way to the very front, her gaze fixed on him.

  ****

  Alex waited until Jordan stepped down from the stage, and then whispered the count in to “Night Train”—a crowdpleaser. He could play this in his sleep, so why did he feel so strung out? There were eight bars to the intro. Eight bars for him to get his head out of his ass and ready to sing.

  His fingers danced over the strings, picking the right notes with ease. They knew what to do. His mouth was so dry, he wouldn’t be able to sing. Hell, he couldn’t even talk through the lyrics. He was going to fuck up. Black spots danced before his eyes, and he forced his lungs to inflate. Note to self—remember to breathe.

  Mick nodded as he hit the snare drum. He looked okay. Alex swung his gaze to Sylvie, standing on his left. She thrummed at the bass, her lips a tight line and concentration written all over her face. Fuck. She was good. Not an ounce of nerves.

  One bar before he sang. Jesus. This intro was going to kill him.

  This was his job. He was a rock singer. He was not going to die, and he was not going to fuck up this gig.

  He swallowed, sucked in a great gulp of air, and sang.

  Okay. He wouldn’t win any prizes for his voice on the first bars, but the huge grin on Sylvie’s face helped. She was enjoying it. She was really loving this. Charlie winked at him, and Mick looked proud.

  Alex’s chest eased. The words flowed. He hit the high notes, and then dropped into the chorus. He could do this. He would do this.

  He dragged his gaze up and scanned the crowd. Jordan and Kate were dancing. Jon and Anita stared with matching expressions of utter delight. The woman at the front looked familiar.

  She looked like Maz, but model-slim and with short hair. Christ on a bike. It was Maz.

  Alex almost faltered, but he held the chorus as he gazed into her eyes. She smiled and blew a kiss, and he did a double take. What the fuck was she doing here? How did she know he’d be playing?

  The song finished, and Alex leaned into the mic. “Thank you, Jordan, for the introduction. It’s a great honour to play for you all tonight, and let me add my congratulations to Jon and Anita.”

  There was a ripple of applause. Alex flashed his cocky AJ grin around the tent and then signalled them to quiet. “On a serious note, this performance is in memory of my late brother, Sam.” He waited until he had their full attention. “But our next song is for Anita.”

  He straightened the guitar position and started to play “Aurora”. With Maz watching, he was note perfect for the first time, his nerves dissolving like sugar in hot coffee.

  He dedicated the next two songs to Kate and Jordan, as they played the Oasis numbers, and then took a moment to enjoy the applause. This felt good. He’d forgotten how good.

  Acknowledging the cheers, he looked at Maz and spoke softly into the mic. “This next one is for you. You know why.” He started to sing “Another Day” and saw her scrub at her eyes. If they ever had a song, it was this one. He put his heart and soul into the singing, wrestled the finest tones ever from his PRS, and seemed to hold her spellbound.

  The first set flew by, and before he knew it, they were taking a break. There were ten songs planned for the second set, and Sylvie was doing brilliantly. He never doubted her. They sounded fucking awesome tonight.

  While the others went to grab drinks, he had something else in mind.

  Maz.

  She waited for him at the side of the stage, her eyes shining. Alex held out a hand, she took it, and he led her out of the tent through a side entrance. It could have been a trailer for a cheesy romantic flick. The hero reclaiming his lover.

  Outside, in the semi-darkness, he took her other hand and stared into her face. “I thought I’d dreamed you into existence. My little Maz, all grown up.”

  Her smile was familiar, even if everything else about her looked different. “I didn’t know you lived here.”

  How did she know he’d be here? Her words made no sense, but talk was overrated. “Maz,” he whispered, “I really need to kiss you.”

  ****

  Marcus stared in disbelief as AJ dedicated a song to Marianne. It was bad enough she’d ignored Marcus to push to the front of the crowd, but now she was only focused on this guy. Marcus knew who Event Horizon were, of course, and he probably had most of their albums, but how did Marianne know the lead singer?

  Marcus pushed forwards, t
o follow her, and bumped into Louisa.

  “At last.” She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him on the lips, but he shrugged out of her embrace. It made him feel like a piece of shit, but his priority was Marianne. Where the fuck did she just go?

  “Marcus. Are you okay, baby?” Louisa’s hands were on his forearms, her eyes staring up at him. “Aren’t Event Horizon great? I didn’t tell you about them. I wanted it to be a surprise.”

  He snorted—the only sound he was capable of making. Yes. It was a giant fucking surprise all right.

  “Jordan’s around somewhere. Let’s go and find him.”

  Let’s not.

  “Ted’s already in bed, but you can see him in the morning.” She reached up for another kiss. “We have all night to enjoy first, though.”

  He was on the verge of saying something rude when reality smacked him in the face. Louisa didn’t know. She’d no idea of Marcus’s plans, because he hadn’t told her yet. It was official. He was a giant, steaming pile of shit that didn’t deserve to have this beautiful woman clinging to him, and smiling as though he was everything she wanted.

  Marcus kept his eyes open, still trying to see Marianne. There she was, right at the front, leaning on the stage. He didn’t like the way she was fixated on AJ.

  Louisa tugged at him, but he stood his ground. “Let’s watch them from here,” he said, grabbing drinks from a passing waitress. The next three songs were torture. Marianne didn’t budge, and Louisa chattered on, oblivious to his mood. How could she not notice? It felt like a giant fucking beacon flashing on his head. Cheater. Maybe she didn’t care either way? It would certainly make the separation easier.

  The music stopped. The band put their instruments down, and Marianne was gone.

  Marcus leapt to action. “There’s something I need to do.” Ignoring Louisa, he pushed through the crowd to the side entrance and outside.

  There was Marianne. With AJ.

  She was in his arms. AJ was kissing her like he owned her.

  Snippets of conversations teased him. Marianne said her first love was a singer, and they wrote some songs together. They had one perfect summer, and if he came back for her, she’d go to him. She talked about meeting up with her ex.

  Oh fuck. Her ex was AJ.

  Marcus couldn’t watch any more. He turned on his heel and stumbled away. AJ was rich, a rock god, famous and loved across the globe. Marcus was a poor choice in comparison. How could Marcus compete?

  He headed for the house. He needed to drink himself into oblivion, and the sooner the better. He knew where Jordan kept his malt whiskies, and selected a half-empty bottle from the collection. Now he needed somewhere quiet. Somewhere he couldn’t hear the band. He went back to the rental car. It was the only place he could think, to get any privacy.

  After swigging a good amount of the malt, straight from the bottle, he sent Marianne a text.

  I guess AJ is your ex. Please don’t do this. I love you. M x

  There was no reply. She was probably otherwise engaged. With AJ.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Alex had fire running through his veins. His voice was strong, his fingers confident on the guitar neck. Maz was there. She looked so sophisticated and sexy. He’d no idea where she was planning to spend the night, but he intended to change her mind.

  He sang, and she watched, standing a few feet away. Almost close enough to touch.

  Two numbers to go, and he signalled a change to the band. Charlie looked cautious. Mick wary. Alex took a swig of iced water, calmed his breathing, and spoke into the mic. “I’ve been working on some new material recently, and I want to play you one of the new songs.” He turned to Sylvie and muttered, “In Your Arms”. She looked alarmed, but he knew she was good.

  The song was raw and barely practiced, but he wrote it with Maz in mind, and he sang it to her with every ounce of emotion he could squeeze out.

  He played the final, haunting notes, and there was a stunned silence before the audience cheered and applauded. He bowed to Maz, loving the pure delight on her face. What were the chances of her being here to listen to it being played for the first time? Fate, karma—whatever. As if he needed a sign that he was about to get back with the best thing in his life.

  He nodded to the band. They played the last two songs, played “Another Day” again as an encore, and then he was free to go. He thanked the audience, complimented the band, leaped off the stage, and grabbed Maz by the hand.

  ****

  Sylvie couldn’t believe the gig was over. If she’d known what a buzz it would be to play live, she’d have pushed Matt to form a band with her years ago. She glanced at the audience while she played, determined to remember all the details. She wanted to hoard every second of her memory of this amazing night. She’d imagined Charlie and Mick would be prima donnas, but that was rubbish. They were nice guys, who genuinely wanted her to play well.

  And now it was done. She sat at a large table with Rico at her side, his arm resting across the back of her chair. Charlie and Mick were there, with Kate, Jordan, and another guy from TM-Tech—Aiden—while the party carried on. She hadn’t seen Louisa yet, and Alex was missing too. This time, though, Sylvie didn’t worry anything was wrong with him. He’d been dynamite on stage. He was probably catching up with people.

  The background music was now supplied by a DJ, and a disco beat thrummed on the air. Kate laughed at something, and then spoke over the noise. “Where’s Alex vanished to?” She waved in the air. “With the woman in the black, lacy dress—one of the TM-Tech people. I forget her name.” She was slightly drunk, and Jordan draped his arm around her shoulders.

  “Do you mean Marianne?” asked Sylvie. Rico and Aiden stared at her. “She stood at the front. It looked as though he dedicated the new song to her. Do they know each other?”

  “It was Maz,” Mick said at the same time, and knocked his knuckles against Charlie’s. “We were having a little bet. I thought it was her; Charlie wasn’t so sure.”

  Sylvie frowned. Wasn’t Maz the girl he mentioned? The one he was meeting next week? His girl from years ago?

  Rico leaned forwards. “Marianne or Maz?”

  “Same person.” Charlie grinned, his eyes crinkling in the corners. “Marianne and Joni, her sister, were our first two groupies. Their dad named them after his favourite singers.” He took a long swig of beer and smacked his lips, then must have realised everyone stared at him. “What? Oh right. They lived next door to AJ, and always had their eye on him as the main prize. They weren’t too fussy, though. Sam was always a good runner up.” He winked.

  Sylvie leaned against Rico, feeling more confused by the minute. So Marianne was Maz, Alex’s past love and now Marcus’s mistress. Did Alex know she was one and the same?

  “Right pair of slappers, if you know what I mean.” Mick joined in. “But when you’re young and off your head, you don’t care. It was a long time ago.”

  She couldn’t help the shocked laugh that escaped. “Don’t say you all slept with her. With Maz?” She meant it as a joke, but Charlie pulled a face at her words.

  “Not quite all of us.” Charlie looked ruefully at Mick. “It was usually a tossup between AJ and Sam. As I understand it, Joni was having an affair with Sam, while she was engaged to AJ. She got pregnant and finished with AJ. She claimed it was Sam’s baby, but he told her to fuck off. So, she went back to AJ and found him consoling himself with Maz. After that, she had an abortion and told AJ it was his baby. Fuck knows who the father really was. There were rumours of one of the roadies too. Those chicks really screwed AJ over. It’s no wonder he went off the rails.”

  Wait... What? Sylvie tried to untangle the torrent of information and gave up. “I’m confused. What happened to Marianne? I mean Maz.” It was impossible to think of her squeaky-clean boss being a rock groupie.

  Charlie ran a hand through his blond spikes. “He kicked Maz into touch when he tried to make up with Joni, so she turned to Sam. It was the summer of reve
nge fucks. She was trouble. Both sisters were.”

  It felt like ice dripping down Sylvie’s spine. “Jesus. Did he know they were both sleeping with his brother?”

  “I never said anything. Pretty sure Sam didn’t,” added Mick. “AJ was fucked up enough without that.”

  Charlie said, “Me either. Besides, it’s ancient history. I’m choosier now.”

  Ancient history repeating itself. Sylvie felt sick. Marianne had no qualms about having an affair with a married man, and wrecked Alex once before. God knew what she was capable of. “One thing really puzzles me.” Sylvie stared at Charlie, then Mick. “Alex is your friend. So why the hell didn’t you stop him going off with her tonight? Didn’t it occur to you to do something? You’ve already laughed about how she screwed him over. Fine friends you are.”

  Charlie switched his gaze to the beer bottle in front of him. “That’s it. We didn’t recognise her. For Christ’s sake, it must be ten years since we saw her. I think she was at the funeral, but, man... We were all fucked that day.”

  “So what are you going to do about it?”

  Charlie glanced at Mick, who squirmed too. “Seriously?”

  “Hey, Lou.” Jordan saved Charlie from having to answer, when Louisa walked up to the table.

  Tears shimmered in her eyes, and Sylvie sat up straight. What happened now?

  “Jordan, please help me.” Louisa wrung her hands together. “I can’t find Marcus. Have you seen him? Any of you?”

  Jordan glanced up and down the table, but nobody spoke up. “I saw him before Event Horizon played, but not since.” He stood and guided Louisa to sit on his chair. “Have you checked in the house?”

  “Of course.” She pressed her fingers into the corners of her eyes. “He ducked outside during the break, and I followed. I saw him staring at Alex, and then I lost him. That was ages ago.”

  Alex was outside with Marianne, so what did Marcus see? Sylvie had a bad feeling about this.