So I Married A Rockstar - Season 3

Ch. 5: Sink Or Swim

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.