As she crossed the car park of the motorway service station, Starla’s attention was drawn by the enormous double-decker coach parked in one of the longer spaces on her right.
Now that would probably have been more comfortable than the car she’d just finished hitching a ride in. Not that she could complain—when hitching a ride, you got what you were given. Still, the car had been cold and the driver hadn’t stopped talking all the way here.
But she was finally away from home, away from what was left of her family.
After Electra had fled, her parents had done everything in their power to retain control of their last remaining daughter. She’d managed to convince them she had no plans to go anywhere, that she had a course to finish, but they’d taken her car and, after she graduated, had banned her from leaving the house at all. Which was why she’d ended up sneaking out that morning at four a.m., rucksack on her back, and started hitching her way out of there.
It was what they all did, but she was unique in leaving by herself. Daisy and Juno had both run off with men, and now Electra too. Starla was the first to leave alone.
Nerve-racking, but also freeing.
As she reached the doorway to the service station, she cast another glance at the coach. It didn’t look like an ordinary coach to her. More like a tour bus of some kind. Maybe some local band had decided to stop off to pick up food. It was the main reason she’d asked the driver to drop her here—she knew these services had a KFC.
She glanced at her phone as she walked through the automated doors. A few notifications, but nothing interesting. She had been texting Electra ever since she’d left that morning, keeping her up to speed on where she was in case anything happened. Her last response had been about ten minutes ago—and had been rather mysterious.
Keep your eyes open at the services.
Starla could have understood needing to keep her wits about her while hitchhiking, but at the services? Still, she decided to drop her sister a quick text anyway.
I’m at the services, keeping my eyes open.
It was nice to know someone gave a shit. Electra was the only sister who had stayed in touch after leaving. She could understand wanting to get the hell away from there, but the complete loss of contact from her other sisters had been soul-destroying.
The KFC was open, and Starla joined the short queue. She was absolutely starving.
* * * *
Glancing at her phone again as she finished her meal, Starla could see that still there had been no response from Electra.
Oh well. She had other things to worry about. Like where it would be best to stand to hitch another ride away from there. Possibly next to the petrol station. Cars wouldn’t have got up to motorway speeds by that point.
It wasn’t until she stepped outside the service station that she saw them.
Three men stood in front of her, dressed in T-shirts and jeans, spread out so that it would be extremely difficult to pass them. And, from the way they were looking at her, it was very obvious they had no intention of letting her past.
They had been waiting for her.
Automatically, Starla’s grip tightened on her rucksack strap.
“All right, darling?” The man in the centre, ginger-haired and freckled, smirked at her. “Looking for a ride?”
“No thanks.” Starla did her best to keep her voice steady, but she knew her rapid breathing was audible.
“I think you are.” The man took a step forward, and Starla forced herself not to move. “We saw you get out of that car. You’ve got no way out of here except with us.”
“Don’t worry, sweetheart,” another one commented, a malicious grin crossing his face. “We won’t hurt you. As long as you don’t give us any trouble.”
Starla’s heart was pounding in her ears.
She’d always assumed the real danger would be from getting in the car with the wrong person, not being forced into a car. And now—
The first man took another step forward, and Starla jumped as an arm appeared around her shoulders.
“You’re wrong, mate,” said a Yorkshire-accented male voice beside her ear, a voice that sounded strangely familiar. “You’re bothering my fiancée. And if you give us any more trouble, you won’t like where this is going.”
Bothering his fiancée? What the hell?
Whoever this was, it sounded like he was her best shot at getting away from these men. Trying to look natural, Starla cast a sideways glance at him and felt her stomach flip as a mop of brown curls came into her field of vision.
That was why his voice had sounded familiar.
It was the lead singer of Torque Converter.
“Oh my God,” someone said from a few feet away. “Is that Valen Lesellane?”
Huh. So that’s his name. Whether it was his real name was open to question—she’d never met a man called Valen before—but at this point Starla was past caring.
The man in front of them folded his arms. “And what are you going to do about it, arsehole?”
“You heard her.” Valen jerked his head towards the woman who had recognised him. “I’m Valen Lesellane, and I travel with security. They’re right over there. And if you don’t fuck off right now, they’ll kick your head in.”
The man glanced over towards the tour bus, where two muscular men in black T-shirts and pants were standing on the coach steps. He opened his mouth to say something before one of his friends nudged him and pointed—several people had their phones out and were filming them.
“Well?” Valen tightened his grip around Starla’s shoulder. “Want to try?”
“Go fuck yourself.” The man gave them both the middle finger before turning to leave, his friends following him.
To Starla’s surprise, Valen didn’t release his hold.
“Good job I got to you when I did. Come on, Starla. We need to get out of here.”
Starla’s head was in a whirl. What the hell was going on?
And yet she was conscious people were still filming, and those men might still be around—and she needed a ride, whatever happened.
Before she knew what she was doing, she’d followed him to the tour bus, the security guards standing aside to let them on.
“Don’t worry, lass,” Valen said, grinning at her over his shoulder. “It’ll all be obvious in a minute.”
And he mounted the steps, leaving Starla to follow.
The interior of the tour bus was even more luxurious than it had looked from the outside. Long velvet seats lined the sides towards the back, and in the centre was a kitchen area with cooking equipment and a small fridge. The windows even had curtains. Starla had never seen anything like it.
But before she had the chance to say or do anything, Valen was in front of her, pulling her against him, and Starla gasped.
“I—”
“Shhh.” Valen darted his eyes towards the window nearest to the car park. “In case they’re watching.”
And he dipped his head and kissed her.
Memories flooded through her mind even as heat flooded through her body. The press of his body, the brush of his tongue. The regret she had felt over not staying with him, over not doing what Electra had.
Electra.
Was Electra on board too?
The bus jolted forward and Valen’s arms tightened around her, holding her steady as they began to move. Starla pulled back a little so she could look at him.
“Is Electra here?”
“Oh yeah.” Valen smiled and casually jerked a thumb upwards. “She’s upstairs with the guys. She’s the reason we found you.”
“How?”
“She told us which way you were going and that you were planning to stop here. All we had to do was get here first and be ready to pick you up.” Valen raised a knowing eyebrow and Starla shivered. “Believe me, I remembered you. Oh yeah.”
Starla was surprised by how easy it was to accept this. It was turning into that sort of a day.
But there was another question that wasn’t so easy to answer, and she wasn’t sure how best to ask it.
“Thank you for saving me.”
Valen blew his curls out of his face. “Man, am I glad I got there in time for that. This is why hitching is a bad idea.”
“I didn’t have much choice. But…fiancée?”
“It worked, didn’t it?” Valen widened his eyes innocently. “Anyway, did you see all those people filming? It’ll be great publicity. The press are going to go mad about this.”
Starla’s response was cut off by the stairway door slamming open behind her.
“Valen! What the hell did you say to those people? Did you say you were fucking engaged?”
“Oops.” Valen threw her a lopsided grin before looking over her shoulder at the angry male speaker. “Guess I forgot to run it by management. Oh well.”
He sidled past her and followed the man up the stairs, looking back at her as he reached the second step.
“Come on up. Electra’s dying to see you.”
Yes, it was definitely turning into that sort of a day.
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