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carried in the leads and cables they’d needed for the gig.
    “Maybe you should get yourself some self respect, Stevie.   Then Mark might actually start treating you with some.”
    Stevie stared at her as she walked off, cradling her baby bump and obviously on the search for a seat.   Ava really had no interest in the band, she just wanted to keep an eye on Billy.   Stevie had never clicked with her, never really spoken to her because they had nothing in common, and she tried not to let Ava’s last comment get to her because it usually took a lot to get to Stevie.   She’d developed a thick skin over the years, she’d had to.   But sometimes some things got through.
    “You and her don’t get on, do you?” Dave Deacon, the band’s British-born manager said, standing next to Stevie as she turned her attention back to Mark, who was now back on the main stage and playing to the crowd in the only way Mark Cassidy knew how.
    Dave Deacon was forty-eight years old and a bit of a veteran as far as band management was concerned.   With his dark hair, good looks and a body that belied his years he could quite easily have been a rock star himself but he’d taken the route of music management instead.   And he was one of the best in the industry, especially in the rock world.   Black Rock Diamond had wanted him on board the second he’d shown an interest, and he’d been as good as his reputation, guiding them to the top, giving them all the right advice, as well as trying to make sure nobody went too far off the rails.   A lot of their success was down to Dave, but there’d always been something about him that Stevie had never quite got.  
    “Whatever makes you think that, Dave?” Stevie asked, a touch sarcastically.
    Dave ignored her.   “They’re incredible, aren’t they?”
    She looked at him for a second.   “Yeah.   They are.”
    “These stadium gigs are going to be amazing,” Dave went on.   “Do you think they’re ready?”
    She looked at him again.   “What the hell are you asking me for?   Surely it’s your job to decide that so, are you trying to make some kind of fucking point here, Dave?”
    “Mark.”
    “What about him?” Stevie asked, looking back out at the stage as Mark caught her eye, throwing her the Cassidy smile.
    “He needs to be focused.   He’s started to go off on tangents, Stevie.   He’s started to become a little more unpredictable.”
    “And that’s my problem because...?”
    “You make him crazy.”
    She turned to look at him, right at him.   “He’s a crazy bastard without any help from me, Dave.”
    Dave stared back at her, folding his arms.   And then he just walked away, leaving Stevie wondering what the hell had just gone on there.   And yet, at the same time, knowing exactly what he’d meant.

 
    CHAPTER SIX
     
    Samantha Madison adored everything about the life she had and the world she lived in.   She had a wonderful, loving and extremely successful husband, magnificent homes in various countries and a standing in the local community that made her one of the most popular and prevalent women in the area.   She loved the glamorous, jet-set lifestyle she and Daniel afforded – the holidays, the expensive hotels, the staff that meant she never had to drive herself anywhere.   She didn’t even have to cook if she didn’t feel like it.  
    Daniel gave her everything she wanted and she’d never had to work a day in her life.   Not for money anyway, because Samantha worked extremely hard in other areas.   She ran the local Women’s Institute, sat on the parish council, did a lot of work for charity.   She was constantly busy and never bored.   People always asked why she and Daniel had never had children, but the simple answer was that they just hadn’t wanted any.   They were both simply too busy and Daniel was far too ambitious to let himself be distracted by fatherhood.   She may be over forty now but she’d never heard her biological