Chart Toppers (Star Maker Book 3) (9 page)

She
giggled.
 
“This isn’t what I needed
your opinion on, babe, but thank you anyway.
 
There’s something else.”

He
stared at her and then took her hand in his.
 
He couldn’t resist kidding with
her.
 
“Something else?”
 
He faked a long sigh.
 
“Kit, no matter how much you want to
date other men, that’s off the table since you married me, ok?”
 
He burst out laughing.

She
giggled and shook her head as she shoved him.
 
“Yeah, I already know that.
 
That wasn’t where I was going.”

He
giggled and rubbed her knee.
 
“Sorry, had to break the tension.
 
Whatever is bugging you can’t be that big a deal, baby.
 
Talk to me.
 
We’ll figure it out together.
 
There’s always a solution Kit-Kat.”

She
sighed and shifted her eyes downward.
 
She hesitated verbalizing the situation knowing that speaking the words
would bring life to them and surely pull her out of the denial she had been in
for months.
 

She
swallowed hard and started.
 
“I’m
burnt out, Sull.
 
I don’t know if I can
look at another contract without having a breakdown.
 
It’s the nature of the consulting with
Diamond.
 
It’s all legal stuff, for
the most part.
 
Something has
changed inside.
 
It’s not me
anymore.
 
I’m miserable with it.”
 

Her
eyes met his.
 
“Don’t get me wrong, I
love all the perks, I love the company.
 
Lew and Jonathan are great.
 
My fierce loyalty is what has kept me there so many years, but I don’t
know how much longer I can do this.”
 

She
grinned, and her emerald eyes glimmered.
 
“Honestly, I’d love to be doing what I did for you guys.
 
And I’m not talking management, if I
wanted that I could take over at KMK.
 
I’m talking artist development.
 
I did a consulting call with Jonathan yesterday about it, and I loved
it, but I don’t think that’s going to be the nature of my consulting position
at Diamond.
 
I think it was a
fluke.
 

“I had
so much fun building GT from the ground up, guiding decisions to position you
guys at the top, especially music related decisions.
 
I want to do that again for other
artists.
 
I’d like to be developing
artists on a daily basis, maybe have my own label…” She shifted her gaze up and
looked like a contented, daydreaming schoolgirl.

Sully
watched her carefully and grinned.
 
He nodded, agreeing with her words, feeling a sense of contentment.
 
She had found herself, after all these
years.
 
No matter how many times he
gently pushed her toward this or all the coaxing from Joe ages ago, she was
finally stepping into it, and he couldn’t be prouder.

This
was the opportunity of a lifetime sitting right in front of them, and he
decided to seize it.
 
He stared
deeply into her eyes.
 
“So, let’s
start our own record label.
 
Babe,
you always said you wanted to build an empire.
 
We’ve already taken the first step.
We’re rebuilding KMK, and we know it’s going to be bigger and better than it
was.
 
Let’s take it a step further
and start a label.
 
Let’s do it!”
 
He reached for her hand as his steel
blue eyes sparkled with excitement.

She
took his hand and gazed into his eyes as the wheels turned in her head.
 
She could tell this wasn’t just her
dream, but his too.
 
Having a label
and a music empire with her husband was something she had always wanted.
 
He was tapping into her ultimate dream,
but her inner guidance system was stuck in the mud.
 

She
couldn’t find clarity at that moment.
 
She remained firmly affixed in neutral, unable to provide him with a
resounding yes or a vehement no.
 
As
he held fast to her hand awaiting her answer, she stared at him, speechless.

CHAPTER 5

Kit let
go of Sully’s hand and shifted her eyes away.
 
He seemed to have the innate ability to
hypnotize her with his eyes like a cat did to an innocent bird that it intended
to devour.
 

She
needed to find the answer on her own, not be swayed by him and the seduction of
her dream to grab the brass ring of having her own label and empire.
 
She took a deep breath and felt her
thoughts coming back online.
 
Relieved, her sanity returned along with a clear idea of what to do
next.

She
grinned and stroked his cheek.
 
“I
love that you want to help me make my dream come true, babe, but we can’t do
it.
 
Not because I don’t want to,
it’s just not time.”
 
She shook her
head.
 
“We can’t screw Diamond like
that.
 
You guys still need to
deliver two more albums and breaching that contract would not be a good idea.
 
Gypsy Tango is keeping Diamond at the
top of their game right now.
 
I don’t
know what I’m going to do about my consulting position, though.
 
Should I resign?
 
Ugh.
 
My head is a mess.
 
I feel confused.”
 

He
grabbed her hand again and held it patiently as he looked at her.
 
“Why are you confused?”

She
sighed.
 
“I feel so happy when I’m
working with you guys in and out of the studio.
 
I also found that I felt happy playing
again like I did at Nana’s.
 
Writing
with you feels good but scary at the same time.
 
It puts me in such a vulnerable position
that I’m not entirely sure I’m comfortable with.”

She
shifted back into a pleasant memory and smiled as her emerald eyes danced with
excitement.
 
“I felt so elated
seeing you guys blow up over the years.
 
I’d love to do that with other artists.
 
I know I can spot talent a mile away.
 
Lately, I’ve felt so disconnected from
my work at Diamond.
 
Contract after
contract…
 
I dread looking at them
now.
 
I want to be creating.
 
Whether it’s songs, albums or superstar
artists.”

A wide
grin spread across Sully’s face.
 
“You have to do it, Kit.
 
You
have to follow your heart.”

She
looked at him, her green eyes wide and innocent.
 
“What would you do if you were me?”

He felt
his heart melt seeing her in such a vulnerable state trusting his opinion
implicitly.
 
It was a rare occurrence.
 
She didn’t put herself into these kinds
of positions often.
 
He felt an even
greater responsibility to help her.
 
He wanted to do everything in his power to make the situation better and
protect her interests.
 

He
leaned forward and stared deeply into her eyes.
 
“If I were you?
 
If I were you, I’d resign, Kit.
 
And I’d produce GT’s new album plus put
my feelers out about new talent.
 
Maybe see if there was anyone out there right now that I liked enough to
consider developing.
 
If there were,
I would start a development department at KMK completely dedicated to working
hand in hand with the management side like you were saying.
 
Oh yeah, and I would play, write and
compose constantly.”

She
shook her head, still feeling uncertain.
 
“If I do this, will you support my decision?”

He snickered
thinking the fact that she was even asking was cute.
 
“Of course, babe.
 
When haven’t I and when wouldn’t I?
 
I married you, remember?
 
That’s part of the deal. I’ll have your
back until death does us part.
 
You
have my full support, always.”

She
nodded and grabbed his hand.
 
“I’m
scared, babe.”

He
shrugged his shoulders and grinned as he stroked her long red hair.
 
“That’s pretty normal.
 
If you weren’t, I’d be concerned because
this is a big shift for you. If you’re not scared, it means you’re not dreaming
big enough, so be happy with yourself, baby.
 
You’re pushing out of your comfort
zone.
 
It’s gonna feel awkward and
scary—it’s supposed to.
 
Do
you know how petrified I was before our first big arena show?
 
Holy crap, I was shaking so much; I could
barely walk onto that stage.
 
I
puked into a trash can on the side of the stage while the rest of the guys were
taking their places easily with no worries.
 

“But
the minute I was in front of that mic and those fans were chanting our name and
dancing to the music, I forgot about how scared I was.
 
It became fun.
 
It became exciting!”
 
He held her face in his hands.
 
“Can you imagine what would have
happened if I would have let my fear keep me on the side of that stage?”

She chuckled.
 
“I don’t even wanna think about it.
 
Was I there that night?”

He
shook his head.
 
“No.
 
This was the first tour.
 
It was one of the shows at the beginning
of the tour when we were opening for Mötley Crüe, I think.
 
You weren’t at that show.
 
I was too embarrassed to mention it…
until now.”

She
stroked his cheek.
 
“Thank you for
sharing that with me, honey.
 
You
just made my decision clear.”

He
looked at her, his steel blue eyes dancing with hope. “And?”

She
breathed a sigh of relief.
 
Her
answer was crystal clear.
 
“And I’m
going to resign tomorrow at my meeting with Lew.
 
Turn over my keys, my badge, the whole
nine.”

He
kissed her hand and grinned.
 
“Trust
me, babe, it will all be worth it in the end.
 
This time you’re doing what’s best for
you, not somebody else.”

She
nodded and grinned.
 
“Yeah, you’re
right.
 
Y’know what?”

He
gazed into her eyes.
 
“What?”

She
giggled.
 
“It feels fucking good.”

He
chuckled and pulled her to him.
 
“That’s my girl.”

Kit sat
at her desk frantically trying to catch up on her letter of resignation and any
last minute details that needed to be tied up before her meeting at Diamond.
 

A call
with her attorney, Ron, earlier that morning yielded unsavory details regarding
Dante that she wished she wouldn’t have learned.
 
The news was unfortunate.
 
Chances of her recovering forty million
dollars from Dante in a civil suit were slim to none because of the criminal
charges against him.
 

He was
facing several years in prison.
 
As
the investigation continued, things looked increasingly bleak for him.
 
Kit agreed to testify and had an
appointment to meet with two federal officers at the Federal Building in
Westwood the following week.
 
She
was dreading it.
 

What
she was looking forward to, though, was finding a way to take Blake Templeton
down.
 
They had been unable to tie
him directly to anything related to the KMK meltdown.
 

Being
the slippery weasel that he was, he had come out of the whole mess smelling
like a rose, completely unscathed, engineering Dante as the quintessential fall
guy.
 
She knew going up against
Templeton, took a different strategy, and she had some ideas she planned to
share with Lew, knowing he would share her sentiment.
 
Everyone had loved Paul Templeton but
his son, Blake, was an entirely different story.
 

As Kit
left for Diamond Records, she entered the depths of introspection, easily
recalling all of her years of service at a label she adored with leadership
that inspired the music industry maven she had become. She felt saddened that,
after all these years, the relationship was coming to an end.
 
She sighed, willing herself to keep the
tears at bay and stay professional.
 
This was clearly an opportunity to start a new chapter in her life, one
that felt entirely different.

She
pulled into the parking lot and headed over to the executive parking spaces
only to realize that all of them were blank and normal cars were parked
there.
 
No more names for anyone.
 
She frowned.
 
She noticed Lew’s car parked in an
unmarked space over in the corner and found a space close-by.
 

She wondered
what was going on as she strolled into the lobby.
 
She waved to Cara as she headed past the
glass security door and to the elevators that zipped her up to the executive
floor in seconds.
 
She walked off
the floor and headed over to her former assistant’s desk.

Giselle
greeted her with a friendly smile.
 
“Hey, Kit.
 
You’re early.”

She
nodded.
 
“Yeah. Remind me, is my
meeting with Lew in his office?”

“No.
 
You’re meeting in the boardroom.
 
Jonathan will be joining you at some
point.”

“Jonathan
Diamond?
 
Our COO?”

“Yes.”

Kit
grinned.
 
She hadn’t seen Jonathan
in a while.
 
The last time was
during the initial discovery meeting to get KMK back on track.
 
They very rarely crossed paths, but when
they did it was always favorable.
 
Their
call the week before went well, and she genuinely liked him.
 
He was Lew’s eldest son—very
handsome and very sharp, a chip off the ol’ block in a lot of ways.
 

She
nodded thoughtfully.
 
“Good.
 
Glad to hear it.”

“It’s
about time you head over there.
 
Good luck, Kit.”

She looked
at Giselle and frowned.
 
“Luck?
 
Do I need luck for this meeting?
 
What’s going on, G?”
 
She perched on the front of her desk.

Giselle
sighed and shifted in her seat.
 
“Kit, you know about the re-org, obviously.
 
I’m working for Daniel temporarily, but I
don’t know how everything will work out.
 
They’re still making major changes and big overhauls.
 
It’s all confidential right now.”

She
grinned and reached out to take her hand.
 
“It will be fine, G.
 
You
won’t lose your job.
 
I’ll make sure
of that.
 
You’re a fantastic
assistant.
 
Anyone on the executive
floor would be happy to have you permanently if Daniel can’t.”

Giselle
felt relieved and smiled.
 
“Thanks
for that, Kit.
 
Hope everything
works in your favor.”

Kit
nodded as she walked away and muttered under her breath, “me too.”
 
She wasn’t so convinced.
 
The vibe on the executive floor was
wrought with tension and invisible pressure that didn’t exist the last time she
had been there.
 
She walked into the
boardroom and found Lew making a drink.
 
He glanced over at her.
 
“Hey, Kit-Kat.
 
Want your
usual?”

She
chuckled.
 
“I would love it.
 
I take it I’m going to need it?
 
Lots of rumors floating around about the
re-org on this floor.”

He
shrugged his shoulders and didn’t respond.
 
He slid the drink to her and took a seat across from her.
 
“So tell me, Kit, how’s life treating
ya?
 
How’s your platinum songwriting
husband?”

She
laughed.
 
“Life’s pretty good.
 
Sully, well Sully is great as usual.
 
Writing more chart toppers.”

He
leaned back and watched her carefully.
 
“They’re back in the studio in a matter of weeks, correct?”