Chart Toppers (Star Maker Book 3) Read online

  Giselle shrugged her shoulders. “Let me tell you what I’ve got and we can go from there. For the past two weeks, the same two reporters from Star Magazine and The National Enquirer have been hitting me up. They’re asking for our camp to comment on Sully’s alleged illegitimate child with some girl he apparently was involved with during the ‘Dangerous Curves’ tour.

  “They want to leak the story but they’re having trouble confirming his side or establishing credibility from the girl. That’s where I’ve come in. I keep telling them we have no comment. Because of that, they refuse to leak it, luckily. They’re afraid we’ll sue them.”

  Kit nodded, struggling to remain calm. “Good. You did the right thing there.”

  “And then I got a call last week from this attorney, Arielle Gibbs. Apparently she’s representing the girl who’s making this claim, and she wants a meeting with Sully and his attorney to settle. I got a second call from her this morning.”

  Kit didn’t like how the scenario was unfolding. “You haven’t talked to her aside from taking the messages? You don’t know what the terms are or how much this girl is asking for?”

  Giselle shook her head. “Kit, I didn’t even know if it was true. I’ve only known you and Sully as a monogamous couple. Are you telling me that there’s maybe a possibility that this is true?”

  Kit went into a daze sadly recalling those six excruciating months they had been apart like it was yesterday. It was a part of her life that she never wanted to repeat, and she was confident he didn’t either.

  She pulled herself back into the present moment and met Giselle’s wide eyes. “Yes, unfortunately. It’s possible, G. Do me a favor and get the facts from this attorney. Tell her you’re my associate. Poke around to see if she knows I’m Sully’s wife. If she does, that could be sticky, but if she doesn’t, we’ll be good. Also, poke around with the tabs, see if you can find out where they got this info from. If they give you any trouble at all, tell them we’re going to sue their asses for libel and slander if they even think of printing anything.”

  Giselle nodded. “I’ll get on it, Kit. Are you back out to the studio?”

  She sighed. She had no idea how she would concentrate on the session now. “Yeah. I noticed the guys come in as we were talking. Call me on the bat phone. This is the top priority for today. I’ll take them out of session if we have to in order to get this resolved as quickly and quietly as possible. Discretion is key.”

  “I understand.”

  Kit got up and started heading for the door when Giselle called out to her again. She stopped and glanced over at her. “Yeah?”

  Giselle sighed and gave her a sympathetic look. “I’m sorry about this mess.”

  She forced a grin, admiring Giselle’s thoughtfulness and compassion, trying to make her feel better for a mess that neither of them were responsible for. “Thanks, G.”

  Kit went into the kitchen, grabbed a new pack of cigarettes that was lying on the counter and lit one up. She shoved the pack into the pocket of her hooded sweatshirt and headed out to the studio.

  She walked in, passed the control room where Fred and Sully were engaged in conversation without pause and immediately headed into the lounge where she poured herself a double scotch on the rocks. She took a large gulp, lit up another cigarette and headed back into the control room to find Sully sitting in her chair.

  He looked up at her and grinned. “Hey, babe.” He stood up, pulled out the chair for her and leaned forward to kiss her.

  Still grappling with the news delivered only a half hour ago by Giselle, she went cold and pulled back. She moved her face quickly to the right, leaving Sully’s lips to land on her left cheek. “Hey,” she murmured and took her seat.

  He frowned and took a moment to regroup, confused by her chilly reception. He leaned forward. “I think our session is going to be great today. The guys sound really good, and they’re totally fired up. We may even be able to finish in the next few days.”

  She kept her attention staring forward at the boards, making adjustments with the knobs in front of her. “Great.” She refused to look at him for fear that all of her emotions would come pouring out. She prayed he would just leave her alone, but that didn’t happen.

  Sully shook his head again, trying desperately to figure out what was going on. He leaned forward again, speaking in a hushed tone. “Is everything ok, babe? Are you ok?”

  She couldn’t hold back any longer. She felt like a ticking time bomb, and he had just triggered her. She spun around and stared at him, her green eyes a sordid mixture of betrayal, disappointment, and anger. Her lowered tone was harsh and sharp. “No, and no! And I do not want to talk about it in this studio. Are we clear?”

  His eyes widened, taken aback by the wild look in her eyes and the tone of her voice. He swallowed hard and nodded. “Yes. Is there anything I can do for you right now?”

  As she looked up at him, her eyes narrowed. “Do your fucking job, Sully Foxx. Get in the live room with the guys now and give me the best vocals you have, like your life depended on it. No bullshit! I have no tolerance for it. Not today.”

  Once Sully had found his way back into the live room and was safe behind the glass, Fred glanced over at Kit, who was chain-smoking and nursing her glass of scotch. He knew something was terribly wrong. She was off in a way he had never seen. “Hey, Kit. You ok?”

  She looked at him and tried to force a grin, completely unsuccessful in her attempt. “I’ll be ok, Fred. Thanks for asking. Let’s make the best out of this session, shall we? Remind me, what song are we finishing up today?”

  “’Made to Love You.’ Lead vocals and backing vocals primarily. We’re going to need you in the booth with the guys today on backing. We got Ria and Debra two days ago, but you had a meeting. Bryan needs to clean up his keyboards a bit. We got the rhythm section and Jimmy yesterday.”

  Kit shut her eyes for a moment to keep herself in check. She was feeling those emotions coming up again. The song ‘Made to Love You’ was a song that Sully had written recently. It was about their relationship and how much he adored her. This was not the time she wanted to be working on this song, especially the vocals.

  She would have to watch him sing it to her for the next hour at the least. She took a long drag on her cigarette and stared at him. He stared back at her through the glass and gave her a nod and sweet grin. She remained stoic.

  Her voice was flat when she spoke to Fred. “I want a run through first. Start the playback.” And they were off and running.

  After the playback had finished, she glanced over at Fred. “Let’s do another take of Bryan’s keyboards. I think he’ll only need one more, and he should nail it. Once we get that, then we’ll work with Sully on lead vocals. We’ll save backing vocals until the end.”

  “Got it, Kit.”

  She leaned forward and got on the mic. “Bryan, you’re up. Guys, take five.” She watched as they headed out of the live room and spread out into the control room, the lounge or headed outside.

  She kept her eyes trained on Bryan and once he was set; they started. She struggled not to think about the bomb that had gone off in her personal life before this session. She wanted it to go away. She knew the only way she would be ok would be to throw herself into the process in front of her, making this album the best it could be.

  She was so intently focused on Bryan as he played that she didn’t notice Sully standing behind her. He started massaging her shoulders silently. He knew her ears were trained on Bryan’s playing, and this was not the time to try to find out what had made her so upset.

  He waited patiently for the song to end and gain her acknowledgment. He was disappointed when it didn’t come, and she jumped on the mic, giving Bryan instructions on what needed to be tweaked. He sighed, turned around, grabbed an acoustic guitar that was lying on the couch and took a seat. He sat and strummed quietly as he watched her.

  After Bryan’s second take, Kit got on the mic and gave him a proud grin. “We got
it, Bry. You’re good.”

  Fred turned around and looked at Sully. “You’re up, man.”

  He frowned. “Aren’t we doing more background vocals today with Kit?”

  Fred nodded. “Yep, later, but doing your lead vocals first.”

  He nodded and shrugged his shoulders. “I’ll do my best.”

  Kit stared at him while Fred cued-up playback. He stared back at her, not knowing if he should smile or frown. Playback started seconds later, and he was relieved when it broke the tension.

  Sully was only a few measures into the song when Kit let out a frustrated sigh. “Stop tracking, Fred, he’s flat.” She got on the mic. “Sully, I need you to get on top of the note. You’re flat. Again, please, from the top.”

  She stared at him, listening intently for the gold she wanted to hear. Once again in the same troubled section, she asked Fred to stop and got on the mic. She was starting to lose her patience, but didn’t want it to show. She did her best to keep her voice calm. “Sully, please, push to hit that note. You can do better than that. Show me what you got.”

  He wondered why she was pushing him so hard, but dismissed it, figuring she was probably heard something he wasn’t. Luckily, for his sake, he hit the note in the way she was looking for, and she left him alone. From that point forward, the session seemed to go more smoothly.

  She couldn’t deny it even though she wanted to. By the end of the last take, she was grinning from ear to ear. She had temporarily put the awful personal explosion behind her and found herself sucked into the music and Sully’s performance. His compelling words hit her right in the heart. He sang them with such feeling, triggering a flood of precious moments they had shared over the years. She felt so completely loved by him, she quickly forgot about the past. Deep in her spirit, she realized they could triumph over this setback. They were rock solid. Nothing could tear them apart.

  The song ended, and she leaned forward to speak into the mic. “Ok, Sull, we got it. You’re good, babe. Nice job!”

  He smiled and practically leaped out of the live room and back into the control room, making a beeline for her. She stood up about and was about to wrangle the band to get into the live room todo background vocals, when he pounced on her and enveloped her in his embrace so quickly; she couldn’t escape. She felt herself give in to it and give back to it, getting lost for a wistful moment.

  He then pulled away slightly to gaze into her eyes. “You ok?”

  She stared at him and paused. “I don’t know, Sull. I can’t answer that right now. Let’s get our work done, ok?”

  He sighed. “Alright, alright, but I wanna talk to you after this. I wanna know what’s going on.”

  She pulled away completely and stared at him. “Oh, trust me, you will.” He raised his eyebrows, not liking her response.

  She headed into the lounge to fetch the rest of the band. They all headed for the live room with her, putting on their headphones. They got into place standing around one microphone. This was the effect she wanted for the song. They had done it on the album in other songs, and it turned out well. She grinned, standing there with them. She looked over at Fred and gave him the high sign. Seconds later the song started.

  The process hadn’t been as smooth as she had envisioned. They were on their fourth take. Kit hadn’t liked the vocals blends on the three previous takes. This one seemed to be fairing better. She was pleased and had temporarily forgotten what had happened earlier in the day, until she saw Fred reach for the phone in the studio toward the end of the song. It threw her off slightly.

  She looked at him. “That sounded good from out here, Fred. How’s it sounding in there?”

  He stared at her. “Kit, G called. She said it was urgent, some information you were expecting.”

  Kit sighed and took her headphones off. She looked at the band. “Hey guys, hang out for a few, ok?”

  She walked into the control room and looked at Fred. “Thanks for the message. I’ll go up there in a minute. Are we close with the song?”

  He nodded. “Sounds like it to me, but it’s ultimately your call. You sometimes hear things that I don’t, and they’re always right on point.”

  “Ok. Give me five and I’ll come back and listen. You’re taking vocal track eighteen that we just recorded and layering it with seventeen, right?”

  “Yep.”

  She nodded. “Perfect. I’ll be back in a few.”

  She walked into her office out of breath from sprinting across the backyard. She surveyed Giselle trying to get a read. “Do I need to sit or stand?”

  “Whichever you want.”

  Kit approached her desk. “Is this going to take long?”

  Giselle looked up. “It shouldn’t. Here’s what I found out. This girl is the one that has tipped off the tabloids, but they’re unable to find any validity in her story.”

  Kit grinned, feeling slightly relieved as she flopped into the chair in front of Giselle’s desk. “Oh, nice. Good job on that one, G. They never give up their sources. How did you get so crafty and get all that info?”

  She smiled. “Your dear friend, Alexa, the media goddess. She set me up with some contacts.”

  Kit chuckled. “Oh, Lex. I can always depend on her. Ok, what else.”

  “I talked to the attorney. They won’t back down. They want two million dollars plus monthly child support payments of ten thousand dollars.”

  Kit shook her head in disgust and chuckled. “Unbelievable. And this girl swears her kid is his?”

  “According to her attorney, yes.”

  “What’s this adorable girl’s name and where’s she from? How old is this baby?”

  Giselle looked at her notes and then up at her. “Phoebe Petersen from Gary, Indiana. She has a baby boy, born on June 3 of this year.”

  All of the color drained from Kit’s face in an instant. She sat before Giselle looking pale as a ghost. She suddenly felt nauseated. She got up from the chair and bolted to the bathroom right outside her office where she threw up. She took a deep breath afterward and sat on the cold bathroom floor running her fingers through her hair in disbelief. This was all turning into a very bad nightmare. She heard a knock on the door and Giselle’s voice moments later. “Kit? Are you ok?”

  “Yeah, G. Just gimme a minute. I’ll be right out.” She stood up, splashed cold water on her face and stared at her reflection. She had known Phoebe was trouble from the start. She had thought Sully would have been smarter than he apparently was. She wiped her face on the towel, taking another minute and sobbing.

  She walked back into the office, trying to look composed, but her appearance gave her away. Her eyes were red and swollen, her nose red. She sat down and lit up a cigarette. “Thanks for getting all that information, G.”

  Giselle stared at her, horrified. “You mean to tell me this could really be true? I mean I know you said it was a possibility, but I thought it was a long shot, honestly. Do you know that girl?”

  She looked down and successfully held back tears. She sighed and looked up. “Yes. It’s time to get Sully involved. We need to move this forward.”

  Giselle nodded sadly. “Ok, Kit. Whatever you need.”

  “I’ll be back in a bit. I need to get rid of the band for the night and pull him in.”

  She nodded. “Ok. I have some stuff to do, so take all the time you need.”

  Kit strolled into the studio where the band was laughing and carrying on in the lounge. MTV was on and they were drinking.

  She looked at them. “Hey, guys. Any of you drunk?”

  They all shook their heads. Remo chimed in. “We’re not, but we could if you wanted us to be!”

  She forced a grin, but the flat tone in her voice gave her away. “No, but thank you for offering to go the extra mile, Remo. That’s always appreciated. You guys are done for the night, except for Sully.”

  Jimmy looked at her. “Are we done with the song?”

  She stared at him and shrugged her shoulders. “I dunno. I
can give you an answer when we start our session tomorrow. Don’t worry about it.”

  They all shuffled out, and Sully greeted her with a hopeful look. “What are we working on tonight?”

  She glanced at him and then shifted her focus to Fred. “Fred, we’re done for the night. You can take off.”

  He looked surprised. “Early night tonight, Kit? I like it.” He waved as he walked out.

  Sully looked at her, confused. “What’s up?”

  She sighed and folded her arms in front of her chest. “We’ve got a situation.”

  “Ok.” He leaned back against the boards. “What’s going on?” He found it impossible to read her.

  “Let’s shut down for the night and go up to the house.”

  He frowned. “This isn’t about the album?”

  She started to shut down the power on certain equipment in the room. “Nope.” She stopped and looked at him. “Shut down the studio and meet me in my office when you’re done.”

  He stared at her. “Kit, are we ok?”

  She stared back at him, almost as if she were looking through him. “No, Sully. We’re not.”

  CHAPTER 13

  Giselle sat across from Kit, shifting in her seat uncomfortably as she stared at her. “Are you sure you want me here? Under normal circumstances, I would stay, but it seems this situation has a highly charged personal element to it that should be resolved between you and Sully.”

  Kit shook her head. “No, stay put. I need you to share your findings with him. If things get intense, I’ll have you step out. I’m going to need your help executing this regardless of the outcome. It’s important that you’re here.”

  Sully gingerly entered the office approaching like he would the principal’s office after being sent there by an angry teacher whose buttons he had pushed. He looked a bit surprised, yet relieved to see Giselle. He forced a grin. “Hey, G. Kit, what’s up?”