Chart Toppers (Star Maker Book 3) Read online

  She shook her head. “It’s not what I’m meant to do, Sull. I have a brilliant legal mind, and I’m one hell of a manager. I’m a biz whiz.” She looked down at her magazine and flipped a page.

  He nodded, wanting to engage her again. “All true. I don’t deny that, babe. But do those things really light you up? You are a different person in the studio than when you’re doing your contracts or managing shit for us. Don’t get me wrong. We appreciate everything you do for us. It’s just… I see something in you that wants to get out, and it’s something really good, babe. You need to write more with us. Maybe you should try some writing on your own or with other artists?”

  She refused to look at him. Her tone was vehement. “No.” She flipped another page angrily.

  He let out a frustrated sigh. He was desperate to understand her. “Kit, what are you afraid of?”

  She gave him an intent stare now, warning him with her blazing emerald eyes. “Stop pushing me, Sull. Fucking drop it.”

  He stared deeply into her eyes, more defiant and determined than before. “No, I won’t fucking drop it. If you had mediocre talent, I would, but I can’t. There’s a brilliance inside you that wants to come out, and I can’t sit back on the sidelines and watch it die.

  “It showed itself on our last album with three songs that went to number one. Number one on the Billboard Hot 100, for chrissakes! That’s no coincidence, Kit, ok? People work their entire careers in music as songwriters and never even chart, much less hit number one with a bullet multiple times. You did that out of the gate.”

  She sighed and shook her head. “With you and Jimmy, I did. And that’s after years of me doing it on my own. Years and years that you never saw before I met you.” She swallowed hard as her mind went back to those days when she lived in Philadelphia, and her heart started to hurt. The memories weren’t pleasant and were littered with shards of shattered dreams.

  He nodded, hopeful he was starting to break through with her. “Yeah, that’s what I’m sayin.’ You’re still on the bill, and I can point out the parts you wrote. We’re a good team, babe. In the studio, you’re like a giddy, happy little girl—like a kid in a candy store. That’s where you should be living more. Do more with this album. Produce it. I’m not talking co-produce, I’m talking the whole enchilada—all you, baby. Go for the brass ring.”

  She shook her head and buried her head in her hands. “No. Hell no, Sully!”

  He tilted his head to the side. “Why not?”

  She looked at him, her eyes wide and wild. “Are you crazy? It’s a huge risk! You guys are on top right now. I don’t want to be the producer that messed up royally and gives you a shitty album that’s barely charting.”

  He burst out laughing. “Right. Like that would happen. Gimme a break, Kit. You co-produced the last album with me, and we went platinum. The only difference is that I’m stepping out of the way this time and giving you full reign. I trust your decisions. I think they’re good ones, and I know the band would agree. It’s time for you to step up, baby. Since when have you backed down from a challenge? Hmm?”

  She glared at him. “I don’t like you much right now. It’s like you and Nana plotted when we were there, and now you’re ganging up on me.”

  He laughed and joked. “Uh-huh. That was our whole angle. Busted. Seriously, Kit, give it some thought, ok? I think it’s a good time to shift your career in this direction. I know you’re not entirely happy with what’s going on at Diamond.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Oh please, let’s not go there tonight. You know that’s a sensitive issue with me.”

  He kissed her hand. “Just think about things, ok. Promise you’ll do that at the very least.”

  She slowly grinned. “Ok, I’ll think about it. And we’ll talk about it again soon. Does that work for you?”

  He smiled. “It does, but you have to incur a small penalty.”

  Kit giggled and finally felt herself relax. He looked at her with such acceptance; she couldn’t stay angry any longer. “Uh-oh. What would that be?”

  “Tickle fight.” He grinned deviously and started tickling her.

  She started laughing and tried to fend him off unsuccessfully. Her mind started reeling. If this was how it was going to be until she made up her mind, she might have to come up with a decision sooner. He was merciless.

  The past few days were riddled with soul searching and disappointment for Kit. She had received consulting calls from Daniel at Diamond and also from Jonathan, but there was no further request to meet with her or any hints about next steps. She wanted more than anything to approach Pete Lundy and inquire about that A&R superstar they were bringing in but elected not to.

  Her thoughts since the talk with Sully were all pointing in one direction that shook her to her core. All she could see were three desirable paths in front of her. Continuing to manage Gypsy Tango, taking the leap of being a producer and delving deeper into artist development at KMK, knowing she would have to create her title. She felt uneasy about all of it.

  Sully was getting ready for bed and noticed her deep in her thoughts. He shook his head. “Whatever it is, baby, let it go. Let’s just lay here. Don’t start thinking about things.”

  She realized he had a point, but there was a nagging thought that wouldn’t let her rest. It had been burning a hole in her gut ever since they left Lake Forest. Now was the perfect opportunity to start the conversation, and she knew Sully would be all for it. Although initially apprehensive, she decided to take the plunge.

  She sighed and sat up. “I need your opinion. I’ve got something that’s been bugging me, and I want to talk about it with you.”

  He propped himself up on his elbows and looked at her. “What’s up?”

  She folded her legs in front of her and stared at him intently. “I came to a decision on something.”

  He gave her an encouraging nod. “Ok.”

  She took a deep breath and let it out evenly. “I’ll be the producer on GT’s new album.”

  He smiled. “That’s great, babe!” He leaned forward and hugged her, giving her a long kiss on the lips. He pulled back and gently took her face into his hands, gazing into her eyes. “If you want my opinion, I think you’re making the right choice. I cannot begin to tell you how happy your decision has made me. I’m ecstatic! This is going to be great for the band and you.”

  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.