Chart Toppers (Star Maker Book 3)

by J. M. Nevins

  Blake had always been jealous of her success, dating back to her acquisition of a record deal with Templeton for Scorcher in 1985. He consistently held true to his disbelief that a woman couldn’t possibly achieve so much in the music business without sleeping her way to the top. Kit had always resented him for that and as she gritted her teeth, she wanted nothing more than to publicly discredit him.

  Dante and Blake both came from a more traditional outlook on the music business. In their world, the women were artists, groupies, assistants or doting, passive wives. The men were the high-powered managers, influential executives, flippant attorneys, renegade rock stars and success mongers at the top.

  She snapped out of her momentary introspection session and could feel her temper rising again, seeing the industry-wide smear campaign playing out right before her eyes. She firmly set her coffee down and shook her head. “Assholes!”

  Lew nodded in agreement. “When I came back from vacation and found out about this whole mess, I wanted Drew Gandalf’s head on a platter. If I would’ve been in town, I can assure you this would never have happened. When I got back, I found out Drew had resigned. Within twenty-four hours of his resignation, he had cleaned out his desk and made a quick getaway. I’m sorry, Kit. Drew came from Templeton Records. I don’t believe he came here with the intention of doing anything to screw over KMK. Maybe Blake Templeton got wind of him working here, made him an attractive offer and the temptation was too great.”

  Kit stared straight ahead again trying to comprehend it all. “I can’t believe this. It’s complete bullshit!”

  Pete donned a regretful smirk. “We’ve seen it happen before, unfortunately. That’s why alliances are so important in this biz. Kit, if you decide you want to rebuild, we’re happy to back you.”

  Kit looked at Pete, and her face melted into relief. “Really?”

  He nodded. “Yep, we’re behind you one hundred percent.”

  Lew grinned. “When we have new artists sign recording contracts, we’ll tell them that they’ll be managed by your company. How quickly can you be up and running? Since Dante took your entire staff, I don’t know how you’d handle the influx. Daniel, how many new contracts do we have and how many are up for renegotiation?”

  Daniel and Kit answered “Thirty-two” in perfect unison. They exchanged a look and laughed.

  Kit shifted her attention to Lew. “I can get the right people if you can push KMK. We won’t let you down, Lew.” She exchanged a victorious look with Spencer.

  Lew nodded, appearing pleased. “Seems you McKennas are pistols. Do you think you’re up to the job of running this show, Spencer?”

  He grinned. “I think Kit’s shoes are going to be pretty hard to fill, but I can guarantee you that I will kick more ass than Dante ever did.”

  Lew chuckled. “It’s pretty clear to me that you and Kit are cut from the same cloth. I see that same fire. Sounds great to me.”

  Kit nodded. “Spence and I will work on getting staffed. I’ll give you an update next week. We’ll be ready.”

  Jonathan smiled proudly. “Looking forward to it.”

  Lew nodded. “Absolutely.” He grinned at Spencer. “Can you give us a moment with your sister?”

  He nodded and got up. “Certainly.”

  Giselle hopped up to escort him. “You can come with me. I’ll give you a tour and show you all the cool stuff in this building.” She offered a friendly smile, and Spencer followed her out.

  Kit sat across the boardroom table from the only two people who remained in the room, Jonathan and Lew. She felt her anxiety kick in again, and she swallowed hard. “What’s up, guys?”

  Lew stared at her. “Kit, we need you to pack up your office before you leave today and hand off your remaining files to Daniel.”

  Her eyes widened, and she stared at him, her mind reeling, her greatest fears realized. She reminded herself to breathe and nodded. “Of course, whatever you need me to do, but I certainly don’t understand what’s going on. Do I need to surrender my badge and the keys to my company car too? Are you letting me go?”

  Jonathan chuckled. “Hell no! Kit, we’re doing a complete reorganization of the company. I’m sure you’ve heard the rumors. People are getting shuffled around. Daniel Thomas is taking over as chief counsel. You’ve been a fantastic chief counsel and have done a great job moving the company forward, but we have other plans for you now. You’re relieved of your duties as chief counsel effective today, and it’s non-negotiable.”

  She frowned. “If you’re not letting me go, then what am I going to be doing here?”

  Lew sat back and grinned. “Give us a little more time to solidify that. We’re not at point to discuss the details with you yet or make you an offer, but know that an offer is coming, and it will be favorable. Until that time, you’ll continue with your salary and benefits as a consultant. It won’t be for long. We’ll have our decision sooner than later.”

  She felt herself relax and sat back, trying to assess the situation. “Is Diamond in trouble financially?”

  Jonathan shook his head. “No. But, we’re considering acquisitions of other companies right now. We were hoping you could provide some insight. Did you hear anything when you were out on tour or through KMK before everything unraveled?”

  The stars aligned at that moment, and she chuckled as she reached into her bag. “It’s funny you should ask that. I had learned some information this morning before I headed here. Before I reveal what I’ve found, I want to pick your brain on something, Lew.”

  He nodded. “Shoot.”

  She proceeded. “Why would a management company be paying a record company a million dollars?”

  He scoffed. “They wouldn’t. That’s counter-intuitive and doesn’t make any sense. The record company is always paying the management company if there is one and honey; KMK was and will be the exception, not the rule. Usually, we do that shit in-house. You know that. Why are you asking me this?” He frowned.

  She nodded, grinning. “Humor me, please. Let’s go theoretical for a minute. Is there any chance that this could happen outside of KMK’s case?”

  He shook his head. “No. Unless it was some kind of charity thing and even then it would go to the charity, or be held in an escrow account, not the record company’s account. Otherwise, it looks bad and is completely unethical. It looks like a payoff. No one legit would want that kind of crap on their books.”

  She grinned. Lew confirmed what she had been thinking. The scenario she saw playing out in her mind came to life right before her eyes. “Except for Templeton.”

  He chuckled. “Templeton Records? What do you mean?”

  She sat back and felt herself relax into her seat, suddenly feeling confident in her theory. “I recently learned that Dante paid out a big chunk of KMK’s money to Templeton Records.”

  Lew sighed and exchanged a disgusted look with Jonathan. “Ugh. That’s not good.”

  Kit nodded in agreement. “Why the hell do you think he’d do something like that? I mean I know he was working with Blake Templeton on building this new management company or whatever but why would Templeton want to dirty up its books for Dante?”

  He shook his head. “Because Templeton Records is in serious trouble right now, and Blake is their CEO. They’re scraping to stay afloat under his leadership. He’s desperate. He’s run that company into the ground since his dad appointed him two years ago. He’s doesn’t know what he’s doing. He’s been looking for a substantial capital infusion for a while now, but no one is biting because of his shitty reputation. Blake probably conned Dante into doing it. I dunno, just a thought.”

  She sighed. “Ok. You confirmed my theory. I plan to make Templeton pay me back for this mess.”

  Lew snickered. “And how do you plan to do that, Kitten? How can I help?”

  She smiled. “I’ve got a few ideas, Lew. He’ll be sorry he did this. Bottom line, Blake Templeton is going down, and it’s not going to be pretty. No one crosses me and ge
ts away with it. He’s going to pay.”

  Jonathan and Lew exchanged a look, and Lew grinned. “No doubt he will.”

  She took a deep breath and stood up. “Are we done for today?”

  Lew stood up. “Yes. We’ll be in touch, Kit. Call us if there are any new discoveries.”

  She nodded and forced a grin. “Absolutely.” She exited the conference room and went on a search for Spencer. She found him in one of the recording studios in the control room listening in, sitting next to Giselle on the couch looking perfectly comfortable, save the suit he was wearing. He looked exactly like a record executive and she was positive the artist with headphones on singing her heart away in the live room was trembling in her boots wondering if A&R couldn’t hear the hit single.

  She chuckled. “Ok, Spence, we’re outta here.” She looked at Giselle. “I’ll be in touch soon, G. Are you up on all the changes?”

  Giselle nodded. “Yes. I’m technically supposed to stay with Daniel, but I shared with Jonathan already that I’d like to follow you wherever you end up, if that’s ok with you?”

  Kit smiled wide and winked. “I’d love that. See you soon, G.”

  Spencer trailed after Kit as she headed out to her car, lugging wrapped plaques of mounted platinum records that Pete had supplied her with before they left the building. He tried to gauge her demeanor but was unable to read her the moment she threw on her dark sunglasses. He looked over at her once they were alone in her car. “You ok? What did they want to talk to you about? Why did I have to leave the room?”

  She sighed and shook her head. “I dunno, Spence. They’re doing a re-org, and I’ve lost my job as chief counsel. They’re still paying me, and I get to keep the car, but I’m on the payroll now as a consultant. That can’t be good. That’s probably their nice way of starting the process to boot me out.”

  Spencer’s blue-green eyes widened, shocked. “You think so?”

  She shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t want to discuss it. All I want to do is go home and drink a glass of scotch with my husband and not talk one ounce of work.”

  He nodded. “Got it. No more work talk. Does that mean no talking about the pile of platinum records that are in your trunk?”

  She giggled. “That’s a victory. We can discuss that. In fact, unload them when we get back. Store them in my office. I’ll grab one and throw it in Sully’s Ferrari. We have special plans for that one.”

  Spencer followed Kit’s instruction and had carefully stowed the platinum records out of view when Sully caught a glimpse of him. He stopped and did a double-take. “How long have you and Kit been back? Is she here?”

  Spencer walked out of the office and into the hall, leading Sully toward the entertainment room. “We just got back. She’s upstairs changing. Rough day of meetings, bro. Be good to her. She said all she wanted to do tonight was drink scotch with you.”

  Sully chuckled. “Ah. One of those nights. Ok, gotcha. Let me put my attentive husband hat on.”

  Spencer nodded. “Mandated.”

  Kit wandered into the entertainment room. “What’s mandated?”

  They exchanged a look and chuckled. Sully approached her. “Nothing, babe.” He hugged her tightly and gave her a long kiss. “How was your day? Want me to make you a drink?”

  She flopped down onto the large sectional sofa. “Yes. The stiffer, the better.”

  Sully raised his eyebrows and snickered. “Are we still talking about a drink?”

  Spencer groaned. “I’m outta here. You guys are gross.” He left the room.

  Kit giggled. “Maybe. Maybe not. But for the moment, it’s a drink. Later may be a different story, babe.” She raised an eyebrow and grinned.

  He handed her the drink moments later and took a seat next to her, putting his arm around her. She snuggled up against him. “Can we spend the night in the condo tonight?”

  He kissed her on top of her head. “Sure. Whatever you want. Is there company that’s going to pop by that you’re trying to avoid?”

  She shook her head. “Not necessarily. I just want a change of scenery. It’s more intimate there. Sometimes this estate is too damned big.”

  He grinned, agreeing with her sentiment completely. “I get it. Want to have a nice dinner in there? We can have something delivered.”

  She smiled up at him. “Sounds great. I’m going to finish this drink, and then let’s pack our bags and head out.” She patted him on the knee. “I have a surprise for you too.”

  He raised his eyebrows and grinned. “Oh really?

  She giggled and took a sip of her drink. “Really.”

  An hour later, they were headed to their penthouse condo on La Cienega. It had been months since they had been there, and they spent a good thirty minutes getting resituated.

  Sully pointed to the wrapped rectangle that leaned against their bags. “What is that? Did you bring that in?”

  She nodded and grinned. “I did. Let’s save that until after dinner.”

  He nodded. “Ok. Want me to leave it out here?”

  “Yep, please.”

  He did as she asked and carried their bags back into the master bedroom. She looked around and recalled bittersweet memories. She, Sully, and Joe had some fabulous times there. She opened the sliding doors and admired the panoramic view of the city, the lights twinkling back at her, winking their approval. She stared at the table and chairs on the balcony and remembered talks with Joe. Her eyes welled up with tears remembering him well and realizing he had been gone almost five years.

  Her thoughts drifted even further back to Kirby, Joe’s best friend, and her first true love. She was very much in love with Sully and loved him deeply, but the depths of love she experienced with Kirby seemed surreal and unrealistic to ever to find again in this lifetime. He had been gone almost eight years. She felt an ache in her heart and her mind started spinning out of control, still unwilling to accept Kirby’s death. She shoved it out of her mind and returned her focus to the sparkling dance of the city lights.

  She felt Sully’s arms wrap around her from behind, and she leaned back into his strong chest as he squeezed her tightly. He spoke gently into her ear. “You miss him too.”

  She nodded and turned to face Sully. She threw her arms around his neck and gazed into his steel blue eyes. “I do. And I know you do too. We had some fun times with him here.”

  Sully snickered. “Oh yes, we did. And there were times when Joe and I got into lots of trouble when you weren’t here. I’ll leave those stories in the vault. He was a friend like no other. I kinda like when we’re here. It’s like I can feel his spirit. That fun-loving, happy, friendly, easy going, creativity he had.”

  She grinned and nodded. “I think you’re onto something there. Let’s order some food. I’m starving.”

  He nodded and kissed her. “I’m on it. You relax. You’ve had a day. Want me to make you a drink before I call?”

  She shook her head. “No. I’m good.” As she made her drink at the bar, she started to recall Sully’s words about Joe’s spirit dwelling in the condo. There was truth to it. At times, she still felt like his presence was there. She swallowed hard wondering why that never happened with Kirby. He had been flooding her thoughts lately, and she didn’t like it. She felt haunted by his memory and the life they had shared all those years ago.

  After a relaxing candlelight dinner, Kit headed over to the wrapped rectangle and brought it over to the table. She carefully handed it to Sully. “This is for you.”

  As he worked to unwrap it, she entered the kitchen and quickly found the hammer and nails she desired. She returned as he finished pulling the last of the brown paper wrapping off.

  He stared at it, speechless for a full moment. A small grin started spreading across his face, and he looked up at Kit with childlike wonder. “Is this for real?”

  She chuckled. “Totally legit. Got them today when I was at Diamond. There’s a whole slew of them in the office at home for the rest of the guys and two more fo
r us. One for the office and one for the studio. I ordered one for your parents. It’ll be in two weeks from now.”

  He stared at it again and shook his head in amazement. He then carefully set it down, walked over to Kit and pulled her into his arms. He held her tightly and spoke into her ear. “Thank you.”

  She pulled back and grinned, giving him a gentle kiss. “You’re welcome and thank you too. Let’s get this thing up on the wall.” She picked up the hammer and handed it to him.

  Moments later, Sully hammered the nail into the wall and seized his framed platinum record. He hung it and stepped back a few feet. He called out to Kit, keeping his attention fixed on it. “What do you think?”

  She stood several feet back. “Move it to the left a bit.” He did as she said, and she nodded excitedly. “Yep, that’s it. Come here!”

  He snickered and ran back to where she was standing. He put his arm around her and they both stared for a solid moment, silently taking in the sight of the lone platinum record that hung on the wall. He finally glanced over at her and waited until she met his gaze.

  She nodded as tears welled up in her eyes. She stroked his cheek and smiled. “You know he’s looking down from heaven on you right now and he’s so damned proud. He saw this coming for you too. I wasn’t the only one.”

  Sully could feel himself get choked up, fondly remembering his best friend. He nodded and shifted his gaze back to the platinum record; misty-eyed, as he recalled the day he stood in front of that blank wall with Joe shortly after he bought the condo.

  He had slapped the wall playfully and exclaimed to Sully that it was his platinum wall. He had every intention of cluttering it with platinum records. He never got the chance. His life was unfairly cut short.

  When the condo was willed to Sully after Joe’s death, he made a promise to Kit that he would fulfill Joe’s promise of a platinum wall. He had finally started coming through on that vow.