Brenda gave a shuddering exhale, her eyes glued to the display as the numbers climbed. “Because unlike you, Angelo, I’m not used to dealing with the Ricci Corp sharks on a daily basis. They scare the crap out of me, and I can’t think whytheyare asking to meet instead of just the label lawyers.”
Angelo jerked like he’d just been slapped. “What did you say?”
“You heard me. Ricci Corp are sharks.” Brenda quirked a brow. “This isn’t new information, Angelo.”
“You never told us that part!” Angel barked at me, and I raised my hands defensively.
“I was distracted, Angel! Remember? And so what? We already knew that Ricci owned Big Noise; it makes sense for them to be the ones dissolving our contracts. Chill, dude.” I rolled my eyes, and the elevator dinged our arrival. “We’re here now. Just don’t shoot anyone, and we’ll be fine.”
Grayson rumbled, “Easier said than done, these days.”
He wasn’t wrong there. But still… this meeting was agood thing. Right?
“Come on,” Brenda urged as the doors opened. “Conference room.”
We’d been to enough meetings and negotiations at the Big Noise office that we were well familiar with where to go, even without the polite receptionist who tried to escort us. It was all new for Billie though, and she stared wide-eyed at all the gold and platinum records displayed on the walls.
I smiled, looping an arm around her waist as she paused in front of Bellerose’s first one.
“I wish you could have been there the day we got this,” I whispered in her ear, touching a finger to the metal plaque displaying our name.Bellerose. Then, with a heavy pang of sadness I traced over the nameFlorence Foster. We still needed justice for her. Tom couldn’t get away with his shit for much longer.
Billie turned to press a soft kiss on my lips. “I’m here now,” she replied. “And I’m never leaving. I’ll see the next one, and that will be the sweetest because it’ll beall yours.”
Fuck. How good would that feel, to be out from the oppressive control of a record label? It was terrifying taking away our safety net, but I couldn’t wait to see what new creativity it opened within us all.
“Oh shit,” I heard Rhett exclaim, and a lightning bolt of dread shot through me. I hurried to catch up and entered the conference room just in time to grab Angelo’s hand before he could reach for a gun and shoot his father.
“Let me go,” Angelo growled, but I shook my head.
“Not yet,” I replied from behind gritted teeth. He knew what I meant. It was too soon to kill Giovanni; we needed to play out the rest of the plan first. Plans. Plural.
“Oh good, the whole band is here,” Giovanni purred, kicking his feet up on the conference table and folding his hands over his belly. “You even brought your whore along. Was she on offer? Maybe I’ll change my price if you’re throwing in some fertile, child-bearing pussy.”
This time it was Angelo who stoppedmefrom killing Giovanni. With my bare fucking hands.
“Ah-ah-ah, none of that,” Giovanni scolded as Angelo restrained me. “We’re here for a civilized business negotiation, are we not?” He looked to Brenda, who shook herself free of the shock she’d entered into.
“Yes, we are,” she confirmed, placing her briefcase on the table and taking a seat. “I understand that our legal teams have gone back and forth quite a few times to iron out the agreement that will see my clients released from their remaining contractual obligations. The most recent—”
“I don’t care what the lawyers told you,” Giovanni cut her off. “You want out frommyrecord label? It’ll cost you.”
“Name your price, father,” Angelo snapped, his fists clenched at his sides. It didn’t escape my notice that he and Grayson had formed a human shield in front of Billie and that she was more than happy toletthem. “Whatever it is, we will pay it.”
Giovanni smiled like the shark Brenda had just mentioned. “I hoped you might be agreeable, son. Here.” He slid some papers across the table, then tossed over a pen. “No need to read it, if you’re so confident. Just sign on the dotted line.”
Angelo snatched up the page and pen with one swift movement, but I yanked it out of his hand. “You’re not under contract, dickhead,” I muttered softly. “You can’t sign for Bellerose.”
I had been inclined to agree with him, though, that no matter what price Giovanni was setting on our freedom, we would pay it. But as I brought the pen to page, I paused. Then I sucked in a breath and skimmed the page of tiny text and legal jargon. Maybe I wasn’t a lawyer, but even I knew when we were being screwed.
Swallowing the acidic taste in my mouth, I ripped the papers in two. “Fuck you, Giovanni,” I sneered, slamming the pen back down. “You can go straight to hell where you belong.”
Stuffing the ripped paper into my pocket, I stalked out of the conference room, trusting that my family would follow. They did, and no one spoke a single word until we were clear of the whole cursed building.
“Do I want to know?” Angelo asked, his shoulders slumped.
I shook my head. No one needed to see what Giovanni had tried to push through so brazenly. Certainly not Angel. Or Billie, for that matter.
“Fuck it,” Rhett commented with a sigh. “Back to plan A, then: Kill Giovanni, and let Angelo inherit the company.”
