Still, I suppose if it doesn’t work out, Ryan will be able to revive his career in a heartbeat. America has never seen a more successful rock star than my kid brother. The world is obsessed with him. And now they’re obsessed with Sasha, too.
‘Does Chloe even have any experience with this type of thing? This tour has to be mind-blowing. Mon-u-fucking-mental. You only have eight concerts. Eight cities. It has to blow everything that ever occurred before it out of the water and into oblivion, I tell my brother.
It took a huge effort to get the record label to release him from the previously agreed world tours. They only bent when Ryan offered to continue writing and recording for them exclusively, which he can do from anywhere in the world.
Why he’d want to return to our cold, dreary homeland permanently is beyond me. Trust my little brother to propose to the only woman in the world who won’t drop everything to be with him here in Hollywood.
‘Chloe is the CEO of her own events marketing company, Jay. She’s really talented.’
‘And what exactly does she do, by the way? Organise tea parties for ladies who lunch while their ex-pat husbands strut around the golf course talking shit?’ I pop the lid from the bottle and take a huge glug of beer, revelling in the way it fizzes down my throat.
‘She has a contract with Formula One. She organised one of the Sheik’s weddings, for crying out loud. She’s twenty-seven years old and she’s already created one of the most successful events management businesses in Dubai.’
Thankfully, this isn’t a video call because my eyebrows shoot skywards. The Formula One gig is pretty impressive, to be fair.
‘She has the experience,’ Ryan continues. ‘She just doesn’t have much experience with the music industry.’
‘Which is precisely my point.’ The marble flooring’s cool beneath my feet as I strut across the open plan area and crash on one of three grey suede couches in the spacious sunroom. A myriad of stars glint in the navy night sky through the slanted roof composed entirely of glass.
‘Look, she’s hoping to expand. To branch out of the Middle East. This will give her the foot up she needs.’
‘It’s more than a foot up, Ryan. You know it and I know it. Having her name associated with this tour will set her up for life.’
‘Why are you resisting this so much?’ Frustration tinges his every word. ‘Is this because she knocked you back at Christmas?’
My scoff lodges in my throat. ‘No one knocked me back at Christmas.’
‘Oh, come on. I saw the way you were looking at her. Which isn’t a good idea, by the way, given the circumstances.’
‘I was just winding her up. She’s so uptight. Watching her pretty little face get all riled was too entertaining …’
Ryan tuts. The subject of his future sister-in-law organising arguably the biggest tour of his career is clearly not up for negotiation.
‘Look, Chloe’s family, ok?’ A distinct firmness resides in his tone.
Family has always been important to me, blood relations or not, even if I couldn’t always do the right thing by them.
‘Jayden.’ He says my name like it’s a question, but he’s not asking me. He’s telling me. He’s the rock star. I’m his agent. I might be the older brother, but I can’t pull rank here.
‘Fine. But I’m not holding her hand the whole fucking time. She’ll have to work as hard as the rest of us.’
‘If Christmas was anything to go by, I don’t think you need to worry about holding her hand.’
‘Hmm.’ I have no choice but to accept my fate.
‘You know you love a challenge, Jayden. Working with one of the few women on this planet who’s immune to your charms is precisely that.’
‘No one is immune to my charms, Ryan.’
‘Prove it. Work with her. For Christ’s sake, Dad’s responsible for the death of her parents. If she can work around that, the two of you should be able to work around anything. I’m not asking you to bed the woman for god’s sake, just cooperate with her. Try to support her.’
Ryan and I have a complicated interlinked history with the Sexton sisters. It’s not for the faint-hearted. Courtesy of some super tight NDA’s with everyone involved in Dad’s case, the media haven’t got wind that it was our father behind the wheel of the car which ran Mr and Mrs Sexton off the road all those years ago yet, but I don’t doubt they will one day.
Bedding Chloe would be a challenge, no matter what I said to Ryan, because she genuinely seems immune to me. Or if she isn’t, she does a damn good job of hiding it. Although they say there’s a fine line between hate and love.
Admittedly, Chloe is stunning, but her edges are as sharp as her tongue. Definitely not my type. I prefer less complicated women. Models or actresses. Even if they do bore me after a few weeks.
‘I’ll set up a Zoom meeting for tomorrow and we can throw some ideas around, but you should probably get together in person for a few days to hash out the theme and the logistics of everything. The first gig’s only eight weeks away. I want this tour over with.’
