He stood and motioned Mike toward the door, pausing to nod at the man sitting at the soundboard. “Thanks, man.”
The technician returned the nod and refocused his attention on his equipment.
“We have two more to hear.” Killy preferred not to tell Mike because he didn’t want to sway his opinion, but even without hearing anyone else, his vote went to Val.
28
“No! Absofuckinglutely not.”
Killian jerked the phone away from his ear to protect his eardrum. Damn, Gus got loud sometimes. When had he gotten tired of telling the controlling sonofabitch not to fucking talk to him like that? “Gus, who pays your salary?”
“I earn my salary.”
“Yeah, but where does the money come from?” Gus had been a necessary evil once, and hadn’t always been so overbearing. Back when Killy and Elliot first signed with him, he’d been gentle and patient, or at least less domineering.
“I earn it,” Gus declared again.
“And if you ever fucking scream at me again, you’ll be making one hell of a lot less, got it? Now, what do you have against Valerie Stewart? I think we’re damned lucky to get her.”
Gus sighed just as loudly as he yelled. “One of Trickster’s biggest appeals was four hot young guys for girls to drool over. Having a woman in the band will ruin the image, ruin a lot of fans’ fantasies.”
Killy snorted. “Like Rob hooking up with Elliot didn’t?”
“That was never proven. Besides, there’s a lot of women out there who love the idea of two hot guys together. Have you never read Trickster fanfiction?” It was too early in the morning to deal with Gus . Hell, 10 P.M. was too early to deal with Gus.
Yes, Killian had read Trickster fanfiction. And backed away fast. He so did not need the visuals some of those stories conjured. “She’s damned good on keyboards. What’s your point?”
“The point is, throwing a woman into the mix will totally turn off some of your fans. Why do you think she’s not with a band already?”
“You mean, they won’t be imagining Val with her girlfriends the way they do about me and whoever else”—or whatever else, in some cases— “they paired me with?” Oh, the things he’d seen…
The idea of tentacles wrapped around his junk still made him shudder.
“Not the same,” Gus sniped.
Oh, he’d wound the guy up now. “That is so sexist of you.”
“Just stating the facts.”
“I like Valerie. So does Mike.”
“Killy.” Gus lowered his voice to a cajoling tone, one Killy knew all too well. “My job is to assure your success. That’s what I’m trying to do. Also, forgive my saying so, but why the hell are you listening to a guy you’ve known less than two months, who’s never had a top forty hit in his life?”
Maybe not a top forty in rock. Killy hadn’t actually looked up where Raptured Roses ranked on the gospel charts. No matter what the rankings, how dare Gus not respect Mike? “Look, Gus, Mike is a damned fine bass player, and with a voice like his he could be singing lead. I’m lucky to have found him. I respect his opinion.” The unspoken,And you’d better too,hung in the air between them.
Gus clutched at straws to find a valid argument. “But Valerie hasn’t performed live in over a year.”
“She subbed for Ace at a few shows on our second tour. I’ve worked with her on several projects. She’s what Trickster needs.” He’d trusted Gus for the better part of his career. The wiry little manager had the connections, knew his way around the music industry. Somewhere in the past three years, though, he’d totally lost track of Trickster.
Or had he? Killian should’ve paid a whole lot more attention to business in the past. But no, he’d been too busy screwing groupies and enjoying being Killian Desmond, rock star.
If he’d been paying more attention to business, would it have made a difference? Would it have helped Elliot?
Yes. He should’ve checked out Rob’s credentials and background better…
Nope, not going there. He unclenched his jaw enough to speak. “I want Val, plain and simple. Right now, we only have two in the band, and they both agree. Work out the details. She’s in.”
“But—”
