“Oh, yeah.”
Valerie grinned, spun on her heel, and took her place behind the keyboard. “On the one you haven’t given a title yet, how about this in the main intro?” She launched into a version of the song, adding about four notes for every one of Killy’s original idea.
Mike got up from the couch, strapped his bass back on, and added his musical opinion of her suggestion.
A moment later Jake joined in from the drums.
This was so going to work.
* * *
Gus strolled into the practice room near the end of their session. Valerie spotted Gus first, hands freezing on the keyboard and a deer-in-the-headlights look in her eyes.
Jake stopped playing and let out a cough.
Shit. Killian hadn’t wanted things to go down like this. “Gus, meet the band.”
Gus narrowed his eyes and glared at each one in turn. “Killian, could I speak to you… in private.”
Killy mouthed, “I’ll be right back,” and followed Gus upstairs to the living room.
Gus rounded on him, hissing like a pissed-off cat. “How dare you! I lined up auditions. Some of the best names in the business. What am I going to tell them, huh?”
Fuck. He should’ve known Gus wouldn’t quietly follow along with Killian’s plans. “I told you I’d already made up my mind. You seem to think you got veto power here. I don’t care who you lined up. You can just go on and fix the problem you created.” He waved his hand in a “be gone” gesture.
Gus folded his arms over his chest. “Am I or am I not your manager?”
Oh, hell no. In a battle of gruff alphas, Gus showed up unarmed. “Do you or do you not work for me?”
Gus growled and stalked into the foyer, passing a surprised Annie on the way out. Killy stayed hot on his heels. If Gus wanted a fight, he’d damned well get one.
Annie put on her most professional housekeeper face and opened the front door.
With one last scowl for each of them, Gus stormed outside, slamming the door behind him.
“Well, that was unnecessarily dramatic,” Annie said. “Not worth an academy nomination though.”
Killian glowered at the closed door. While he appreciated all his manager had done for him, sooner or later, he’d have to address the Gus in the room.
31
“Man, you wouldn’t believe the number of listeners tuning in to the podcast,” Caleb gushed over the phone. “And the final show is gonna go viral.”
“I’m afraid I didn’t get to listen. You added in the part about Val and Jake, right?” Once announced, there’d be hell to pay to change the lineup. In Killian’s mind, announcing to the world he’d chosen his bandmates might get things rolling faster.
Gus still hadn’t produced any offers from record labels. After all the money Trickster earned over the years for recording executives, now they couldn’t be bothered? Well, he had been out of the spotlight for a while. He’d tell Gus to check into starting their own if he thought he’d get results.
After the podcasts, their manager might decide he’d had enough and quit. Could Killy be so lucky? “When does the last podcast air?”
“Next week. And Killian?”
“Yes.”
Caleb stayed quiet a long moment before saying, “Thanks for giving me this chance. And thanks for trusting me with your story.”
Ah, hell. Killy didnotneed feelings right now, when he worked so hard to sort out his own. “Thanks for not screwing me over.”
“If you ever need anything, I’m your man.”
