She apprehensively led Giselle into the office where Jay and Sully were talking amongst the entire entourage. She felt like Giselle was a sacrificial lamb and didn’t want to leave her alone, but knew she had to.
She reminded herself she was just doing her job, although her intuition screamed otherwise. There was a crazy look in Sully’s eyes—one that she had been seeing more frequently when he was home and it frightened her.
She glanced at Giselle. “Ms. Machado, if you need anything, please let me know.”
She nodded and gave Ariana a friendly grin. “Of course, Ari. Thank you.” She froze in her tracks, unable to erase what had happened in that office a little over two weeks before. She didn’t want to be in there, but Sully had called an emergency meeting and she was required to be in attendance.
Once two more people arrived, Sully started the meeting. Within minutes, Giselle learned they were going back out on tour. Sully was barking orders as the new acting band manager, stripping Kit of her title flippantly. Giselle could tell he was flying high, in a cocaine infused frenetic pace, gesturing, commanding, jumping from point to point.
She watched him with extreme apprehension, like one would watch a speeding freight train that was about to derail, but just kept chugging along oblivious to the wreck that was inevitably coming. Sully was solely focused on getting them all on the same page of his agenda.
She exchanged a look of concern with Bryan who was standing across the room. He met her eyes and shrugged his shoulders. She’d heard enough and left the office temporarily to get some air.
She wandered into the room off of the kitchen, where she knew Ariana would hang out when she had a break. She offered a friendly grin. “Ari, is Kit awake yet?”
Ariana nodded. “I don’t think she could rest well with all the noise down here. I just took her lunch up.”
She sighed. “Do you think she’d be ok with me visiting her?”
Ariana grinned. “I’ll call up to her room. Give me a moment.” She returned seconds later and smiled. “Go on up.”
Giselle headed into Kit’s bedroom cautiously. She noticed her sitting up in bed, sipping tea and finishing off her sandwich.
She grinned. “You look good. Are you feeling better? Looks like your appetite is back.”
Kit nodded. “Yes. Little by little. Still not at one hundred percent energy wise, but definitely feeling better overall. Are you ok, G? I didn’t expect to see you in this house for a while.” She waved her over.
Giselle sighed. “I don’t want to get into that now. There are bigger things. Kit, you’re not gonna like this.”
She frowned. “Not gonna like what?”
Giselle nodded. “Sully’s been in some meetings lately. And he called one this morning. You probably hear it going on downstairs. They’re going back out. Everything is rebooked to finish out the tour. We’ll be gone for about three and a half months.”
Kit’s eyes widened. “What? How? Who did this?”
She sighed. “Sully is acting as manager. He’s enlisted Sean and I to help out with the execution. I don’t know what’s up, but there’s a definite bee in his bonnet. He’s been really stubborn and unyielding. Kit, I found out that he met with Jonathan personally yesterday morning.”
She was about to continue when the black walkie-talkie in her hand went off and she jumped. Sully’s voice could be heard jumbling something in a heated fashion, attempting to get the attention of Sean who was outside of the office somewhere in the estate. When Sean didn’t respond, he yelled after Giselle.
She hit talk and responded calmly. “There in two minutes, Sull. Bathroom break.” Giselle held up the walkie-talkie and shook it. “And this shit just happened like an hour ago. I have one, so does Sean, as you heard. He’s been yapping at us like some rabid purse dog.” She shook her head. “All this for one fucking meeting. I think he’s getting off on his power. It’s insane. We’re not even back out on the road yet!”
Kit closed her eyes and let out a frustrated groan. She couldn’t shake her uneasy feeling. It was an uneasy feeling she’d had all morning and wasn’t willing to admit, yet it continued to worsen. Her inner wisdom was screaming at her to stay in bed, but she cast it away without a second thought. Fight or flight had taken over and her body coursed with undue anxiety.
She sighed and set her tray aside. She swung her legs over to the side of the bed and paused. She closed her eyes for a moment. “Damn.” Her green eyes fluttered open and she stared at Giselle. “I am in no condition to be working or traveling right now. I’m still recovering.”
Giselle nodded compassionately and gently reached out to give her wrist a reassuring squeeze. “I know, gatinha. Stay in bed. Sully asked me to step in and help—he said he wanted me to be the front line, especially when he has to focus on performances, which is the majority of the tour.”
Kit’s furrowed brow spoke volumes. She shook her head and sighed. “Shit. Ok. I think we need to have a little chat.”
She slowly got up, threw on her robe and headed toward her closet. She looked at Giselle. “Can you hang out for a minute and head downstairs with me?”
Giselle nodded and rushed to Kit’s side, gently grabbing her arm. “I can help you dress if you want.”
She shook her head. “No, I can manage that. I just want to take it slow going down the stairs and I’d
