“Smart idea, Spence. Talk soon.”
He nodded. “Yep. Thanks, G.” He hung up the phone and sat back in his chair evaluating the best angle before picking up the phone to dial Kit. When he couldn’t think of one, he defaulted to go with being completely direct. He knew she’d appreciate that more.
The cell phone on the passenger seat started ringing. Kit had just parked the car and glanced over at it. She wondered if she should even check who was calling.
Although calls from Sully had died out completely since he agreed to the separation, she didn’t want to take any chances. Curiosity won and prompted her to seize the phone.
She noticed it was Spencer calling and flipped it open. “What’s up, Spence?”
“Can you come into the office today?”
She frowned. “Why?”
He let out a frustrated growl. “You aren’t in a session today. C’mon, your album is almost finished. Come in for a meeting.”
She got out of her car and shut the door, keeping the phone affixed to her ear as she headed toward the restaurant where she was meeting Kendalle for brunch.
She let out a frustrated sigh. “No, I’m not in a session today—it’s my only day off. We’re wrapping the album tomorrow. This is the first chance I’ve had to catch my breath since this whole whirlwind. What’s up? Whatever you want to talk about, let’s talk now. I have a few minutes.”
“It’s an in person conversation.”
She rolled her eyes. “Are you gonna drop a bomb on me?” Her eyes then widened in horror. “Oh no. It’s bad news isn’t it? The sales are tanking and you don’t want to tell me over the phone. Billboard isn’t out yet for this week, so I have no idea how it’s going and I’ve been so busy in the studio and…”
“Kit!” Spencer interjected to stop her. “It’s not bad news. And don’t worry about the single. Since when did you become neurotic? You’ll actually be pretty pleased when you hear how it’s doing.”
Her ears perked up. “Really? Tell me more. I have time.”
“Nope. Where are you having brunch?”
She let the hostess lead her to a table on the patio. “I’m not telling you the name of the restaurant. I’m on 3rd east of La Cienega. And no, you’re not invited. Don’t crash my brunch.”
He laughed. “That could be one of several restaurants. Why can’t I stop by? Is it a date?”
She giggled. “No. I’m meeting up with Kendalle.”
His ears perked up. “Kendalle Scott? I’m glad we found out the truth about her—that she’s not Sull’s mistress. That girl is wicked talented. She’d be a good fit for the tour. Are you thinking that angle?”
She grinned. “Now I’ve got your attention. Yes, I’m going to see if she has any interest in helping out with choreography and possibly doing backup too.”
He smiled. “She’s gorgeous.”
Kit waved to Kendalle and smiled. “Yeah and you know she’ll never go out with you. You’re the wrong sex. Ok, she’s here, so I gotta go.”
“How long do you think you’ll be?”
She frowned. “I dunno. Two hours maybe. Why?”
“Call me when you’re heading over.”
She rolled her eyes. “Huh?”
“Come here and meet with me after your brunch, Kitty.”
She groaned. “Alright. See you soon.” She shut her phone closed and got up to give Kendalle a hug.
Annie led Kit into Spencer’s office where she threw her large purse onto one chair and slumped down into the other, melting into it as she watched him wrap up his phone call.
As he hung up she pointed to him. “Are we doing an acquisition?”
He shook his head and snorted. “If you’d take the time as chairman of this company to read the dossier prepared for you, you’d know that yes, we are acquiring Bullseye Publishing. It wasn’t my idea, can’t take credit for it.”
She giggled. “Gotcha! I know we’re acquiring them. I read the dossier four days ago when you sent it to me. I just wanted to see you sweat a little and let you do your job. Sounds like it’s going well.”
She sat back again and looked surprised. “I didn’t get the part about it not being your idea. If not you, then who is the super genius that came up with the idea?”
He grinned and nodded, carefully sidestepping her final question. “It’s going well. That’s not why you’re here, so let’s get to it.”
She watched him carefully and could tell he was concealing something from her. “Hold up. You just avoided my question and as chairman, I want to know whose idea it was to acquire Bullseye. That’s a fucking ballsy yet brilliant power move and whomever came up with it needs to be properly acknowledged. Who was it?”
Spencer swallowed hard. He knew Kit wouldn’t want to hear this, but he was stuck. “One of our board members and founding partners.”
She frowned and cocked her head to the side. “Wes Matthews? But wait, he’s not a founding partner.”
He sighed. “No. Wes is a board member, yes, and one of our original investors. He helped with the capital raise for this acquisition, but he’s not the founding partner I was referring to.”
He met her eyes. “Kit, there are only three founding partners and you and I are two of them. Kit, who came up with the idea for us to have a publishing division in this corporation?”
Her eyes widened. “Sully?”
He nodded slowly. “His idea to acquire Bullseye. He’s been tracking them—following them in the trades making the right relationships with them on the inside. He started plotting with Wes and figuring out how much capital to raise in addition to him throwing in a few million of his own money. I suspect that came from the inheritance money he had left.”
He sat back and spun a pen in
