Giselle confidently strolled into the office smiling from ear-to-ear. “Hey, gatinha! Can’t wait to be part of your management team!” She approached Kit and hugged her tightly.
Kit pulled back, her eyes welled up with tears. She was overcome with such deep gratitude. She smiled as the tears started rolling down her cheeks. “Holy shit, I have the fucking management dream team. I hit the jackpot!”
Pete took his hands in hers. “We’ll take you to the top. Now, I gotta be straight with you. I’ll stay on this ride with you as long as I can. I can’t promise you a decade, we’ll play it by ear. Giselle can promise you a long career. I will teach her everything I know on top of what you’ve already taught her, which is quite a bit. She’s been managing GT on her own for a few months now and that translates more like years. I’m confident she can handle anything that will be thrown at us. You ok with that arrangement?”
Kit’s green eyes sparkled as she nodded. “I am completely. All I ask is that if we ever do get to the point of negotiating a legit deal with the majors down the road for my next album, keep me out of a 360 at all costs. That’s where the industry is headed and I want no part of that.”
He met her eyes. “Noted and agreed. We can work around it. I saw the terms of your contract at Diamond long before Spencer talked to me about it. Lew clued me in personally. I talked to him about it before he went to bed the night he died. He gave me all the details. Read it to me verbatim and gave me some tips on his vision for your career. The funny thing is now Diamond is backpedaling. You’ve delivered your album as promised and yes, you still have to tour to fulfill your contract.”
He chuckled. “They’re trying to find a loophole in that contract so they can keep you on as an artist with a three album deal since the single has so much traction. I’ve got David Reeves on it. He’s talked to them several times. If they want you back after you complete the tour, it’s a completely new contract. We’re holding to that.”
Her eyes widened as her mouth dropped open. “You got David Reeves on this? He left Diamond? He’s one of the best entertainment attorneys in the industry.”
Pete chuckled. “C’mon, Kit. Stop acting so surprised. Everyone in this biz knows you. Once upon a time when you were in legal, you were David’s competition. Yes, he resigned from Diamond when you and Jonathan were fired. Now he’s a top dog that partnered with a massive entertainment law firm. He wants to help the best… and that would be you. I put him on retainer.” He snickered. “You’re welcome.”
She giggled. “Thank you!”
He nodded. “Of course. I need to head out. I’ve got a lunch meeting with Stan D’Almondi.”
She raised her eyebrows. “Upper Echelon Records?”
He donned a Cheshire cat grin. “Yep. And word on the street is they’re hungry to sign some new artists right now. Hmm… I think I know of one.”
He grinned. “We’re gonna make you ten times bigger than GT. Get ready for legendary superstardom, baby. It’s coming. I’ll call you later.”
As he left, Kit squealed and hugged Giselle again. Giselle beamed with happiness. “Y’know, Kit, I never told you this, but when I worked at Diamond, I got to work for Pete for a time before I was assigned to you. I looked up to him and I wanted to be him… that is until I met you. Now I have that opportunity to follow in his footsteps, literally. He’s one of the best label execs in the history of the music industry. He’s made some of the best artists out there.”
Kit nodded. “Yes, he is. He’s one of the OG star makers… long before me. And he’s very humble about it. I’ve always gotten along so well with Pete. Creatively he’s a genius. Probably why Lew had him as his right hand man since the beginning of Diamond Records. Pete helped Lew build Diamond creatively. Damn.”
Giselle grinned. “This is going to be amazing, gatinha.”
* * *
Alexa jutted forward and grappled for a chair. She took a seat and tried her best to breathe. Larry rushed to get her a glass of water, exchanging a look of concern with Kyle.
He nodded and lowered his voice. “Give us a moment, please.”
Larry, nodded, still confused as he left the room. Kyle took a seat in front of Alexa and stared at her. “Are you ok? Deep breaths, Lex.”
She slowly looked over at him and stared, completely puzzled and awestruck. “You never died. Holy shit, you never died. Kit was right.”
He frowned. “Huh?”
Alexa turned her chair to face him. “She always had this feeling that your death wasn’t real. That it was staged.”
She continued to stare at him in awe. “Omigod, it’s really you.” She reached out and stroked his cheek in awe as she grinned.
He nodded. “I’ve missed you, Lex.” She fell into his arms, hugging him tightly.
She remained in his arms for a few moments. “I’ve missed you so much too, Kirby. What the hell happened?” She pulled back, hastily wiping tears that had formed.
He met her eyes. “It’s a long story. I was hoping I could take you to dinner and we could discuss it tonight. And I was really hoping I could get some advice on how to tell Kit all this. I’m scheduled to have lunch with her tomorrow.”
Alexa’s eyes widened. “What? How?”
He sighed. “She’s been asking to have lunch with me ever since her surgery. And yes, that was me in the hospital. I wasn’t ready to reveal who I
