Chart Toppers (Star Maker Book 3) (13 page)

He snickered
and playfully played innocent.
 
“Me,
hot?”
 
He then gazed into her eyes
and leaned in, putting his face as close to hers as he could without kissing
her.
 
He grinned mischievously.
 
“Tell me, how hot?”

She
raised her eyebrows and grinned.
 
“Body shot hot.”
 
She leaned
forward and kissed his neck slowly.

He smiled
widely, loving that she was taking the initiative.
 
He quickly got up, grabbed her hand
hastily and headed over to the bar in their entertainment room.
 
“Pick your poison, woman.”

She
nodded and smiled.
 
“Pátron.
 
I’m staying consistent.”

He snickered
again, loving every moment of this.
 
He quickly shoved two shot glasses into the pockets of his jeans,
grabbed the bottle of Pátron in one hand and her hand in the other.
 
He smiled and winked at her.
 
“Let’s go upstairs.
 
You can show me what you had in mind.”

She
laughed, loving his spontaneity.
 
She knew she was in for a fun night.

CHAPTER 7

Giselle
remained occupied typing on her keyboard at lightening speed in the corner of
Kit’s home office. They had turned a large unused part of Kit’s office into an
area for Giselle.
 
She looked up and
noticed Kit entering the room.
 
“Hey.
 
How did it go?”

Kit’s
stomach churned, her head still swimming in a sea of mixed emotions.
 
The day had not been an easy one.
 
She made a sour face.
 
“I’m glad it’s over.
 
What Dante did to KMK was wrong, but I
feel kind of sorry for the guy.
 

“The
charges the feds have against him are pretty serious.
 
He definitely made some poor choices.
 
Won’t be seeing him again for a very
long time.”
 
She shook her head and
felt a twinge of guilt in her compassionate heart, but that quickly evaporated
when the reality hit her again.
 
Dante had almost single-handedly ruined her.

Giselle
grimaced.
 
“Sorry. That doesn’t
sound like it was any fun.
 
Your
brother called.
 
He said it was
urgent and personal and for you to call him immediately.”

Kit
frowned.
 
Spencer never did things
like that, and she felt a wave of worry roll through her.
 
She looked at Giselle.
 
“Where’s Sully?”

“Out
back in the studio.
 
He’s been out
there about an hour.
 
Said if you
needed him to go grab him or call him.”

Kit
nodded and shifted her attention to the stack of messages Giselle had laid out
on her desk.
 
She picked up one of
them and examined it more carefully.
 
It was from Edward, the financial manager for the McKenna and Lindley
families as well as Gypsy Tango.
 
Once again, an urgent, cryptic message reared its head.
 
Her stomach twisted into knots.
 
Something was up, and she wasn’t sure
she wanted to find out.
 
She
swallowed hard and hoped her intuition was wrong.
 
She dialed Spencer’s direct line at the
office.
 
He answered
immediately.
 
Upon hearing Kit’s
voice, he told her he would be right over.

She
wasn’t satisfied with his response.
 
She sighed.
 
“Spence, would
you tell me what’s going on?”

His
voice was urgent.
 
“No.
 
I’ll be right over.
 
Get Sully too if you can.
 
I’ll see you in five.”

Now
frustrated, she hung up the phone and walked out to the studio.
 
Sully was sitting in the live room with
one of his acoustic guitars. He was deeply engrossed in a writing session,
alternating between strumming and stopping to jot down notes.
 

She
walked in and nodded.
 
“Making good
progress?”

He
looked up and grinned.
 
“Trying.
 
How did it go,
babe?”

She
shook her head.
 
“It was a highly
uncomfortable experience, but whatever.
 
I’ve answered all the questions needed, and Dante is going to rot in
jail, for the most part.
 
But, since
I’ve returned, I’ve learned of other developments.
 
Apparently, we’ve got bigger fish to
fry.”

He put
the guitar down and stood up, frowning.
 
“What’s up?”

She
shrugged her shoulders.
 
“I have no
clue.
 
Come back into the house with
me.
 
Spencer is on his way
here.
 
He said it was urgent, and
both of us need to be present.
 
He
wouldn’t tell me over the phone.”

Sully eye’s
reflected the same element of worry and confusion as Kit’s.
 
He wrapped his arm around her and forced
a grin.
 
“Ok, let’s go.”

Spencer
walked into the foyer, harried and frazzled.
 
Kit and Sully were calmly sitting in the
front room chatting while they awaited his arrival.
 
Kit heard him burst in and called out.
 
“Over here, bro.”

He
walked into the front room and stared at both of them.
 
Kit didn’t like the look of sorrow in
his blue-green eyes and braced herself for bad news.
 
She swallowed hard and shifted in her
seat as he sat down on the chair next to them. He looked distraught and let out
a long sigh before speaking.
 
He
finally met her eyes.
 
“Kit.”

She
stared, wide-eyed.
 
“Yeah.”

He
reached forward and gently put his hand on top of her knee.
 
“She’s gone.”

Kit
frowned.
 
“Who’s gone?”

Spencer
sighed again.
 
“Nana.
 
She passed away a week ago.
 
The funeral was two days go.”

Kit
stared at him for what seemed like the longest moment in eternity, wishing she
had never heard the words that rolled off his tongue.
 
The present moment jarred her to
attention and the devastating news sunk in as she slowly shook her head.
 

Sully
watched her carefully and could tell she was stunned by the news.
 
He gently put his arm around her.
 
The moment she felt his touch, she
started sobbing.
 
She composed
herself after taking a few moments to grapple with the new chain of events.

She
looked up at Spencer.
 
“How is this
possible?
 
How did we miss the
funeral?”

Spencer
shook his head in disgust and Kit could see a flash of anger in his eyes.
 
“James junior was supposed to call us
and he didn’t.
 
Dad was so disoriented
by the news; it didn’t dawn on him until the day of the funeral when we weren’t
there.
 
I got a call from him late
last night, drunk, stumbling over his words and telling me what an awful
grandchild I was for not being there.
 
When I told him that neither you nor I was informed, he felt awful.
 
He had put James in charge of all the
arrangements.
 
Anyway, I got a call
from Edward yesterday.
 
They’re
reading the will today in Chicago.
 
He wanted us there; we’re benefactors.”

Kit
nodded sadly.
 
“Obviously you and I
are missing that meeting.
 
I’m not
sure how that’s going to work since we’re sitting here in L.A.”

Spencer
looked at both of them.
 
“Kit, we’re
all
benefactors.
 
Edward didn’t tell me details, but he
stated that Sully and his mom are substantial benefactors. Apparently Nana had
been talking about her for quite awhile.”

Sully
frowned.
 
“What?
 
My mom
and
me?
 
How can that
be?
 
There must be some mistake.”

Spencer
shrugged his shoulders.
 
“I don’t
know all the details, Sull.
 
Edward
wouldn’t disclose anything.
 
I told
him we couldn’t get out to Chicago, so he requested we do a conference call
today.
 
It would be great if you
could get your mom on that call with us.
 
Edward didn’t have her contact information on hand and neither did I.”

Sully
nodded.
 
“Get me the info and I’ll
call her.
 
I’m sure I’ll be able to
get her.
 
Unfortunately, she’s still
out of work, so I’m sure she’s home.”

Spencer
nodded.
 
“Kit, can I use the phone
in your office?”

“Yeah.
 
Giselle’s in there, but if you want
privacy tell her to go watch TV or something.”

He
nodded and headed off toward Kit’s office.
 
She stared straight ahead trying to comprehend the fact that her beloved
grandmother was gone.
 
Aside from
Spencer, she was the only true family member she regarded.
 
Nana’s death served as a chain reaction
to two others lost that felt like family.
 
She was still mourning them after all these years, Joe and Kirby.

She
started crying again.
 
Sully held
her tightly and could feel himself holding back his emotions.
 
He had become very close to Kit’s
grandmother, Tilly.
 
She was family
to him and had always treated him as if he were one of her own despite his unconventional
appearance and humble beginnings.

Kit
dismissed Giselle for the day and sat in her home office with Sully and
Spencer.
 
They huddled over the
phone on her desk immersed in the beginnings of a conference call with Edward
and Sully’s mother, Moira, on the other end calling in from Evergreen Park.

Edward shifted
from small talk and began.
 
He
informed them that Tilly had left letters for each of them, and they would be
receiving them the next day.
 
As he
launched into the details of Tilly’s estate, Kit shifted her attention to
Sully, who looked overwhelmed and wide-eyed when Edward disclosed a total
amount well over two hundred million dollars.
 
She reached out and squeezed his hand,
hoping her calm demeanor would rub off on him.

As
Edward continued, they learned of the allocations of the money and
property.
 
Spencer had been willed
the family vacation compound in East Hampton—the other half of the pair
of their vacation homes.
 
Kit had
received the very mansion they were sitting in three years ago upon her
grandfather’s death.
 

The
East Hampton mansion was one of Tilly’s favorite vacation spots every summer,
yet she had not traveled there after her husband’s death.
 
Kit’s grandfather, Jerry, always favored
the mansion in the Hollywood Hills she now shared with Sully.
 
Kit found herself diving into a pool of
favorable memories and nostalgia and was happy to wade there until she was
pulled out by Edward’s voice and a nudge from Sully.

Seconds
later, after jumping back into the call at full attention, she learned that she
had inherited twenty million dollars.
 
She exchanged a look with Spencer and shook her head.
 
She was stunned.
 
Her grandmother was notorious for being
generous, but this was crazy.
 
Spencer
had received the same allocation, and they were surprised and secretly
delighted that their father and older brother received two thousand dollars
each.
 
Tilly never minced words, and
she was quick to act on injustice, favoring to exclude her neglectful son and
grandson from the family pot of gold.

As
expected, Tilly had allocated another parcel of fifty million dollars specifically
for charitable causes, and Kit was pleased to learn that Moira and Tilly had
been working on this effort together.
 
She left Moira in charge of disbursing the money to the charitable
causes they had discussed.

Kit’s
head was still spinning from all the news, and she had easily forgotten there
was no mention of Sully. He glanced over and noticed Kit’s anguish.
 
Tilly’s death was a shock to them.
 
They knew she was sick, but they had not
anticipated such a rapid decline in her condition.
 
He reached out and stroked her back,
wanting to give her a kiss when Spencer’s voice caught his attention.

He
spoke up.
 
“Ok, Edward, anything
else that we’ve forgotten?
 
Seems
we’re all wrapped up.”

His
voice had a compassionate note.
 
“No, Spencer.
 
We still need
to discuss what Tilly has left for the O’Sullivans.”

He
raised his eyebrows and exchanged looks with Sully and Kit.
 
“Ok.”

Edward’s
voice continued.
 
“Sully, are you
still on the call?”

He
leaned forward and grabbed Kit’s hand, holding it tightly, petrified of the
outcome.
 
“I’m here, Edward.”
 

“Sully,
Tilly has left you twenty million dollars and her fully restored 1929 Steinway
grand piano, valued at one hundred twenty-six thousand dollars.”