Chart Toppers (Star Maker Book 3) (43 page)

Miguel
looked at him.
 
“I don’t know.
 
She’s looking a little peaked.
 
He might win.
 
She’s almost at her limit.”
 
Miguel nodded moments later, keeping his
focus on his sister.
 
“Yep, that’s
the last one.
 
She’s out.”

Seconds
later, she slammed down her shot glass, shook her head and yelled.
 
“Caralho! Tô fora! I’m out!”

Bryan
screamed with delight and jumped up and down.
 
“I won; I won!”

Miguel glanced
at Kit and Sully.
 
“Is that her new
American boyfriend?”

Sully
nodded and smiled.
 
“That’s him.”

Miguel
nodded in Bryan’s direction.
 
“I’ve
gotta meet this guy.
 
I like him
already.”
         

By the
time the band, Kit and Giselle climbed into their respective limousines; it was
six in the morning.
 
They had
partied all night; samba dancing and laughing with Giselle’s family, Brazilian
dignitaries and Brazilian high society.
 
Kit was the only completely sober one as she sat back in her seat and
chuckled recalling the party and thinking she had never been to something that
fun in her entire lifetime. She had managed to put her reservations aside with
Sully and enjoyed the event with him.
 
As they headed back to the hotel, she was ultimately pleased, feeling
like things were headed back on track.

CHAPTER 23

“His
voice is sounding good,” Giselle remarked as she stood next to Kit on the side
of the stage watching the show at Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre.
 

She
nodded.
 
“He’s got another six weeks
to go.
 
Let’s hope it holds out.”

“What
time are we rolling out of here?”

“You
can roll whenever you want.
 
I’m out
of here in the morning.
 
When the
guys leave for the airport, I’m in a limo headed back home to L.A.”

Giselle
grinned.
 
“Can I hitch a ride with
you?
 
I’m going to stay with Bryan
tonight.
 
No use in hiring out
another limo when we’re going back to the same city.”

“Yep,
you got it.
 
I’m heading out at ten.”

Sully
stared at Kit as she sat at the desk in their suite; phone glued to her ear as
usual, talking about Gypsy Tango.
 
She glanced over at him, feeling his eyes on her.
 
He gave her a look and tapped his
wristwatch frantically.
 
She wanted
to roll her eyes at him, but wisely refrained.
 

She
concluded her call and hung up.
 
“What is it, babe?”

He
raised his eyebrows.
 
“Are you
really asking me that question right now?
 
Do you know what time it is?”

She
shrugged her shoulders.
 
“I dunno?
 
Nineish?”

He
looked away and shook his head in frustration.
 
“I have to leave now, Kit.
 
It’s a quarter to ten, and I have to get
to the airport.
 
So much for
spending the morning together.”

She got
up and walked over to him, giving him a kiss and a long hug.
 
“I’m sorry.
 
I lost track of time with the calls.”
 
She gazed into his eyes and gave him her
sweetest most loving look she possibly could.
 
“Forgive me?”
 
She giggled.

He
chuckled and kissed her.
 
“I hate
when you look at me that way, I can’t be mad at you even though I want to
be.
 
Yes, I forgive you.
 
I’m bummed; that’s all.
 
C’mon, why can’t you just stay on the
road for the remainder of the tour?
 
It’s only six weeks.
 
Since
you’ve been out here, things have been a little easier on all of us.”

She
kissed him again.
 
“Babe, you just
gotta put your big-boy undies on and deal with it.
 
You’ll be fine.
 
Six weeks will fly by and then you’ll be
back home with me.
 
What’s
wrong?
 
There’s something else
you’re not telling me here. I can see it in your eyes.”

He
sighed.
 
“What if my voice goes out
in the next six weeks and you’re not here?
 
I don’t know what I’d do.
 
You are so good at diffusing chaotic situations calmly.
 
I tend to flip out.
 
You’re my rock.”

She grinned
knowingly.
 
“Yes, you do tend to
flip out, that’s true, but babe, let’s not breathe life to anything bad
happening.
 
You got another shot
from Dr. Franklin yesterday.
 
That
will hold you for the next month or maybe even the remainder of the tour.”
 
She stroked his cheek.
 
“You’ll be just fine.”

The
phone rang, and she looked at him.
 
He left her embrace and answered it.
 
He said a few things and hung up the
phone.
 
He met her eyes and took her
hand.
 
“That was Sean.
 
He’s annoyed ‘cuz I’m late.
 
I need to go.
 
Time to catch a flight with Captain Ben
to Tulsa.
 
Please come with me.”

She
shook her head.
 
“I can’t, babe.
 
You can do this.
 
Six more weeks, that’s all.
 
You’ve got this.
 
Say hi to Captain Ben for me.”
 
She leaned forward and kissed him.
 

He
nodded and let go of her.
 
“I’ll
call you when I get to the hotel.”

She grinned.
 
“Ok.
 
You know where to find me.”

“I love
you, babe.”

She
waved and nodded.
 
“I love you
too.
 
Hang in there, Sull.
 
You’re in the final stretch.
 
It’s almost over.”

Giselle
scrambled to jump back into the mix, receiving a debriefing from Lila, who was
assisting them.
 
She and Kit had
only been back in town two days, and it was complete chaos.
 
The phones were ringing off the hook,
and impromptu visits delayed them.
 
She had never seen it like this before.
 
But then again, when they left town to go
on the road, Kit had just won two Grammy’s.
 
She had spent a good month on the road
dodging as much press about her as possible, focusing on things for Gypsy Tango
only and working to keep them on track and make as much peace as possible.

Kit
hung up the phone and shook her head.
 
She looked at Giselle.
 
“Holy
shitstorm.
 
Ugh.”
 

Giselle
laughed.
 
“I know.
 
It’s never been this crazy.
 
So glad we have Lila.”

“Me
too.”

Lila
pointed to Giselle, and she grabbed the phone, picking it up and chatting
away.
 
Giselle covered the receiver
and yelled to Kit.
 
“Jon Diamond on
four.”

She
stared at her phone, noticing all four lines lit up like a Christmas tree and feeling
a wave of nausea hit.
 
She staved it
off and picked up line four.
 
“Jonny,
what’s up?
 
How are you?”

He
chuckled.
 
“I could ask the very
same of you, missy.
 
You’re a very
popular name buzzing around in the biz right now.”

She
laughed and bit into a donut that had been sitting on her desk from earlier
that morning, instantly making a disgusted face and setting it back down.
 
“Apparently.
 
I had no idea.
 
It’s been wild since I got back.
 
Is this what happens when you get a
Grammy?”

“Yep,
honey.
 
Get used to it.
 
I won’t keep you, I know you’ve got a
lot on your plate.
 
You around today
at the homestead?”

“Uh-huh.
 
Why?”

“I’m
going to have the Mercedes dealer pick up your car.
 
Give the guy your keys, and we’ll be
good.”

She
frowned.
 
“Jon, forgive me if I’m
wrong here, but I thought I had another year left on the lease.
 
I like this car.
 
It’s all sporty-sedan and cool.
 
It’s fun.”

“Just
turn it in, Kit.”

She
suddenly got serious.
 
“Did I lose
my company car privileges?”

He
laughed.
 
“You’re hilarious!
 
No, you didn’t lose your company car
privileges.
 
Trust me on this one.”

“Ok.
 
I guess I’ll have to drive Sully’s
Ferrari around town until you replace my Benz.”

“Yep.
 
I’ll talk to you later, Kit-Kat.
 
Have a good day.”

“You
too, Jon-Jon.”
 
She hung up the
phone and shook her head.
 

Giselle
glanced over at her.
 
“What was that
about?”

“They
want me to turn in my keys.
 
They’re
picking up my Mercedes today.
 
Oh
well.
 
It was fun while I had it.
 
Maybe Jonathan is doing things a little
differently.
 
I dunno.”

Giselle
frowned.
 
“I thought you had an
important appointment you couldn’t miss today.”
 

She
nodded, glancing at the clock and practically counting the hours until her
first prenatal appointment with her doctor.
 
She took a pregnancy test the moment she
returned home, and it was positive.
 
Having had complications in the past, she was eager to make sure she was
doing everything right.
 
She stared
off into space, wondering what would happen this time around.
 

The
doorbell rang, and Lila jumped up to answer it.
 
Kit frowned at the donut on her desk.
 
She looked at Giselle.
 
“These donuts are gross.”

She
laughed.
 
“That’s what happens when
you let it sit there after a four-hour marathon of calls.”

Lila
walked into the office and made a beeline for Kit’s desk.
 
“There’s a delivery guy out there for
you.
 
He insists on you coming
outside to sign for it.”

She
shook her head.
 
“Nope.
 
I won’t do that.”

Lila
looked her directly in the eye.
 
“Kit, you need to.
 
We can’t
get it in here.
 
It’s not possible.”

Kit
frowned, confused.
 
Lila was like
Giselle, good at making everything possible.
 
“What?
 
This is lame.
 
Ok.”
 

She got
up and followed Lila outside where a brand new, silver Mercedes 500 SL hardtop convertible
was being carefully off-loaded from a flatbed truck.
 
It had a large red bow on the hood.
 
She stared at it, her eyes wide.
 
She wondered where it came from.
 
She didn’t think it could be from
Sully.
 
Jade Riff didn’t have the
kind of money yet to pull something like this off.
 
She stared in amazement.
 

The tow
truck driver, who also doubled as a deliveryman, approached her smiling.
 
“Are you Kit McKenna?”

She
nodded and grinned.
 
“I am.”

He
smiled.
 
“Lucky lady.
 
Got some keys for me?
 
I understand I’m picking up and dropping
off.”

She
nodded and asked Lila to retrieve the keys to her 1989 Mercedes 560 SEC that were
sitting on her desk.
 
She made small
talk with the guy until Lila returned and handed him the keys.
 
Once she did, he handed Kit a clipboard
to sign off on the delivery.
 
She
provided her signature, and he handed her a large envelope.
 

“Enjoy
your new ride, Ms. McKenna.”

She
stared at the envelope and opened it to find a card and two sets of keys.
 
She noticed the tow truck driver had
maneuvered his truck over to where her old car was.
 
He had inched it out of the garage and
was now proceeding to load it onto the flatbed to take it back to the
dealership.
 
She stared at the brand
new Mercedes, the sun sparkling off its shiny, metallic silver paint job.
 
She was still uncertain of what was going
on here, in denial that the beautiful new car with its big red bow could be
hers.
 

She hastily
opened the card.
 
It read,
“Congratulations on your Grammy win, Kit.
 
And congratulations on ‘Triple Tango’ going ten times platinum.
 
You’re an invaluable asset to Diamond
Records.
 
Thanks for taking our
company to the top again and making everything you touch turn to platinum, star
maker.”
 
She stared at the words in
amazement.
 
The entire executive
team and the board had signed the card.
 

She
laughed and ran into the house.
 
She
hopped on the phone and immediately dialed Diamond Records, asking Mindy to put
her through to Jonathan immediately.