Conquest (15 page)
Evan rose and walked toward the door with Jesse. “You’ll be fine. Just don’t sign anything if you have any doubts, not even a Post-it note. And don’t agree to anything verbally either. You’d be amazed at what a label can turn into a binding agreement.”
Kenny led the way down the stairs. Jesse lingered beside Evan, walking so close their shoulders touched. He grazed his fingers against Evan’s hand, and Evan lightly hooked his fingers with his.
Evan gave him a sideways glance, his lips curved up in a wicked grin. “Well, that’s because my mouth has been full most of the time since we met.”
Jesse laughed. “And I thought I had a perverted sense of humor.”
Kenny leaped down the last two stairs and darted for the door. He held it open for them, standing with his eyes focused out on the street.
Evan pulled Jesse to a halt by his hand. “I’m going to be in the city for a while doing some shopping. If you have any questions or need anything, call me. And don’t take any shit off Greg or anyone else down there. Like I said, Greg is trustworthy enough, but his bottom line is always making money. Your music is a commodity to him, and you wouldn’t be going to his office if he didn’t think he could make money off you, so keep that in mind while you’re negotiating.”
Jesse nodded. “Okay. Thanks, for everything.”
Evan caressed Jesse’s cheek with the back of his hand, then kissed him. Jesse heard the door slam close and knew Kenny had moved away. He leaned into Evan, wrapping his arms around him. Evan held him tighter, and it was all Jesse could do to force himself to break the kiss first.
“Quit trying to make me late. I have a contract to sign, music to make, and all your record sales to break.”
“That’s so cute. You really think you can compete with me,” Evan said, tousling Jesse’s hair.
Evan opened the door for him. “I don’t think I’ll lose any sleep over it.”
Jesse walked him to the Escalade and leaned through the open driver’s side window once Evan climbed in. “I’ll call you after we wrap things up.”
“Alright. Good luck.”
Jesse backed away from the truck and watched the taillights disappear around the corner, already missing Evan’s warm body beside him. He took a deep breath and spun toward Kenny’s car.
Jesse stepped into the building containing the Phoenix Records corporate offices on Wacker Drive, a little disappointed the actual recording studio was elsewhere. He headed into the elevator with Kenny, hit the button for the tenth floor, and stood quietly beside him. A hundred times during their drive he wanted to talk to him, but hadn’t because at his first attempt of, “Hey, about me and Ev,” he got cut off by Kenny sharply uttering, “I don’t want to talk about it now.” Under different circumstances, he would have told Kenny he didn’t give a rat’s ass whether he wanted to talk about it or not, they were going to, but he knew Kenny was stressed enough over the meeting.
Really, he should be concentrating on it too, but Evan kept slipping into his mind without his realizing it until he caught himself thinking about his azure eyes, the smell of his cologne, his body so warm and firm, the sound of his voice in pleasure, the taste of his…
The elevator doors opened to an office assistant smiling at them from behind her large half-circle desk. Her gray eyes focused on Jesse, her olive-colored complexion pronounced with her black hair pulled up.
“Jesse Alexander and Kenny Cooper?” she asked. “That’s us,” Jesse said.
“I’m Renee, personal assistant to Mr. Hansen and Mr. Polanski.” Renee’s gaze drifted down Jesse’s body. “You’re dressed more like a model than a musician.”
Jesse flashed a bright smile. “Well, if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s a performer’s looks are more important than talent. Luckily, I have both so I’m guaranteed to be loved by millions.”
“And not a bit of modesty to get in the way,” Renee giggled. She pointed toward a door to her left. “Mr. Polanski is waiting for you in his office.”
“Thanks.” Jesse turned toward the door. He couldn’t fight down his agitation over meeting with Greg’s assistant. Tim had irritated him when they met and he got a slimy vibe off the guy.
Tim looked up at their approach. His gaze passed over Jesse and landed on Kenny. He rose from behind his black lacquer desk, extending his hand to him. “It’s great to see you again, Kenny. And right on time. That’s wonderful.”
Tim gave it a quick, rough shake and sat back down behind his desk. His eyes returned to Kenny. “Did you bring the demo?”
“Yeah.” Kenny handed him a CD. “Sorry if the quality isn’t the best. We couldn’t afford to record in a studio, so we set up a recorder during one of our shows, then burned the songs onto discs using Jesse’s computer.”
Tim put the disc in a player on his desk. The fast beats of the pop/rock track “Euphoria” sounded through the office, Jesse’s tenor lifted over the instruments. Despite the bad drum work and shoddy keyboard, Jesse knew he and Kenny sounded great. Any person in music could tell that.
Tim leaned back in his chair, listening with his eyes closed. When “Euphoria” ended, the classically inspired ballad “Shattered” came on. The song finished, Tim ejected the CD, and tossed it on his desk. “It’s not bad.”
“It needs work,” Kenny quickly intervened. “But with the right people playing with us, we could have a really awesome sound.”
Tim tapped his fingers on his desk. “Look, I’m going to be straight with you guys. The beat is awesome, I love the attempts with the keyboard, the electric backline from the synth in the first song is great, I get the sound you’re going for. Kenny, your guitar work is clean and precise.” He turned his eyes on Jesse. “But I honestly don’t think you’ve got what it takes to be successful.”
Tim’s words struck Jesse’s chest like a sledgehammer. He exhaled a hard breath to bring his voice to the surface. “Me? What’s wrong with me?”
“You’re volatile and unpredictable. After what I saw at the bar, I’m concerned how stable you’d be working with anybody. I could put you with some of the best musicians in the business, but they’re not going to tolerate that attitude you throw around.”
“How many band members have you been through in one year? Four? Five? You mean to tell me the fault lies with them and their personalities? Come on.”
Jesse clenched his teeth and clamped his mouth shut. He couldn’t trust himself to open it. He nearly jumped when Kenny spoke up.
“Actually sir, it wasn’t all Jesse’s fault. He’s very passionate about music, more passionate about it than I’ve ever seen anybody over anything. Sometimes his intensity
can
be a little hard to handle if you’re not used to him, and he doesn’t tolerate laziness or halfhearted playing. He wants the people who play with us to be the best they can be, not just for Conquest, but for all the people who come to hear us.”
Jesse’s lips twitched with wanting to break into a smile. If they weren’t sitting in an office trying to get a record deal, he would have thrown his arms around Kenny for saying that.
Jesse lost the desire to smile and changed his mind about wanting to hug him.
Tim looked away. “It doesn’t matter. Greg wants you on the label.” He picked up two thick packets of documents from his desk. He lightly tossed one to land in front of Kenny and flung the other at Jesse. It shot across the slick surface of the desk and fell in a crumpled heap at Jesse’s feet. “So, Phoenix Records would like to sign you for a five album deal. Your royalties will be ten percent of standard U.S. retail sales and you’ll get an advance of $200,000.”
Jesse looked down at the contract, then slowly raised his eyes to Tim, piercing him with a sharp glare. “If you’re a representative of how Phoenix is, I don’t think I want to sign with a label so unprofessional.”
Tim snorted in disgust. “You’re calling me unprofessional? I just assumed you’d be more comfortable getting on your knees to pick it up.”
Tim’s eyes narrowed, his voice lowered to a hiss. “We both know how you got this deal. As much as I hate to admit it, you’re pretty sharp to have figured out that the right kind of attention to the right person can get you big favors.”
Jesse shook his head slightly. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Let’s cut the oblivious act, okay? I know what you are. When we went to see you guys last Saturday, a few minutes after we went back into the bar after meeting you, we saw Kenny leave with a girl, but you were nowhere to be seen. Greg and I left, but Evan claimed he needed to use the restroom and then would go home. Greg and I talked at my car for a while, then when I tried to get out of that hellhole of a neighborhood, I saw you and Evan standing by a truck, and you were holding his hand.”
Jesse forced his face to be impassive. The only thing that stopped him from screaming his sleeping with Evan had nothing to do with his being there was knowing Evan had never openly admitted his sexuality, and he sure as hell wasn’t about to be the one to out him. “So what? He was showing me one of his rings.”
The contempt in Tim’s expression deepened. “Yeah, I bet he was. The second I saw you I had my suspicions, but Evan Arden, that I just can’t believe. You must be damn good to have gotten him to arrange this for you.”
“Keep using that. Maybe someone will eventually believe you.” Tim stood up and walked around his desk. “I’m going to get some coffee. Sign the contract and be out of my office before I get back.”
Jesse stared down at the floor, his right hand trembled from the force of his white-knuckled fist. Kenny picked the contract up from the floor and handed it to him without looking at him.
“It’s not true, Kenny,” Jesse mumbled.
Kenny nodded, his head turned away from him.
Jesse snatched Kenny’s wrist, forcing him to look at him. “It’s not true! I didn’t sleep with Evan to get us a contract! You believe me, don’t you?”
Kenny averted his eyes from him and sat quiet for a moment as if carefully choosing his words. “I believe you probably didn’t do it on purpose. But you have to admit, the timing is pretty impeccable. Maybe he acted on his own, thinking it’d make you happy. Or maybe he had already set this up, thinking he could use it to get you to show your gratitude to him afterward and you moved a step quicker than he anticipated.”
Jesse adamantly shook his head. “You’re wrong. Ev wouldn’t do that. You don’t know him.”
“And you do?” Kenny snapped. “You’ve known him two days, Jess. For all you
know, this is your payment for giving him a good time.”
Jesse coughed at the pain Kenny’s words caused. A deep ache constricted his chest and closed his throat. He set the contract on Tim’s desk, stood, and turned to leave.
“You can’t leave! We have to sign the contract!” Kenny snatched the contract Jesse had set down and shoved it against Jesse’s chest. “Everything we’ve ever dreamed about and worked for is right here!”
“Stop acting like this! What difference does it make? Let’s just sign it and move forward!”
“I’m not signing it until you say you believe me!”
“Fine! I believe you!”
Jesse lowered his gaze from Kenny. All his life, he had been proud to know there were two people who would never lie to him. Now, he only had Brandon. He set his hand on the contract Kenny had pinned to his chest and eased back down in the chair. Kenny sat beside him and began reading his copy, or at least, made a good show of trying. Jesse stared blankly at the first page.
“I’d be better if you just called me Greg. I’m sorry I couldn’t be here for the start of the meeting.” He gazed around the office, his eyebrows furrowing closer. “Where’s Tim?”
“He went to get some coffee,” Kenny said.
“Did he go over the contract with you already?”
“He mentioned a few key points,” Jesse grumbled, and thought he saw a flash of annoyance on Greg’s face before his demeanor shifted back to friendly business oriented.
“I apologize for Tim getting a caffeine craving in the middle of your meeting. Let’s move down to my office where it’s more comfortable and we’ll go over the contract page by page. This is where you’re going to take the first steps toward success with your music, so if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask.”
Kenny bounced up to follow Greg. Jesse rose and trailed behind them down a hall leading to Greg’s office. He wondered if he should tell Greg about Tim’s accusations, then refused to entertain the thought. That’s all he needed was to get a reputation for being difficult when he hadn’t even signed the contract yet. Once he signed the contract, he’d be locked into Phoenix and there wouldn’t be anything Tim could do to get rid of him, then he could retaliate.
He felt a little more ease at the thought and turned into Greg’s office, twice the size of Tim’s with a view overlooking the Chicago River. His eyes fell on the four framed concert posters of Evan, the Gold and Platinum records, the case filled with awards. He pointed at the wall and case. “Those are all Evan’s?”
