Game On (11 page)

“I know.”

“But I never felt they were right for her.
I couldn’t explain why, call it father’s intuition.”

Ryan held his breath. He’d never been one
to try and please others, or rely on other people’s approval to make him happy,
but he knew if Josh and Lexi weren’t willing to accept him as a part of their
daughter’s love life, it would crush him.

“I’ve known there was somethin’ between you
and Bri for a long time now. Hell, I probably realized it before you did.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah, I’ve told Lexi so many times, ‘That
boy’s in love with her. He just doesn’t realize it yet.’”

Ryan dipped his head and smiled. At least
this wasn’t coming as a total surprise to Josh. “What did Lexi say to that?”

“She said she thought you two would be
perfect together.”

“She really said that?”

Josh laughed. “Yeah, she did. And I have to
admit, I agreed with her. Brianna has a tendency to take herself and life a little
too seriously sometimes.” He held his hand up. “Don’t get me wrong. We’re damn
proud of her, makin’ it through law school, at the top of her class no less…
but sometimes she forgets she needs to take a little break to have fun now and
then. Life’s too short to work hard all the time.”

“It’s funny, my old man would probably say
that Bri’s a good influence on me. She’s always encouragin’ me to take things
more seriously.”

“And your dad would be right. Life’s a
balancin’ act, kid. You find just the right mix to equalize the scale and you
got a happy life.”

Ryan smiled. “I think Brianna’s definitely
the great equalizer for me, Josh.”

He grinned as he offered Ryan his hand. “I
really hope so, son.” He nodded toward the TV. “Now what’s say we keep our
mouths shut for a while and watch the game?”

Ryan laughed and kicked his feet up on the
coffee table as he settled into the couch and turned his attention toward the
screen. “Sounds like a plan.”

***

Evan poked his head in to Ryan’s office.
“Trey needs to see us in the boardroom. Now.”

“That’s weird,” Ryan said, getting to his
feet. “He doesn’t usually stop by. Did he say what it was about?”

“No. Apparently, he called to make sure we
were here. Said he needed to talk to both of us about this.” Evan ran his hand
over his head and released an unsteady breath. “I really don’t need this today.
It’s already been a hell of a week.”

“What makes you think this’ll make things worse?”
Ryan asked, slapping him on the back as they walked down the hall toward the
boardroom. “It could be a good thing.”

“The way my life’s been goin’ lately, I’ve
come to expect the worst.”

Ryan rolled his eyes and shoved his brother
down the hall ahead of him. “Quit your whinin’ or I may actually start to feel
sorry for you. You know I don’t do empathy.”

Trey stood up when they entered the room.
He came around the table and shook their hands, pulling each of them in to a
back-slapping hug. “Thanks for makin’ time for me, guys. I know how busy you
are.”

“I am.” Evan hooked a finger toward Ryan.
“This guy, not so much.”

“Sit down and shut up,” Ryan said, smiling
at Trey behind Evan’s back. He didn’t mind being the butt of his brother’s
jokes so long as it meant he was feeling marginally better.

Trey chuckled. “Some things never change.
Y’all still fight like you did when you were kids.”

“Yeah, but now we can retreat to our own
corners instead of tryin’ to kill each other,” Ryan said, taking the swivel
chair at the head of the table. “Saves a hell of a lot on medical expenses.”

Evan tossed a pencil at him, hitting him
squarely in the chest. “You know I never sent you to the hospital, not that I
wouldn’t have liked to a time or two.”

Trey laughed and held his hands up, forming
the universal time out symbol. “All right, let’s get down to business.”

Evan placed his leather case and tablet on
the table and claimed the seat next to Trey. “I gotta admit, I was kind of
surprised to hear from you. I thought we were meetin’ next month to talk about
the new album.”

“That’s just it, son,” Trey said, placing
his hand on Evan’s shoulder. “There isn’t gonna be another album for me.”

Ryan watched the play of emotions cross his
brother’s face: shock, anger, disbelief, and finally denial. Poor Evan. He was
right; he did not need this right now.

“You can’t be serious,” Evan said, shaking
his head. “Trey, man, you can’t do this to me. Not now.”

Trey sighed as he pushed his chair back
from the table and propped his cowboy boot on his bent knee. “Boys, I’ve been
playin’ this game a long time. Been chasin’ the dream even longer.”

“Chasin’ the dream, hell, you’ve been
livin’ the dream,” Evan said. “And that’s due in no small part to Titan.”

“I know that,” Trey said, tipping his black
cowboy hat back on his head. “I’ve had a hell of a run, and I owe your old man
a lot.”

“Is that what this is about?” Ryan asked.
“Is it because Dad isn’t runnin’ the show anymore? You don’t think we’re up to
the challenge?”

“No! Hell, no.” Trey laced his hands over
his flat stomach. “You guys have been doin’ a hell of a job since Luc left. I
know he’s proud of you and so am I.” He looked from Evan to Ryan and said, “You
guys are more than my nephews, you’re like my own sons, you gotta know that. No
one, aside from maybe your parents, wants to see you succeed more than I do.
And I know you will, with or without me.”

“Come on, Trey,” Evan said, his voice
trembling. “You know you’re still the biggest artist we have. If you leave-”

“I’m not leavin’, I’m retirin’. There’s a
big difference, kid.”

Evan propped his elbows on the long oval
table and dropped his head into his hands. “This can’t be happenin’.”

Ryan had seen his brother negotiate multi-million
dollar deals without breaking a sweat, but this was personal. Trey was family.
He was not only their uncle, he was someone they’d always looked up to, and they
both knew Titan Records wouldn’t be the same without him.

“We hate like hell to see you go,” Ryan
said, confident he was speaking for his brother. “But we understand you’ve been
at this a long time. You want a little time to enjoy your success with your
family. No one can fault you for that.”

“I’m still gonna be writin’ music,” Trey
said, looking at Evan. “Your artists will have first right of refusal before I
shop it around to anyone else.”

“I guess that’s somethin’,” Evan said,
clenching his fist on the tabletop. “You’re tellin’ me there’s nothin’ I can do
or say to change your mind?” He looked Trey in the eye. “If this is about
money, let’s talk terms.”

Trey threw his head back and laughed. “Kid,
I’ve already made more money than my grandson will ever be able to spend in his
lifetime. That’s not what this is about.” His smile slipped when he said,
“Sierra’s had to sacrifice a hell of a lot for the sake of my career. I owe
her.”

“She asked you to retire?” Evan asked,
frowning. “I find that hard to believe. Aunt Sierra’s always been so
supportive.”

“No, she’d never ask me to give up my
music. This is all me. It was my decision.”

“Does Dad know about this?” Ryan asked.

“Yeah,” Trey said, shaking his head. “I
told him what my plans were at Christmas.”

“And he didn’t think to tell us?” Evan
asked, his lips pinching in anger. “He thought he’d just let us be blindsided-”

Trey held his hand up. “Don’t blame him. I
told him that I wanted to be the one to tell you boys. I wanted y’all to
understand that this has nothin’ to do with you. Hell, if I had the stamina,
I’d be happy to spend another ten years doin’ my dog and pony show with you
guys.” He grinned. “But this is a young man’s game. You’ve got so many great
artists comin’ up. It’s time for me to step aside and let them take the
spotlight. They’ve earned it.”

“There’s always gonna be a place for you at
Titan,” Evan said. “I hope you know that. Just because we’re changin’ things up
a bit, that doesn’t mean we ever wanted to force you out.”

“I never felt you were tryin’ to do that,”
Trey said, smiling. “Like I said, this was my call. The time is now. I wanna go
out on top, while my fans still have great memories of my music. I see too many
musicians try and stick it out way past their prime and it’s just sad to watch
the natural decline in their voices. I don’t want that to be me. I don’t want
my fans to remember me that way. My last show was great, maybe one of the best
of my career. I want that to be the way they remember me.”

“We’re losin’ one of the best in you,” Evan
said, getting to his feet. “I don’t know how the hell we’ll ever replace you.”

“Don’t sell yourself short,” Trey said,
hugging him. “You’ve got a plan for this company and there’s not a doubt in my
mind that you boys are on the right path.” He turned to Ryan and pulled him
into a hug. “Stay the course. Don’t doubt yourself, and don’t ever feel as
though you’re livin’ in your old man’s shadow. You’re not.” Trey stepped back
to look at both men. “Your father was only one man. Yeah, he was great at what
he did, but together you guys can take this company to heights he never even
dreamed of. Trust me, that’s what he was countin’ on. If he didn’t believe that
was possible, he would never have put you in charge.”

Ryan stood on his parents’ doorstep, his
hand clenching the ornate knob. He needed to talk to them about Trey leaving,
Evan’s state of mind… his feelings for Brianna. He couldn’t risk his father hearing
about their relationship from Josh. Not that what they had could be defined as
a relationship
yet.
Like he told Josh, he intended to take it slow with
Brianna. They had the rest of their lives to be together and he didn’t intend
to screw that up by rushing her into something she wasn’t ready for.

“Hello,” he called, stepping into the
foyer.

“I’m down here, Ry,” Luc called. “In the
study.”

Ryan crossed the limestone tiles down the
expansive hallway leading to Luc’s private study. He’d always joked that this
house was the museum that housed his father’s enormous ego. It may have been
Luc’s style, but it definitely wasn’t his. In fact, his luxury townhome didn’t feel
like home anymore either. Maybe it was time to think about making a change,
hopefully one that would include Brianna.

“I’ll be with you in a minute,” Luc said,
holding his hand up.

“What’re you doin’?” Ryan asked, slapping
his father on the back as he looked over his shoulder at the numbers on the computer
screen.

Luc took his designer glasses off and
closed the laptop before turning his chair to face his son. “I’m just messin’
around. I’ve been tryin’ my hand at day tradin’. I gotta admit, it’s quite a
rush.”

Ryan laughed as he sat down in one of the
wing back chairs across from his father’s desk. “Just don’t go losin’ my
inheritance now. I know you’re gettin’ old and senile. You might tack a couple
of extras zeros on and some guys name Vino and Duillo will show up on your
doorstep to rough you up.” Ryan grinned when his father chuckled. “Don’t expect
me to protect you. I don’t want anyone messin’ up this pretty face.”

“You should’ve thought of that when you got
suspended for fightin’ in the ninth, eleventh, and…” He snapped his fingers.

“Don’t strain your brain. That’s not what I
came here to talk to you about.” He shifted, trying to find a comfortable
position in the chair. “God, I hate these chairs.”

Luc smiled. “I know. Why do you think I
keep them?”

Ryan raised an eyebrow. “You keep them just
to piss me off? You’ve got to get a hobby if that’s the kind of stuff that
amuses you these days.”

Luc looked at his watch and pointed to the
mini-bar behind Ryan. “Why don’t you pour us a drink? Can you stick around for
dinner?”

Ryan got up to pour the drinks. He had a
feeling he may need it just to get through this conversation. “That depends.
What’re you havin’?”

“What do you care? It’s free food, isn’t
it?”

“That’s true. All right, count me in.” He
reached for the crystal decanter containing his father’s favorite fifteen
year-old scotch and poured a generous amount into each glass. Setting one on
Luc’s desk, he said, “I take it Mom’s not around?”

“No, she just went to the grocery store.
We’re gonna throw some steaks on the grill for dinner.”

“Good. There are some things I wanna talk
to you about before she gets back.”

Luc kicked his cowboy boots up on the
polished mahogany desktop and leaned back in his chair, bringing the glass to
his lips. “I’m listenin’.”

“You knew Trey was retirin’. Why the hell
didn’t you tell us so we could’ve prepared ourselves? With everything Ev’s been
goin’ through lately, this news hit him hard.”

“Trey told me as a friend. I have nothin’
to do with Titan anymore, remember?”