Refrain (Soul Series Book 3) (8 page)

I HAVEN’T HEARD THE LAST FIVE
minutes of what Bristol said. Not that this meeting isn’t important. Of course it is. The artist showcase in Vegas next week is a huge deal for Prodigy. It’s pivotal for Marlon’s upcoming debut album. It’s Luke’s first performance as a Prodigy artist, and a great opportunity to widen his fan base. It will help Kilimanjaro continue the transition from underground indie to mainstream. So it’s important, but I can barely focus because I’m so distracted by my fiancée sitting across the table from me.

Kai looks beautiful today. Pretty much like every other day. She’s scooped her hair up into a slouchy bun, and soft tendrils curl around her neck. Her face is completely bare except for a slick of lip gloss. She’s wearing a Janet Jackson
Control
tour tank top and dark wash skinny jeans with flip flops. Even though I completely emptied myself inside her only an hour ago, I want to peel her clothes off and spread her on Prodigy’s glass conference room table. I’d push her knees back and dip my head between those legs . . . andddddd . . . I’m hard again.

Fuck.

Fiancée.

I find an excuse to say it at least twenty times a day, but it never gets old. Even I didn’t realize how seeing Kai wearing my ring would affect me. I nearly had an aneurysm choosing the damn thing. I changed my mind four times before deciding on the sapphire. Literally took three rings back and didn’t pick it up until the morning of the party. One of my
appointments
. I’m probably banned at Neil Lane. No, as much as I spent on that ring, I’m thinking they’d still welcome me with open arms. It was completely worth the years I shaved off my life finding the perfect one. I think she likes it. Actually I know she loves it. Even now she’s staring at it with a kind of dazed look on her face, which cracks me up.

“Earth to Kai.” Bristol, standing at the head of the table, shifts her weight from one foot to the other, placing a fist on her hip. “If you could stop gawking at that ginormous ring for five seconds and pay attention, that’d be totally awesome.”

Kai’s wide eyes flick up from her ring finger to Bristol’s half-amused, half-irate face.

“Sorry, guys.”

She offers an apologetic glance to Luke and Marlon, who sit at the conference table, and to the guys from Kilimanjaro on the flat screen who Skyped in. Her eyes finally settle on me, and a goofy grin overtakes her face. The last week has been . . . God, like a Disney movie. Like birds singing, the-hills-are-alive kind of sappy happy. I’m deliriously disgusted with myself. Not nearly as disgusted as my twin sister is with me and my . . . fiancée.

“Look, I was there,” Bristol says. “It was magical. The party, the engagement, the tweets and Instagram. The whole world is gushing about it. I get it, but I need you to focus so we can make sure we’re all on the same page for next week’s showcase.”

She bends an exasperated look on me.

“‘All’ means you, too, Rhyson.”

“I heard everything you said.” I inject more confidence in my voice than I actually feel on the subject. “Luke will go first and perform four songs from his last album. Kilimanjaro will do a couple of songs from their last EP. Marlon’ll use tracks for the songs he’s featured on and a live band for his own stuff. Bam.”

“And your part?” Bristol tilts her head. “Did you hear that?”

“Well, let’s talk about it,” I say as a non-answer since, no, I checked out on that part.

“The organizers want you to close the show, on piano preferably.” Bristol shuffles through a stack of papers in front of her, eyes and attention held by something else. “Just a couple songs.”

“I’m not the artist here.” I frown and massage the hand in my lap. “Let’s just focus on these guys at the showcase. The public’s still getting to know them. They already know me.”

“That’s the point.” Bristol angles a look at me like I should know this. “You’re the sure bet. They’re meeting everyone else. I mean, yeah, Luke and Grip have been out there for the last year or so, but everyone’s gonna want to hear and see
you
too, Rhys. Especially now that we’ve delayed your next album.”

“Not this time.” I flatten my mouth into the stubborn line to match Bristol’s. “Just these guys for Vegas.”

“It’s actually not an option.” Bristol’s silvery eyes, so much like mine, show a little caution for the first time. “That was non-negotiable. The organizers want you, Rhyson. Of course they do.”

“When was that non-negotiable negotiated?” My words tumble out hot in the air-conditioned conference room. “Did I miss a conversation where you asked me what the hell I wanted to do, Bris?”

It’s completely quiet for a moment. I know it’s irrational. I’ve been playing the piano longer than I’ve known how to read. This should be no big deal. I sense Marlon’s confusion, Bristol’s irritation, and Kilimanjaro’s discomfort. And Kai? When I look at her across the table, her brows clip together, and her eyes rest on my left hand rubbing my right. I immediately push both hands through my hair.

“Let’s see if we can get that changed.” I avoid Kai’s sharp eyes in favor of my twin’s annoyed ones.

“Can you and I discuss this offline?” Bristol huffs a quick sigh. “Let’s talk about Kai before we break.”

“What are we thinking?” I risk a glance at Kai, but her concerned eyes still rest on my hand.

Dammit.

“Well, she has the duet with Luke that you wrote, so she could come on during his set and perform with him.” Bristol glances down at her iPad. “And then she and Grip have ‘How You Like It’ popping off soon. We could cap his set with that one.”

“That sounds good.” I glance at Kai, who nods her agreement, but questions still cloud her dark eyes when she looks at me.

“And, well, I did have another thought.” Bristol clears her throat. There’s never anything
actually
in my sister’s throat to clear. That’s her tell when something makes her uncomfortable.

“A thought, huh?” I tip my chair away from the long glass conference table and link my hands behind my head. “Let’s hear it.”

“Well, it’s hard to ignore that the video Kai did with Luke is one of the most watched clips on YouTube. Millions of hits.” Bristol squares her shoulders and looks at me directly. “With dance being such a huge part of who Kai is as an artist, we could be missing an opportunity not having her perform the . . . um, the dance she did in Luke’s video and on tour.”

She means the fucking lap dance.

“No.” I crumple the word into a dismissal and toss it in Bristol’s face. “What else ya got?”

“Rhyson, we should at least discuss—”

“No, Bristol.” I turn the full force of my refusal on her. “Hell no. She’s not doing that fucking lap dance again.”

“Let’s just consider it,” Bristol presses while everyone else averts their eyes, coughs and finds something fascinating on their phones. “I want to make sure we give her enough stage time.”

“Okay. Instead of having her pop into Luke and Marlon’s set,” I argue. “Let them pop into
her
set. We’ll do their two songs and an onstage interview with her.”

“I like that.” Marlon nods and smiles at Kai.

“She could do songs from the set she used to open my tour,” Luke suggests, his eyes affectionate when he looks at Kai. They grew really close on tour, like brother and sister. I know it’s no more than that, and Luke would never lobby for the lap dance. It’s disrespectful to me and to my relationship with Kai. Everyone at this table knows that, except Bristol apparently. And if she doesn’t back down, she’ll force me to put her in her place in front of everybody.

“This isn’t that big of a deal. The dance could—” Bristol starts.

“Just the two songs with Marlon and Luke,” I say, barreling over whatever nonsense she was about to suggest. “That’s the end of it.”

“Only two songs?” Bristol glances at Kai’s blank expression.

“I don’t want you doing a bunch of covers.” I gentle my tone some when I address Kai. “Let’s stick with only original content. We’re still defining you as part of the Prodigy family and as an artist in your own right.”

“But—” Bristol starts.

“No buts,” I counter before Bristol can finish. “I don’t want to overexpose Kai when we’re still shaping her brand. Her debut album isn’t even in production yet, much less released.”

“Well, she has movie offers and endorsement deals stacking up,” Bristol says, her smile slightly smug. “So you’ll have to get past that overexposure thing.”

“Movies and endorsements?” I look at Kai, who glances between Bristol and me uneasily. “What’s she talking about, Pep?”

Before Kai can answer, Bristol butts in . . . again.

“Several, and I got a few more this morning.”

“Well, I told you about the script.” Kai shuffles her eyes between my sister and me. “Endorsements?”

“You still haven’t checked your email?” A touch of impatience pinches Bristol’s expression. “We talked about this.”

“I know.” Kai grabs her phone and slides her finger over the screen. “I finally got all my stuff set up on this new phone.”

“Well, Grip and Luke, you guys know what next week looks like.” I shift a glance to the flat screen where Kilimanjaro joins us from Seattle. “Guys, you have any questions?”

“Nah, we’re good,” Nate the lead singer assures me.

“Is that all for them, Bristol?” I ask.

“Yeah.” Bristol runs a hand over her sleek ponytail. “We’ll make sure your managers and assistants have itineraries and details for the trip.”

She lasers a sharp look at Marlon, fake frowning.

“Oh, wait.” Bristol rifles through her papers again. “Grip, I don’t seem to have your manager’s info here. Surely you have a team
by now
?”

“Like I told you, contracts go to my agent.” Marlon’s dark eyes crinkle at the edges with the grin he shoots her way. “Just send the details to me until I find the
right
person to manage me.”

“Some people always miss the good thing standing right in front of them.” Bristol tsks and shakes her head.

“I couldn’t agree more.” He stands up, putting him close enough to tower over her. Their eyes catch and hold, crackling the air around them.

What the hell have I missed?

“So . . . we’re done?” I ask, catching Marlon’s suddenly serious eyes. He glances at Bristol one last time before nodding and grabbing his bag from the floor.

“Um, yeah.” Bristol takes a step back, putting a few more inches between her and Marlon. “Thanks, guys.”

Bristol slips her iPad into its sleeve and slings a leather bag over her shoulder.

“Not you, Bris. You and Kai stay.”

As soon as the door closes behind Marlon, I go in.

“What endorsement deals? What movie offers?”

Bristol wordlessly digs out a folder and slides it across the table to me. When I open it, there’s printed emails from six, seven, eight companies inquiring about using Kai to represent their brands, everything from shampoo to leotards. On the last page, Bristol has compiled a list of movie projects submitted for Kai’s consideration. When did all of this happen? Bristol’s only been representing Kai for a few weeks.

“I mean, Kai’s been featured on a couple of songs, yeah. She opened for Luke’s tour and was in his video, but all this?” I rest my elbows on the table, leaning forward. “I’m just surprised there’s this much . . .”

“Interest?” Bristol prompts.

“Well, yeah.” I glance at Kai, hoping I’m not offending her. “We all know how amazing she is, but this seems like a lot for the little the public has seen so far.”

“Rhyson, you aren’t that naïve.” Kai looks away from me to tap and slide over her phone screen, her voice tightening. “You know why there’s so much interest.”

“She’s right.” Bristol flops into a seat beside Kai.

“Huh?” I shake my head. “Enlighten me.”

“You,” Kai says softly. She looks up from the emails she’s sorting through. “They’re interested in me because of you.”

Well, shit. That’s the last thing I want. And I
know
it’s the last thing Kai ever wanted.

“It’s true.” Bristol shrugs. “Everyone knows Kai’s talented, but there wouldn’t be anywhere near
this
level of interest if she weren’t dating you. Correction, engaged to you. It is what it is. I say we maximize it.”

“Of course you say that.” My sister and I glare at each other for a moment, like warring mirrors. “What about you, Kai? What do you think?”

“Huh?” She looks down at her screen before refocusing on me. “I’m sorry. I need to go make a quick call.”

“What’s wrong, babe?” I frown because she’s frowning.

“I’d just been thinking for days I forgot to do something, and just realized what it was.” She stands and speedwalks toward the door. “I’ll be right back.”

“Don’t do this again, Rhys.” Bristol levels a hard look at me once Kai’s gone.

“Do what?”

“This thing where you try to control Kai and her career. Just let us handle it. Let her make the decisions for herself.”

Am I doing that again? I started family therapy at Kai’s request. I didn’t expect to gain much from it except to prove to her how serious I was about addressing my issues. Except . . . now I actually
am
addressing my issues. I still need a sweater to be in the same room with my own mother because things remain so cold between us, but things have thawed significantly with my father. Dr. Ramirez has helped us a lot. There are two questions she always encourages me to ask myself when I’m sorting through things. Why am I
really
feeling this way? Have I felt this way before?