Chapter 91

It took me a moment, but I finally looked Kai in the eyes and opened my mouth.

"How is everyone doing?" I asked, immediately mentally kicking myself. It was a copout question.

"They're all good. Liam and Eve broke up not long after the storm. She…wasn't a good fit for Liam, let's say. And it turned out she had her eye on Jack as well. Not that it got her anywhere."

I blinked as Kai talked, trying to keep my outward appearance steady, but I could feel Kai studying me.

"Alma is happy enough and wants me to tell you to call her, and to give you her number again in case you've lost it."

Chuckling, I shook my head. "I'll call her as soon as we're done."

"Good. Otherwise, she'll throttle me, and I like this life, so you'd better." Kai gave me a wink before growing serious again.

"And Jack, he's…"

For a moment, Kai didn't say anything, his gaze on me as if he was trying to figure out what I could handle hearing.

"I know it's my fault, and I've hurt him. Please tell me he's recovering, but don't lie," I said, my voice coming out quietly as guilt washed through me. I'd let fear get the best of me, and I knew it, but I had to hope he could move on quickly.

"He's doing better than I expected, but not by much. The island is keeping him busy. Getting it all repaired. And fighting with the insurance company over who's paying for it. Looks like Jack is going to be out of pocket for a lot of it. Plenty is done already, but…he's been hit hard financially."

"Have the new song royalties not been enough to cover it?" I asked, assuming Jack's share would have been far larger than mine since he'd come up with the majority of the lyrics and some of the instrumentation.

Kai didn't reply at first, sitting up a little straighter.

"He didn't tell you, did he?"

"Clearly not. What happened?" I asked, not sure what Kai was getting at, but finding my stomach tense. Anxiety crept into the back of my mind, my heart rate picking up as breathing became harder.

"He gave up his share to satisfy you. Or your agent, or whoever it was who insisted you get full credit." There was a bite to Kai's words, anger making his eyes flash.

I felt myself go cold as my mouth fell open.

"I had no idea. I'd never have agreed to that. He wrote most of the song. He should have had way more than me. I… I would have been happy with a tiny amount of money. Or none at all. I only asked my agent to have my name on it—nothing else, I swear."

Kai raised an eyebrow and opened his mouth before closing it and looking me over again.

"What?" I asked.

"You don't know how song royalties work with the unions and official music licensing board, do you?"

"Not a clue," I replied. "That's why I have an agent, but I thought I'd made it clear I wasn't interested in the money. Is there?—"

"It's okay, Juno," Kai said, reaching out and patting my hand. "It all makes sense now. Please don't fret, but for future projects and to make you aware, you can't be credited on the official hard copy of a song without getting a certain minimum percentage of the royalties. You can be credited unofficially, of course."

I felt even worse as I realized what Kai was telling me. My agent had inadvertently fought for a far larger amount than I'd wanted.

"Oh, my. I'm so sorry, Kai. I had no idea. Can we undo it? Can I give it back?"

"Jack would never let you now. And not easily. You'd have to sell us the rights back now that the contract is signed, and because of the unions and all the rules around it, we'd have to pay you a decent amount. It wouldn't be worth it."

"Can't I just give you the money? Or pay for something? Pay for the costs to refurbish the island if it's Jack's money I have?" The words rushed from my mouth so fast that I wasn't sure Kai would understand me, but he looked thoughtful for a moment.

"You'd really do something like that? Use the royalties for the song to help Jack?"

"Entirely. I swear I never wanted the money, only my name on the song credits somewhere. If I'd known how it all worked, I'd never have asked for anything officially."

"Your agent would have hated that, but okay. Leave it to me. I'll get Alma to help. We'll grab some of the bills and the details for them. You can then pay them if you really want to."

I nodded, determined to use every penny the songs had earned me to help Jack.

"You want me to tell him?" Kai asked.

I didn't know how to answer at first. Did I want him to know? I could almost imagine him trying to prevent it. Especially now that I knew he'd given up his royalties to appease me. I must have looked like a gold digger. In his life until I had the money I wanted.

"No. Not unless you'd have to lie to stop him from knowing, and preferably even then, not until I've paid what I can with the royalties."

Kai grinned and nodded. Not long after, the food arrived, and we changed the subject. Although he had been lovely to me at every moment, there seemed to be something more relaxed and happy about him after my offer to make things right. As if his opinion of me had changed, and I was no longer someone he merely liked but a true friend.

It helped me feel grateful for the opportunity to make things right and talk to one of the band, and I instantly regretted not doing it sooner. If only I'd called Alma, maybe I'd have known all this already.

Once more, I let Kai escort me away and fetch us another cab. It was only as I got into it that I realized I'd never remembered to try and pay for our meal. Then again, I hadn't seen Kai do it either. When I brought it up, he laughed.

"They know me there, and I own some shares in the chain. There's never a bill. One of the perks of being famous."

"Oh," I said as my mind caught up. I hadn't expected that either.

"You'll get used to all this fame stuff," Kai said. "One element at a time."

"I hope so," I replied. "Right now, I feel like I keep making blunder after blunder."

"You want to fix them when you do. That means more than you think."

Gratitude for Kai's understanding swept through me, taking away some of the tension I felt, but as we drove closer to the hotel he was staying in, all my worrying thoughts came back. I was seeing Jack in only a few days.

My emotions still in turmoil and my heart still so deeply affected by Jack, I tried not to worry about the interview we had in three days' time. It would be the fifth of my little stint, but the whole band would be there, not just Jack. Could I trust seeing Jack again after all this and not want to ask if he'd take me back?

I had no idea what it would be like, but I had allies again. I just had to stay calm and be kind.