Chapter 20

Harley

The band meetingfelt like old times.

Though Tommy and I got a few strange looks when the others realized we were in the same room together during the video chat, no one said anything. I’d met or was familiar with everyone in attendance, including Kellan’s new girlfriend Jesse, who was also there, along with Presley, Madeline, the band’s new-to-me manager, Sasha, and the owner of their current record label, Casey Hart.

Casey was a rock and roll legend who’d left the industry to marry an Eastern European king, but she’d started a record label that her daughter Sasha ran, and from what I gathered, Casey only got involved in the business when absolutely necessary. Apparently, this was considered absolutely necessary.

“There are a few options,” Madeline said after all the facts had been laid out. “The first, is that you pony up the money to buy the masters, though that’s probably my least favorite option.”

“We’d need to come up with what will probably be a ridiculous amount of money to buy our own music?” Kingston demanded. “Fuck that noise.”

“The other option is for you to re-record all the music,” Madeline said. “Like what Taylor Swift did.”

“That’s time we don’t have,” Z muttered.

“Not to mention more money,” Kellan added. “Though time is more precious than the money right now.”

“And the final option is to give it a year or so to see what happens and how the new owners handle everything.”

“Aurora did this to make us miserable,” Z said. “I have no doubt they’ll do everything in their power to fuck with us.”

“We’re about to go on a year-long tour,” Tommy said. “The fans want to hear ‘Promise’ and all the other songs from those albums we still play. What happens if they won’t give us permission to perform them? Then what?”

“That’s shooting themselves in the foot,” Madeline said. “If you don’t play them, they don’t get paid.”

“This all seems ludicrous to me,” Devyn said, shaking her head. “How is this even a thing? You wrote and own those songs. How can they have so much power?”

“Record labels don’t make a lot from album sales because the pot is split so many ways with writing credits, whether or not the producers got a cut, shit like that,” Kingston replied. “And that goes for the artists too. So we make the bulk of our money from touring, and they don’t get a piece of that. Instead, they do everything in their power to screw over the artists when they sign them, especially new bands.

“We had no idea we would blow up the way we did, so it didn’t occur to us to protect our masters. Not to mention, back then we couldn’t afford to buy them outright and we had no power in the industry yet. That’s why we produced everything on our own after the second album.”

“And just for the record, I have no rights to your masters with our current deal,” Casey pointed out. “I’m not in this to screw anyone over. I’m rich enough.”

“That’s one of many reasons we love you,” Kingston told her.

“Well, you’re going to have to make some difficult decisions,” Madeline interjected dryly. “We can spend money fighting this in court, but their contracts are pretty iron clad. They knew what they were doing when they had you sign them.”

“So do we put our heads in the sand and just get ready to go on tour?” Kellan asked. “Play dumb until we can’t?”

Everyone was quiet and Z let out a huff. “Should I talk to Aurora? I mean, this is all because of me dumping her.”

“This is a hell of an act of revenge over a breakup,” Madeline said. “And for what purpose? Even if you don’t play your biggest hit, you still have other hits. Lots and lots of other hits.”

“I think we play dumb short-term,” Devyn said. “Let’s just see what happens. Maybe the money is all she wants. And the knowledge that she has this perceived power over you?”

“I’m going to bet that’s not it,” Z said. “I think she wants to hurt me, and the rest of you by extension.”

“We fired her,” Kingston said. “I’m sure that stung. She’s out to hurt us collectively as a band. This goes beyond you dumping her.”

“I think we need to get in front of the song rights,” Sasha said. “We don’t want to build a whole set and play list around songs you wind up having to cut. We’ll need to redo everything if that’s the case.”

“I’ll reach out to their counsel this afternoon,” Madeline said, “and try to get a feel for what their plans are. All right? I’m signing off for now, but I’ll reach out once I have answers.”

“I’m going too,” Casey said. “It’s bedtime around here but reach out if you need me.”

“Everyone else stay on,” Sasha said. “We have a few things to go over since you’re all here.”

“I’m going to go,” I mouthed to Tommy.

He shook his head, whispering, “Stay. Please.”

I hesitated but sat back down.

I wasn’t sure why I was needed, but he’d asked me to stay, so I would.

Like always, I had a hard time turning him down. At some point, I’d have to talk to Allisha about that, but for now, I was happy to be back in the fold even if it was just for a little while.

“How’s the knee, Tommy?” Sasha asked.

“It’s better,” he said, “but not ready for a world tour.”

“Are you going to be ready?” Her question was direct, and he hesitated.

“I want to say yes,” he said, “but I don’t know. Based on what the doctors and physical therapist have said, I’ll most likely be ready. But we won’t know until it’s actually healed. It’s still too sore to play drums, and I’m wearing a brace so I don’t dislocate it again.”

“Do what the doctors tell you,” she said sternly. “There’s a lot of money on the line if we have to delay the early shows at the last minute. But, and I’m just putting this out there, we could move the four L.A. shows we start the tour with to the end, and that would give you an extra week. Technically, we could probably move the two San Francisco shows as well, but we’d have to make those decisions now.”

“So we drop the New Year’s Eve show?” Tommy asked. “That sucks.”

“But it might be the best solution,” Kellan said.

“I say leave Frisco, but move L.A.,” Devyn said after a moment. “I hate to do it, but any extra time just means you’ll be in better shape.”

They talked about some more logistics of the tour, and I tuned out, texting my sister instead.

HARLEY: You would not believe the insanity happening here today.

WYNTER: Why? What’s up?

HARLEY: Band stuff. Nothing to do with me, really, except that I control Carter’s interests, so I had to sit in on a band meeting.

WYNTER: You’ve done that before.

HARLEY: Yeah, but this was different. I’m doing it from Tommy’s room.

WYNTER: You did NOT sleep with him while in rehab to work on not sleeping with him anymore!

I couldn’t help but chuckle as I responded.

HARLEY: That’s not the only reason I’m here, but no, smarty-pants, I didn’t. But we did talk, and I think it’s been a positive thing for both of us. At least, it feels like it. The two of us are going to keep meeting with the therapist together to dig into why we’re so broken.

WYNTER: I hope she has more than one session planned…

HARLEY: Very funny.

WYNTER: Seriously, I’m glad you two are making progress. You’ve needed to work through this shit for a long time, because it’s not healthy for either of you.

HARLEY: I know. That’s why I’m here, remember? Anyway, how’s my munchkin?

WYNTER: He’s with Auntie Presley today since I’m at work, but he misses you and talks about when Mommy’s coming home non-stop.

HARLEY: Oh, sorry! I didn’t realize you were working a day shift. I’ll let you go, but I’ll talk to River later today and remind him he’s coming to visit on Sunday.

WYNTER: Will do. Love you. Be safe. And smart.

HARLEY: I will. Love you too!

I put my phone away just as Tommy closed his laptop.

“I’ve got a session with my physical therapist,” he said. “Then we’re meeting with Allisha at four, right?”

I nodded.

“What are you going to do until then?”

“I’m going to sit on my balcony with a book and a cup of tea. I don’t do a lot of reading these days, and I miss it.”

“You used to read all the time,” he said softly. “Why’d you stop?”

“Initially because having a newborn is extremely time-consuming. Then having a toddler is even busier, just in a different way. And honestly, I read mostly romance, and I wasn’t feeling very romantic after everything that happened.”

“I hope I’m not the reason you lost your faith in romance.”

Our eyes met and for a moment neither of us seemed to even breathe.

He epitomized romance in my mind.

Tall and sexy and gorgeous.

Equal parts rock star, male model, and super-talented musician.

He was the whole bad-boy rock and roll package and nothing had changed since we’d been apart.

I could still look at him for hours.

When we’d been married, I couldn’t count how many times I’d watched him sleep, just because I loved looking at him so much. There was beauty in the male form, though society rarely used that word for men, but I thought Tommy had it in spades. From his rugged features to the impish quirk of his smile

“Divorce is probably the least romantic thing on earth,” I said after a moment. “To be honest, I don’t think I’ll ever fall in love or get married again. It’s just too painful when it doesn’t work out.”