He’d hired Carmela onto his own payroll, doubling her pay so she’d report back to him no matter her loyalty to Daphne. He wanted the full truth of what was going on, not a glossed-over version. And Carmela was good at reporting back.
A moment later, he heard a door close on the other end of the phone and Carmela sighed. “Okay.”
“What’s wrong?” Cade asked, stepping into an alcove in front of a closed storefront so he could continue the conversation privately.
“So . . . it’s that dick. Mr. Powers. Remember you hired a new manager for Daph last year? Well, the label didn’t like him and booted him almost right away. They replaced him with Mr. Powers, and he’s a bit of a control freak. Like, he’s the one that had me give Daph the oxy to keep her on a leash. Said it was less dangerous than any of the street stuff she could score, and she could still perform with it.” Carmela paused.
Cade frowned. “He’s not trying to give her more drugs, is he?”
“No, not yet. But here’s the thing. He came by yesterday and made her cry. Told her she was costing the label a fortune and she was a piece of shit, and how she was a drain on finances and she’d let down her fans. That she was a laughingstock. He said she had a week to get clean and then he’d expect her back in the studio if she couldn’t finish her tour.”
“What? She’s supposed to be in rehab for at least a month.”
“I know,” Carmela said worriedly. “Daph said he was full of shit and just throwing his weight around, but he really upset her. Made her cry a little, and then she spent the rest of the afternoon chain-smoking and staring out the window. Took a lot of pep talks to get her in a good mood today.” She sighed. “That fucking label, man. I knew the contracts were evil and all, but shit. I thought ours were bad just because we were the little peons. I bet Daphne’s is horrible, too. She’s hinted as much. No wonder she’s such a stress monkey.”
He frowned into his phone. “The last thing she needs right now is the label hounding her.”
“I know. But what can you do? I’d say appeal to his higher-ups but I think he is the higher-ups.”
He’d see about that. “Let me handle it.”
“I just don’t want them to do to Daph what they did to Kylie, you know?”
He stilled. “What did they do to Kylie, exactly?” He still ached every time he thought of her. Kept checking his phone in the vain hope that she’d text or call. Something. But it was utter silence on that front. And a week later? He still wasn’t fucking over it. He was still raw and miserable and wanting desperately to understand why she’d abandoned him. He’d hoped for more from her.
“You know? The whole ‘making her pay for the canceled concerts’ thing. I know she was freaking out over the money. I think she must have big debts or something. She was really, really upset. Frantic, even.”
“Was she?” He kept his tone mild. It was either that, or lose his shit.
“Yeah,” Carmela said, obviously not realizing Cade’s change in attitude. “I’m pretty sure they nailed her for both of Daph’s missed concerts. Chewed her up and spit her out. And you know she doesn’t like to be a burden.”
“I know,” he said softly. There’s nothing I hate worse than being an obligation to someone. Her horrible ex had taught her that if she wasn’t bringing in money, she was worthless.
Maybe this was why Kylie had abandoned him.
“Let me handle this,” he said again, suddenly filled with a new determination to purchase a record company.
—
The good thing about being filthy rich? You got to take over the bad guys.
Oh, he didn’t buy the record label outright. But he let the right parties know that he’d be buying enough stock for the majority share, and then when he’d acquired enough, called a meeting.
It gave him an intense amount of satisfaction to fire Mr. Powers. The man looked shocked, but Cade had also had his lawyers look over Daphne’s contract and Kylie’s both, and he learned a whole fucking lot in the next week. Like he learned that Daphne’s album sales were better than anyone else’s with the label, but the label was also taking a bigger percentage than with some of the other acts.
Cade installed one of his lawyers in management, set him to fixing a few things, and let it be known that he was taking a personal interest in Daphne Petty’s career from this point forward, and no decisions were to be made without his okay.
And since he had enough money to throw around, they had to listen to him.
When he told Daph that he was shaking things up at the label and they’d no longer pressure her, she burst into tears. That told him everything he needed to know. He told her to take her time, get well, and she’d have her career—and the full support of the label he now ran—behind her when she was ready to return to it, be it in ten weeks or ten years.
It was the least he could do for his friend.
He also removed the atrocious clause in Kylie’s contract, had the payroll office cut a new check for her, and had it sent to his office so he could personally deliver it, along with their apologies for the “misunderstanding.”
If Kylie was so worried about money and wouldn’t take his? He’d at least make sure she had hers.
But he wanted her to talk to him, first.
—
“You sure you’re okay?” Star asked. “Your aura is very troubled.”
Kylie resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Star meant well. She really, truly did. It was just that Kylie wasn’t in the mood for anyone’s concern, especially not a horoscope devotee’s who was about to spout a pithy saying about her energies. Instead, she dug into her curly fries and tried not to think about it. “Just bummed,” she told her. “I was hoping we’d find more stuff at estate sales today.”