by J. M. Nevins
She nodded. “Yeah. He’s a different man than he was. He’s still a ruthless corporate attorney, but he can’t help that.” She giggled. “He’s gifted when it comes to law. Have you met his new girlfriend?”
Spencer shook his head. “No. I was supposed to when I was in New York, but I had to cancel on them. You know how it is.”
She nodded knowingly and smirked. “I certainly do. So, let me ask you this… would not being able to have this estate in the family for your kids or grandkids one day bum you out?”
He sat back and thought about it for a moment. He glanced around the backyard and up at the large mansion. His blue-green eyes met hers. “Honestly? Yeah. Why do you ask?”
She sighed. “Time for some changes.”
He laughed. “What? Why? Uh… you live here. Planning on moving?” His smile faded when he noticed her serious expression. “You’re moving? Kit, what’s going on?”
She cast her eyes down for a moment and then found the courage to face him. “Yes, I’m moving, Spence. I can’t stay in this house, not after what happened and what’s coming. And I would prefer not to put it on the market or sell it to a stranger. I have a feeling I may take an asset hit over the next year or two, so I’m going to lease it out, hopefully to some great people that will take good care of it until I decide what the long term strategy is. I’d imagine the house is worth about twenty mil nowadays.”
He surveyed her. “Kit, what the hell is going on? This estate and your inheritance are part of your greatest assets. KMK is too. Right now KMK is flushed with cash and highly profitable. You’re the founder and leading controlling shareholder. Are you being sued by Diamond or an artist or something?”
She shook her head. “No. I gotta find myself one amazing divorce attorney. It’ll be a legal separation first and most likely a divorce eventually. I think we’ve gone past the point where we can reconcile this. I’m still sorting things out. Sully doesn’t know I’m taking legal action yet. I wanted to tell him in person. I’ll fly out next week once my doctor clears me to travel. I can’t do it anymore. I can’t take care of him anymore. I just can’t do it.”
Spencer looked disturbed as he shook his head in protest. “Wait, wait, wait, whoa. What the hell happened?”
She couldn’t face him. She stared out at the sprawling green grass of the backyard that led down to a pristine swimming pool. “There’s been continued drug abuse and some infidelity. When we decided to get married, we agreed no more drug use. And well, the infidelity is obvious. He has a favorite groupie, Kendalle, who he’s been shacking up with on this tour. It’s an affair.”
She sighed. “Now that I’ve had a miscarriage because of the shooting, I don’t see any reason for me to continue in this marriage and before I go through with the finality of a divorce, I want to take time to think it through, yet set a firm boundary, hence the legal separation.”
Her green eyes reflected anguish when she met his. “Don’t get me wrong, I love him. Maybe a little too much.” She looked away as tears filled her eyes. She knew deep down inside she was still in love with him, yet she questioned if he was with her.
She composed herself and looked at Spencer. “That being said, I cannot continue to be with a man that disrespects me. And I’m fucking sick of taking care of him and cleaning up his shit. I’ve done this over and over, Spence, and it’s time to break the mold—break the pattern. I’m fucking thirty-one years old. I deserve so much better than this.”
Spencer stewed with anger. “I’ll fucking kill him.”
Kit rolled her eyes. “Please, Spence. Knock it off.” She met his eyes and grinned. “I appreciate the sentiment, but let’s not overcomplicate things by bringing murder into this. We just cleaned up the office for chrissakes.”
They both burst into laughter. She giggled. “Oh that was fucked up! Seriously, Spence, it’s not worth you getting into it. Just be cordial and professional. He is an artist of KMK. Like you said, he’s got a vested interest. He helped us build it to what it is today. He’s been a great brother-in-law to you. He is the quintessential professional when it comes to his career. He’s holding to his artist and publishing contracts and GT is making us a shitload of money. And who knows how much longer GT will sustain. We gotta milk the cash cow before it runs dry and it may very soon.”
She folded her hands and nodded. “Sully can have an epic career on his own. He will sell out arenas all by himself, no doubt. He’s one of the best frontmen this world has ever seen. Bottom line, keep it professional. From a management standpoint, he’s the stallion in our stable and it would be to our detriment to upset the ecosystem of our KMK corral.” She wagged her finger at him. “Don’t bite the hand that feeds you, even if he is your soon to be estranged brother-in-law.” She sipped her wine slowly.
Spencer sat back, the wheels turning in his head for a moment. “Wait a minute, Kit. You said Sean Finley has accounts of Sully screwing around and using on tour?”
She nodded. “Yeah, why?”
He shook his head. “That violates his inheritance agreement with Tilly’s estate. And if you do go through with a divorce, that violates Moira’s inheritance agreement too. One of the terms of her inheritance was that you and Sully remain married. She specifically outlined what married meant. If the divorce becomes final, Moira loses the remaining payouts on her share. Nana was very explicit about keeping the money in the family. A divorce, well, divorces them from our family. His payout was twenty, right?”
Kit thought about it for a moment. “Yeah, I think it was twenty million. And then there was the Steinway, of course.”
Spencer pointed. “That’s right. Well, he’s in breach of contract, Kit. His inheritance allocation is the same as ours. We all got the same schedule. The payout is over five years. Four million a year, paid out quarterly. Tilly did that on purpose, so none of us would blow through our money. We all have clauses in our agreements, including Moira. I remember Sully’s agreement. He and I discussed it. At the time it was fine because you two were newly married. Tilly knew about him—she could always read people well. She knew Joe and the whole musician lifestyle. She saw it.”
He met her eyes and continued. “She put in a clause that stated if Sully was unfaithful to you in his marriage and slept with someone else, even once, it would violate the agreement. And she put a clause about drug use too. I’ll get Finley to give him a random drug test. Make it mandatory. That’s another one that’s in his agreement. He’s got the same burn rate as us. I’m pretty certain his remaining balance is still there. I’ll call Edward and double check. The thing is, if we can prove it, he goes into default and the funds are frozen, so are Moira’s once the divorce is final. They’re both locked out, the Steinway will be repossessed and then the remaining funds get allocated to the executor to decide where the money goes.” Spencer donned a Cheshire cat grin.
She shook her head. “And that would be you because Tilly didn’t trust James or Dad at the time. She didn’t want me touching anything legal because she wanted me focusing on music.”
Spencer chuckled. “Bingo. So, sis, how are we going to allocate those funds?”
She sighed. “I have no idea. Hang onto them for a bit. Stick ‘em in an interest bearing account or investment. Shit, I don’t want Moira to get screwed and even though Sully screwed up, I don’t want to take away his inheritance. Something about that doesn’t feel right. He and Nana had a close relationship and she really loved him. At least we can buy Moira a little time while I make my decision.”
He nodded. “Nana was very clear, Kitty.”
She shook her head. “There’s so many moving parts right now. Makes my brain hurt. I don’t even want to think about it. You’re the executor. Take care of it. I wash my hands of this. Ugh. Hold off on anything with Moira. It’s a legal separation to start, so that should avoid her hitting default on Nana’s terms, but please have the attorneys check on that. I don’t want Moira getting blindsided. I’ll talk to her in person in the next day or
two. Do you think Nana would roll over in her grave if I leased out this place or maybe even eventually sold it?”
He chuckled. “No. She’d want you to be happy. And if the estate doesn’t give you good memories, and clearly it doesn’t now, she’d tell you to do exactly what you’re planning on doing, Kit.”
She sighed. “Y’know, I used to love this place for the childhood memories and now all I remember are the shooting or memories here with the band or me and Sully. I just can’t do it anymore. Ok, I’m talking to a realtor Monday.”
He grinned. “It’ll somehow work out, Kit. Y’know, you should call Henri Valois. I bet he would lease this place from you for a year or two in a heartbeat without a second thought. It would give him a place to hold his huge parties.”
She raised her eyebrows and grinned. “Now that’s the best idea you’ve had all day. Gimme a minute. I’m gonna go call him.”
Spencer shook his head. “No. First things first. Let’s get Finely to have Sully take a drug test. C’mon, let’s go call him. Then you can call Henri.”
* * *
Sean pounded on Sully’s door, not pleased with the directive that rolled down from corporate. Yet one more thing on his personal list that solidified his choice to resign as their tour manager. He heard laughter inside the room as he pounded again. “Sully! Open it up.”
Sully threw the door open, beer bottle in hand, snickering, hair disheveled, wild-eyed, while several roadies sat at the dining room table in his suite playing cards and passing around a joint.
He looked at Sean and reached forward to gently shove him. “Dude, you really need to relax and have some fun.” He raised his eyebrows, chuckled and chugged his beer. “What’s up? Wanna come in and play some five card stud with us?”
Sean observed him closely and knew he was high. Not only could he see it in his eyes, he could see that lines had been laid out on the coffee table in his suite. Three out of the five were gone. He nodded to Sully. “Come with me, please.”
Sully frowned. “What? It’s midnight. I’m winding down from a show. Whatever it is can wait. I’m not doing any interviews tonight nor am I calling home.” His carefree expression faded and he swallowed hard at his silent realization. “I don’t have anyone that wants to hear from me tonight.”
Sean remained stoic. “Right. This is coming in from headquarters. C’mon, let’s go.” Sully rolled his eyes and reluctantly followed him out.
As he started proceeding down the hallway with Sean, he noticed it was lined with partygoers and other groupies. He was so high it all seemed like a big circus to him and he started laughing.
When he noticed Sean was still moving forward, totally focused and serious, he playfully shoved him again. “Man, you’re really no fun.” He extended his arms out and motioned to the spectacle lining the hotel hallway. “Look at this. It’s a playground. You could have so much fun! There’s nothing for you to manage right now. C’mon, why don’t you blow off some steam? I think she likes you!” Sully raised his eyebrows, pointed to one of the groupies that was smiling at them and gently nudged Sean toward her.
Sean ignored Sully, reached his hotel room, opened the door and led Sully in by his arm. Danny and Jay were in the room waiting, arms folded in front of their chests.
Sully chuckled. “What’s up? Why the serious faces?”
Jay moved to block the hotel room door while Danny walked up next to Sully and seized his arm. “C’mon.”
He tried to wriggle free, but his brother was too strong and kept him in place. He frowned. “Hey, I fired you!”
Danny shook his head and kept his firm grasp on his brother’s shoulder. “I was reinstated by headquarters with back pay.”
Sully glared and felt his anger bubbling up. “What the fuck is going on?”
Sean seized his other arm and they led him into the bathroom where Sean had laid out a drug test. Sully took one look at what lay before him and desperately tried to wriggle free.
When he realized he wasn’t going anywhere, he became desperate and pleaded. “No, don’t make me do this. No.”
Danny felt no empathy for his youngest sibling. “You should have thought about that before you started using again, Pat. You know the drill. You’ve been here before. We’re not leaving until we get this settled.”
Sully complied remorsefully, solemnly making his way through the experience, knowing he was in deep trouble. He didn’t know who was involved or why this was happening now, but he sensed it wasn’t good.
Once Sean had what he needed, Sully didn’t immediately leave. He waited until Sean came back out. In a moment of lucidity, he glared. “You said this came down from headquarters. Did my wife order this test?”
Sean stared at him. “I can honestly tell you that no, she did not. She resigned as your manager and is no longer on the management team, remember? It was ordered by headquarters, KMK upper management. We’ve had some problems here on tour and they’re concerned. Diamond Records has expressed their apprehension about your performance and KMK assured them it would be handled.”
Sully shook his head in disbelief. “Spence ordered this?”
Sean sighed, avoiding the question, and started guiding Sully out. “Best for you to head back to your room. Get some rest, we’ve got lots of promos tomorrow. Do your best to show up coherent and not bloody loaded.”
Sully stared at Sean. “It was Spence. Damn.” He shook his head regretfully. He knew there was something bigger brewing that he couldn’t figure out and his denial took over. “Ok. I’ll call him tomorrow. I’ll let him know that things are going well.”
He met Sean’s eyes. “I’ll reassure him that it’s not affecting my performance. I’ll call Jonathan at Diamond too. Yeah, yeah. I’ll get this settled. It’ll be ok.” He clapped Sean on the shoulder and grinned.
Sean remained blank faced. “Whatever you’d like, Sully. Have a good night.” He slammed the door and promptly picked up the phone. Spencer answered. “It’s done. The result is positive.”
Spencer sounded relieved. “Thank you, Sean. We really appreciate you taking care of this. We understand it’s not easy.”
Sean sat down, closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. “Right. Consider this call my resignation, Spencer. I’ll have a formal letter drafted when I return to Los Angeles at the end of the tour. I’ll ride it out for the three months remaining and then I’m done.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, Sean. Hold the line. Let’s talk about this. Are you resigning from KMK Management or resigning as the tour director for Gypsy Tango?”
He sighed. “The latter. I’d like to continue on at KMK, however, I don’t want to have anything to do with Gypsy Tango after this tour. It’s not just Sully, it’s almost all of them. And this tour has been a monster. I’m done, Spencer.”
“I get it. I hear this is a tough run. Giselle called me in tears yesterday. She resigned as well. We’re reassigning her once she returns. Between you and me, at present, I have no manager for Gypsy Tango once they complete this tour unless Sully plans to keep going.”
Sean frowned. “I don’t know if he can handle those responsibilities and performing. He makes wise management decisions, but the band bucks his ideas and turns a deaf ear. I know it’s very frustrating for him. It’s not likely he’ll want to keep the role going forward. You’ll have to find someone.”
“Yep. Sean, please know that we really do appreciate you here at KMK. You and Giselle will be receiving large bonuses upon your return. We understand what you’re up against. We’ll compensate you. Do your best to hang in there. And I would love your suggestions for a manager for GT. We’re looking for three candidates now, as their primary manager, their day-to-day manager and someone to replace you…”
He interjected. “That is if there is any GT after this.”
Spencer winced. “That bad, huh? Giselle made mention of something to that effect too.”
Sean sighed. “I’ve never seen anything like this in the twenty years I’ve been doing t
his. The wheels have definitely come off. Doing our best to keep them on track and keep them from having too much bad press, although it’s difficult. Y’know, even though Sully is a pain in the ass and he has gone off the deep end on this tour, he and Bryan are the two that are the most professional and keep it together in front of the press. The rest of the guys, though… they’re making a mockery of their lives and their work. The pubs are starting to see it. It’s like a house of cards out here, on the brink of total collapse. We’ll continue to salvage what we’re dealing with.”
“Thank you, Sean. Three more months and it will all be over.”
He chuckled. “I’ll start counting down.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Sean rubbed his temples again. “What time do you touch down?”
“Three. What’s our agenda looking like? Or would you prefer I ask your assistant?”
Sean reached for a sheet from the desk in his hotel room. “Nah, I’ve got it right here. The band is in promos until three. You’re scheduled to meet with Sully at six after soundcheck. I’ll bring him up to your suite. He doesn’t know you’re coming in, unless you’d like me to tell him.”
“No. Let’s leave in that element of surprise. I won’t be alone. I’ll have two others with me. This is business related. Does he know Kit is in next week?”
Sean sighed. “He definitely doesn’t know about that. Call me from the limo when you’re on your way to the hotel.”
As Sean concluded the call, he let out a long breath and shook his head. He knew changes were on their way and his only hope was that it wouldn’t make things on the road that much worse.
CHAPTER 8
Kit stared at the document on the table in front of her. She swallowed hard and was grateful she was alone in the dining room. She didn’t have the mental strength to ever set foot in her office again, so any business was now being conducted in her expansive formal dining room.
