Page 33 of Something Unprofessional

“I feel like we’ve already had this conversation, but you do remember we’re supposed to be showing our clients how much we appreciate them, right?”

Gabe gave him a dark look.

“Because that right there—” he gestured to Gabe’s face “—says ‘fuck off unless you want your head bitten off.’”

He had a point. Gabe dragged a hand over his face and tried to school his expression back to something neutral. “Sorry. It’s been a long day.”

Xavier draped an arm over his shoulders, something he could only get away with due to his height, and gave Gabe a light shake. “Well, the sooner we get back to it, the sooner we can get out of here.”

Gabe agreed and fell into step beside Xavier. Things were easier with his business partner at his side, Xavier’s natural charisma deflecting attention from Gabe’s sour mood. They chatted with a producer and a studio executive who were sampling the hors d’oeuvres. After a promise to schedule a meeting soon, Xavier moved them deftly on. Gabe took the opportunity to look around—not for anything in particular, just to make sure he wasn’t needed by anyone. He wasn’t looking for Ev. He frowned as he noticed a shift in the energy of the room and a group of guests hurrying toward the doors, excitement in their voices.

He and Xavier exchanged a look, then started in the same direction. They were nearly at the exit when Gabe began to hear music that wasn’t coming from the sound system. He duckedaround a group that wasn’t moving fast enough and stepped into the lobby. Tucked back in a lit alcove sat a grand piano. Ev was at the bench, and Kelsey was leaning against the closed lid, watching him play.

Gabe slowed to a stop, barely registering Remy off to the side with his arms crossed and a satisfied look on his face. Finn was next to him, twisting his fingers together anxiously.

Ev was wholly focused on the music, his long fingers dancing over the keys as a soft smile curved his lips. As Gabe watched, the song shifted, and Ev glanced up at Kelsey with a secretive smirk. She grinned back, and at some invisible cue, she began to sing.

The hair on Gabe’s arms stood on end. Most of what he’d heard from Kelsey was pop-y and popular. This was something else. Gabe recognized the song, but it was as if he’d never heard it before. Ev had slowed it down, which allowed Kelsey to take full advantage of the lyrics, filling her voice with texture and emotion. Could they have practiced this? No. There was no way. When would they have had time?

Kelsey was fantastic, but Gabe found himself riveted by the way Ev’s fingers floated between notes, like he was being led by invisible strings that made one movement flow into the next. Ev never looked away from Kelsey as he played, and Gabe couldn’t be sure if he was following her cues, or she his, they were so seamlessly in sync. As the song swelled, Gabe could feel everyone in the room hold their collective breath.

From the corner of his eye, Gabe noticed Remy again. He had his phone out, recording. So did many of the others in the lobby, which had filled more the longer Ev and Kelsey performed. This kind of stunt was definitely Remy’s doing. Gabe wasn’t sure how he’d found out about Ev’s talent or met Kelsey so quickly, but Gabe would bet good money that he’d manipulated this into happening. Ev was so tight-lipped about his playing, he wouldn’t have agreed without a push from someone he couldn’t say no to.

When the song came to an end, there was a moment of stillness, before the gathered crowd burst into applause. Kelsey lit up like the star she was, grabbing Ev and dragging him to his feet so they could bow for their admirers. Ev grinned as well and leaned in to whisper something in Kelsey’s ear. She laughed and hugged him.

The industry professionals in the room knew talent when they saw it. They were eyeing each other, wondering who was going to make the first move and who they were going to need to fight off to get their greedy hands on the duo that had just brought a room full of stars to a standstill.

Ev was still ridingthe high of their performance an hour later. Gabe kept an eye on him—even as he made his final rounds of the room—while people stopped by to introduce themselves and praise his talent. He handled himself better thanGabe expected, probably due to his experience in the spotlight as a teen. He smiled and joked, brushing off the praise and directing it toward Kelsey, insisting that she was the real star of the night.

At the same time, there was a sharpness to Ev’s energy, an unease that put Gabe on alert. He was glad to see Finn sticking close. He clearly knew his best friend and was aware that Ev was going to crash, and it would probably be soon.

Gabe caught the moment Ev started to falter. It wasn’t a big shift, but his smiles turned brittle and his eyes started to flick around the room, searching, as his fingers drummed on the table next to him. Finn had been distracted by something Remy had on his phone, and the man talking to Ev, who Gabe vaguely recognized as an agent, kept on obliviously.

Gabe’s adrenaline spiked. He ended his own conversation as smoothly as possible, and then he was crossing the room.

Ev saw him coming. Their eyes locked, and relief washed across his face. “Did you need me for something, Sir?” he asked, tone hopeful.

“I do.” Gabe played along. “Sorry to interrupt,” he told the agent that he now recognized as one who worked with a few of their influencer clients. “Nathan, good to see you,” he said, exchanging handshakes.

“Likewise. I hear that you’ve got little Everett Bailey here working as your PA. I have to say, I’m surprised,” Nathan said with a good-natured smile. “We were always convinced hewould be on the other side of the table, so to speak, considering his talent.”

Gabe raised an eyebrow. “We?”

Nathan chuckled. “My wife and I. She’s a big reality TV fan. We’ve watched every episode ofThe Star.” He patted Ev on the shoulder, not noticing how tense the boy was. “We voted for you, you know. Such a shame. I still think you should have won.”

“He prefers Ev,” Gabe corrected, irrationally annoyed by the man using Ev’s full name, when he knew he did it himself, often.

Nathan made the appropriate sounds of apology, offered more praise for Ev’s performance, then excused himself a minute later when someone across the room flagged him down.

“Thanks,” Ev said, not meeting Gabe’s eyes. “I think he was two seconds away from taking me home to meet his wife. That would have been awkward.”

His words were joking, but his tone was thin and set off even more alarm bells. Gabe scanned the room until he found Xavier. When he caught his eye, Gabe tilted his head toward the door. The party would be wrapping up soon. Xavier could handle the last of it.

Xavier nodded in agreement, and Gabe put a hand between Ev’s shoulder blades, steering him toward the lobby and the elevator. The fact that Ev went without question told Gabe all he needed to know about his boy’s mental state. The elevator door closed behind them, cutting off the noise of the lobby. Evreleased a shaky breath and leaned into Gabe’s touch. He fidgeted the whole ride up, flicking his tongue against his piercing.

Eventually, the elevator reached their floor, and Ev let Gabe guide him down the hallway and into their room. With the door closed behind them, Ev pulled away and crossed to the bed, where he collapsed on his back, his feet still on the floor and one arm folded over his eyes. His leg started bouncing, hard enough that the whole bed was vibrating with it.

Gabe sat next to him and put a hand on his knee to stop him. “You stole the show, tiger.”

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