Page 84 of Hard Rock Temptation
“So you don’t care if I tell your company that you forged my signature?” her mom scoffed. “You don’t care if you lose that contract of yours?”
“You mean this contract?” Kay said sweetly, pulling up a digital file on her phone and showing her mom. “This contract right here that has my own name on it?”
Now it was Susan’s turn to narrow her eyes, squinting at the tiny words on the glowing screen.
“You see, after our songs leaked and the public loved it, we had a lot of leverage with the label,” Kay continued, a triumphant note rising in her voice with every word. “We told them we wanted to renegotiate our contract. With the whole world clamoring for our new album, they were under a lot of pressure to get things moving, so they agreed. A new contract means new signatures,” she added. “And now that I’m nineteen, I signed for myself.”
The sour, pinched expression on Susan’s face was delicious.
“You’ve got nothing on me now,” Kay said with a note of finality. “In fact, I’m the one who has something on you. All those messages you sent? I’ve got more than enough evidence to get you charged with harassment, and even blackmail.”
Susan’s indignant expression soon morphed into fury, the anger evident in the rising red flush on her cheeks.
“I suggest you get into your car, drive away, and never bother me again,” Kay said firmly. “Or else I’ll be the one ruining your life, not the other way around.”
“You littlebitch,” Susan hissed, clutching her designer bag in her fists. “You think I care about your threats?”
“You should have been a little more careful,” Kay replied with an imperious tilt of her chin, clearly enjoying every word she was saying. “You told me, out loud, over voicemail, that if I didn’t give you money you would ruin my life. That was a dumb move. I saved those calls. It’s proof of your blackmail.”
Susan’s fists shook and she made a move to lunge forward. I stepped in front of Kay, facing off against her mother. Susan’srage-filled eyes met mine, the first time she had acknowledged my presence.
“I suggest you do exactly what Kay said,” I told Susan. “Get into that car, drive away, and stay out of our lives for good.”
The wrath on Susan’s face might have been worrying, before, but now that Kay had her cornered, there was nothing she could do.
“You’ve always been a whining little brat,” Susan seethed.
“And all that whining has made me a lot of money,” Kay agreed. “Money that you will never see again,” she added with a sickly sweet smile.
Susan’s expression twisted as she opened her mouth one last time, but she knew there was nothing she could do. With a scathing look, she yanked open her car door and threw herself into the driver’s seat, slamming the door behind her.
Kay waited until she peeled out of the parking lot with screeching tires before speaking.
“Thank you for letting me handle this,” she said. “You’re a shit liar. You might have given away my plan.”
“I enjoyed watching you tell off your mom,” I said. “I didn’t want to interrupt such an entertaining sight. But a new contract?” I added, shaking my head with a laugh. “I don’t know what document you showed her on your phone, but you know it doesn’t happen as easily as that.”
“I know,” Kay said. “It was a Word doc from the label outlining our marketing plan. Because I kept her at such arm’s length, she has no idea how the industry works. I showed her some jargon, that’s all.”
“And she fell for it…” I started.
“…hook, line and sinker,” Kay finished with a smirk.
I let out a whistle, making my eyes go comically wide.
“A cliché, from the mouth of Kaylee Richter?” I said. “I must be a bad influence.”
She fell into peals of laughter, eyes tearing up with mirth. Then the laughter changed, her breath beginning to hitch. Her eyes continued tearing up until they fell down her pink cheeks.
I immediately took her into my arms, holding her to me. She let out a shuddering breath. I started running my fingers through her curls soothingly.
“It’s okay,” I whispered into her ear. “You’re okay.”
She sniffled and rubbed her face against my chest, as if being pressed against each other wasn’t enough, as if she wanted to get even closer, skin to skin.
“I’m okay,” she repeated.
Kaylee looked up at me, green eyes shining, red-rimmed but tears beginning to dry. Her smile wavered, but it was a smile of relief, of delight. When she spoke again, the satisfaction in her voice, the triumph, made my own eyes sting.
