Phil
She was incredible. I thought she would have a total breakdown over what had occurred, but the exact opposite happened.
Meg didn’t mess around. We had the contracts in our attorneys’ hands within the hour, and they were reviewing everything.
I texted Collin that I was going to need his help at some point that day, and he was waiting for me to tell him what we needed.
Tom had Laura making new hotel arrangements at the same place Sophie’s band was staying. He arranged for our luggage to be transported via David, and got a solid plan in place with the bodyguards.
Liv had called Maddie, who was working on some press releases, then called and left a message for her contact, who owned the publication Archey worked for.
Ethan and Claire were both on stage, helping direct and organize things. Claire came over to us and handed Liv a list. “Liv, Sophie is going to need someone to direct all the media tomorrow night. Here’s the list.”
Liv looked at it. “This is a really great list. These are all good publications.”
“Do you know them?” I pointed to her list.
“Some, not all. I know more than half. Let’s go scope out the media area,” she said to me.
I walked with her through the stadium. “How bad is the story going to be, Liv?” I knew the story would probably come out. The chances of it not coming out were slim to none.
“It depends on how the reporter spins it. I’ll see what Lexie Harris says about it. She’ll call me back. We have a good history. But we have a few options.”
I stopped walking. “What are they?”
“Do nothing. See if it comes out, and deal with it if it does.”
“What’s the second option?”
“We get ahead of it, and Sophie has a press release. She discusses her past and takes control of it.”
I blew out a big breath. “Neither option seems very good.”
Liv laughed. “That’s the press. Either way, you gamble.”
“What should we do?”
“Being able to be proactive and tell your side of the story is always the best way to combat things.”
“I don’t know if Sophie will do that.”
“You might be surprised. It actually can be pretty empowering,” Liv claimed. Her phone rang. “Sorry, this is Lexie. Let me take this.”
I nodded to her and started to walk back toward the stage.
Sophie was on stage, singing.
Tom walked over to me. “Laura said that the attorneys should have everything reviewed in the next few hours based on the number of contracts and pages. Timko has placed a ban on Terry and Archey coming into the arena.”
“Good. I hope Sophie’s contracts have some loophole or something illegal in them. This is going to be a fight. They aren’t going to just let her out quietly.” I ran my hand through my hair.
“No, but that’s what we have attorneys for. They can do the fighting. Collin can do the negotiating. It’ll all work out, but it just might take some time.”
I looked at Tom. “Did you know Sophie lost a baby?”
He shook his head. “I didn’t meet Ethan for several years after that happened. She hadn’t told you?”
“No.”
Tom sighed. “Don’t take it personally. We all have our secrets when we get into relationships. Some things are harder to tell to those we love.”
“I’m not taking it personally. I just wondered.” I meant it. I wished she would have told me, but I also didn’t hold it against her. It was another layer of pain she had.
“I have a hunch that Ethan is the only one who knew," Tom stated.
“Probably.”
“My guess is it wasn’t Ethan’s baby, either. They’ve never had anything close to a romantic relationship for as long as I’ve known them.”
I didn’t say anything. I doubted it was Ethan’s, but whether it was Ethan or Eric’s didn’t matter. It was in the past, and Ethan and Sophie now clearly had a brother-sister relationship. If something had happened, my guess was it happened due to grief.
We stood and watched Sophie perform for a bit.
She looked over and winked at me.
I smiled back at her. The more I stood watching her, the more I realized the real solution to her problem. I turned to Tom. “You know what she needs to have full control over her career?”
“You as her manager?”
I laughed. “I’m not sure about that.”
“What, then?”
“Her own label.”
Tom looked at me and grinned. “You’re one-hundred percent right. Sophie’s always helping new artists out, too. I bet she might even be interested in finding new artists for the label and helping produce their albums.”
“Really?” That was new information to me. I realized there was still so much about Sophie I didn’t know.
“Yeah. You should talk to her about that.”
“Hmm. Well, she can’t do anything until we get her out of these contracts. I definitely think she should have her own label.”
“Agreed. She’s always been the most talented artist I know. I was kind of surprised she never left to start her own thing,” Tom said.
I gazed at her lighting up the stage, in full control and looking so happy doing it. “Maybe she wasn’t ready.”
“Maybe.”
I grinned at her. “She definitely looks it now.”
Sophie finished up, and we left the stadium. We were only about ten minutes away from the new hotel. We all piled into the car. Sophie sat by my side, and I put my arm around her. She curled into me.
I kissed her head. “You looked like you were having fun.”
She looked up and smiled at me. “I was.”
Liv cleared her throat.
Oh shit, this isn’t going to be good.
Liv looked at Sophie. “I spoke with the owner of Archey’s publication. She is adamant that her journalists get full creative power.”
“So whatever he wants to write, he can, including lies about Ethan?” Sophie asked.
Liv sighed. “Unfortunately, yes. If he does write lies, you can sue.”
Sophie glanced over at Ethan, then back at Liv. “So what do we do?”
“You pick which side of the gamble you want to be on.”
“What do you mean?” Sophie cocked her head at Liv.
“You do nothing and deal with it after, depending on how he spins things. Or you have a press conference and tell your side of the story. The publication goes to press in two days,” Liv reported.
I saw Liv shift in her seat.
“What else, Liv?”
She glanced nervously between Sophie and Ethan. “If Sophie is going to get ahead of this, Ethan could be in the press conference and give a statement as well.”
Ethan jerked his head at Liv. “And what would I be saying?”
“You would talk about your brother.”
His hands started to tap his thigh, and he looked up at the ceiling. Claire put her hand over his tapping hand. He looked over at her, and she gave him a smile. He turned and looked at Sophie. “Your call, Soph.”
“Can I think about this, Liv?” Sophie asked.
Liv smiled at her. “Sure.”
My phone rang. “Hey, Laura.”
“Phil, are you with Sophie?”
“Yeah, she’s next to me. We’re all in the car.”
“Can you put it on speaker, then? The attorneys are done reviewing her contracts.”
I lowered my phone from my ear to my lap and pushed the speaker button. “Okay Laura, you’re on speaker now.”
“Hey, everyone,” Laura’s voice came through the speaker.
Everyone shouted out hellos.
“So, I think we might have found something.”
“What’s that?” I asked.
“There is a safety clause. Your manager and label are not allowed to disclose anything about your security to anyone. Also, if you request to have your security clause enforced, they have to enforce it. Did you ever put anything in writing the last time you tried to get your clause enforced?” Laura asked.
Sophie sat up straighter. “I have an entire email chain. I can log in to my account and send it to you.”
Laura continued. “Good. According to the attorneys they would be in breach, and it’s grounds to nullify the contract.”
“Laura, what do the attorneys say we need to prove her manager was disclosing security information?” I asked.
“Just a witness. The more the better, though.”
“What about the five of us and the security team?” I asked.
“That should do it. But there’s one more thing that looks strange,” Laura said.
“What’s that?” Sophie asked.
“Did you know there’s a clause in your contract that if you die, Terry receives all the rights to your future royalties?” Laura inquired.
Tom was sitting across from me, and I jerked my head up, and we caught each other's eye.
The blood drained from Sophie’s face. “Excuse me? Say that again?”
Laura repeated what she’d said.
“That would explain why he’s disclosing security information to the press,” Claire muttered.
Sophie looked over at me. “He wants me dead.”
I pulled her closer to me.
“Laura, can you send me the contract with that clause in it?” Claire asked.
“Sure. I’ll email it over now.”
“Thanks, Laura.” I could see Claire’s mind reeling.
“Anything else we need to know, Laura?” I asked her.
“Not right now, but I’ll let you know if anything else pops up.”
“Thanks. I appreciate your help. We’ll talk to you later.” I told her, and hung up. I looked at Claire. “Are we able to press charges against him for endangerment or motive to commit murder or anything like that?”
“Honestly, I don’t know. We may have a hard time with proof. You definitely need to get a new contract ASAP. I need to look at the contracts, but no judge will allow him to continue representing you if what Laura says is in those contracts exists.”
The car pulled up to the hotel. I saw Larry, the bodyguard, go into the hotel to check us in. We sat in the car and waited.
Sophie turned to me. “How quickly can you get me out of my contracts?”
“I don’t know, Petal. I need to make some phone calls when we get to our room.”
She nodded. “Okay.”
“I think you’re going to need several different legal documents drafted. Want me to join your calls, Phil?” Claire looked at me.
“Please.”
“Okay.”
“Sophie, you’re going to need press releases, and honestly, a press conference will be the best thing. Otherwise, the paparazzi are going to be one thousand times worse.” Liv gave her a sympathetic glance.
Tom sighed. “Take it from me, Sophie. The sooner you do a press conference, the better. The longer you wait, the worse it’ll be.”
Sophie bit her lip. “Can I just process this a bit when we get upstairs?”
I looked at her. “You don’t have to do anything you aren’t ready to do, Petal.”
The bodyguards came and opened the door. We got out and made a beeline into the hotel, through the lobby, and into the elevator that another guard had open and waiting for us. We went up the elevator, and the guards took us to the penthouse.
“The penthouse has six bedroom suites. Laura figured it would work best for us,” Tom said.
We got into the penthouse. It was huge and perfect for all of us. We had plenty of room to spread out. I walked quickly and grabbed the bedroom farthest away from the other rooms.
Sophie came in behind me. “Well, aren’t you sneaky?”
“Hey, my only concern was for you.” I licked my lips at her and sat down on the bed.
She laughed and sat on my lap. She ran her hand through my hair. “Thanks for helping me.”
“You don’t have to thank me, Petal.”
She put her finger over my lips. “Yes, I do.” She leaned down and kissed me.
“Are you doing okay? That was pretty sick what that reporter did today.” I looked at her and pushed her hair behind her ear.
She bit her lip. I could see her mind spinning. “I’m sorry you found out that way.”
“Hey, it’s okay. I’m not mad. I’m just concerned about you, that’s all.”
“Ethan and I have never had any sort of romantic relationship,” she said quickly, and nervously looked into my eyes.
“I didn’t think you did. But if you had all those years ago, it wouldn’t bug me.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. It was a long time ago, and stuff happens.”
Sophie grabbed my face. “It’s never been anything besides brother-sister between Ethan and me.”
I softly laughed. “I didn’t think it was, Petal. I’m just telling you I don’t judge you for anything in your past.”
She kissed me and pulled back. “I didn’t know I was pregnant when Eric was alive. The night I caught him with the gun, we made love, and I wasn’t on the pill, and we didn’t use a condom. It’s the only time I’ve ever not used a condom...before you. I was eighteen and four months pregnant when I found out. I was so distraught over his death. I didn’t realize I had missed my periods. I was with Ethan, crying over Eric, and listening to Eric Clapton, Poison, and Foreigner CDs the night I miscarried. It’s why I couldn’t listen to those songs. Ethan took me to the emergency room and held my hand as I went through labor.” Sophie blinked back tears.
Wow. Never could I have imagined anything so horrible, especially as an eighteen-year-old. I pulled her to me. “I’m so sorry you went through that, Petal.”
“The only person that knew was Ethan. Well, I forgot about the other person.”
I pushed my thumbs across her cheeks. “Who was the other person?”
Sophie looked away from me, then back. “I got really drunk about six months ago. It was the anniversary date of my miscarriage, and it just hit me hard. I was on tour and in my room. Terry came in, and I was drunk and upset, and I started talking. I told him about Eric and the baby. He made a pass at me, and I denied him. He tried several times, and I finally kicked him out of my room. The next day we both just acted normal, so I just chalked it up to the fact that we were drunk, but he must be harboring ill feelings toward me.”
The thought of Terry putting his hands on Sophie made my stomach curl. I took a deep breath and tried to stay calm so I wouldn’t freak her out. “He’s never going to come near you again, okay, Petal?”
She nodded.
“You looked really great on stage today. I can’t wait to see your show tomorrow night,” I told her.
She grinned at me. “Yeah?”
“Yeah. I’m really proud of you.” I pulled her in and parted her lips with mine, tasting her angelic mouth as my tongue traveled around her.
She once again sent my mind to oblivion as she grabbed my head and pushed me farther into her, and darted her tongue against mine. “I’m ready to move forward,” she whispered between kisses.
“Mmm,” I moaned against her mouth as she shifted her body onto mine, gripped my hair, and started to pull it, sending shivers down my spine.
There was a knock at the door.
“Go away,” I called out, and pulled her closer into me.
Sophie pulled back and giggled. “You have to stop doing that.”
“Why? They keep interrupting us.”
She giggled some more and shifted her body into a more innocent pose. “Come in.”
Claire popped her head in the door. “Sorry to interrupt, but if we’re going to get documents drafted, we need to get on those calls.”
I groaned. “All right. Give me two minutes.”
“Is that all it takes?” Claire smirked.
I grabbed a pillow and threw it at the door while Sophie laughed.
Clair shut the door just as the pillow hit it.
I looked at Sophie. “I need to take care of this, but thank you for telling me all that.”
She leaned in and put her forehead to mine. “Go do your thing. But I just want to be clear—I want to move forward because of you.”
My heart beat faster. I grinned. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
I gave her a cocky grin. “It’s my dick, isn’t it?”
She giggled and pushed me backward onto the bed.
I grabbed her and brought her down with me.
She straddled my body, ground against me, and claimed my lips once again with her luscious mouth.
I grabbed her ass and groaned, “I’m going to have blue balls again.”
She laughed a wicked laugh. “Good, you can think of me.”
I pulled her off me and stood up. “I’m always thinking of you, Petal. But right now, we need to get you out of these contracts.”