Chapter 22
TWENTY-TWO
“I think leaving her alone is a stupid idea,” Kai grumbles, crossing his arms over his chest with a huff. He’s sitting in the middle row of seats in the SUV with his head against the window, looking out the window defiantly as if I kicked him.
A freaking toddler throwing a tantrum.
Sighing loudly, I rub my temple. This isn’t the first complaint from the guys today and we only left her at the penthouse less than twenty minutes ago. Markus sits in the far back, equally as pissed off, nodding exaggeratedly.
I turn in the front passenger seat, feeling like the Dad of this group as I snap, “I don’t want to fucking leave her either, but Louis has got an issue and I’m not going to subject her to it.”
“What could he do, really?” Adam shakes his head.
“I thought you agreed with me!”
“I do, I just…” He runs a hand over his light hair. “I feel uneasy about leaving her.”
Sighing heavily again, I turn and face the front. Our driver does his best not to chuckle, but when I glare at him, he coughs to cover it up and keeps his eyes forward.
“It’s an hour. We can make it an hour without her,” I say, more to myself than to anyone else.
“She has our numbers. She said she wasn’t going anywhere.
We’ll give Louis an earful, get our questions answered, and then go to the studio at home and rehearse.
With Melody sitting right there as our muse. ”
The drive to Louis' office wasn’t terribly long. His office isn’t too far from our penthouse and today I’m very grateful. Normally, it’s fucking annoying because Louis uses it as an excuse to call meetings at any hour.
The four of us climb into the clear glass elevator, grumbling with annoyance the whole time.
“What are you going to say?” Adam breaks the silence.
“I will fucking say something. I’ll tell him to shut his damn mouth when he thinks about talking to us about Melody in any way,” Kai mutters under his breath, stuffing his hand into his jeans pockets.
“Let’s see what he says first.” I put a hand out to try and calm the tension.
I know they’re all pissed off at the email he sent, but we have two years left to deal with this guy.
Unless we take a major loss and pay the breaking fee.
As annoying as Louis is, he’s made it clear that he can always get more annoying.
Our career is built and strong, but one well-placed issue could always knock it down a peg.
As he’s so fucking terrified of happening.
“He says one goddamn thing,” Markus says, not finishing the threat.
I don’t need to hear it to know how serious he is.
He’s leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.
Markus is the teasing one in our group. The one always willing to crack a joke, keep the mood light, and flash a smile.
Even through the pain I know he’s dealing with inside.
He’s not fucking around now. Especially not about Melody and her protection. About her, he’s all business, and from the fire in his eyes I can tell that he’d knock out a fucker for very, very little.
“I’m right there with you,” I agree. I’ve given Louis a chance. I’m not about to give him any more. Not when it comes to Melody.
The elevator door dings and opens. The four of us usher out into the reception area of the management firm.
We’ve been here many, many times, and have made these people enough money that we have our album on the wall.
It was our second album; the first to go platinum, and we’re all standing in a semi-circle on the cover with our masks on, shirtless and flexing.
It’s a good picture, but moreso, it’s one that signified our step into the big leagues.
“Reis,” the receptionist coos, seeing me walking up with my guys behind me. She's a moderately attractive, fake blonde with heavy makeup and obvious work done to her eyebrows and lips. And, annoyingly, I’m fairly sure we’ve slept together.
I cannot remember a name of any kind for the life of me. Probably a night where I was blasted out of my mind.
We must have, or she wants to, because she fixes her tits and pulls her shirt down just as I come to a stop at her desk.
“We have a meeting with Louis, now,” I say in a monotone so she doesn’t look into anything. We may or may not have slept together, but there’s not a way in hell I’m going to let her think she has a shot now.
No one will ever have a shot again. No one except Melody.
Looking down at my watch, we are right on time. “Could you get him?”
“You don’t remember me?” She pouts, standing up to rest her elbows on the top of the partition, pressing her tits together in a way she must think is alluring. I do my best to keep from rolling my eyes.
Instead of answering, I just turn away and sit down in one of the chairs. The receptionist doesn’t move, but turns her sights on to Adam.
“If he doesn’t want to play again, what about you? I’m sure those piercings are… something else,” she purrs like a bitch in heat and bites her lip.
“Fuck off, I’m taken,” Adam sneers, jumping out of the way like her gaze alone will give him an STD.
The receptionist throws her head back and laughs.
“Yeah right. On The Edge is notorious for being single and ready to mingle.” She throws a flirty smirk to Markus and Kai behind Adam’s back.
“I don’t know where you got that information, it’s not like we sleep around,” Markus snaps angrily.
“Hmm,” she hums, looking around and puts on a faux sad face. “That’s not what I’ve heard.” She darts her eyes to me, “Or experienced.”
“Well it is now. So get the fuck over yourself, and go get Louis before we report your ass,” Kai snaps, throwing his hand in the air. “For fuck’s sake!”
Her eyes widen, obviously not expecting him–our own little boy-next-door–to yell at her like that. I’m going to buy him a fucking drink because she doesn’t say anything and leaves the room quickly.
“Good job, Kai,” I raise my fist for a fist pump, but he smacks my hand away.
“You fucking slept with her?” He growls through gritted teeth. “You dumb-ass.”
“If it makes you feel better, I don’t remember doing it.”
“That’s not any better.” He shakes his head.
“Guys!” Louis walks out holding his hands out in a welcoming gesture. “I’m so glad you could come. Come into my office, and let’s talk about the UK.”
Standing up, I follow the rest of them into his office, making sure to jump out of the way when the receptionist passes. If I know girls like that, they’ll stop at nothing to get a payday.
Kai plops into a chair, as does Adam, both of them staring ahead. The mood is different, understandably. We’re frustrated and on defense.
“So,” Louis says excitedly, unbuttoning his suit jacket to sit behind his desk.
“I’m so stoked you guys decided to go for the UK tour.
It’ll be only about two weeks, hitting a lot of the major cities throughout; London, Manchester, Birmingham, Cardiff, Leeds, Glasgow, Manchester, then coming back to London for one last concert before heading home. What do you think?”
He leans over, handing each of us a packet with information.
“You guys will be covering our usual entourage of people; setting them up in hotels and transport there and back. Also, the venues, and all their stuff. I’ll have security and social media covered–” he continues speaking, but I cut him off.
“Melody will be handling that.”
Louis' eyes widen as if he forgot, and warning bells go off in my mind.
“That’s right, my mistake.” He nods, turning to his computer, and typing rapidly. “We’ll be doing less than two days in each city, so just over 16 days all together. It’s going to be fast and rough, boys, I’m not going to lie. But we’ve been through worse together.”
“How much will it cost in total?” I ask, flipping through the packet.
“It’ll cost you guys just a little under 2 million once all fees are paid.”
“And how much will we make?” Kai asks.
“Easily 5.6 mil after everything’s paid off. Maybe more.” Louis sits back with a smile.
Kai whistles low and long. “Shit.”
“It’s a good payday for 16 days of hard work.” Louis puts his hands out to the side to try and convince us, like we haven’t already told him we would.
“We’ll need extra security,” I say, pointing to the paper he’d typed up which shows he was only planning on hiring our standard security team. Which, if Melody wasn’t with us, would be fine. But I’m not going to chance some crazy fan grabbing her.
“Why’s that?” Louis cocks an eyebrow, leaning forward on his elbows.
“We have Melody coming with us. Her security is our priority,” Adam speaks so clearly, so gruffly, that the whole room silences. He’s usually just a wallflower during these meetings, but not today. I crack a knowing smile, and sit back.
Let’s see how Louis responds to him for a change.
The questioning expression on his face quickly drops.
“You can’t be serious,” Louis scoffs.
Markus leans steps forward. “Oh, we’re very serious.”
“Okay, okay, okay,” Louis waves his hands in front of his face. “This is getting ridiculous. First you,” he points at me in an accusing way–which makes my jaw set to the side and my nostrils flare, “get all possessive and shit over this girl. Now you two?” He almost spits the words at Markus.
“Oh, don’t get it wrong, Louis.” Kai stands, putting his hands on Louis' desk and leaning over it menacingly. “She’s my girl.”
Louis' eyes widen in shock. It’s almost comical watching him try to put it together.
“Mine too,” Adam growls.
“All of you? She’s fucking all of you?” Louis snarls, and I can tell he’s holding so much back. “And this isn’t just a one time thing, like before? Come on, there’s no way in hell you think that’s normal. It’s disgusting.”
So this is what Melody went through. This is what the people in our Podunk little shit-hole of a town made her feel like, what they said.
And we weren’t even dating then.
I’m forever in awe of this woman.
I clear my throat, stand tall and straight, and I can feel, rather than see, the guys do the same.
“I’d choose my next words very, very carefully if I was you. You seem to think that just because we signed a contract that you’re above getting knocked the fuck out,” I speak clearly and calmly, making my threat even more sinister sounding.
Louis gulps, but his expression doesn’t change.
“I just… I don’t understand.” Louis shakes his head.
“That’s fine. You don’t need to understand . What you need to do is your job. Set the tour up, order extra security, and make sure that Melody is on every list. Got it?” I raise an eyebrow, and say with a hard set to my jaw.
Louis scoffs. “No need to be dramatic, Reis.” He waves his hand like I’m being crazy and sits back, leaning in his chair before chuckling humorlessly.
“If you think he’s being dramatic, then I’d hate for you to see me truly pissed off,” Kai snaps angrily. He’s mad, red in the face and trying to hold himself back, but the psycho that lives within him wants a go at Louis.
“I understand you all want to fuck the same woman sometimes, but being in a relationship? Is she just really that good? Good enough that you don’t want your own plaything?” Louis rolls his eyes.
“Watch your fucking mouth,” Adam growls. Markus stays quiet, but I can practically see the steam coming out of his ears, he’s so angry. His eyes are cut into slits, shooting lasers at Louis.
“Do your job Louis, or I’ll make sure you don’t have one. Can you really afford to not have us as a client?” I say calmly, looking relaxed and at peace with either way this goes. Either he gets with the program and shuts his fucking mouth or he’s gone. We’ll be fine either way. And he knows it .
Louis swallows audibly, looking between us all and clears his throat uncomfortably.
“Well then,” he says, but his voice cracks under the weight of our stares. “I’d better make sure this ‘Melody’ is treated well.”
“Well?” Kai scoffs. “You better make sure she’s treated like a fucking queen . From now on. No more of this backhanded shit you’ve been talking. No more snide comments. One bad word and you’re out. Get it?”
“Understood.” Louis presses his lips into a thin line and picks up a pile of loose paper, already in a neat pile, and straightens them out. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a lot of paperwork to get in order for the tour.”
Satisfied, I make my way towards the door, and can feel the others at my back. All but one.
“I speak for all of us when I say if we hear one more cruel word about her from your mouth then we won’t be in business together.
No ifs, ands, or buts, about it,” Markus says, stopping right before we’re at the door.
“Know this, Louis; we’d rather take our chances without you, then live without her.
She’s more important than anything. The band, money, fame.
None of it matters without her. So, if you like your job and the money we make you, then you’ll keep her very, very happy. ”
Louis looks at each of us, his expression going from denial to awe, and his eyes widen when it finally fucking clicks in his mind that we’re serious.
“Don’t forget it,” I snap, and walk out, letting Markus slam the door on the way out. Only time will tell if we’ve scared him straight or if he’s going to be a slick, sly fox, and fuck us over.
Either way, we’ve made our stance clear.