Chapter 4 #2
“He has more talent than anyone in this room, this building, and probably this city,” Harry said plainly, not even trying to dig into Albion with the comment.
Albion didn’t react. He just stared at Nikky through the glass as the song progressed, brow knit in thought. It would have been a positive sign that Nikky had won the man over with his brilliance, but Harry knew better. Nothing budged Dean Albion from a plan he’d already committed to. Nothing.
Nikky finished the song with a last, magnificent chorus, then loosened his grip on the guitar and stared hopefully through the glass at Harry first, then Albion, smiling.
The young man was in his element. Anyone with eyes and a heart could see with that song he was exactly where he was meant to be, doing the thing he’d been born for.
Albion had eyes, but he was heartless. “That was great,” he said with zero enthusiasm. “Thanks for sharing that. I’d love it if we could give Charlie’s song a try now.”
Nikky wilted with disappointment. The way the light went out of his eyes made Harry want to strangle Albion.
He didn’t go that far, but he did edge his way over to the desk and push Albion aside so he could speak into the microphone.
“That was amazing, Nikky,” he said, giving the young man his warmest smile.
“Absolutely stunning. You’re a once in a lifetime talent. ”
The joy rushed back into Nikky’s expression and his entire body in an instant. He smiled broadly, blushed, and said, “Thanks.” Their eyes met, and Harry smiled back, doing everything he could to give Nikky the confidence he needed.
Albion nudged Harry aside and said, “Let’s try the other song.”
Nikky glanced at Harry. Harry took a step back and nodded. Nikky shifted to look at Albion and nodded as well.
Damn. Nikky brought out a side in Harry that he thought he’d given up after his brief BDSM phase years ago. Unconscious of it or not, Nikky screamed sub in need of a strong dom.
Harry smirked as ideas popped in his head. Well, if he had to get his dom on and take one for the team….
He spent the next hour standing against the back wall of the booth, arms crossed, overseeing everything between Nikky and Albion as they tried out different songs and made a few decisions about which would be recorded for the album.
It was clear as day what Albion wanted to do with Nikky, and the more wildly inappropriate songs Albion had him try out, the more determined Harry was to stop the creep from pushing Nikky to the point where he would abandon his talent in favor of peace.
“This was great,” Albion said once Nikky was finally let out of the recording booth, like a man who was certain he was going to win the big match. “I think we’ve got a ton of stuff to work with. Let’s go grab some lunch and talk about the composition of this album.”
Harry stepped forward from where he was still leaning against the wall and cleared his throat.
That was all it took for Nikky to glance at him, then back at Albion and say, “Excuse me, but Harry already told you we have plans to go to lunch.”
In no way did Albion like that. “We have a contract,” he reminded Nikky.
“Yeah, and that contract includes time for Nikky to go to lunch with whoever he wants,” Harry said. He could practically see the collar Albion was trying to clamp around Nikky’s neck.
Albion looked like he wanted to argue. Surprisingly, he didn’t. “You two go out and have fun, then,” he said, caving in far too easily. Clearly, he had some sort of plan to get what he wanted whether Nikky was there or not. “I’ll see you back here at—” he checked his watch, “—two o’clock.”
Nikky smiled politely and nodded. “I’ll be here.”
It was only right that Nikky was accommodating. He had a contract with Albion, after all. But Harry didn’t like the way he’d given that answer so quickly and easily, like a good boy. At least, he didn’t like Nikky being a good boy for someone like Albion. If he’d given that answer to him….
“What did you think of the session?” he asked Nikky as they left the studio and headed down the street toward an arcade-like shopping center that held several restaurants.
Nikky shrugged. “It was good,” he insisted.
Harry sent him a flat look.
Nikky puffed out a weak laugh. “Okay, it wasn’t what I was hoping for.”
“Yeah, I got that,” Harry said with a smirk.
“I know what Albion wants to do with me, but—”
He waited, but Nikky didn’t finish his sentence. Harry finished for him. “It’s not who you want to be. Your song was miles better than anything Albion dragged up from his pop skip.”
“You thought so, too?” Nikky asked, looking at Harry like he might be his savior.
“I absolutely thought so,” Harry said. “I might not know you all that well yet, but I’m one hundred percent sure you know who you are, and it’s not the person Albion or anyone else is trying to get you to be.”
“Exactly,” Nikky said, heavy with relief. “Which is exactly why I need your help burning the whole thing down.”
Harry stopped just inside the entrance to the arcade and turned to face Nikky. He wasn’t sure how to tactfully say what was on his mind, so he settled for blurting it out.
“Nikky, you have way too much talent to throw your career away like you’re telling me you want to,” he said.
Nikky thrust his hands into his jeans pockets and glanced down at his feet. The gesture was surprisingly endearing and did way more to Harry than it should have. Nikky needed someone older and wiser to guide him so desperately it gave Harry a wildly inappropriate hard-on.
“You’re a brilliant musician,” he went on. “And I’ve seen your acting. You’re a generational talent. You can’t let that go because, what? Because you don’t like public attention?”
“It’s more than that,” Nikky said, peeking up at Harry through his long lashes. The look hit like an arrow in Harry’s heart.
“What more?” Harry asked, his voice coming out a little hoarse. “You can tell me. Is it your management team? I’m getting the impression they might not be out for your best interest.”
Nikky shrugged. “They’ve gotten me where I am,” he said.
“Where you are is wanting to run and hide and destroy everything,” Harry pointed out.
“That’s not exactly—”
“Oh my god, are you Nikky Smith?”
The random young woman who stepped out of the crowd of milling people on their way to get lunch cut the important conversation short. Harry had never wanted to tell off a random young person more in his life.
“Yeah, I am,” Nikky said with a tense but personable smile.
“Wow! Nikky Smith! I love you,” the woman said, her eyes going wide and glittery. “Can I get a selfie with you?”
“Sure,” Nikky said.
Harry would have told the woman to fuck off.
Politely, but fuck off all the same. Instead, he ended up taking the woman’s phone and snapping a couple pics.
Then a few more when other people in the crowd realized they had a celebrity in their midst. They wasted a good ten minutes being polite, taking pictures, and signing things.
At least, Nikky did. Only one of the people who approached him realized who Harry was and asked for his autograph and picture, too.
In the end, Harry had to put his foot down and whisk Nikky away from his fans so they could eat before Nikky had to be back at the studio.
“See?” Nikky asked once they had sandwiches in hand and had taken up a small table near the escalator and a shiny public piano.
“See what?” Harry asked as he bit into his sandwich.
Nikky shrugged. “That’s why I want out of the spotlight.”
“Because of fans?”
Nikky nodded glumly. “Well, the fans are okay, but the paparazzi—” He looked terrified for a moment, then took a bite of his sandwich.
Harry couldn’t help but watch the way his mouth worked as he chewed. Nikky had an amazing mouth. He was just dirty enough to wonder what else it could do.
And then he felt like a lecherous old bastard when Nikky swallowed and said, “I just want to feel like a normal person again. I haven’t felt normal in…ever.”
The man was going to break Harry’s heart. And here he’d thought he didn’t have a heart anymore. “It’ll be okay,” he said. “And if worse comes to worst, I can teach you how to not be noticed. I’ve perfected the art of being ignored despite my talent and fame.”
He hadn’t intended the statement to come out sounding so bitter. He was lucky that Nikky laughed.
The conversation could have gone on, but the strains of some really brilliant piano playing filled up the empty space instead. Harry and Nikky both turned to find a boy who couldn’t have been more than ten sitting at the piano, playing it with expertise worthy of the Royal Albert Hall.
“Wow, he’s incredible,” Nikky said, putting down the last bit of his sandwich and wiping his mouth with the too-small napkin he’d been given. “I wonder if he wants to play a duet.”
He promptly stood and headed over to the piano.
Harry smirked and gathered up their things, intending to clean up and follow him.
The kid was about to be in for a treat, but at the same time, Harry had a feeling Nikky was using music to avoid bigger issues in his life.
He had a feeling that was just what Nikky did.
But life had a way of catching up with you whether you ran from it or not.