Compact with the Devil by Bethany Maines

Author:Bethany Maines
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Atria Paper back

PARIS II

Something’s Wrong

Nikki waited in the lobby for Astriz with a feeling of self-satisfaction. True, she hadn’t been able to get the details of Kit’s will, but she had managed to lend a little anti-Brandt support and talk Kit into having dinner with the band. And more important, Kit had endured the entire hour of dinner with drinkers without even breaking a sweat. Seeing the occasional glass of wine on the table had not sent Kit reaching for the nearest bottle, and the band had been glad to see him. Even Duncan had cracked a smile when Hammond told a story about an Amsterdam lounge singer, dueling pianos, and Kit parked on top of a piano like Michelle Pfeiffer in The Fabulous Baker Boys.

Which was a far different mood than Duncan had been in when she’d first arrived in Kit’s room. Brandt had been pushing Kit to let the press follow him around.

“So they can, what? Snap pics of me napping? No bloody thanks!” exclaimed Kit as Duncan let Nikki into the room, his face grimmer than usual.

“Well, then let them come with you to the AA meeting tonight,” said Brandt.

“Absolutely not.” Brandt appeared caught off guard by the stark refusal in Kit’s voice, and Angela lifted her head in surprise. “Meetings are private for a reason. The people there give me support and understanding, and I am not about to exploit them just to give myself good press. Being who I am already makes it hard enough for people to open up. My meetings stay anonymous, do you hear me?”

“Yeah, sure, Kit, we can do it your way,” said Brandt coolly.

“It’s the second A, for Christ’s sake!” shouted Kit, as if just realizing what AA stood for.

“Fine!” snapped Brandt. “I said we wouldn’t do it, already.” It was Kit’s turn to look surprised at Brandt’s outburst. “But we have to do something.” Brandt ran his hand over his hair, feeling the gelled ridges but not disturbing his coif. “If you’re not going to do it tonight, then it’ll have to be New Year’s Eve, the day of the concert—maybe you can take some press to the studio.”

“I really don’t want to,” said Kit distinctly, his jaw clenched. “I’m not ready to take anything into the studio, let alone complete strangers. You need to stop pushing me.”

“Look, if you say you don’t want to do it, then you don’t do it. Simple as that.” Brandt snapped his fingers in emphasis, but Nikki frowned. Brandt was giving in too easily. Had he had a change of heart? Or did he just have some other plan up his sleeve? “So the schedule is: meeting for you tonight, press junket tomorrow, take it easy day of the thirty-first. Just some sound checks and runthroughs on the day of.”

“Yeah, no problem,” said Kit with a dismissive wave.

Brandt and Angela had left then, Angela shooting her a look of poisonous dislike. Kit had looked up at her as if he couldn’t remember why she was there and Nikki felt ready to sink into the floor.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.