Maude snickered from beside her but Trace was livid.
“He said what to you?” All other members of the room disappeared as Trace’s blazing glare burned into her.
She waved a hand and shook her head. “It’s handled.”
“My ass it’s handled. Unless you actually did bury your knee in his balls.”
Kylie shot a pleading look at Pauly. He said something low in Trace’s ear that seemed to placate him for the moment.
Davies actually looked mildly flustered. As did some of the suits sitting beside him. “Well, if that is true about Mr. Parker’s behavior, then we can schedule a meeting to discuss that in the future.”
“I won’t be discussing anything with or about Bryce Parker in the future. You can add that little stipulation to my contract.”
She met the man’s beady eyes, challenging him to argue. Which, thankfully, he didn’t. He looked down at the papers on his desk and shuffled them a little.
“Moving on. In addition to the financial concerns, there is the issue of legality and bankability. The two of you certainly aren’t in high demand where venues are concerned at the moment.”
Davies continued to drop legal mumbo jumbo on them for the next several minutes.
Apparently Maude had better places to be, because she was the one to finally call him on his bullshit.
“So what’s the endgame here? Do we schedule another tour or ground them or what? Frankly, Noel, I feel like you brought them here to berate them for something that none of us really knows much about. Obviously some type of personal emergency arose that they both felt they had to deal with and prevented the last leg of the tour from being completed successfully. What’s done is done.”
She leaned back in her chair as she waited. Kylie, on the other hand, was on the edge of her seat. Not so much for herself as for Trace.
Noel Davies smirked at the woman. “Sorry. My apologies if the words I was using were too big for your clients.”
“You’re a condescending prick, Davies.” Trace shook his head. “And clearly one who is enjoying this far more than he should. Kylie and I have both made this label a great deal of money. But all the money in the world won’t change the fact that you’re a smug little shit who wouldn’t have this label if it weren’t for artists like us. And yet, you refuse to treat us like actual people.”
“You done? Because as far as I’m concerned, you are. The final decision from the Board was release your greatest hits album or dissolve your contract due to multiple breaches. Which one sounds better to you?”
Kylie winced. A greatest hits album was the first nail in the coffin. Or for some, ones much older than Trace, a necessary step toward retirement. Trace’s career was nowhere near that point.
“You’ll release my greatest hits over my dead body,” Trace said evenly, his tone laced with a valid threat. She was beginning to worry this meeting might actually end in bloodshed.
“Well then, you can sign your dissolution papers on the seventh floor in Legal. I’m sure you can find the door. Feel free to let yourself out.”
Kylie nearly fell out of her chair. That was it? No chance to explain? No other options? Just like that?
“No, wait.” She couldn’t help it. Serious artist or not, she was still that girl who had to say her piece. She stood up to try and stop him from leaving. “Trace, tell him. Tell him about—”
“Kylie, I swear to God, if you say another word—”
“You can’t just leave. You can’t let them do this.”
She watched him look from her to Davies and back again. “Looks like they already did. Enjoy the rest of your meeting.”
“You’re welcome to follow him, Miss Ryans,” Noel Davies informed her. “You seem to have a habit of doing that. Just know that if you walk out of this meeting, you’re as finished with this label as he is.”
“Stay put, Kylie,” Trace commanded on his way to the exit. Before he left with Pauly close behind him, he placed a hand on the door and turned. “Hey, Davies?”
“Yes, Mr. Corbin?” He sighed as if Trace had been nothing more than a giant waste of his time instead of one of the label’s bestselling artists of all time.
Trace smirked at him and Kylie dropped into her seat, feeling helpless as the drama unfolded.
“The next time I hear of anyone even affiliated with this label making any kind of lewd or unwarranted sexual comments toward her, you can rest assured, I will find the door. The front door to your house. Hope none of those words were too big for you. Have a good day.”
With that, he walked out and let the door close behind him.