Page 48 of For One Night Only

But I’m a little confused. I thought the whole point was generating press—so why are we being secreted away?

The table is set with white linens and dishes, polished flatware, and carafes of coffee, hot water, and several kinds of juice. Two ice buckets hold champagne for mimosas, but I decide to abstain in favor of tea.

It’s just Wade, Keeley, and Jane so far, which means Riker is no doubt still making his way downstairs. Back when we were broke and splitting shitty hotel rooms, I learned just how impossible it was to wake him up. Once, in Nashville, I literally had to throw a glass of ice-cold water in his face. Good thing he’s such a good guitar player, because dude can’t show up on time even when he’s getting paid.

“Did anyone check on Riker?” Valerie asks.

“Oh yeah, I made him give me his second key so I could wake him up. He’s on his way down,” Jane says.

A shadow crosses over Keeley’s face, but she takes a sip of coffee and it disappears. Is she jealous of Jane—or of Riker? I always wondered if there wassomethinggoing on there, some kind of attraction, but Keeley flirts with Val and me too. It was always hard to tell, especially because Jane is so private about her dating life. I don’t think any of us ever knew the kind of people she’s attracted to.

And it’s none of my business. The last thing I need to do is get involved in the romantic entanglements of my band, especially when I can’t make sense of my own. I busy myself making my tea, forcing all those old feelings away. Now is not the time.

Finally, Riker arrives, we all put in our orders, and the server leaves us to chat. As soon as the door to our private room clicks shut, Valerie clears her throat.

“We need to talk,” she says, and the look on her face is so vindicated that I wonder if we pulled it off.

Are they renewingEpic Theme Song? Warmth fills my chest as I think that yes, we did it, and the media has finally been convinced that she’s not the villain. That’s the news I’m expecting.

The news she shares pulls the world out from under my feet.

“Our record deal wasn’t as bad as we thought.” She sighs, folding her hands on the table. “That is, our real deal. I found two copies in the files I scanned from my mom’s computer years ago—one real contract, and the doctored version she sent to Ortega Management.”

My stomach drops. I suspect I know where this is going.

“What?” Keeley says, almost dropping her coffee.

Wade sighs, scrubbing a hand over his face. “It’s true. I had an emergency meeting with legal this morning, and we combed over every line—the version we received from Tonya Quinn hid the real royalty rate. In fact, we just received the original after contacting Label, and it confirms it.”

“The fuck?” Riker demands.

Valerie’s eyes flash. “The true contract gives us double the royalties we’ve been seeing—buthalfis all going to Tonya. It explains why she showed up yesterday. She wants us to make another album so we’re still attached to Label. She’s a part of that original deal.”

“And Label thinks she can convince us to do it,” I say to Valerie.

“Yeah, I don’t think Label knows what my mom did.” Valerie clears her throat. “She really got herself the best deal out of anyone.” I’m not surprised, but it still makes me sick. Tonya has always been sneaky, anddamn, I could have used my part of that money.

Double our royalties.Jeez. It would still be a bad record deal, but it would have made a difference.

“Oh, you’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” Keeley says.

“I wish I was,” Valerie says. “She’s contracted as our manager, but we aren’t seeing anywhere near the royalties we should be—because she finagled everything so she’s getting 50 percent commission from each of us in addition to her cut from the band as a whole. Everyone in accounting at Ortega did the math. We just never caught it before because our royalty statements are net, not gross.”

I wince. My relationship with my mom is tough, but she’s never taken advantage of me the way Tonya does with Valerie. Tonya has always acted like her daughter is her meal ticket. She’ll do literally anything for a paycheck. Right before we releasedBittersweet, some private photos Valerie took got leaked to the press, and I always suspected Tonya had something to do with it. I can’t imagine what that kind of relationship feels like.

To top it all off, she manipulated things from the start.

Yeah, I’ve paid for Mom’s groceries and utilities, and even fronted her rent a couple of times, but that was always initiated by me. Maybe I feel obligated to help take care of my sister, but it’s not like she’s taking money that belongs to me behind my back—or taking even more.

“Do we have any legal recourse?” Jane asks.

Wade sighs, running a hand over his face. “I have no idea. Our lawyers are on it.”

“I also know somebody who knows a PI, if we need one,” Riker says.

Wade opens his mouth to protest, then pauses. “That’s certainly one route, but I can’tlegallyadvise you to do that.”

Riker shrugs, then fires off a text.

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