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“We’d be very interested in talking to you about a record deal.”

“I don’t understand. I thought it was the grand prize winner only who got a deal.”

“We’re not interested in signing Gorgeous Monstrosity,” he says. “We are interested in signing you, Beatrice Cipriani, as a solo artist.” He tilts his head. “Any relation to the Governor, by the way?”

I don’t even dignify that with a response. “You want to talk tomeabout a record deal, just not Octavia?”

He swallows.

“She has the most incredible, the most unparalleled voice I have ever heard in my entire life, and her feedback was critical to me in fine-tuning the song.”

“Yes, well.” He shakes his head. “It’s complicated.”

“Because of her face?” I want to slap him, or better yet, burn his face. “Is that why?”

He shrugs. “So much of what we do is controlled by optics. Music videos, social media, all of it. I hate it, but it is what it is.”

“No.” I turn so I’m facing him directly. “In case you couldn’t tell what I was saying, because I’m looking right at you, I want to be clear on my optics. Not only no, buthell noto your suggestion that I sign without Octavia. Was that clear enough for you?” I shake my head in disgust and spin around to leave.

I nearly slam into Octavia where she was standing off-stage in the dark.

I feel sick. Like, I might actually puke.

“Octavia.” Oh, no. I’m going to bawl right here, on stage right. “I—I didn’t know you were here.”

She just hugs me. “You should’ve said yes.” She’s crying when she shoots past me and out the door.

24

EASTON

Ialmost backed out of the sale of Sacrifice Nothing. After all, Beatrice threatened her grandfather, and it worked. The video died, the board calmed down.

Things could’ve gone back to how they were.

Sometimes, though, the change that’s forced on us is precisely the one we need. I decide to go through with it. Rid myself of my parents’ involvement. Eliminate the misery of answering to a board, and start over.

It’s a pretty clean break.

With the way our companies align, I have confidence that the acquisition will be a relatively seamless integration, even if they’re mostly located in France and we’re mostly headquartered here. I’m stuck doing as much as twenty hours a week of consulting for a full year, but I’ll be paid well enough that I hope they won’t need me too often.

I haven’t found my next market latency yet, though I’m looking, but I have found an interim project I deem worthy of my time and investment. Shortly after the catastrophic miscarriage of justice they called an album contest—that song gave every single person in the entireauditorium chills in the best way—Jake came to me with a proposal.

“I’m going to take this to Bea, but my producer’s worried that our investors might object. He won’t let me ask for it unless I have a fallback plan.”

“Take what to Bea?”

“The movie I’m filming is about a kid who wound up in the mob at an early age. He’s struggling now that he’s grown. He meets a woman who’s totally good, and he’s falling for her, but he thinks he’s too broken to be with her.” He pauses. “I want their song to be the title track. I’d like to have the two of them do the music for the whole movie, if I’m being honest, because I think they’d nail it, but at least for the opening and closing, I want their song.”

“Why would the investors back out?”

“Because I want the movie to find a label to put it out, at least as a single, and have the release coincide with the movie release. I think it could be synergistic, right? Like, as the movie does well, people will listen to the song, and as it trends. . .”

“That leads people to the movie.”

He nods.

“You’re not as dumb as you look,” I say.

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