Page 105 of Wicked Truths

“Those terms don’t really fall in line with the numbers you’re offering,” Marcus says pensively. It perfectly echoes my thoughts. I was thinking it would be a minimum of nine months on the road every year as we establish our fan base.

“It does match up,” Lyric says.

“We’re moving to a business model of pushing the label shows. Those will be our real moneymakers,” Rook says at the same time. “You’ll still be performing, but outside of the standard tour, you’ll be doing crossover shows at the Ruined Records arena. It gives you a stable home base for more than half of every year.”

“And if you’d like to donate time between shows at the new locations of Damian’s Way, then we’d love to have you. There will be a branch of the charity in each city Rook mentioned.” Lyric smiles brightly. “It’s not mandatory in your contract, but we are encouraging every act to do their part in helping build up the next generation of musicians.”

“So five months of touring…” Sullivan frowns. “What do we fill the rest of our year with?”

Lyric frowns back. “Hopefully you’ll fill some of that generous time off with volunteering—”

Rook cuts her off. “You’ll be in the studio recording, doing promotional activities like press, touring, and the venue shows. We’re moving away from the old style of burning out artists before they even get started.”

“Damn,” Liam says with wide eyes.

I’m fairly sure I mirror him perfectly. They’re offering more than I ever dreamed possible.

“Is this because we’re kind of related?” Marcus asks, crossing his arms over his chest.

“It’s not,” Rook says.

“No, but the small percentage of ownership in Ruined is,” Lyric says.

“What?” Marcus snorts.

“It’s a separate contract that we were going to surprise you with. Unfortunately, I can’t imagine sitting through another meeting like this. So yeah, surprise.” Lyric grins shamelessly. “You gave back nearly all of your inheritance. My dad wanted you to have that, and while I’m grateful because it gave Damian’s Way the final boost we needed to be able to branch out to different cities…” She shrugs. “I want no part of the portion of Ruined that I own. My guys made it clear they thought I should keep some. I am because I can use that to fund the charity, but I offered part to Issac, Dexter, and Love. The other part I’m offering to your pack.”

“No way,” Marcus scoffs.

“You can’t say no,” Lyric says, frowning. “Donovan Lee is getting married.”

“The old timers are moving on, and my dad fully wants to pass the business to the next generation,” Rook says. “It’s an opportunity, but not one that you can’t pass up.”

“Why would we want to?” Liam asks indignantly.

“Because that’s ridiculous!” Marcus sputters.

“Would you be open to us buying into ownership?” I’ve got a substantial inheritance and nothing to spend it on. I can only imagine it would be a good long-term investment.

“No, that’s really not necessary,” Lyric says. “I want to give this to you.”

“Ownership in Ruined is completely separate from your recording contract and something you don’t have to decide right now.” Rook pulls Lyric back again. She looks a little like she might jump out of the chair to escape this long-ass meeting.

“Are we going to sign?” Sullivan asks.

“Fuck yeah,” Marcus says.

“Let’s do it,” Liam agrees.

I glance at Hawk over my shoulder. “What do you think?”

“I think I’m wherever you are from here on out,” Hawk says, kissing my cheek.

“Let’s sign,” I say as I glance around at my pack.

And that’s exactly what we do.

Epilogue

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