Brenda nodded thoughtfully. “Alright. Go pack a bag; I’ll work on a compromise.”
I wanted to protest, but for what? I needed to make this album with my band, and if anyone could meet all of our unusual needs, it was Brenda. So I just nodded tersely and went to do as I was told. I trusted her to come up with a better alternative. Something we could all be somewhat comfortable with.
The only way she could truly fix us, though, was to bring back the real Bellerose.
Billie.
eight
BILLIE
“What the fuck do you mean?” I exclaimed. No doubt my expression was comical as I blinked stupidly at Angelo. But he’d just dropped the biggest damn bombshell on me, and I had zero idea how to deal with it.
“The Ricci corporation just acquired a few record labels in a merger deal with Sunrise Enterprises, and one of them was Big Noise Records.”
“You own Bellerose?”
I mean, why did the fucking universe hate me? And Jace, apparently, because this would have to be his worst nightmare come to life.
Angelo shrugged. “The Ricci corporation does. Father has decided to take a more vested effort in diversifying our interests, and it looks like he’s heading into the entertainment industry.”
The timing of this was suspicious, to say the very least. It wasn’t like Giovanni Ricci was unaware of Angelo’s and my connection to Bellerose. Fuck, the name had been mine first, and that old asshole knew it. The fact that he was attempting to control the band was a power play, and I couldn’t believe Angelo was so… calm about it.
“Come on,” I said, barely resisting the urge to roll my eyes. “As if he didn’t pick up Bellerose’s label as another means to control us both.” Seriously, there was no way I should have to spell this out to someone of his level of intellect.
Angelo’s expression barely shifted, but I knew him well enough to see that tightening skin beside his eyes. The slight thinning of his lips. And the way the deep, rich brown of his eyes appeared to grow even darker. Oh, yeah, Angelo was very aware of what his father was doing, but he’d decided to just go along without questioning Giovanni. We all chose our paths of survival, and Angelo’s was to choke down his instinct to lead, allowing his controlling fuck of a father to keep him on a short leash.
“What else did he say?”
It was the day after the charity event, and while I had been meeting his wife in the bathroom, Angelo was being introduced to the bigwigs of the record industry. Including the director of Big Noise. All part of the merger, which was set to be complete by mid next week.
“He said that I would have to take over this new business acquisition until it was all settled, probably for the next six months. I’ll be traveling to check out our assets and get everything into line. It’s a pain in the ass, but we just need to do the job for now, and eventually he’ll lose interest.”
Why did I have the sense that this time that asshole would not lose interest? This was personal to Angelo and me, and Giovanni would exploit it for everything.
After I rubbed my face, the stress giving me an instant headache, I finally looked up to see Angelo’s expression legitimately darken. “You don’t need to stress, Bella. He can’t hurt Bellerose. They’re famous, rich, and powerful.” His anger morphed to annoyance. “They’ll ditch Big Noise as soon as they hear of the merger and probably go out on their own under an independent label. That would be the smart thing to do with their power and resources. Jace never did like to be controlled, and I’m honestly surprised he’s lasted this long under some asshole’s thumb.”
Forcing my facial muscles to relax since, clearly, I wasn’t as well-versed as Angelo in hiding my emotions, I tried to subtly shake off the tension in my stiff limbs. “Jace isn’t the same guy we grew up with,” I informed him. “What I did to him… it broke him. I think he’s coasted along ever since. He should be grateful that supreme talent and charisma has saved him from what appears to be bad management by Big Noise.”
I mean, someone appointed Tom Tucker as a tour manager, and that was all the evidence we needed to know that whoever was making decisions was a fucking moron.
Angelo waved me off as if he was more than done with this conversation. “We’ll find out the rock star’s thoughts on it soon enough. Father wants me to head straight for Big Noise and get it into line first. The other labels can wait until early into the new year.”
Of course they could. And there was absolutely no reason why Bellerose’s label was first off the block. No reason at all.
Fuck my life.
“When do you leave?” I asked. It wasn’t as if I’d seen Angelo a lot over the last few weeks, but this time it sounded like I’d be completely alone. .
“We,” he said, crossing his arms so the simple white shirt he wore stretched across broad shoulders. “You’re coming with me.”
If I’d thought I was horrified before, it was nothing on how I felt now.
“No,” I breathed, shaking my head. “No! Have you lost your fucking mind.”
It was a rhetorical question since it was clear he absolutely had.
“There’s no other option, Bella. You’re not safe here without me. Bottom line.”
“I’m not safe there,” I shot back. “Bellerose hates me. Like… hate hate. If we run into them, there’s no chance you’ll get anything dealt with. They’ll fight us every step of the way.”
“Enough!” he snarled. “Just fucking stop. You don’t dictate to me, Billie. I’m the one who controls the narrative here. Bellerose will have an issue even if it’s just me, but they get the same fucking choices in life as I do. None. We’re all puppets to a higher master, and for now, there’s nothing else that can be done. So shut the fuck up, pack a bag, and get your ass downstairs. We are heading for Naples.”
Great. Just great. Naples, Illinois, was a few hours from Siena and home to both Big Noise Records headquarters and all of Bellerose’s members.
Shivers traced down my spine at his tone. Angelo was fucking done with this conversation, and he’d let me push him as far as he was willing to go today. If I continued on, there would be consequences. Shitty ones. Not that he’d laid a hand on me since moving me in as his mistress, but the threat was constantly there. Maybe he wouldn’t do it himself, but there were plenty of Ricci goons who would.
“Fine,” I said shortly, the word rasping over my dry throat. “Give me twenty minutes.”
Without waiting for his reply—because fuck him—I turned away and stumbled from the sitting room, hating this fucking day. This whole fucking life. When I reached my private quarters, aka the gilded cage, I dragged down a small case that was at the top of my wardrobe and threw in a bunch of random clothes. I gave zero shits what I wore, and since most of the time I was in huge hoodies and coats—thank you winter for helping me hide the baby belly—it didn’t matter what went underneath.
By the time I’d added toiletries and shoes, the case was near overflowing, and I had to sit on it to get it closed. I managed with a little effort, huffing since I was an unfit fuck, and then I waited for my master to arrive and order me to the car. I’d sold my soul to the devil long ago when I got involved in this family, and the funniest part of it all was that I still had no idea why they’d been trying to kill me in the first place. It wasn’t just about me witnessing the murder, since they knew I wasn’t about to tell anyone, and the police were in their pocket anyway. It was something more.