I could see the wheels in his mind turning. I could see him searching for the right words to say to her. Even if he found them, this was so not the time.
“Not now,” I whispered to him. Rich gave no indication that he heard me. Not one.
“What happens to them?” Braxton inquired, drawing my attention from my drummer and Carl’s focus back to her.
I heard Rich’s subtle but sharp inhale at the sound of her voice and even felt Loren’s heart lurch through his chest and underneath my arm. Meanwhile, I was trying to figure out a way to steer Braxton off this course. I’d given Xavier specific instructions, though he hadn’t agreed, not to tell her a goddamn thing.
She was always meant to find freedom in darkness.
“Nothing for you to concern yourself with,” Carl answered her dismissively. To us, he said, “You see, there was no need for the three of you to ride in on your white steeds. I’m fully prepared to let Braxton out of her contract today. Everyone wins.”
And by everyone, he means Braxton and him.
There would be no salvation for us today.
Carl Cole would get what he wanted, and we helped it come to fruition. I should have been angry, but all I felt was relief. I—
“What. Happens. To. Them?” Braxton demanded.
Her forceful tone had yanked me from my thoughts, startling everyone in the room, including Carl. I could feel Xavier’s stare. I could hear him silently begging me to tell her.
I ignored him.
It wasn’t Braxton’s problem. She shouldn’t have to pay for our mistakes when she was already hurting from our lies.
Frustrated by Cole’s silence, she turned around in her seat to face us.
Just like that, I was catapulted back into her orbit.
I was home.
Braxton’s gaze was stern as she waited for one of us to crack and answer her burning question. “Tell me,” she demanded when our lips refused to move. That desperate note almost broke me, but I held. We all did.
It didn’t matter in the end.
No one, least of all Bound, was prepared for Oni Sridhar to break the weighted silence.
“In exchange for our complete financial support, Savant Records has a vested interest in all streams of revenue earned by Bound, including profits that would normally be denied to us under a traditional deal.” She paused when Braxton turned to face her, tempting me to wipe that patronizing smile from her face. “If they so much as sell a pencil with their name on it, dear, we get sixty percent of the profit. That’s across the board.”
Oni glanced our way, and for the first time, I swore I actually glimpsed guilt in her eyes. I didn’t care, though, not when she continued speaking, thwarting our attempt to protect Braxton from the guilt I knew she’d feel when Oni was done.
If Braxton stayed, I needed it to be because she wanted to.
It was her love I was after, not her pity.
“Their contract,” Oni continued, “which we locked them in for six years, stipulates that should all monies spent not be recouped, the binding agreement extends until we do. As you’re probably aware, Bound’s tours gross nine-figure revenues, but to make money, you must first spend it. I assume you can imagine how much this label has already expensed for Bound & Bellicose, a tour that is on the verge of not being completed. Because of you. Tickets will have to be refunded, of course. Unfortunately, the venues, production companies, promoters, etcetera will all still expect to be paid. Your bandmates could simply reimburse the label. However, their lawyers have recently and successfully negotiated the purchase of their masters to include every song recorded during their contract with us.”
Oni paused to lean forward, refusing to allow Braxton any give as their gazes remained locked several seats apart. If I didn’t hate her before, I certainly did now, especially when she delivered the final nail in Braxton’s coffin.
“It bankrupted them.” Oni leaned back in her seat, playing the role of a viper to get her point across when she smiled and shrugged. “Since we no longer own the rights to their recorded songs, their only option will be to stay and make us more.”
Oni’s lips parted like she was ready to say more when Rich suddenly stepped forward and spoke.
“Shut up.”
They were his first words in three weeks.
His voice was low and cracked from going so long without it, but it didn’t matter because, right now…he commanded the room. He made everyone listen,