The Treble With Men (Scorned Women's Society #2) - Piper Sheldon Page 0,35

a pitying face. “But he can’t maintain a career anywhere. This will be his, what? Fifth conducting position? In as many years. It’s sad.”

The worst part about eavesdropping was hearing ugly truths about yourself.

The clarinetist left Kim’s side, and after several worried looks, she joined the gossiping group. “Be careful what you say.”

Carla rolled her eyes. “Or the Devil of the Symphony will get me?”

Erin frowned. “He’s our Maestro. He should be respected.”

Behind the conversation, Kim was now listening, though she tried to hide it. Her profile showed a worried frown, but she didn’t speak.

“Time to get back in our seats,” Erin warned, looking at the screen of her phone.

“He isn’t even here,” Carla said. “He’s off throwing a tantrum.”

“You have no idea where he is. You better be mindful of what you say.”

With that, I left the room. As I made my way back to the main floor, I debated as to why was Kim so intimidated by that foolish cellist. I still had a hard time accepting this quiet version of Kim. No, not Kim. Christine. The Kim I was beginning to know spoke her mind easily. Christine hid behind her instrument and played it safe. It was like she had split herself into two completely different people.

Well, I’d had enough.

I stalked into the room and cleared my throat at the podium. Carla and a few others were just getting back to their chairs.

“Chair auditions begin this week.”

The room went silent. I’d show them who was in control. I’d show them what happened when they crossed me. I would keep it until the end of the season, but that didn’t mean I had to make it easy on them.

I was the Devil of the Symphony.

Chapter 14

Keep your instrument in its case when not using it.

KIM

Devlin’s house was a bit of a drive even in the light of day. Yes, I had lived in Green Valley most of my life, but I’d never really paid attention to this area of the Smokies. I had almost turned the wrong way three times. I took my time and drove about fifteen miles an hour around the sharp back roads. It didn’t help that the rain was falling off and on in thick sheets and the temperature was falling rapidly. Seriously, wasn’t it supposed to be spring? Devlin’s house was at the top of a super steep hill with a treacherous driveway and even Mom’s brand-new BMW fishtailed a bit after a particularly sharp turn. By the time the car slid into his driveway, my palms were slick with sweat.

This past week had been exhausting. I couldn’t even think about the chair auditions. I’d done a thousand of them in my life, but they never stopped being terrifying. This audition had been before the Maestro and the board of directors. Thank goodness the rest of the symphony was not allowed to listen.

Tension had hung over the symphony as each musician took their chair test. Devlin’s temper had only ratcheted up with every passing day until there were talks of walkouts. All week, I’d come home and given cello lessons to my students. I was so exhausted by the time I ate dinner that I could barely make it to bed.

Anyway, it’d been a long week. I wanted to go home and binge watch bad TV until my brain melted. But first, I wanted to drop off my cello at Devlin’s house for our lesson the following day. I had made plans with Roddy when he’d brought me flowers to meet at Daisy’s Nut House the next morning and I felt weird about bringing my cello with me to the restaurant, or worse, leaving it in the car. Green Valley was mostly trustworthy but if an Iron Wraith strolled by and a ten-thousand-dollar cello was just sitting there unwatched … well, the good Lord only expects so much. And since I didn’t want to have to drive all the way back to my house to get it before I met with Devlin for our first official rehearsal, well, long story long, here I was at his house.

The only other time I had been here, I had been carried in mostly unconscious. Putting it that way didn’t sound fantastic. But now, having parked and stared up at the elaborate contemporary cabin without a real plan, an extreme case of nerves bubbled up. The house was really more of a small mansion. What’s in between a mansion and a house? My years of playing MASH