Wicked (Somerset University #2) - Ruby Vincent Page 0,4
him when Interstellar was an idea he scribbled on a bar napkin.
From their college photos, Daniel rocked ripped jeans and band shirts even harder than Dad. Until law school chewed him up and spat out a three-piece suit and five-hundred-dollar haircut that used to have a personality.
I skipped the greeting. “You wrote up Paunch for calling me Jaxson. Last I checked that was my name.”
He flashed me a too-white smile. Val said the touch of silver at his temple and strong, stubbly jaw made him handsome. I don’t see it.
“Interstellar is the biggest music label in the country,” he said. “How does it look to outsiders if we don’t maintain a level of professionalism? Especially in regard to the future president of the label.”
I grinned. “Did it hurt you to call me that?”
Dad’s eyes flashed. “Jaxson.”
He started it, I wanted to say. But it wouldn’t win me any points.
“Sorry,” I said instead. “I just think if I’m taking over the place, I should decide what my employees call me.”
“They’re my employees, you overpampered brat,” Dad announced. “So I’ll decide everything from here on until I’m dead. Got it?”
Just like that, Dad put us both in our place. That’s why he’s Levi Van Zandt and I’m the one fetching his coffee.
“Got it,” I said. “So, you have a present for me?”
He cracked a smile. Dad never stayed mad for long. “I said I had good news. You tell me if it’s a present.”
I cut eyes to Daniel and noted his pinched expression. If he didn’t like it, it was definitely good for me.
“What’s up?”
Dad leaned back with his coffee. “Over the past year, I’ve moved you around the departments, letting you get a feel of what it takes to run this label. The heads have kept me informed on how you’re doing, and while all of them have nothing but good things to say, Bianca is most impressed with you.
“She says you’ve never complained about staying up all night listening to demo tapes. You’ve got a way with the artists, and Gael of Cosplay Meltdown asked for you specifically to sit in on sessions. She wants you to spend the rest of your internship working for the artist and repertoire department. Are you inter—?”
I bolted up in my seat. “Yes.”
He smiled. “Good. You start now. She’s already got a band in her sights that she wants you to scout.”
“I’ll get them. This is great, Dad. A and R is exactly where I want to be. I have to play you the last two demos I listened to,” I said, voice rising with excitement. “One has this great R and B sound. It’s kind of a Sam Cooke—”
“I’m sure Bianca would love to give them a listen.” Daniel moved behind Dad’s chair. “We wouldn’t want to go over the head of the department.”
“I wasn’t—”
“No, he’s right, J,” said Dad. “Can’t have Bianca thinking we’re putting her out of a job.”
I got another peek at those loathsome teeth as Daniel smiled. “While you’re agreeing with me, Levi, I’d like to discuss the internship again. We agreed he’d spend time in every department and his next destination was legal. I personally think he’d benefit from a more thorough grasp on contracts, copyright infringement... theft.”
I clenched my teeth hard enough for Dad to see my jaw tic. He must have because he spoke up.
“Give the kid a break, Daniel. He’s learned his lesson.” His eyes so like mine pinned me to my seat. “Right, son?”
“I’m not a kid anymore. I know what I did was wrong and nothing like it will ever happen again.”
“There you have it,” Dad said.
“Levi, we agreed,” Daniel gritted out.
“Jaxson will have his time in legal. For now, he works under Bianca.”
If Daniel planned to argue with him, he was cut off by a knock on the door.
Dad’s second—only—assistant pushed into the room with a Tim’s Bistro bag hanging off her fingers. Her blinding smile pierced the tense atmosphere. Gwendolyn Sandoval had that kind of effect. And that kind of smile. She flashed it in my direction as she crossed the room.
I could admit it. When Dad introduced me to the blonde, blue-eyed, freckled twenty-four-year-old sporting ripped shorts that did nothing to hide her shapely legs, or ass, I straight-up thought he was gunning for a sexual harassment lawsuit. No way was he not trying to get in those shorts.
Then Gwen opened her mouth and hit me with the musical equivalent of drinking me under the table. She knew bands and