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He frowned into his phone "The last thing she needs right now is the label hounding her"

"I know But what can you do? I’d say appeal to his higher-ups but I think he is the higher-ups"

He’d see about that "Let me handle it"

"I just don’t want them to do to Daph what they did to Kylie, you know?"

He stilled "What did they do to Kylie, exactly?" He still ached every ti his phone in the vain hope that she’d text or call So But it was utter silence on that front And a week later? He still wasn’t fucking over it He was still raw anddesperately to understand why she’d abandoned him He’d hoped forher pay for the canceled concerts’ thing I know she was freaking out over theShe was really, really upset Frantic, even"

"Was she?" He kept his tone mild It was either that, or lose his shit

"Yeah," Care in attitude "I’m pretty sure they nailed her for both of Daph’s missed concerts Chewed her up and spit her out And you know she doesn’t like to be a burden"

"I know," he said softly There’s nothing I hate worse than being an obligation to soing in money, she orthless

Maybe this hy Kylie had abandoned hiain, suddenly filled with a new deter about being filthy rich? You got to take over the bad guys

Oh, he didn’t buy the record label outright But he let the right parties know that he’d be buying enough stock for the h, called a ave him an intense amount of satisfaction to fire Mr Powers The man looked shocked, but Cade had also had his lawyers look over Daphne’s contract and Kylie’s both, and he learned a whole fucking lot in the next week Like he learned that Daphne’s album sales were better than anyone else’s with the label, but the label was also taking a bigger percentage than with some of the other acts

Cade installed one of his lawyers in s, and let it be known that he was taking a personal interest in Daphne Petty’s career from this point forward, and no decisions were to be h money to throw around, they had to listen to his up at the label and they’d no longer pressure her, she burst into tears That told hi he needed to know He told her to take her tiet well, and she’d have her career--and the full support of the label he now ran--behind her when she was ready to return to it, be it in ten weeks or ten years

It was the least he could do for his friend

He also removed the atrocious clause in Kylie’s contract, had the payroll office cut a new check for her, and had it sent to his office so he could personally deliver it, along with their apologies for the ""

If Kylie was so worried about money and wouldn’t take his? He’d at least make sure she had hers

But he wanted her to talk to him, first

--

"You sure you’re okay?" Star asked "Your aura is very troubled"

Kylie resisted the urge to roll her eyes Star meant well She really, truly did It was just that Kylie wasn’t in the mood for anyone’s concern, especially not a horoscope devotee’s as about to spout a pithy saying about her energies Instead, she dug into her curly fries and tried not to think about it "Just bu we’d find more stuff at estate sales today"

Her nana’s coat had fetched double the expected price on eBay so she and Star had taken the additionalin the hopes of finding new stuff to sell while Kylie was between jobs Now, four hours and four dead people’s houses later, they had a few trinkets and not rab lunch before heading ho with her movements "Someti but smelly old shoes and Tupperware"

Well, that was certainly true "Maybe I’ I should probably take the rest of the money and see if they’ll letsituation I don’t want her to be a burden" She choked on the word Or at least, a burden to anyone else