“What do you think the board of directors is going to say when they realize that you’ve been overvaluing your company by giving them fake revenue reports and convincing them to keep investing even when there was really nothing left to invest in?Black Kiteis the last real artist under your label, aren’t they? The others have all been bled dry and disbanded, an impressive accomplishment, even for you.”
Cornelius clenched his jaw, nostrils flaring, but said nothing.
“The one lesson guys like you never learn,” Gavin chimed in, speaking for the first time since we’d entered the conference room. “Always treat your employees well. It wasn’t even that difficult to find someone in your accounting department who was more than happy to blow the whistle on all the shit you were trying to cover up.”
“You’re a fucking liar. No one would turn on me!” Cornelius spat, but he didn’t seem like he actually believed that.
“I mean, you can go with that if you like,” I offered, leaning back in my chair, finally feeling relaxed after weeks of questioning and stress.
This was it. We were almost free.
“That’s a risk you’re free to take. But just know that if you don’t sign the documents that Mick has prepared releasing us from our contractandsigning over the rights to all our master copies to us, then we will have no choice but to go public with what we know.”
“You fucking punks,” he snarled, spit flying from his mouth as he stood, leaning over the table aggressively, all semblance of civility gone. “You assholes would benothingwithout me! I dragged your trashy asses out of the fucking gutter and made you what you are. And you have the fucking balls to threaten me? You should be thanking me!”
“You’re right,” I said, nodding. “I should thank you. I should thank you for grinding our creativity into the fucking dirt.” Turning my head to the guys next to me, we shared a look, knowing that was the truth. Our music had suffered with each album we’d released, bent and twisted by Cornelius as he took our ideas and manipulated them into what he thought would sell best. “Thank you for turning our passion into your commodity. Thank you for exploiting every second of our lives for you to make a profit. And I should absolutely thank you for tying me to your harpy of a daughter. Victoria showed me exactly what kind of woman to avoid in life and how to really appreciate a good one when she came along.”
Just thinking about Wren sent off a spark in my chest, knowing that she’d agreed to stay.
That they were mine.
“Of course you’d make this about pussy,” Cornelius scoffed, insulting both Wren and Tori in one breath.
Where the fuck was Tori, anyway? She usually loved using these meetings to lord her power within the company over me.
“I could have given two shits if you and Tori were happy. That marriage was about tying you toCastor Records. I knew you were feeling the pinch, and I needed a way to keep you making money. When Tori showed up with that sob story about some groupie you’d knocked up, I saw an opportunity and I took it.”
I thought I knew how much I hated him, but hearing that he was complacent in Tori’s plot to keep my family from me ratcheted my loathing up a thousand degrees.
I felt not a single ounce of sorrow for ruining his life.
“Well, then you’ll understand why we’re here now.” I kept my words low, trying to contain my rage before I exploded and destroyed all of Mick’s hard work. “Just sign the fucking papers and you’ll never have to lay eyes on any of us again.”
Cornelius eyed me, the muscles in his jaw working as he considered his options.
“I sign this—free you from your contract and give you your shitty masters—and you’ll keep what you know to yourselves?”
“You have our word that we’ll never speak of it again,” Mick said, offering additional documents for us to sign, stating exactly that. “No one in this room will utter a word about your financial indiscretions from this moment forward.”
Of course, the documents said nothing about how many people we may or may not have told prior to this meeting, but Cornelius wasn’t thinking rationally, letting his panic guide him.
“Fine,” he eventually agreed, pulling some fancy-ass pen out of his inner pocket and uncapping it like a douche. “You know, boys? I’m so disappointed in you all.”
“Cry me a fuckin’ river, Castor,” Alex said, scrawling his signature over the paper before him. “Then drown in it.”
Once all the signatures were in place, Castor gathered all the papers, piling them before him and shaking his head.
“That’s it, then. Our business is finished.” Glaring at each of us and saving me for last, I considered him, noticing for the first time how haggard he was looking, gaunt and old and tired, like a man at the end of his rope.
Good. I hoped he fucking swung from it.
Standing, I signaled to the guys that our time was up. After Mick had gathered our copies of the paperwork, we headed for the door, more than ready to putCastor Recordsbehind us.
Before I left, I paused, turning one last time to take in the man who had changed my life, both for better and for worse.
“Hey,” I said, waiting until he raised his head before continuing. “I think you’ll find that when it comes down to it...no one gives a shit about Cornelius Castor.”
Chapter eighty-nine
