“Lyla, it’s Jake.”
That stops me in my tracks.
Of course I’ve spoken to and met Jake before plenty of times, but he’s never called my cell.
“Hi.” Shit. My voice has gone squeaky. I clear my throat. “Is everything okay?”
“You tell me.”
My stomach drops.
“Rally Brochstein—he’s your father.” It’s not a question. Jake knows.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
My hand starts to sweat around my phone.
I quickly make my way off the bus and practically run down the side to the back, putting distance between me and the people loading up the tour buses.
You see, there’s something about my father that I haven’t been totally upfront about with Jake or Zane or anyone at TMS Records. I tend to keep who my father is and who my mother was private. People treat me differently when they find out who my parents are. Especially my father. He’s kind of a big deal in the music business.
Okay, he’s a huge deal.
And he and Jake don’t get along.
Rally Brochstein, owner of Rally Records. He’s discovered some of the biggest talents the world has ever seen.
The Mighty Storm is one of them.
Yes, I’m talking about the Rally Records, the label which first signed The Mighty Storm, TMS. The label that TMS walked away from.
I guess you can see where this is going.
And if Jake knows about Rally, then Rally definitely knows I’m signed with TMS Records.
This isn’t good.
I don’t have what you could call a relationship with Rally, but that doesn’t stop him from trying to interfere in my life, especially when he feels it is crossing over into his.
And this? My band signing with TMS Records. He’ll definitely feel that this is stepping into his territory.
I clear my throat. “Yes, Rally is my father…in the biological sense of the word.”
I’m now standing out in open space and looking over at the tour bus, hoping with all hope that it will still be moving with the guys and me on it.
“Were you ever going to share this piece of information with me?” His voice is so even that I can’t get a read on where this is going.
I’m just praying it’s not the end before the beginning.
Taking a deep breath, I say, “No…well, yes…no. I don’t know.” I scrub my hand over my face.
I’m not a deceitful person, but looking at this now, it seems an awful lot like deceit.
I start to feel a little sick.
“I think I would have at some point, but I just wanted you to see us for what we could do, so you could make an informed choice before you knew. I know how you feel about Rally. I feel the same. Yes, he’s my father, but that term is used loosely. I don’t have a relationship with him. He’s a dumbass.”
Jake laughs. I take that as a good sign.
“I’ve heard Rally called a lot of things but never a dumbass. It actually suits him.”
Silence.
Then, he exhales. “I know Rally, Lyla, too well. I know how he works. I also know a little something about wanting to hide your past. Thing is, when you hide stuff, especially in this business, it has a tendency to come out and bite you in the ass.”
My memory reminds me of the news story that came out about Jake’s dad last year. From what the press said, Jake’s dad hurt him and his mom pretty bad, and his dad went to prison for whatever he did to them.
“And I don’t like surprises, Lyla.”
I cringe at the turn in his tone of voice.
“I don’t like receiving a phone call from Rally Brochstein when I’m just about to eat breakfast with my family, especially when I’m going into that conversation blind.”
I swallow down the bitter taste in my mouth. “I should have told you.”
“Yeah, you should have.”
I know Rally and what he’s capable of. His reputation in the music business is notorious.
Jake Wethers is one of the few people who has ever gone up against my father and walked away clean.
Rally is a shark, and he takes no prisoners. Nothing and no one gets in his way. That’s how he became the youngest ever CEO of AME—American Music Entertainment—which he ran for fifteen years and then left on questionable terms for an undisclosed sum.
That was when he started Rally Records, and it got big, fast.
Just not fast enough for TMS.
TMS was the first act to sign with them. After that, I don’t know much, besides what the press detailed, which was that TMS outgrew Rally Records. Apparently, Jake and Rally had a difficult relationship, which I can understand because my father is not an easy man to get along with.
Jake and Rally’s relationship disintegrated, and the band walked away mid-contract, buying themselves out.
Immediately after, Jake and the late Jonny Creed—TMS’s lead guitarist who died a few years ago in an automobile accident—set up TMS Records, putting themselves in direct competition with Rally Records.
That didn’t sit well with Rally.