the immediate, euphoric aftermath of her Fascination deal, and the unexpected thrill of beginning a new affair, she’d spared little thought for the long-term implications of her epic row with Jack. Now, as the days passed with no sign of bridge-building on either side, the true enormity of what she’d done was starting to sink in. The entire focus of her career and life had now shifted to London, a city she still barely knew and where she was living out of two suitcases. Ivan had made it all seem so fun. It was fun when he was with her, as if the rest of her life, the boring part full of ties and responsibilities and angry record-company execs, faded into a distant dream and only the thrilling present was real. But as soon as Ivan was physically gone, be it to work or home to his wife and family, Kendall felt like what she was: a stranger, alone and friendless in a foreign city. Forty-million-dollar deals were all very well, but she needed a life. The one she had right now revolved wholly and frighteningly around Ivan Charles, a man she had only met for the first time less than a month ago.
Reaching for her cell phone on the bedside table, she turned it on and checked for new messages. There were six, all from LA, but none of them from Jack. Five were business-related and one was from her mother, who had clearly forgotten Kendall was travelling and sounded irritated that she hadn’t stopped by the house since the spring. Depressed, Kendall was just about to switch the handset off when to her astonishment it rang. Number Withheld. It could be Ivan, from a payphone, although perhaps that was unlikely at this time in the morning. Or Jack, pleading with her to come back …
‘Hello?’
‘I just had dinner with Jack. What the hell’s going on? Why didn’t you call me?’
The sound of Lex’s voice burst Kendall’s hope-bubble like a pin in a birthday balloon.
‘Oh, hi, Lex,’ she sighed. ‘I meant to call you but it’s been totally crazy. Ivan’s got me on an insane publicity schedule. I’ve hardly had a minute to myself.’
‘So it’s true, then? You have dropped Jack for Ivan.’
Kendall bit her lip hard. Was that what Jack was telling people? That she had dumped him?
‘Are you out of your mind?’ Lex asked accusingly. ‘After all Jack’s done for you?’
‘OK, just hold on a minute,’ said Kendall. ‘First of all, Jack dropped me, not the other way around.’
‘After you signed a deal without discussing it with him!’
‘Discussing? With Jack? Come on, Lex, you know the man. Jack doesn’t discuss things with me. He orders me around like a child, and I’m sick of it.’
‘Kendall, you should have told him.’
‘Well maybe I would have if he ever called me,’ Kendall shot back, stung because she knew deep down that Lex was right. ‘Did he tell you what a great deal it is? I bet he didn’t.’ She filled Lex in on the numbers. He had to admit they were eye-popping and that Jack had failed to mention them.
‘Would you walk away from that kind of money just to keep Jack sweet?’
‘No,’ said Lex, ‘I wouldn’t. But I wouldn’t stab him in the back either. And I wouldn’t ignore his advice. Yes, it’s a lot of money, but it means turning your back on the US market, or at least shifting your focus at a crucial point in your career. Jack thinks that’s a mistake.’
‘Oh, bullcrap,’ said Kendall. ‘Jack’s just pissed because for once in his life he’s not in control. Ivan brokered the deal and Jack can’t stand it. He doesn’t care about my interests.’
‘How can you say that?’ Lex sounded genuinely shocked. ‘You know he cares. My God, Kendall, I don’t think you realize how serious this is. Jack’s leaving Jester over this. He’s breaking up the company.’
Kendall shrugged. ‘That’s his decision. Look, it’s not my fault if Jack’s decided to throw all his toys out of the crib. Ivan says he’s always had a spoiled, immature streak.’
Lex laughed bitterly. ‘Yeah, well, Ivan would know.’
‘What’s that supposed to mean?’ Kendall went on the defensive.
‘It means he’s a Machiavellian, self-centred jerk,’ said Lex. ‘If you don’t know that now, you soon will.’
‘You barely even know him,’ said Kendall.
‘Nor do you.’
A frosty silence settled between them. Lex broke it first.
‘And what about me? When were you planning on telling me that you weren’t coming back? Or was I supposed to read the press release like everybody else?’
Kendall had never heard him so bitter before. For some reason it made her want to cry.
‘I was going to tell you.’
‘When?’
‘I don’t know. Soon. It was a sudden thing for me too, you know. It’s not like I planned it.’
There was so much Lex wanted to say. When he’d dialled Kendall’s number he had a hundred and one reasons on the tip of his tongue why she should come home, why she should make things up with Jack and convince him to stay at Jester and put this whole, crazy episode behind them. But now Lex realized there was only one real reason he wanted her home. It was the same reason he had for calling, and for feeling betrayed that he’d heard Kendall’s big news from someone else, and not from her. And it was the one reason he could never, ever tell her.
I love you.
Please don’t leave me.
Out loud he said coldly, ‘All right then. Well … good luck,’ and hung up.
Thousands of miles away, alone in Ivan Charles’s bed, Kendall Bryce, Fascination Records’ newest mega-star, burst into tears.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Over the next three months, shockwaves from Jester’s sudden, unexpected implosion reverberated through the music industry. Although Ivan and Jack’s inner circle had known for some time that all was not well between them, to the business at large it was a shock to learn just how bitter and toxic their relationship had become.
More shocking still was how quickly, and catastrophically, Jack Messenger’s career nosedived. Jack had started this war but, for reasons nobody fully understood – perhaps out of some misplaced sense of gentlemanly conduct – he seemed intent on walking onto the battlefield unarmed and undefended. Ivan Charles was not so naïve. From day one he saw the break-up of the Jester partnership for what it was – a fight to the death – and set about annihilating his former partner. Without hesitation he called every one of Jack’s acts, offering them vast financial inducements to remain with Jester, as well as slathering on the charm. Jack was a brilliant manager, but he had never understood as Ivan did the cavernous depths of insecurity that fuelled most artists. Ivan validated and praised and gushed and ego-massaged until his jaw ached. Jack couldn’t bring himself to do it, and it was a reticence that cost him dearly. While Jack adopted a ‘business-as-usual’ approach up in Beverly Glen, Ivan spent entire days on the phone,
