Reckless Reunion (The Reckless Rockstar #3) - Samantha Christy Page 0,1

the way? I mean other than the colic?”

His face lights up. “She’s amazing. I swear she smiled at me the other day. Katie says it’s too early, but I know she did.”

“She probably just shit her pants,” I say.

Crew slugs my arm.

Ronni clears her throat. “If you’re finished, I’d like to get started.”

“Go ahead,” Liam says. “Let’s get this over with so we can get back to rehearsing.”

“You’ll get there soon enough. First I want to go over what’s in store for you this year.”

I lean back. “What’s in store is we’re going to be even more famous than we are right now.”

“That’s the goal,” she says. “But getting to the top and staying there are two different things. Right now you’re shiny and new. People are taking notice. It’s keeping their attention that’s going to be a challenge. We need to strive to keep things fresh. Album number six comes out tomorrow. I’ve been able to get some serious airtime for ‘Swerve’, and I think this song is going to catapult you to the top of the charts. But I want to see a few more solos on this next album. We want to expand our demographic. Having Bria sing one or two more by herself will do that. You know, give it a Taylor Swift feel.”

Liam laughs. “You want Taylor Swift’s fans to follow us?”

“I want everyone’s fans to follow you. You want to know how to accomplish that? Write songs that appeal to every demographic. Pull them in with one great song, and they’ll be loyal fans for life.”

“Why now, Ronni?” Crew asks. “You’ve done everything in your power to push Bria out of the band. You never wanted her on board, and now you’re demanding she sing another solo?”

“Don’t worry, big man,” Ronni says. “I’m not replacing you. You should have another solo song on number seven, too.” She turns to the rest of us. “I’ve been able to take you further than anyone thought, and I don’t plan to stop until I’m living in a penthouse on Fifth Avenue.”

“So this isn’t really about us?” I say. “It’s about money?”

She laughs. “Of course this is about money. Isn’t everything?”

“We don’t do this for the money,” Crew says.

She rolls her eyes. “Bullshit. I get that you love what you do, but that won’t necessarily pay the bills. By the end of this year, I’m going to make you all multi-millionaires. But hey, if you don’t want the money, I’ll be happy to take it off your hands.”

“Very funny,” Liam says. “You know what else is better than money? A best new artist nomination.”

Ronni looks pissed. We’ll never let her live this down. She screwed up royally last year by releasing our fourth album too soon. It made us ineligible for a new artist nomination. We had released too many albums with too many songs.

“That again?” she scoffs. “I’ve made you so much money, you don’t know what to do with it all. It never would have happened without the release of albums four and five. The nationwide tour you’re going on this year—you think it would be happening if you’d only cut thirty songs? You need to keep your eyes on the prize.”

“A Grammy for best new artist—that would have been one big fucking prize,” I say.

“Puh-leeze,” she says. “Like you didn’t know the rules. Don’t try to blame it all on me. Besides, you never even had a song break into the top ten. You wouldn’t have gotten a nomination.”

“We had ten songs in the top hundred.”

“Not good enough.”

“Screw you, Ronni,” Liam says.

She shoots him a spiteful glance. “We tried that already and it didn’t work. Listen, you kept me on after the transition because I’m the best rep out there. You have to trust I know what’s best for you. I knew you wouldn’t get the nomination, so I released the albums to get more attention. And it worked. You aren’t playing in bars anymore. Not even amphitheaters. You’ll be touring the country, playing in arenas in front of ten thousand or more. You do realize that’s just one step away from the big-time, which is playing in football stadiums, right? Twenty of your performances have already sold out.”

The five of us look at each other. “Sold out?” Bria asks, excitedly.

“Yes. Sold out. Do you think it would have happened with a measly thirty singles?” She turns a page. “Let’s move on. We don’t have all day. There’s a new list of bass players I’d