Chart Toppers (Star Maker Book 3) (40 page)

“Excuse
me?” Alexa’s inquiry was shrill, and Kit held the receiver from her ear before
resuming.

“Lex,
just answer the damned question.”

She
dropped her voice level to a loud whisper.
 
“Have you heard something?
 
Oh my God, this my worst nightmare.
 
I’ll kill him!
 
What have you
heard?”

Kit rolled
her eyes.
 
“For goodness sake Alexa,
I haven’t heard shit.
 
I’m just
asking, if during the course of your marriage, there have been concerns; that’s
all.”

Her
tone shifted immediately.
 
“No.
 
Never.
 
Wes is pretty predictable and a horrible
liar.
 
If anything were going on,
I’d know pretty quickly.
 
He’s not
very mysterious, and he keeps nothing from me.
 
The only thing I’m not privy to are his
professional dealings with clients, understandably.
 
Why are you asking me this?”

Kit
rubbed her eyes.
 
“What if he had an
indiscretion, Lex?
 
What would you
do?”

She
sighed.
 
“I’m not sure.
 
Now that we have kids, things are
different.
 
If it was one
indiscretion that meant nothing and not an affair, I think I’d disregard
it.
 
That doesn’t mean I wouldn’t
give him hell for it and make him feel like shit for doing it, but I’d have to
learn to forgive him and move our relationship forward.
 
We want our babies to grow up in a happy
home, and that would be my motivation.”
 
She paused for a moment and approached her next question with complete
compassion.
 
“Kitty, did you find
something out about your husband that you want to share with me?”

Kit
burst into tears.
 
“A groupie,
Lex.
 
A fucking groupie and there
may be more than one.
 
And on top of
all of that, I can’t stop thinking about Kirby and the band is not getting
along.
 
Sully is out of control on
those steroids for his vocals.
 
I’m
about to lose it.”

There
was a long pause on the line, and Kit wondered if Alexa was still there.
 
Before she could inquire, she received a
response.
 
“Honey, how do you know
this?
 
Did you catch him?”

She
sniffled.
 
“No.
 
I got it out of Sean.
 
Long story.
 
This is a recent thing.
 
When I wouldn’t come back out on the
road, he started partying harder and opened up to groupies again.
 
It’s a slap in the face, Lex.
 
I feel like a complete idiot.”

Alexa
sighed.
 
“I’m so sorry to hear this,
babe, but please don’t feel like an idiot.
 
You are not the idiot, here.
 
He is.
 
And I swear to God
when he sets foot in this country again, I’m going to chop his dick off!”

“Lex,
no.
 
Stay out of it.
 
I should have known better.
 
I had doubts on my wedding day.
 
Remember that?”

“Yeah.
 
And Max and I pushed you to do it.
 
Kind of wish we wouldn’t have.
 
Dammit, Kit.
 
I bought into it just as much as you.
 
I’m really disappointed in him.
 
I’ll have a talk with him and…”

Kit
immediately interjected.
 
“No.
 
Don’t.
 
I’m going to brush this under the rug
for now.
 
It’s not going to be
addressed.
 
There’s enough shit
we’re dealing with between the band and his voice right now.
 
I’m hoping that’s what drove him to it
since I wasn’t out on the road.
 
He
was feeling very lonely.
 
He told me
that on more than one occasion.”

“That’s
no fucking excuse for him to cheat on his wife, Kit.
 
Give me a break.
 
Don’t go back down this road, hon. You
did this with Darren, this whole unworthy thing…”

Kit’s
tone shifted to venom.
 
“Do not ever
say that name again.”

She let
out a long sigh.
 
“Ok, ok.
 
I’m sorry.
 
I know that was a horrible time in your
life, but I don’t want to see you go down that slippery slope again.
 
You are an amazing woman, and you
deserve a guy to be loyal to you and keep his damned word.”

Kit
sniffled.
 
“I had that guy once upon
a time and then I got together with Sully and thought he’d fit the bill regardless
of my doubts.”

“Baby,
I’m so sorry you’re hurting.
 
I can
hear it in your voice.
 
Did you want
to talk about Kirby?
 
I’m guessing
that’s who you were referring to when you said you had the loyal guy once upon
a time.”

She
sighed.
 
“Yes.
 
I was referring to him.”

Alexa
held back her tears, remembering Kirby fondly.
 
“Ok.
 
Let’s get something straight here, what
you two had together was nothing short of a fairytale, and like I mentioned
before, he was an amazing man who loved you dearly.”

Kit
interrupted before she could continue her thought.
 
“Do you think we would have made
it?
 
If he wouldn’t have
disappeared?”

“Kitty,
he didn’t disappear.
 
He died.
 
Please don’t tell me you’re opening this
can of worms again.
 
I thought you
were over the conspiracy theory surrounding his death.”

She
sniffled.
 
“I’m not rehashing
that.
 
Sometimes it’s just hard for
me to believe he’s dead.
 
It’s never
felt like that to me.
 
I can’t
explain it.
 
When Joe died, it was
final.
 
There are times when I feel
like his presence is around.
 
I’ve
never felt that with Kirby.”

“Ok.
 
We’re dropping that whole
conversation.
 
Let’s get back to
where we were.
 
To answer your
question, yes, if you two had gotten married as was planned, you two would have
made it.
 
No question.
 
He wanted nothing more than take care of
you and build a great life for the two of you, with you being the star of the
marriage.
 

“I
never told you this, but when he was getting ready to talk to you about the
possibility of getting engaged, he flew into Chicago and took me to dinner to
discuss it.
 
He wanted my blessing,
and he wanted to make his intentions clear.
 
He did love you, Kitty, very deeply.
 
What you two had was special, and I’m
sorry he was taken from us so young.
 
He was such a wonderful, generous, selfless, caring person.
 
He shined a very big light, and you two
were a perfect match.”

Kit was
sobbing now, memories flooding her mind again.
 
She shook her head.
 
“Lex, I’m getting sick of taking care of
everything.
 
You just hit the nail
on the head.
 
I’ve had to run the
show constantly.
 
Sully and I aren’t
getting along because of it.
 
It’s
like he resents me for directing his career, but it’s my job and always has
been.
 
So sick of it.”

“You
knew that going into this.
 
It
shouldn’t come as a big surprise.”

“It
doesn’t.
 
I’m just tired.
 
I just miss…”

Alexa
sighed.
 
“You miss how Kirby did the
heavy lifting.
 
I get it now.
 
You two had a very traditional
relationship, Kitty.
 
Wes and I have
that kind of arrangement, and I love it, but it’s not for everyone.
 
You and Sully are unconventional.
 
You always have been, and it has been
working, for the most part.
 
I love
Sully, although I’m not happy with him at the moment, but he has been good to
you.
 
I’m not excusing his behavior
by any means.
 
I think you need to
fight for this, Kit.
 
You guys have
been together six years and married for two.
 
I know it’s not going to be easy.”

She
sobbed.
 
“It’s not.
 
I have no idea how I’m even going to
sleep in the same bed with him without confronting him.
 
I have to find a way to push this out of
my mind and move forward. I needed a little space.”

“Good,
then take it.
 
Work through it.
 
He’ll be ok.
 
He’ll have to be.”

She
sniffled.
 
“I’ll have to be
too.
 
You’re right.
 
I have to find a way to reconcile this.
 
I realized something right before I
called you.”

Alexa
chuckled.
 
“What?”

She
shook her head, wanting to dismiss the thought that her intuition urged was
true.
 
“My body is reacting like it
did when I was pregnant before, Lex.”

Alexa
gasped.
 
“What?
 
How far along do you think you are?”

She
swallowed hard.
 
“Honestly, this is
a very new development.
 
Sull and I
had a really steamy night when I arrived after the Grammy’s.
 
In the last week, I haven’t been able to
smoke without wanting to gag and last night after smoking a few cigs and
drinking three glasses of scotch on the jet, I threw up profusely.”

“Oh,
Kitty.
 
I think you may be onto
something.
 
You can always suck down
scotch without getting sick.
 
And
you feel like you did when you were pregnant before?”

The
wheels started to spin in Kit’s head.
 
“Yes.
 
I can’t be sure until
I get back home and go to the doctor.
 
I certainly can’t find a pregnancy test here in Rio without someone in
my camp finding out.
 
I’d rather
wait.
 
I’m pretty sure.”

Alexa
sighed.
 
“Well, I know you’ve wanted
babies for a while now.
 
Are you
happy?”

She
cleared her throat.
 
“I’m numb.
 
I’m not sure how to feel.”

“Let me
rephrase.
 
Pretend the groupie mess
never happened.”

Kit
finally grinned.
 
“I’d be
ecstatic.
 
I do want a baby; it’s
just the timing.
 
Our world is a
train wreck right now.”

Alexa
giggled.
 
“A baby never comes at the
right time, honey.
 
Let’s just get
that straight.
 
And once they come
into your world, they won’t acquiesce to your schedule, you bend to meet
theirs.”

She let
out a long sigh.
 
“You’re
right.
 
Regardless of the
circumstances, this baby will be a blessing.
 
Please don’t say a word, ok?
 
Not until I take a test or get
confirmation from my doctor or both.”

“Mum’s
the word, honey.
 
But I would love
if it were truth.
 
Taylor would have
a new playmate.
 
If you were
pregnant, you’d probably be due around November, I think.
 
They’d be a little over a year and a
half apart.
 
Wouldn’t that be
amazing?”

Kit
giggled.
 
“It would.
 
How is baby Tay, by the way, and the
lovely Kelse?”

“They’re
doing great.
 
Tay is growing more
and more each day.
 
And Kelse is
loving preschool.
 
Precocious little
thing.”

“Just
like her mom and dad?”

Alexa
laughed.
 
“I guess.
 
You’ll get through this, Kitty.
 
Please do your best to work this out.
 
It’s one groupie.
 
I agree that it’s totally messed up and
not fair, but take the high road.
 
Pick yourself up, accept who you married, grow a thicker skin and move
forward.
 
You’re going to have to
suck this one up unless you want the other alternative.”