Read Online Perfect Harmony by Sarah P. Lodge - Free Book Online Page B

but I fail miserably.
    Chase arches his eyebrows.  “Jealous, are we?”
    “No.  Of course, not.”
    He grins.  “You have nothing to be afraid of, my princess. 
My interest in her is purely professional.  And it should be for the money I
paid to grab her.  Her contract cost me a fortune.”
    “She’s that good?” I say.
    “Not really.  But she was ready to be snapped up by my
biggest rival, that bastard Callaghan.”
    My eyes fly open and I pull the champagne flute from my
lips.  “Duncan?” I whisper.
    Chase grins in satisfaction.  “He may have been kind to you,
but he’s been a thorn in my side for too long.  He was ready to promote
Vanessa, had a whole image plan and album proof down, all ready to go into
production.  He had lots of money invested, but, in a show of good faith, the
fool put off getting her to sign a contract.  I swooped in offering her twice
as much and now she’s mine.”
    “Oh,” I say.  I’m not sure whether it’s the alcohol on an empty
stomach or the lighting in the room, but I suddenly start to feel nauseous.
    I’d heard Duncan tell me of his woes over this only last
week.  He rang me up and let it all out, cursing and swearing and raging on and
on, but I listened.  A kind word here and there and then he’d listen to my
worries.  It’s a ritual we’ve performed every week, ever since we were kids.
    That’s what brothers and sisters do.
    Duncan and Chase had competed with each other over
acquisitions for years, ever since my brother had fought him over a small
record company for next to nothing with a no name indie band on the label that
Chase once managed.  Chase considered the band his by right, but Duncan somehow
found out about the deal and swooped in before Chase could make an offer, and
absorbed the record company into his own.  That band went on to top the charts
and secure a platinum record, earning Duncan hundreds of millions in revenue.
    If Chase ever found out Duncan is my brother...
    Chase had already suspected me of corporate espionage when
he caught me in his office.  Alone.  In the dark.  With his files.
    If he found out the truth, he’ll think I’m a plant, someone
to secure private information and insider knowledge and pass it along to his
bitterest rival.
    I can’t let him find out.  No way.  It would ruin
everything.
    My knees tremble and fall back a step.  Chase catches me in
his arms.
    “Melody?  Damn it, you should have eaten something before
downing all that champagne.”
    I nod.
    He’s concerned about me.  It breaks my heart to know that
I’ve lied to him, that I’m still lying.  It seemed so easy when I applied for
the job - I just left my family name off the application form and I was never
worried any harm would come from it.
    Chase never would have hired me otherwise.  But telling him
now would be catastrophic - he’d fire me for sure.  Worse, I’d have to return
home to my father, conclusive proof of what he always believed - that I’m an
utter failure.  He always told me that I’d never get anywhere with my dream -
that I wasn’t pretty enough to be a singer.  And if I return home now with my
tail between my legs, he’d shake his head in the admonishing way he always
does, full in the knowledge that he was right all along.
    I might even have to consider my father’s demand to marry
that arrogant and lecherous old man he’d employed as director of his Asia
office.  The way he looked at me when my father introduced us...
    It was like a coyote slobbering over his meal.
    “I’m not hungry,” I say.
    “Nonsense,” he says.  “You said yourself, you haven’t eaten all
day, and you’re practically falling over.  While I wished you would fall into
my arms, I didn’t mean it quite so literally.”
    I give him a weak smile.
    “In fact, I have an idea.”  He beckons over a waiter and
whispers in his ear.  The waiter gives Chase a perfunctory nod and speeds off
towards the kitchen.
    “What was that