Destroyed (Lost in Oblivion, #3)(75)

Donovan’s eyebrow arched.

Simon swallowed a snort.

“Okay, it’s not shit, but you know what I mean.”

“Yes, Nick, I know what you mean,” Donovan said. “But even that statement right there could be twisted in a few different ways if he has a good lawyer. And he’s got a bit of a shark who’s always looking to make headlines.”

“Awesome,” Nick muttered and dropped back into his seat.

“We just have to be smart. Is it worth the legal fees and getting dragged through court or do we give him the seventy-five thousand dollars he’s asking for?”

“The—” Simon sat forward. “How much?”

“It’s not a lot of money compared to what you’re making on the tour and his lawyer knows this. Sales of the albums are pennies compared to what goes on here with the tour. And we’ve just added another ten dates.”

Simon swallowed down against the tickle that was forever plaguing him these days. He probably peed ginger and honey with how much he drank it, for f*ck’s sake.

And now ten more dates?

He rested his elbows on his knees and stared at the floor as everyone started talking.

“There is no way in hell we’re settling or giving him a damn dime,” Nick said above everyone.

“Okay, okay. Just calm down. We were hoping to keep this from becoming any bigger, but I get it. We get it,” Lila said and waved a finger between herself and Donovan.

Nick doubled his fists. “If he had any part in writing it, I wouldn’t be such a dick, but he didn’t.”

“Then we’ll fight it,” Donovan said.

Nick’s shoulders and fingers relaxed. Simon sat back in his chair in reaction to his best friend coming down. The idea that everyone in this room had something to lose because of Snake—again—was just insane.

When was their past going to stop biting them on the ass?

“Now for the good news.” Donovan pulled envelopes out of his suit jacket.

“Pink slips?” Nick quipped.

“No. I think you’ll find that this is much more to your liking, Mr. Crandall.”

Donovan walked around the room and handed everyone a sealed envelope. “I don’t usually do this sort of thing with all this ceremony, but we’ve come a long way from that tense meeting a year ago.”

Understatement. Simon stared at the envelope, unsure if he really wanted to know what was inside. It felt bigger than just a check or a contract.

“Well, go on. Open it up.”

The sound of paper tearing and unfolding was the only noise for about three seconds.

“Holy shit,” Jazz shrieked and bounced to her feet for a step before plowing into Gray and strangling him.

“Okay, babe, one sec. I didn’t even—well, shit.” Gray’s voice was half whisper, half shout. Something that only he could pull off.

Simon flipped open the corner of his envelope and tore off the end. He pulled out two pieces of paper. The first one was a series of numbers with a f*ckton of zeroes and then on page two they were all added together with a bank account number.

A metric f*ckton of zeroes.

He was pretty sure his gut just liquefied.

“As you can see, the tour is going well, which is why we added the dates.” Donovan turned his attention to Jazz. “That’s if you can manage it, of course.”

Jazz patted her belly. “Is this extending the tour?”

“No, just within the end dates we’ve established.”

“Then it’s fine. I don’t need to rehearse as much as everyone else since Margo has taken the piano pieces this past week. And the kiddo loves when Mommy drums for two hours a night.”

“Excellent. Any of the video things you can’t handle just let Lila know and we’ll make other arrangements. Simon and Nick do well with the interviews.”

Simon drew in a slow breath and let it out. Awesome. Then he looked down at the bank statement in his hands and couldn’t even complain in his head.

Fuck. Ton. Of. Zeroes.

“I set up accounts for you and if you go the route of an accountant or financial advisor, which I recommend you look into, then it can be transferred anywhere you wish. But with that kind of money, it needs to be protected.”

That kind of money didn’t even compute. Being on tour they didn’t really worry about money. Harper took care of their feeding and the bus was for sleeping. Booze seemed to appear upon request.

It wasn’t real life, but he sure as shit had gotten used to it fast. Especially since he’d been used to having next to nothing all his life.

He looked over at Nick, who was the only one not chattering excitedly. He had the paper trapped against his chest with his arms folded.

Simon slapped him in the arm. “You know that piece of paper was good news, right? Not that you owed that total. Paid, son.”

Nick swallowed, and blew out a breath. His mouth tipped up at the corner. “Yeah. I can’t even…that number doesn’t even look real.” He stood up and slipped out the door as everyone else talked over one another.

Simon caught Lila’s worried gaze and he waved her off. He followed after him. “Nicky, don’t get all…Nicky.”

“I’m not. I just—it’s happening really fast, man.”