“Great. Molly, will you walk them out? I need to run to my next meeting.” Trinity looked down at her watch.
“Yes, no problem.”
Trinity said goodbye and left me alone with Kaz and Mason.
To my dismay, instead of getting up, Kaz leaned back in his chair, linked his hands behind his head, and propped his feet up on the table. “Well, well, well. Isn’t this an interesting turn of events? So did I get it right? You’re our new assistant?”
I swallowed hard. He wasn’t going to make this easy.
“I’m looking forward to working together,” I said, moving my gaze to Mason. He’d gotten up and was now standing by the door, his arms crossed over his chest. I was even more unnerved by Mason’s constipated expression than Kaz’s gloating. What was the drummer thinking?
“Are you now? And why’s that?” Kaz asked.
I could get through this if I pretended it was just an interview.
“Your numbers are great, and you’ve clearly made inroads with a large audience already. I’ve been working with Trinity for a while, so I know her instincts are rarely wrong. Plus, for what it’s worth, I like your songs.”
This finally earned a reaction from Mason. “You listened to our music?”
“I did my research before the meeting, like I always do,” I told him. “Good stuff.”
“Wow. Your enthusiasm is palpable,” Kaz drawled.
An alarm flared inside of me. They could easily walk into Trinity’s office and tell her they didn’t want to work with me. I was surprised they hadn’t led with that.
God, this was humiliating, but I wasn’t just going to let this opportunity slide through my fingers. I needed that promotion. If there was any possibility I could stay on this assignment, I had to fight for it. “Look, I think you have a lot of talent, and I liked what I heard.”
Kaz turned to Mason. “That actually sounded sincere, didn’t it? Did you know she was such a good actress?”
Anguish slammed into me. “I’m not lying. I’ll admit I didn’t expect to see you two walk into this room, okay? It caught me off guard, and I’m still processing. But frankly, it doesn’t matter who you are, because it’s not going to affect the quality of my work one bit.”
Mason was still giving me a blank look, but Kaz’s face was lined with skepticism. I knew what I had to do.
“I’m sorry for giving you both shit about dropping out,” I said, taking turns to meet their eyes. “Obviously everything worked out just fine for you.”
Kaz opened his mouth, but Mason beat him to it. “Yeah, it did. But this?” He pointed at me. “This isn’t going to work. Trinity must have someone else she can assign to us.”
His words stunned me. I’d expected this kind of cold ruthlessness from Kaz, but I hadn’t expected Mason to be the one dishing it out.
“No.” I could feel my adrenaline spiking, my palms growing damp. “I need this opportunity,” I said, looking between the two of them. “This is really important to me.” Forget about the promotion. If they told Trinity they didn’t want to work with me, I wouldn’t put it past her to fire me on the spot. “Please.” My voice shook.
Something passed across Mason’s face. If he wanted to finish me, all he needed to do was say one two-letter word. It seemed like a steep punishment for what I’d said to him and his bandmate the day of the party, but I was in no position to fight back.
All I could do was beg.
Kaz let out a heavy exhale, crossed his arms over his chest, and looked at Mason. It was the drummer’s decision.
The silence was so thick it choked the air out of my lungs.
“Fine,” Mason said abruptly, sounding anything but happy about it.
I wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. Instead, I gave him an uncertain nod. “Thank you. I’m going to give this assignment my all.”
“Great. Then we won’t have any issues.”
We walked to the lobby in silence with me leading the way. I could feel their gazes boring holes in my back. Their combined presence was a palpable thing that made me want to shrink in on myself, and it took all my willpower to keep my shoulders back.
“Do you have our numbers?” Kaz asked, and I nearly jumped out of my skin.
