Harry's POV

Jeff might well squirm because he already knows what my response will be. "No way!" I reply, curtly.

"You always have an NDA in place with everyone you deal with," he utters casually, staring straight at me.

"Deal with?" I screw my nose up in disgust then down a huge mouthful of scotch. "Lily isn't some business acquaintance, Jeff."

"Perhaps 'deal with' is the wrong choice of words but please don't dismiss this. We need to address it now rather than when life goes off the scale again."

"Was my first answer not simple enough." I glare back at him. "No."

"Are you sure you can you trust her? She is going to be privy to a huge amount of confidential information and it would be remiss of me not to highlight that?" He questions, calmly.

"Can I trust her? Are you seriously questioning me on that? After all, when she found out it was me renting her family house she ran straight to the press!" Irritation is stirring inside of me.

"You know her better than I do but as far as business goes, I am just as suspicious of her as I am of everyone."

"You haven't even met her yet. Stop judging what you don't know. To be honest, I expected better of you." I can hear the disappointment in my strained voice.

"I have to, that's how it works. Meeting her is irrelevant. You know as well as I do that there is a line between mixing business and pleasure. Your emotions in one cannot affect the other." He is so goddamned chilled, it is frustrating.

"Never stopped us though did it?" I fire back, nonchalantly trying to copy his cool.

"You have quite clearly forgotten that I have an NDA in place as far as you are concerned. We both signed that business agreement in St Barts in January appointing me as your manager. That takes our relationship to another level and at times, I will have to put my business head on and ask you difficult questions so enough of the sarky comments. They are not helping."

"And neither are you helping." I exaggerate the words petulantly before taking another swift swig of my drink.

His jaw tenses and he leans forwards, placing his elbows on the table. "THIS!" He stresses through gritted teeth as the tip of his index finger shoots towards the laptop screen where the list of songs reside, "is everything you've dreamed about for as long as I've known you. Your music, your way is what you've been building up to. The whole team we assembled has been forging ahead and what is about to happen is the culmination of nearly two years work. I am NOT going to stand by and allow anything, including a girlfriend, to jeopardize that."

"I don't think you really appreciate what's going on here, Jeff."

"What do you mean?" He sits back, abruptly.

"Between the two of us."

"I understand you and Lily are clearly close but then tucked away here it seems intense."

This is not exactly how I envisaged the conversation with Jeff about Lily would go.

"Close is a mild way of putting it. I've never felt like this before and right now I don't care who knows about it."

"See this from my viewpoint. I arrive here to talk about your schedule for the next six months and all I find is your head in the clouds. With everything that's going to happen now is the time to concentrate on your music."

"Says the man who desperately tried to set me up with Kendall on more than one occasion."

"That was before I even knew about Lily," he responds, perturbed at my accusation. "I'm just asking you to look at this logically."

"I am. I love her, that's it. Hell, I might even go public. Why not?" I tease him knowing full well I have no intention of doing that.

"Have you lost your mind? Whilst you've been running around playing love nests I've been working hard to put everything in place for when you return. I don't need any more surprises, particularly of the unscheduled press announcement type."

"It's what you are paid for." I goad, uncharacteristically.

He pauses to regard me and places his hand on his heart. "As hurtful as that is, I shall ignore that comment. Whether you like it or not, you in a relationship is big news. It's my job to look after you and I cannot protect you from the onslaught that will inevitably occur if you keep going off on tangents."

"And there was me under the impression that any publicity is good publicity."

"You know that is not the case. They will relentlessly stalk you both. Unlike your recent hasty LA retreat, you won't be able to drop everything at a time when your life demands your focus needs to be 100% on your music and not on your latest squeeze."

"Please do not refer to Lily as my 'squeeze'. Ever."  He is dismissing her completely and it is irking me.       

"Stop taking everything so literally will you. I refuse to engaged in a war of words with you."

"Because you are in the wrong and you know it."

"Look, I am not asking you to do this for my benefit.  I am asking you to do all this for you. You need to play by the rules."

"What your rules your mean?"

"No, our rules, you know the score as well as I do."

"Well perhaps the rules need rewriting because things have changed."

He puts his head into his hands. "I'm not saying you cannot be together."

"Too right, we are together and I will do what's right for my relationship, Jeff."

"No, you will do what is right all round and for your $80m deal."

"Don't patronize me. I've been working exceptionally hard. This environment has gifted me some of the best songs I've ever written. The music is like nothing I have created before. And Lily, well she is the real deal so you'd best get used to the idea of having her around."

"This cosy arrangement is all very nice, back in the real world is a different story and you damn well know that. Stop being so obtuse. After everything you told me about what she's been through, I can tell without even meeting her that she is probably not strong enough right now to deal with all this."

"She is much stronger and more intelligent than you imagine."

"When she cannot stand the pressure and walks, you're not the fucking one who has to pick your depressed arse up off the floor. Nor are you the one who has to stop her from running to the press with a story about you when it's all over," he responds with increasing volume and a tighter grip on his glass. "You need to get your head out your arse and screwed back on and quickly."

"Calm down, Jeff."

"I will not calm down. I cannot protect you if you don't play it my way Harry. Damn you." He rises swiftly, scrapping the metal legs of the chair along the stone patio slabs. Their screech vibrates right through me.

He strides down the garden and into the darkness. I have pushed our conversation and him too far.

"Jeff, come back!"

After a short time, he ambles slowly back. "I'm done, I'm tired." He drains the contents of his glass then slides it across the surface of the table. "It's great we got the tracks nailed down and I've said all I need on the other matter."

Before I can protest about his choice of words again, he bids me goodnight and disappears inside but leaves his final warning hanging in the air.

"It's down to you now, Hersh. You need to talk to her. If you don't, I will."