Total pages in book: 100
Estimated words: 95609 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 478(@200wpm)___ 382(@250wpm)___ 319(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95609 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 478(@200wpm)___ 382(@250wpm)___ 319(@300wpm)
I shake my head because I’m not thirsty. I’m curious more than anything. Why did she offer this meeting when it would be easier to simply let me go? I wasn’t going to contact her again. In fact, I suspect Lawyer would tell me I shouldn’t walk into that office.
I’m kidding. His name is Dave and he’s lovely, but he would be upset that I’m about to talk to her.
“Thanks, but I don’t think this will take long.” I stride to the door and open it, letting myself into that magnificent office with views of Central Park. I’d hoped to be here one day, but now I think I would have to sell too much of myself.
Jessica stands at the window overlooking that swath of brilliant green in the middle of the city. She turns slightly when I join her, and I’m surprised to see she looks tired. She’s never less than perfect, but today she looks closer to her actual age. “Anika, thank you for coming in.”
So we’re going to be polite. “Thanks for getting me kicked off the show in a deeply painful fashion.”
Well, she’s polite. I guess I’m a little bitter.
She frowns my way. “I know you won’t believe this, but you’ll thank me for that one day. Anika, you can’t honestly think you were going to marry that man and become the queen of…whatever country he owns. It was all for show. He wants a bump in tourism. That’s all. The most you were going to get out of this is a few weeks of press on the other side, and then a month or two with him before he gently broke it off. European royals don’t marry girls from Hell’s Kitchen.”
“We’ll never know now.” It’s not like I haven’t thought every word she’s saying. It’s just that when I was with him, it felt right. It felt so right that the gaps in our experience and backgrounds didn’t seem to matter. It felt so right that at the end, I was ready to take on the challenge of learning how to be a queen for him. I was ready to embrace his world because he’d become the center of mine.
Such a silly girl to dream that love was enough.
“I know.” She turns to me, her expression going grim. “What do you think you’re doing, Anika? I heard that the production assistant has hired a rather expensive lawyer. There’s zero way he does that unless you’re willing to talk. Do I need to explain your nondisclosure agreement to you?”
I shake my head. “An NDA can’t bind me if criminal behavior is witnessed. The NDA means I can’t talk about why I was there. That’s all it covers. I had a lawyer look it over.”
“Of course you did.”
“Someone taught me to always know what I’m going into. I screwed up this time because I genuinely believed that you wanted me to find the truth. You’ve taught me a lot. I won’t forget this lesson. It might be the greatest lesson you ever teach me.”
“Damn it, Anika, I was going to take care of the kid,” she says with a huff as she strides over to her desk. “I was going to write him a large check and avoid all of this. The truth of the matter is I already signed the contracts with Joe. We’re announcing the project as soon as he returns from Ralavia. Though now apparently that’s a clusterfuck of a situation.”
“What do you mean? And why would you sign the contracts before I gave you my report? I thought that was the whole point.”
She puts a hand to her head as though trying to stave off a headache. “Because you hadn’t found anything and he was considering another job, one that would conflict with ours.”
“So he strong-armed you into making a bad decision.”
“You have to understand that we’ve spent millions on this project already, and the actor attached is insistent on having Joe as the director.”
I know exactly who she’s talking about. Kent Osbourne is the hottest action star working today. His last three films collected almost a trillion dollars in worldwide box office. He started his career with Joe, and it looks like he was standing up for his boy. But there was a problem. “I suspect Joe isn’t sexually harassing Kent.”
Her eyes close as though she’s willing herself to be patient. When she opens them again, she settles into her “let’s be reasonable” face and gestures to the chair in front of her massive, elegant desk. “I suppose not. I know you think I’m fine with this, but I’m not. I’m shocked. I had no idea he cheated on his wife.”
I lower myself down because I would like to hear this explanation. “Did you know he was bi? I don’t get that. It’s perfectly okay to be out in our industry. I got the whole ‘but my parents’ thing. He’s a grown man. He’s wealthy on his own. How much money does he need? Also, that’s zero excuse for what he did. I forgot to ask. Do you believe me?”