Formidable, still.I don’t like my chances if things get physical.She looks like she’d fight dirty.In fact, after seeing those PhotoGram posts she made, Iknowshe fights dirty.
At the same time, she looks clean.Immaculate.Her make-up is precise.Her smile is cruel, but practiced.This is a woman who has made her living off her appearance and acting skills.
I am so out of my league.
“Look.”I inch toward the door.“I’m sorry for the misunderstanding.But I really need to get going.”
She blocks my escape.“I need to talk to you.Right now.”
Dread pools in my stomach like sticky, sweet syrup.Nauseating.“Okay.I’m listening.”
She glances around the restroom.“Are we alone?”
Unfortunately, I think we are.“Yeah.”
“Okay.”She takes a deep breath.Her eyelashes flutter over her big, hazel eyes.“I need you to break things off with Gage.”
I almost laugh.She thinks I would break up with him…for her?Just because she says so?The audacity of this woman knows no bounds.“Not a chance.”
“Trust me, you’ll want to.”Her eyes widen like she’s trying to give me a secret, hidden message.“He does terrible things.”
“Only to people who want that.”
“Look.”She takes a money clip out of her clutch.“I’ll give you everything I have, plus another twenty grand, if you leave him tonight.I’ll comfort him.I’ll let him take out his…strange aggressions on me.He and I will be back together.You can fuck off into the sunset or whatever it is you want to do.”
Is she insane?Delusional?I eye the door, wondering if I can make a run for it in my heels.And then what?She’ll just come after me again and again and again.
“So, twenty grand?”She takes my silence for agreement and thrusts her money clip toward me.“Message me with your bank info and I’ll wire the rest first thing in the morning.”
I fold my arms across my chest, refusing the money.Refusing this conversation.“Why can’t you understand?I’m not leaving him.”
“Oh, don’t be a stubborn bitch.We all know you’re with him for his money.Or maybe it’s his fame?You’re whoring yourself out because you’re a nobody?—”
I’ve heard this same kind of poison from my stepdad.Now I’m getting it from Nicola and her followers.I’ve had enough.“Shut.Up.You don’t know me, you don’t know anything about me.I’m not listening anymore.”
“All right.Fine.”She gives me a sweet smile.
She changes tack so fast, it makes my head spin.I blink at her in confusion.What is her angle?
“Why do you want him so bad?”I ask.It’s obvious she doesn’t care at all for him, so there must be something else.
She drops the clip in her purse and reaches out.Her hand is gentle on my arm, but I stare down at the unwanted contact until she lets me go.Her chin wobbles as she says, “I need this.I need him.”
“Why?”
Tears fill her eyes.She allows a single drop to trail down her cheek.“I love him?—”
“Do not even start with that bullshit, Nicola.”
“Fine.”She huffs a sigh, impatient.
Does she evenknowthe truth?Or will she keep trying different tactics until she gets what she wants?
“If you’re going to lie again, don’t bother.”The door is three feet away.I might have to shove her to get to it, but it would be worth it.“You have been a thorn in my side for two weeks.The least you can do is tell me the truth.”
“The truth?”She lets out a derisive laugh.“The truth is I’m washed up.Used up.But for the first time in ten years, there may be a role for me.The kind of role that will change the trajectory of my career.And if I have any chance of landing the role, I need Gage to be the leading man.”
This is unreal.There have to be a billion other ways to get into a movie—a billion ways that don’t involve strong-arming an ex into joining her on set.What I know about Hollywood could fit in her palm-sized clutch, but I knowthatmuch.
