“All right. I think I’ll take it from here. You can go.” Elliott waved the PR team out.
Stacey shot him a disgruntled look. “With all due respect, sir, I was hired for moments like this. If we work together to strategize, we can—”
“I agree,” I interjected, the attention snapping to me. “I trust that Elliott can help me. You guys go, and we’ll update you on things.”
Elliott nodded his approval and looked at Stacey. “I’ll make sure my assistant brings a couple of signed merchandise baskets to your offices next week.”
The team began to murmur among themselves excitedly, and Stacey gave in, shaking Elliott’s hand and quickly taking her team and leaving.
“You can go too,” I told Anderson.
My agent hesitated but took his exit too, leaving just the three of us.
Once we heard the front door shut, Elliott raised his hands and began a slow clap.
“Congratulations. You’ve made it to the top. Arthur is dead, which I’m sure you saw. They found bleach in his drink. You know, the stuff they put in toilets? You know anything about that, Evelyn?”
We turned to her.
She pursed her lips and shook her head. “Those energy drinks have all sorts of things in them. You said so yourself.”
He scowled at Evie, then turned back to me. “Right. Well, I hope you’re happy. Now everyone knows how bruised your knees are. You’ll never get work again. No one’s going to risk taking you on. Either of you.”
“Is that why you came here? To brag and throw your weight around? Revenge porn feels a little lowbrow, even for you.” I crossed my arms over my chest.
“I came here to warn you—back the fuck off. My friends were stupid and over-confident. If you want a fight, you’re gonna get one. Don’t fuck with me, Shaw.”
“Or what?” I smirked. He didn’t scare me. Nothing short of losing Evie scared me anymore.
He grinned and turned to leave before turning back and repeating the words he’d said to me that day on the studio lot.
“Or this will end in a bloodbath.” He pointed his finger at me and then started toward the front door.
Evie, who’d been mostly quiet this whole time, suddenly bound from her seat. I chased after her and caught her around the middle as she screamed.
“It was you! You’ll pay for murdering Antoinette!” She choked out a sob.
Elliott turned, a slow smirk spreading over his face as he stared at Evie. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He clicked his tongue and shook his head. “And that is no way to speak to your father.”
Chapter 66
Sebastian
The Blind Spot
Elliott’s cackle echoed long after he was gone.
Evie sat at the kitchen table, staring at the wall. I didn’t try to talk, instead letting her soak in what she’d just been told. I’d had my suspicions, but it didn’t feel like my place to say anything. Now, it was as good as fact. Elliott Bradley—the model turned actor turned superstar turned murderer, not necessarily in that order—was her biological father.
“I kind of figured,” she said after a while, slumping in her seat. “I had a feeling it would come down to me against my father. And well, top of the food chain and all.”
I sat across from her and took her hand. “It’s not coming down to you against him because I’m going to protect you. I’m not leaving your side until he’s dead.”
“How? That’s impossible.”
“Move in with me,” I blurted, instantly regretting the impulsive request.
She shook her head, almost as if she hadn’t heard me correctly. “What?”
