Page 97 of Nothing Special X: The Last Stand

She’d survived a childhood River only knew pieces of.

A predatory first manager. An absentee father and a mother who’d spent most of her money before she was emancipated at sixteen. Two abusive marriages until she’d met Bennett. Years of addiction and public humiliation before clawing her way back to respect one role at a time.

Her film, Where the Sea Ends, was her legacy piece.

She’d written, directed, and put up her own money to produce it when every financier in town told her it was too intimate, too feminine and private. Too late in her career.

Then it had hit theaters and turned into a film the critics worshipped. Audiences raved over it, and awards predictors were calling it unbeatable.

Bennett had been so proud, he’d immediately purchased a thirty-thousand-dollar marble and crystal cabinet for all the awards she’d win.

Then What Breaks in Silence dropped a week later and swallowed her dream.

Xander Vale’s film hadn’t just overtaken it, it had stolen all momentum and one award after another.

Every time his mother had smiled and applauded Xander’s name with each win, River had watched another small part of her collapse behind the mask.

Bennett was everywhere but at home, trying to stop the hemorrhaging of her brand, but nothing he did was working.

It wasn’t long after that she’d relapsed, breaking nineteen years of sobriety.

The drinking came first. Silently. A glass of champagne here, a couple of glasses of Merlot there. Then the pills she swore were vitamins. Finally, River found cocaine dusted along the vanity in her bathroom.

It wasn’t a month later he’d found her passed out on her bedroom floor. He’d sat with her until she came to, lying to the house staff, her assistants, and to Bennett, telling himself that it wasn’t as bad as it looked.

Though his mother was heartbroken and barely coping, there was no way she knew about this.

If word got out about what Bennett was doing, it wouldn’t just ruin him, it’d end his mother’s career. People would say she’d ordered it. Headlines would infest every media outlet, reporting the aging starlet couldn’t stand being beaten by a younger actor. Even if she knew nothing, the scandal would attach itself to her like a plague and never go away.

If his mother believed people thought she was responsible for hurting someone, no amount of rehab would save her.

Bennett’s voice jerked him back to the shady meeting.

“Just make sure you’re shooter doesn’t miss,” Bennett snapped. “Killing him will involve too many people. Cops, lawyers, media, family. It will never die down.”

“My guy won’t miss,” the second man said.

“I hate to resort to this, but I am sick,” Bennett hissed, “of actors using liberal politics and sexuality as marketing strategies. If Xander Vale hadn’t come out, his movie wouldn’t have beaten my wife’s. The academy didn’t vote on performance. They voted on a cause.”

River stared at the office door in disbelief.

He’d seen What Breaks in Silence three times. Once because his mother wanted them to “know the competition,” and twice alone because he couldn’t stop thinking about it.

The film had nothing to do with Xander Vale’s sexuality as a marketing tool. It was just good. Brutal and beautiful and difficult to shake off. And Xander’s performance had been extraordinary.

His mother’s film was beyond amazing too, but so were the four others nominated for best film.

He’d grown up knowing that sometimes brilliance still lost. Sometimes another project landed with more force. That was show business, the cruelest, most unfair lottery ever.

It wasn’t Xander Vale’s fault and it damn sure wasn’t a reason to hurt him.

Oh god, Devyn Frost.

His stepdad had paid for that.

It had been rumored he’d never work again. He and his partner had narrowly survived the vicious beating.

“We don’t care about your motives, Ashford,” the first man said. “That’s not our concern. You hired us to do a job.”