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He glared over her shoulder at his brother. “Call her off, Reece.”
She turned her head, winking. “I don’t think he’s coming to your rescue this time, slime-ball.”
“Stop calling me that.”
“Why? Does it hurt your feelings?”
Marcus raised his hand to shove her back but caught the aggressive postures the other men assumed. He backed down, retreating another step. “No, it doesn’t hurt my feelings.”
“That’s too bad. It would’ve been nice to see some actual human emotion coming from you.” She moved back. “I’ll tell you what, Marcus. You give me my manuscript, call off the movie deal you’ve made, and we’ll all go home happy. No fuss, no muss.”
“You can’t prove I stole anything.”
“I wouldn’t be too sure about that.” She reached into her pocket, pulling out a flash-drive. “Do you know what this is? It’s the original story. It’s not the finished product, but there’s enough of the story on this drive to give my case against you an edge.”
He swallowed loudly. “You have a case against me? For what may I ask?”
She tapped her chin. “Theft, copyright infringement, and defamation of character . . . the list goes on and on.”
“So, you found your story on a different computer. Big deal.”
“Well, yeah, it is a big deal. I didn’t find the story on my computer. You made sure of that when you erased it off my hard drive. This flash-drive, as I said, was the original, the date on it far earlier than the product you stole. The moment I typed Chapter One, my work became copyrighted. It didn’t matter which copy you took, I had the original. It’s a poor man’s copyright, but I assure you, it’ll stand up in a court of law.” Could she bluff, or could she bluff?
The blood drained from his face. He turned to his mother. “My mum is a lawyer. She’ll fight you on this.”
Clarissa stepped forward. “I’m afraid not, Marcus. You see, I plan to represent Nicole Elizabeth DeLancey in this case.”
His eyes widened in horror. “Mother?”
Reece moved up beside Nicole. “And your services as my manager are no longer required.”
Marcus looked between his three adversaries. There was no easy way to get out of this. “What do you want me to do?”
Nicole felt like doing her ‘Snoopy’ dance. “I want my manuscript, the flash-drive you stole, along with any notes you made, back in my possession. I want the screenplay you contrived destroyed and the movie project canceled.”
He raked his hand through his hair. “I can’t cancel the movie project. Even if Reece doesn’t play the lead, the studio will find someone else to play the part.”
“I’ll be more than happy to play the lead role,” Reece stated as he took Nicole’s hand, holding it fast.
Her eyes jerked upward. “You’re going to play this part?” She tried to pry her fingers out of his grasp.
He held on tight. “Of course I am. I’m sure it’s going to be a great story.” His gaze shot to Audrey. “As soon as you sign on as its screenwriter.”
Nicole stumbled backward. “Me? I don’t know the first thing about being a screenwriter.” She turned to Audrey. “He’s not serious, is he?”
Audrey smiled. “As a matter of fact, he is. It seems your Mr. Collins has been busy trying to get this mess straightened out to your benefit. I’ve flown to London because I received a call from the studio, along with the producer backing this project. We had a very interesting conference call.” She frowned at Marcus. “They’re willing to do whatever is necessary to move the project forward. If you agree, you’ll be working with a qualified screenwriter, sharing the credits.”
Nicole was overwhelmed. “But I’m not a screenwriter, Audrey. I’m a romance author. I sit in a little cubbyhole office by myself, weaving the thoughts in my head into a story.”
“And now you get to weave one in the light of day for the big screen.”
She pressed her hand to her forehead. “What about the book?”
“We can arrange for the book to be released the same day as the movie—a sort of two for one type of thing.”
“So, the cover will say, ‘Now a Major Motion Picture’ with Reece and his leading lady gracing the cover?”
“Exactly.”
