AllFreeNovel
Share Us
If it wasn’t for Dennis’ debts, I doubted he would’ve been reckless enough to try this. But so far, it had all played out just like we planned.
“The part I don’t get are the contracts,” I said. “I had to sign all kinds of paperwork. You said not to worry about it, but how is that possible?”
Noah gave me a blank look. “I just explained all that to Sebastian.”
I sighed. “Can you dumb it down, then?”
He thought for a moment. “If it’s digital, it can be changed. If it’s in print, the people I have in Ink House have to work a little harder, but they can change that, too. Make sense?”
I shrugged. “I guess?”
I honestly wasn’t too worried about the details. This was Noah and his team’s wheelhouse, and I was along for the ride. I just wished I could be at Ink House to see his face when he realized how he’d been tricked when the moment came.
“All the groundwork is finished,” Noah said. “Imagine a demolition site full of primed explosives, just in a technical sense. All my people are ready to press their respective buttons to commence the switch.” Noah grinned. I didn’t know the man very well, but I’d quickly learned he was frighteningly smart. There was a cold calculation to him, like the world was nothing more than a formula one could solve for.
“Why do I feel nervous?” I asked Sebastian. “I don’t even have to do anything.”
He put his arm around me and pulled me in close. I closed my eyes, hugging him and letting his wonderful scent glide across my senses.
“It’s time,” Noah said quickly. “I’ve got to go.”
40
Dennis
I leaned forward, watching the screen on my office computer. Kenzie Rosenthal’s rom com was going to save my ass while I waited for Sebastian to pull through. When Embers published, it had made me overnight. I’d paid off all my debts, bought a new house, new cars, and lived like a fucking king for two months.
I had my hands on the world’s most successful author and I was going to be able to count on book after book from him. I’d probably gotten a little ahead of myself with the spending, but Sebastian St. James was my golden goose. I didn’t need to worry about money anymore, so I lived large.
But it caught up with me, and I had to take on debts to pay off my debts. Eventually, the chain brought me to the seedier types, and now they were threatening to burn down my fucking building if I didn’t pay up within the month. Threatening Sebastian wasn’t working as fast as I needed, but now I had this Rosenthal story. I’d fast-tracked everything. I normally needed six months to prep for a launch, but I’d gotten hers ready in three weeks. I’d called in favors, bribed bloggers to speed-read, stolen promotional slots I had reserved for other books, and done everything in between. It was set up to be a blockbuster launch, and I knew from past experience that the first hour would tell me almost everything I needed to know.
I rubbed my hands together and took a deep breath. The book had gone live a few seconds ago and my heart was racing out of my chest. I felt clammy or like I might throw up.
I went to my publisher dashboard and did a quick scan for the link to her book. I saw dozens of familiar titles, including Embers, but I didn’t see Kenzie’s book. My stomach dropped, and I did another quick scan of the available titles, then thought to sort by the most recently added titles.
I stared for a few seconds of utter confusion at the top book on the list.
Ghost Fucker, by Astaire Waller
“Ghost Fucker?” I whispered. Where the hell was Kenzie’s book? I’d stood over the shoulder of my employee as she submitted it yesterday. I’d seen it with my own eyes. What the fuck was this?
I got up from my desk, knocking my chair over and nearly falling in my rush out of the room. People all around the floor were already showing signs of panic. I saw men and women refreshing their browser windows and getting up, clicking furiously. I saw the enlarged cover of Ghost Fucker showing proudly on several screens.
I planted both palms on the glass, breathing hard. I went back to my computer and clicked on the link to the book and saw it already had a few reviews. There were five reviews already in. Four of them were one-star reviews and one was a five-star. The one-stars were pissed and mentioning something about threesomes with ghosts. The lone five-star review said they were an “instant, life-long fan”.
I put my hands on the side of my head, clutching what little hair I had left.
