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The makeup trailer is my last stop. I rap my knuckles on the door and walk in. Sitting in the chair is Carla Rupert.
Her eyebrows go up in surprise, and she sneers at me. “I thought you were gone.”
“Nope. Still here, I’m just not working today.”
Carla nods and has a smug look on her face. “Well, that’s not what I’m being told.”
“I don’t care what you’re being told. I’m under contract. If they decide to go with another lead, they’ll have to pay me to leave.”
She looks back at the mirror. “I hear they’re auditioning David White to take over.”
Whenever I audition for a movie or have a script sent to me, I know my biggest competition will be David White. We look similar, except he’s from the UK. We’ve done similar films, but Andy has never liked him. David is a big fish in the UK film industry, and, like most actors, we tend to believe our own press. Unfortunately, his narcissism rubbed Andy the wrong way, and as a result, he’s never cast him in any of his films.
I divert my gaze from Carla to the woman doing her makeup. “Well, you have a good day.” Looking back at Carla, I give her my best smile. “Break a leg.”
“Yeah,” replies Carla flatly.
Turning, I walk out of the trailer and back to my car in the lot. There are a lot of people and press hanging around, so I make sure to say hello or wave as I keep moving. Inside, all I want to do is go home, see Athena, and for this day to be over. The parking lot is swarming with people. Standing near my car is a group of men.
I’m polite as I walk by them, and one of them thrusts a handful of photographs at me as I pass. This happens all the time, but they normally hand me a pen at the same time. Smiling, I look down at the pictures, but they’re of Athena and Shannon. Confused, I look at the man, and standing behind him is the guy I hit two days ago.
“What’s this?” I growl.
“I’m simply showing you how easy it is to get to your wife.” He grins. “And you, for that matter.”
The man behind him smiles. “Sheispretty.”
“If you so much as go near her, I swear I’ll end you.”
The man who handed me the photographs smirks at me. “Permit me to introduce myself. My name is Luis Rivera. Your wife took something from me. But I’m a reasonable man. Pay me five million dollars, or maybe your pretty wife won’t look soprettyanymore.”
Anger colors my vision. The pictures of Athena and Shannon slip from my fingers onto the ground, and I grab Luis Rivera by his jacket, forcibly walking him backward. He slams into the car behind him, knocking the other man out of the way. My fist connects with his jaw. Then I’m tackled from behind. Luis Rivera spits blood onto the ground and then swings at me. His fist slams into my stomach. I’ve been trained how to take a punch, so I hunch over, which makes the man holding me use his muscles to keep me standing, so I use the strength in my legs to push up and backward. He loses his footing and lets me go. Unfortunately, there are four of them, and Luis Rivera isn’t done with me. He swings again, hitting me in the jaw. I go down, roll and stand, fists raised. The only man I’m interested in annihilating is Rivera.
“Fuck you!” I roar as I charge forward, knocking him to the ground.
His men pull me off, fists are flying, and I’m being hit repeatedly. Rivera is smiling, and as I raise my arm to hit him again, someone from behind grabs my arm, preventing me from smashing that smug look from his face. Security guards get between us, but I’m still trying to get to Rivera.
“Enough!” Turning, Andy Westin is standing there, hands on his hips, his features twisted with rage. “Kris, you’re gone, finished! I’ll not have this type of behavior on my set.” He sucks in a breath, nose flared, lips turned down. “Take yourfriendsand leave!”
Breathing heavily, I point at Luis Rivera. “You don’t understand, he just—”
“I don’t care! I’ll not have this sordid conduct on any of my productions. We’ve worked together for long enough for you to know I don’t tolerate drugs on the set.”
“And you’ve worked with me long enough to know I don’t touch that fucking shit!”
Luis and his friends step away, putting distance between me, the security guards still holding me, and Andy Westin.
Andy takes a step back, shocked at my outburst. “Get in your car and go.”
Shaking loose of the security detail, I walk to my car. As I open the door, Luis Rivera shouts, “I’ve changed my mind, Kris. I’ll be seeing you and Athena soon.”
“Did you hear that?” I yell at Andy.
He says nothing. He shakes his head, turns, and walks away. The security team stares at me, and looking past them, the press is having a field day taking photographs.
“Mr. Livingston, you need to go,” says one of the security guards.
“Didyouhear what that man said?”
