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The island is approaching swiftly.
“We should be there soon,” Paxton says.
“Great. Should we make a game—”
“No.”
“You didn’t even know what I was going to say,” I snap back, irritated for so many reasons.
“I don’t want to talk business yet. It’s been a day from hell.”
He isn’t wrong.
“Understood.” My fingers twist together in my lap, the awkward silence getting to me. “I just figured that we could discuss a strategy—”
“Again . . . no. There is no strategy. There’s no brainstorming. I’m traveling to meet with my client, who has already briefed me on all the issues. Your only job is to get your girl in line.” He rubs at his temples. “Her mother, too. Because if this falls apart—” He shakes his head. “Doesn’t matter.”
His head falls, and the mask of stone disappears for a minute. The vulnerability catches me off guard.
“No, please. Why don’t you finish your sentence?”
He sighs. “Because if this falls apart, unlike you, this can affect my career. I don’t have a daddy who is just waiting for me to take over, princess.”
I open my mouth and then shut it. I’m grasping for words and trying to find a rebuttal. I shouldn’t want to convince this man, who is practically a stranger, that I’m not what he thinks I am.
That his own prejudice has clouded his judgment.
He doesn’t know me.
He doesn’t want to know you.
Nothing comes out of my parched mouth, and I stop fighting the need to explain. Words are just words. Nothing I say will make someone like him believe me. A man like him will never admit he’s wrong.
Actions speak louder.
It shouldn’t matter to me at all what he thinks. However, that’s always been a problem of mine. I do care what people think. I care what he thinks.
Deep-rooted daddy issues.
Wanting approval.
Needing it.
The crushing realization that I would never get it from the person I wanted it from most.
That’s one of the reasons I need to make it on my own and be successful. And why, despite everything, I strive to do this without help.
Paxton’s not wrong. If this doesn’t work out, I could go to my father, and he would give me a job, but I’d never do that because I’m going to earn my place in this business. On my own. I don’t want my father’s handouts.
Maybe that makes me stubborn.
Or stupid, depending on who you ask.
What people don’t realize is that life under the shadow of my father has always been cold, and I don’t wanna spend the rest of my life shivering.
“Nothing to say?” he goads.
“What’s the use, Paxton? It doesn’t matter what my truth is. You don’t want to hear it, and I’m well aware. All I wanted was your respect—”
He huffs a dark and humorless laugh. “That you will never get, Mallory. Ship’s sailed on that front. What you can do is fix your client’s mistakes. Make her see reason, and then you won’t have my disdain,” he seethes.
I bite my tongue because it will do no good to lash out at him. His battle is against my father, and yet again, I am the casualty. We knew each other for two seconds, and somehow that demanded my loyalty to him?
Bullshit.
Either way, I did nothing wrong. It’s his loss for thinking the worst.
With me not responding, he goes back to ignoring me, his head turning to face the direction in which we’re going.
The land grows as we make our approach. It’s no longer a faint shadow in the distance. I can’t wait to get off this boat, but the closer we get, the more my back tightens.
Once on land, I need to start figuring out what the heck is going on.
I don’t take much stock in the gossip channels, but from what I’ve gathered from Exposé, it’s a disaster, and my client is the cause.
The filming of this movie is apparently not only filled with unnecessary drama, but it’s also unsafe. The speculation is that the two leading actors are driving each other crazy. The director is driving everyone crazy. Most annoying is that Teagan’s mom can’t stop meddling. Not at all a surprise. For the years that I have known her, she has always been a lot to handle. Having her on set was sure to be an absolute nightmare for everyone. But Teagan insisted. It was part of her contract.
The worst part is that if what is being written is true, it's unlikely that this movie will ever be finished, which means my career is sunk before it’s even begun.
All that aside, the reason I got on that plane and rushed out here is because Teagan is hurt, which leads to many questions about the safety of the set.
The boat slows down, and it isn't long before we are pulling up to a rickety old wooden dock.
