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"That’s half an hour I don’t have. I need to leave now if I want to make my next meeting."
He hesitates. "As your friend and head of your security, I have to caution you that the person you’re going to see—"
"Yes, I know, he’s part of an organized crime syndicate, blah, blah, I understand."
"Do you?" He folds his arms across his chest. "Dealing with men like him—"
"—will get me the rest of the funding I need for my film."
"I don’t understand why you need that." He shifts his weight between his feet. "Wasn’t the shooting well underway?"
"Half the investors pulled out. I’ve underwritten the expenses to the extent I could, but there’s still a gap that needs filling."
"Isn’t it risky—"
"To put my own money in the film? Hell, yeah. Spending it in a casino would be a better gamble. But this is the vehicle that launches me as a leading man, and if I don’t have faith in myself, then what kind of an actor I am, eh?"
He searches my features, then nods. "You’re determined to make this happen."
"Fuck, yeah."
He pulls out his phone; his fingers fly over the screen. My phone dings, and I pull it out to take a look at the details he sent me.
"Thanks, man."
"Don't thank me." He looks away and mumbles, "I hope to fuck I don’t regret it."
* * *
"You’re going to fucking regret this," Cade growls at me.
An hour from my destination, he and Knight called me on the plane. I almost didn't answer the call, then realized I couldn’t evade them forever. I already missed our last two weekly catchups. If I missed this one, too, they’d probably call Rick and insist he have me call them back. I saved us all some time by taking the call. When I told them my plan, Cade was the first to explode.
"Not sure why you’re against it, considering it’s the kind of crowd you ran with not too long ago."
Cade’s gaze narrows. "It’s because I ran with a gang and got involved with organized crime that I know what you’re doing is going to end with you paying a price."
"If it helps me get my movie made—" I raise a shoulder.
"You’re not thinking straight, douchebag. So what if this production shuts down? There’ll be others," Cade argues.
I shake my head. "No, there won’t be. It might be decades before this director, and this script, and this kind of cast are able to get together again. I can’t wait until then. I need this movie out. It’s exactly what I need to take me to the top."
"Is that what you want? Making it to the top?" Knight asks slowly.
"You know I do."
"And you want it more than her?"
I hesitate.
"Do you?" Knight presses.
I blow out a breath. "Yes. Yes, I do."
There’s silence, then Knight’s lips curve. "You’re doing a great job of fooling yourself, but I don’t believe you."
"You can believe what you want; it doesn’t matter. I’m going through with this. And if this is the only way I’m going to get a loan to keep the production running, then so be it."
