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I cringe at the disgusting clause, but Stella is amused. “Who writes this stuff?” she demands. “Honestly. What tripe.”
“I agree,” Forrest concedes.
Stella eyes him. “Anya is going to freak out.”
“Anya shouldn’t have threatened you,” Forrest growls.
“Anya can go to hell,” Gabe agrees.
“Then it’s settled. When the cameras return the day after tomorrow, we’re going to give everyone the shock of a lifetime,” I conclude.
I can barely wait for that moment.
CHAPTER 29
Stella
Anya is incensed as the cameraman flicks off the camera. She storms into the middle of the cabin living room, shaking her head vehemently. Gabe, Bennet, and Forrest stand back, their arms folded over their chests, each wearing a variation of a smirk as the director confronts me.
“NO!” she shrieks, her face the color of splattered pomegranate. “NO, do the scene again!”
“No,” I say, mustering as much calm as I can.
“Yes!” Anya hisses, getting directly in my face. “You’ll do it, or you won’t get paid!”
Gabe moves forward as if he means to step in, but I hold up a hand to stop him. I can and will handle Anya. I have already played out her rage a thousand times in my head, and this is my scene to handle.
“This is not what we discussed!” she spat. “You’re to pick one man and shut down the other two. Are you dumb?”
“Are you?” I whiplash back, anger surging inside me. “I already made it perfectly clear that I’m not throwing any of them under the bus.”
She gapes at me, reading the steadfastness in my eyes, and spins around to confront the men. “I will expose your tapes, all those dirty, disgusting sex tapes with you and Stella?—”
She pales as Bennet produces his cell phone, the record function active.
“Blackmailing someone is a felony, Anya,” Bennet tells her flatly. “Especially when you have been illegally videotaping someone in the privacy of their own bedroom. Thank you for giving us the evidence we need to go to the authorities—with witnesses. And what are you going to expose, exactly? Stella just told the whole world that she is openly and actively involved in a relationship with all three of us. All you would be doing is publicizing revenge porn. I’m sure Anchor Studios will love that look for the company.”
Anya turns an unhealthy shade of gray. “You have violated your contracts!” she sputters. “You won’t get paid!”
“Withholding payment is also illegal. You sure you want to get into that legal dispute? Because spoiler alert, you won’t win,” Forrest cuts in. “But if you do decide to go that route, I think we’ll all manage without your paycheck until the courts decide to award us what we’re due… and more.”
I swallow my own concerns about how I might manage financially. Although the guys told me they would take care of me, I can’t expect them to do that. I need to work, to support myself and my mom. But I will figure that out after. In the meantime, we need to stay united and scare Anya back to whatever hole she crawled out of.
“You haven’t heard the last of this!” she chokes, realizing that she is sorely outnumbered and underprepared.
“You can have the studio lawyers call our lawyers,” Gabe agrees. “I’ll leave their numbers on the counter when we go.”
“You’re not using the Hummer or our jet to get back to California!” she calls triumphantly.
“Oh, no! Whatever will we do?” Gabe yells back. “If only I didn’t have my own jet at my beck and call!”
“Wait,” Forrest says, shaking a finger at her. “I remember you, Anya!”
“What do you mean?” she bites out.
“You tried to ruin my career early on, when I was on that show,City Echoes,” he accuses.
Anya’s eyes narrow. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
