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Jake's face pokered up. Frankie’s mind was clicking, connecting the dots, and she didn’t like the picture forming. Piece after piece fell into place until she couldn't deny the final image. She'd happily played the fool. A pitfall of being cast as the clown.
“The concrete delay wasn’t an accident, was it?" Frankie crossed her arms and glared. "And the changes to the schedule? And the back-ordered shelves? Jesus, Jake! What the hell? Are you trying to make me look like an idiot?"
“No, I’m trying to make this show a success. Each episode needs a conflict for you to overcome, and you’re too damn efficient for me to rely on you regularly screwing up on your own.” Jake held his face carefully blank.
So, he was going to hide behind his actor's mask. No fucking way. Frankie needed him to bleed emotion like she was. “So now it’s my fault for being too good at my job? That's rich. Do you know how hard I had to work to fix all those things?”
“I do. And so will America when these shows air.”
“Will they? Which version are they gonna see?"
Jake winced as that accusation landed. Good. She didn't want to be the only one taking punches today. She kept swinging.
"You know what? It won't matter which one they see. You forget, Jake, I’m a woman trying to make it in a man’s field. They’ll see an incompetent contractor who can’t get out of her own way. No one will want to hire me, let alone trust me to run a company."
"Frankie, I'm just trying to make a good show. Surely you knew there would be some work that goes into that."
"That's all this is to you? Work?" A horrible idea wormed its way through the rage. “Oh…oh my God.” She clutched at her stomach and fought against the urge to throw up.
Jake stepped forward, but she stopped him with an outstretched arm. She couldn't handle his fake concern right now.
“The guarantee. That’s what this is about. You want me to miss my deadlines and budgets so I have to pay you back. Then you get the show and a hundred grand. I’ll be bankrupt and working for my dad forever to pay him back.”
“Frankie, I—”
She cut him off, bile churning in the back of her throat. “Is that why you slept with me?" she hissed. "To keep me willing to jump through your hoops?” She gagged on that last thought. She looked around at the crew who had all gone silent. The guys were all looking away, trying not to listen. Even Trina had lowered her camera.Great. Just great.
He opened his mouth to reply, but she could not listen to more of this trash. And if she was going to be sick, she wanted to do it in private. She was gasping for breath, trying not to cry. She meant for her voice to be calm and forceful, but it came out as a scream.
“Get out! Get out of here! I can’t… Just go!”
Jake tried to reach for her, but she dodged his grip and danced away from him and the nasty thoughts he put into her mind.
Jake raised his hands in peace. “Let’s just talk about this.”
“I said get out. This is my property, and I want you off it.”
"You won't even let me explain?"
"I'm sure to your mind everything you did was completely rational and in service of the show. I'm the idiot for not realizing that the show would always come first for you. You'll be leaving as soon as you possibly can, and you think I'm overreacting? You are only threatening my future livelihood, deliberately spiraling me into debt, and breaking my heart. Gee, Jake, I can't imagine why I don't want to talk right now." Her sarcasm slashed like a knife as she struggled to defend herself. It didn't help that she was as angry with herself for falling for this as she was at him for pulling it off in the first place.
"That's not true," Jake said quietly.
"What part of it is a lie, Jake?"
He stared at her, silent.
"That's what I thought. Get off my site. Now."
She turned her back on him then and stormed off, her fury unabated.
CHAPTER25
When Frankie found her father,sitting in his truck in the driveway of the vineyard property, laughing at his phone, she decided to keep the rage ball rolling. She knocked a knuckle on his window.
Dom rolled it down, still chuckling at some stupid meme on his social media. "Hi, baby. What’s up?”
“I’m not your baby.” Frankie’s voice shook with anger as she tried not to unleash the tantrum that would prove her a liar.
