“This is bullshit, Lissa! They can’t fire you for banging a man who’s not even really engaged.”
“They can, and they did. And I don’t blame them. Based on the information they have, they’re doing the right thing. For everyone.”
He slumps back against the wall and swears again. “But you and I are a team. I don’t want to run the show without you.”
“You have to. You’re the only one who can. Now come on. We have a lot to do and not much time to do it.”
I try to keep as calm as possible as I hand over control of all the spreadsheets and cues. Josh listens in stony silence as I explain some of the trickier transitions. As furious as he is now, I know he’ll rise to the challenge.
He curses under his breath as he heads off to brief the crew for the tech run. I’ve just finished transferring all my files to his computer when there’s a knock on the door of our tiny backstage office.
“Come in.”
The door opens to reveal Anthony Kent. He looks pissed. Guess he’s heard, too.
“What the fuck were you thinking?”
“The short answer is, I wasn’t. The long answer has a truckload of swearwords directed at you for making Liam sign that stupid contract in the first place.”
“Like it or not, that contract is what made him a star. Do you think he’d be where he is today without Angel and their fairy-tale love story? He should get on his knees and thank me for that contract. Not be making noises about tearing it up and ruining the best thing that’s ever happened to him.”
“But where does it end, Anthony? If he goes through with the fake marriage, and afterward fake divorce, then can he get on with his life? When will he have some privacy so he can have something real?”
“Never. He’s a star. Stars don’t get privacy.” It’s clear he’s agitated. “Like it or not, Elissa, Hollywood is a business. It’s my business. I’m there to make money, and the only way I can do that is to ensure my clients get top dollar every time. Liam is my brand, and I’m going to do whatever’s necessary to ensure he continues being valuable to me. Because rest assured, the moment he becomes a liability, I will end him and his career in the blink of an eye.”
A sickening realization washes over me. “You sent that e-mail. You wanted to get me away from Liam.”
“You’re damn right I did. He’s not jeopardizing everything I’ve worked for just to nail a nobody who gives me zero promotional traction.”
I’ve never wanted to punch someone before, but man, right now, I’m itching to smash my fist into Anthony Kent’s nose. “Why bother being anonymous? You’re a big-shot agent. You could have demanded I be fired.”
He leans against the door frame and sighs. “I could have, but then pesky questions about where that video came from would have cropped up, and admitting I had someone follow Liam to keep tabs on him would have seemed . . . questionable, at best.”
Liam was right. He was being stalked. He just didn’t know his agent had arranged for someone to do the stalking. “I’m betting all those videos of Liam getting into drunken fights were sold to TMZ by you too, right?”
He shrugs with not a hint of shame. “Someone needs to profit off the bottom-feeders. Might as well be me.”
“Unbelievable.” Hot anger rises up my neck and sets my face on fire.
Anthony looks at me in mock sympathy. “Did you really see this thing with Liam working out, Elissa? Honestly?” The condescension in his tone makes me even angrier. “Can you imagine yourself on the red carpet next to him? I mean, come on. You’re beautiful, but irrelevant. In every single shot you’d just be a hand whose body is cropped out, because people don’t give a shit about you. The best you can expect is to be ignored, but most likely, you’d be hated. All the women who want to beat off to images of Liam would see you as an obstacle to their fantasy.”
“And Angel isn’t an obstacle?”
“No, because Angel is the fantasy. You’re the reality. And let me tell you, in Hollywood, the fantasy is going to win out every time. The best thing you can do right now is put this whole thing behind you and forget about Liam. The contract will stand, the wedding will happen, and if you do a single thing to fuck with me, I’ll destroy Liam and take you down with him. And just in case you doubt me, I made this little teaser for you.”
He slaps his phone onto the desk and hits “play.” A montage of me pops up onto the screen with the caption, AMERICA’S MOST HATED WOMAN.
He’s gone to the trouble of producing a whole news report, complete with voice-over.