“Broadway stage manager Elissa Holt is tonight being hailed as the most hated woman in America amid revelations that she has seduced Rageheart superstar Liam Quinn and convinced him to break off his engagement to Hollywood’s sweetheart, Angel Bell. Industry insiders say the ambitious blonde has been obsessed with Quinn for years, and that during rehearsals for his latest venture she pursued him relentlessly, despite his fiancée’s presence.”
It cuts to a shot of me standing next to Angel in a wedding dress. Then there’s a close-up of me with Angel’s head in my lap. “Angel, your fiancé is the hottest man I’ve ever laid eyes on. He’s a perfect specimen of manhood. If he wasn’t engaged to you, I would climb him like a tree and bang him like a screen door in a hurricane.”
Bile rises in my throat. He’s cut out Angel demanding I say all those things. Instead it closes in on her teary face as she says, “Why would you say that? I thought you were my friend.”
He’s made me look like a first-class bitch.
Next is footage of us in the bar. I’m touching Liam’s face, then he takes my hand and kisses it. It doesn’t matter that I was consoling him about his brother. It just seems like two people having a hookup in a seedy location.
“Sources close to Quinn say the star hasn’t been himself since associating with the woman, and suggest the two may have bonded over illicit drugs. Whatever the reason, it’s clear that the brazen blonde has had a major hand in destroying what some commentators call ‘the most iconic couple in Hollywood’s history.’ Rumors imply that Quinn may have killed his career along with his relationship, with many producers now reluctant to work with him.”
The clip finishes, and I’m too shocked to speak. I feel sick. And furious.
Kent looks down at me in smug triumph.
“One word from me and that story hits every news outlet on the West Coast within five minutes, along with the video of you two in the alley.”
“You’ve taken everything out of context. That’s not how things are.”
“It doesn’t matter how things are, Elissa. All that matters is how they seem, and I’m an expert at making people believe whatever the hell I want.”
“You’re disgusting.”
He’s still smiling, but I can feel the venom behind his words. “What I am is protecting Liam and his career. Stay away from him. If you visit him, I’ll know. If he visits you, I’ll know. The one call you’re allowed to make is to tell him it’s over and he should ride out his contract with Angel. Be smart, Elissa. You know it’s the only thing you can do.”
He leaves and closes the door behind him.
I sit there and stare blindly at my computer screen for a long time as white-hot fury pounds behind my eyeballs. Getting fired was bad enough. Add to that having my professional reputation trashed and I already want to inflict massive amounts of physical pain on Kent. But more than that, this asshole is messing with our lives. Our happiness. He has to be stopped.
One reason I’m such a good stage manager is that I excel at assessing problems and finding ways to fix them. I have to approach Kent in the same way. Right now, he has leverage over all of us, and unless I can figure out how to reverse that, Liam, Angel, and I might as well forget about our happy ever after.
By the time I’ve packed up all my belongings from my office, news of my departure has filtered down to the crew. They’ve been told I’m leaving “for personal reasons,” and thankfully, no one is brash enough to ask what those reasons are. After I bid them all good-bye, I head over to Liam’s dressing room to wait for him. Even if he is being followed, unauthorized personnel can’t get into the theater. And there aren’t many places for a paid stalker to hide back here anyway.
When Liam enters his dressing room and sees me, he beams, but his smile quickly fades when I give him a rundown of the morning’s events.
By the time I’ve told him about my conversation with Kent, he’s trembling with so much rage, I fear for Anthony’s safety.
“Calm down,” I say, and stroke his arm. “We’ll figure this out.”
“No need,” he says, quiet and intense. “I know exactly what to do. I’m going to murder that motherfucker.”
I pull his head down and kiss him. He’s tense for about three seconds before he kisses me back, and then we both forget about everything but each other until the speaker above the door crackles with Josh’s voice.
“Ladies and gentlemen of the Taming of the Shrew company, this is your half-hour call until places for the tech run. Thirty minutes. Thank you.”
I make Liam look at me. He seems calmer, but not by much.
“I don’t want you to be distracted by this,” I say, looking into his eyes. “You have opening night in a few days, and your head needs to be in the game. Okay?”
“Can’t guarantee that.”
“You need to. Do you trust me?”
“Of course.”
“Do you love me?”
He pulls me against him and rests his forehead on mine. “More than anything.”
I stroke his cheek. “Then just concentrate on this show, keep up your act with Angel, and stay away from me for a while.”