Total pages in book: 100
Estimated words: 95609 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 478(@200wpm)___ 382(@250wpm)___ 319(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95609 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 478(@200wpm)___ 382(@250wpm)___ 319(@300wpm)
“Because I’m moving on and honestly, Luca isn’t the problem.” I mean that. He has a goal and I got in the way of that goal, so I’m out. I know that now. It’s a hard practicality that I have to find a way to accept because I’m not going to be the king’s side piece when he gets out from under all the cameras.
Not that I feel very practical. I feel like drowning in my own tears. I want to stand in front of him without cameras running so I can tell him exactly how I feel. Anger. Rage that he could do this to me. I want to beg him to change his mind, to find a way to get what he needs while not giving me up. But I sit and I force myself to go numb. There still is someone I need to help. “Patrick is the problem now. Well, what happened to him is. I can’t let it lie.”
“Ani, what about your career?” Harper is always the reasonable one.
Reason has flown out the window. “They won’t fire me, but I work on contracts. I’m assigned to different crews. I suspect there won’t be a lot of work for me in the future. If I keep my mouth shut, they’ll still work with my mom’s company.”
“Oh, I can take down Pinnacle, too.” Ivy’s gone a florid red.
I’m sure this whole thing reminds her of how she got treated in Silicon Valley. She knows what it’s like to be a woman in a man’s industry. Which is funny when you think about it. Women consume far more media than men, and yet the entertainment industry is still mostly run by and for men.
“I can connect them to some seriously dark shit and then call in some reporters I know. Jessica Wallace can go on a watch list and see how she likes getting the slow hand from the TSA every time she wants to fly,” Ivy vows.
But this won’t be settled in the court of public opinion. At least I hope it won’t. “I need to go over all the scenarios. I feel comfortable when it comes to leaving sequester. Like I said, they won’t want me to talk about why. But that leaves me in a bad spot, too, because it means they can edit my time on the show however they like. That could hurt Patrick’s case if they get to control the narrative. Turning me into an angry, jilted almost-queen is good for the show and it could mean jurors later on think I’m being bitter.”
“I want Ivy to figure out a way to shut the whole thing down entirely,” Harper admits. “Look, if this was a home reno I would be your girl, but this is really more Ivy’s world.”
Ivy seems to think the problem through. “I think I can do it, but I might need some cash. CeCe can call Lawyer, who I am sure knows a couple of reliable black hats, though she’ll probably just call them Criminals. I’d love to see one of those dudes deal with CeCe. It’s all digital, right? All I have to do is fuck up the digital and all the backups and voila, no more dating show that hurts my bestie.”
It’s all super sweet. I mean seriously you want these women as your ride or dies, but I have to shut this line of thinking down. “I can’t let you do that.”
“Because of Luca?” Harper asks.
“Because of Luca. And Patrick and the crew, and those women I’ve grown to genuinely care about. That’s the funny thing. We go in fighting over some man and we get maybe twenty minutes with him a day. But we spend all our time together. You really get to…” Huh. You really do get to know people. “I think Hannah and Riley are hooking up.”
“Oh, according to Emma, they are a damn near perfect match.” Ivy is nodding, leaning against the little bar. “I ran them through when I caught them holding hands where the crew couldn’t see them. They are going to have a lovely life together.”
“Unless one of them becomes the queen of Ralavia,” Harper points out.
I doubt that will happen. Oh, he’ll pick one of them and he’ll do all the showy things he needs to do. Likely Shelby or Ashley F. He’ll consider Hannah and Riley too easy to hurt. He’ll make appearances with his fiancée and eventually announce it didn’t work out.
Like he’d planned all along. I had been the bump in the road. I had been the detour he didn’t want to take.
I wonder if he viewed the debacle with Patrick as a convenient off ramp. Was he out there relieved he never has to see me again? I doubt seriously I’ll be invited on the Contestants Tell All show they always have right before the big reveal of who won.