Total pages in book: 61
Estimated words: 57423 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 287(@200wpm)___ 230(@250wpm)___ 191(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 57423 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 287(@200wpm)___ 230(@250wpm)___ 191(@300wpm)
“Because he told us to be,” Reid interjected.
“…and then he releases a magnificent film and everyone holds him up as a master,” Ally finished. “He gets his Oscar and takes his place as the next Spielberg.”
“Spielberg doesn’t terrorize his actors,” Bryce said, coming to stand beside Reid. “We’re a part of this process, Jay. You know what? I think you’re the one who struggles with collaboration.”
A smattering of applause broke out, and that seemed to be the moment Jay realized he had more of an audience than he’d thought. The crew stood in the shadows watching the scene playing out in front of them.
Jay’s expression cleared. “This is all a misunderstanding. Of course I didn’t stalk Ally. I did feel she needed a push from the rest of the cast, but it’s obvious she doesn’t want to explore her acting skills to their fullest.”
“Nope. You did it,” Ally insisted. “You did all of it. JK never sent me anything physical, and this trolling feels different from his. He never uses big words, but suddenly I’ve got twelve accounts trolling me, and they’ve got spectacular vocabularies.”
“Well, Allyson, I don’t think you need to worry about that anymore since you’re fired.” Jay picked up his bag. “Everyone else get back to work or the same thing is going to happen to you.”
West saw Ally pale, but she didn’t back down. “I know you did this to me.”
It was time for him to step up. West moved in beside her. “I’ll prove it, Ally. I promise. I won’t stop until I can prove what he did to you.”
“I’m going to have security escort you out now, Allyson. You can take your boy toy.” Jay started to pull his cell out. “Have fun trying to prove anything at all.”
“I bet I can prove it.”
All eyes shifted to Ian, who leaned casually against the big couch. He grinned Channing’s way. “You were fabulous in the Julia Child biopic. I wanted to eat all that food. And my Charlie won’t share, but she would love to watch you get nasty with any number of subs at our BDSM club. Very private. Very exclusive. You let me know, and I’ll make it happen. I get the feeling you would make a lot of subs happy.”
“I would say I would never, but we all know I would,” Channing replied with a confidence only a woman with three Oscars could have.
“Channing,” Bryce said under his breath. “This is serious.”
“Yes, I’m going to need security. We need some trash taken out,” Jay was saying into his phone. “And you should send everyone. There’s a big guy here who might give you some trouble.”
West was a little offended because he was pretty sure Jay wasn’t talking about him. And he could actually give security a lot of trouble if he wanted to.
“I’ve got some trouble for you.” Tag stood, holding up the folder he’d been carrying.
“I’m going to have to ask you to leave,” Jay said, but he’d really taken a look at the big guy and took a step back. He slid his phone into his pocket.
“I don’t think so. Come on, man. This is the fun part,” Tag promised. “Well, for me. You see, along with providing Ms. Pearson with bodyguard services…we’re not going to talk about the extra benefits…”
“Ian.” He wasn’t about to let the boss go off on a tangent.
“They were excellent benefits, Mr. Taggart. I would have paid extra.” Ally could go off on a tangent of her own.
Tag nodded her way. “I think it’s a cash opportunity we’re missing out on, but I digress. As I was saying, in addition to ensuring Ms. Pearson stayed alive, my firm conducted a thorough investigation into who is behind these attacks on her.”
Jay’s eyes rolled. “Attacks? That’s a lot. And we all know it was JK Harris. She ruined his career. He hates her.”
“He does, but I talked to him earlier today, and he says he’s not responsible,” Ian assured him. “The good news for him is I have proof.”
“What kind of proof do you have?” Jay asked, though some of his arrogance had eroded.
“Funnily enough, receipts. You paid for the courier with cash and managed to create a dead end there,” Tag explained. “But the GPS locator you placed on West’s vehicle had a serial number.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Jay said.
Bryce huffed. “He’s lying. A good actor knows a bad one.”
“I certainly didn’t purchase a GPS locator, and even if I had I don’t see how this proves I set up the pranks someone played on her,” Jay replied.
“Pranks?” Ally asked.
West reached out and held her hand. He’d learned it was best to let the bad guy trip over his own feet.
Big Tag obviously had the same philosophy because he plunged ahead. “The GPS serial number led us to a large purchase through a company called the Hearthwright Corporation. That is a mega corporation with fifty different subsidiary companies, so it took us a while to figure out which company purchased the GPS locator. Luckily, I have people with nothing better to do. They discovered the lot was purchased by a company that rents out expensive camera equipment. You see, they provide the equipment for productions like this one, and they don’t like not knowing where their hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of equipment is.”