Page 8 of Ruthless Passion

"Or maybe this is his last-ditch effort to shirk his responsibilities as a parent. He's always been a piece of shit. He's made it perfectly clear over the past eight years he hates being a father to Jett. He’s probably doing it because your Dad isn't around to force him into doing the right thing."

"I think you're right. He said something about a job offer, and that we're not going to get in his way."

She laughs with a shrug of her shoulders. "Move Bitch! Get out his way. Seriously, fuck him. I hate that these words are even coming out of my mouth but give him what he wants. Let him terminate his rights, unless you need the child support? I'll help watch Jett those few weekends Duke is supposed to have him."

"You're a lifesaver. The money Duke sends covers odds and ends for Jett but giving it up is fine if I don't have to deal with him ever again. I might need to take you up on watching Jett more often. Luca offered me the lead role in some horror flick. Starlight of the Sea? Ever heard of it?"

She scoffs. "Heard of it? I've been waiting for the casting company attached to it to start looking for submissions. It was hyped up for a bit, but then, crickets. No production schedule or anything came out. I figured it got shelved. I'm supposed to finish filming all of my scenes for this project next week and if, wait, did you call him Luca?"

"He insisted that I do. It was only after we kissed, he told me to call him Luca. He also told me I'd confirm taking the role in the next two days. There's something wonky about the project. A federal agent busted into my audition, shouting about Starlight, and Luca told her I was his lead actress."

Monique gets out of her seat to wrap me in a hug. "This is great! What a fantastic fucking day! You get Duke out of your life and you land two roles. You are living the dream, girl. So, how about a little, 'I scratched your back, you scratch mine’?"

"I don't know if I want the Starlight role, Mojo. Leading actresses work stupidly long hours?—"

"But we get paid a ridiculous amount of money for those long hours," she says, cutting me off and backing up.

"What about Jett? I don't want to leave him stranded at school if a shoot day runs long or something."

She huffs out a breath, running her perfectly manicured nails through her lavender strands. "Girl, are you listening to me? I said I'd help out. Besides, we can find an after-school club or something near here. Jett will be nine soon, he can start riding in taxis, public transit and all that."

I laugh at that. "Absolutely not. There are too many lunatics out here to let my baby ride anywhere by himself."

"We'll figure it out. We always do, right? Maybe Luca will help out since he wants you specifically for the role. That must have been one hell of a kiss."

I nod because it was a hell of a kiss; two kisses to be exact. "He did say he can try to work around my schedule. What about this federal agent? She's looking into the movie to make sure it's real or something."

"As long as your paycheck is real, Jo, mind your business. Your business is acting so act like you want this job, and then plug me in as your supporting actress. We get paid by the day. So even if the fed lady shuts us down, we're going to get paid for the work we've already shot, right?"

"How am I supposed to know?"

She sighs. "Look, think about it. We can take a chance. Let's do one day and see if the vouchers are real, make sure a SAG rep is on set, really make sure it's legit before we're filming weeks for nothing."

"I'm going to tell you the same thing I told him, I'll think about it."

She grins a toothy grin as she pinches my cheek. "That's all I want. Oh, shit, I gotta get back to set. Hang out here. I should be wrapped soon and we can go get Jett to celebrate."

That's exactly what I do, leaning back to get comfortable as Monique dashes out of the trailer. I hang out, scrolling through social media, and trying to ignore the heavy decisions weighing on my mind. At some point, I call Jett and tell him the good news. He's as excited as Monique is when I tell him about booking two acting jobs in one morning. He accredits the socks, of course.

Once her day wraps, it's in enough time to fight traffic to pick up Jett from school. Dinner at our favorite seafood restaurant is delicious, and the perfect way to celebrate the luckiest day I've had in a very long time.

Dinner ends with Monique going home before eight, since she has an early start tomorrow. Me and Jett head home to find the lights are on in the house. My heart races at the idea of someone rummaging through our belongings and taking what doesn't belong to them.

"Stay in the car, Jett," I whisper and nudge him backward.

"Why?"

"Because there's someone in the house. I'm going to call the police. Now, stay in the car."

"But Mom, I have Collin's lucky socks." Jett replies without an ounce of fear and hops out to run up the pathway.

"NO! STOP!" I shout and run after him.

The sound of my heart thumping against my chest drowns out every concern racing through my mind, and every command shouting from my mouth. Jett darts up the four steps and through the front door. Tears stream down my cheeks as I think the worst, chastising myself for not holding onto Jett tighter.

4

LUCA

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