Page 81 of Driven Daddy

“Why?” I wrapped an arm around my middle, uneasiness building.

“I wanted to warn you before you saw the announcement.”

The noises from the men talking faded, or the nerves were getting to me. Melissa and I had a good relationship, but we weren’t the chatting sort of friends. I simply didn’t inspire girlfriend-type relationships. I was even worse at them now.

“Rita?”

“I’m here. Just spit it out.”

“Honey, it’s going to be okay.”

Honey? God, it had to be bad. I couldn’t remember a time when Melissa had used any term of endearment even when I made her a bunch of money with our print deal.

“Just tell me,” I whispered.

“Jenelle just signed a major deal with film rights forDate with Disaster. As well as a three-book deal for the Disaster series.”

“Film rights?” I slumped against the wall, the hallway suddenly growing dim.

“She signed it 48 hours after you guys got out of court.”

I tipped my head against the wall. “She what?”

“I advised you not to sign those rights over to her.”

“I know. I just wanted to be done with her. I needed to be done.”

My mind whirled as Melissa gave me the details of what she’d found out about the actual deal. About the money that Jenelle would be making on the book. On what we wrote together. I may not have been as invested in the book as Jenelle had been, but they were my words too.

The money was a staggering amount.

But the court settlement for the dissolution of our company and co-writing contracts had been ironclad. Jenelle had made sure of that with her lawyers, and I’d fought her on several levels, but Disaster had been her main fight.

Was this why?

“Rita?”

“How could she?” My voice broke. I was so ashamed of how broken it sounded, but it was all I had to focus on to keep myself from crumpling onto the floor.

“I can give you four million reasons why.”

Hearing the actual number just made it all worse. When I opened my eyes, Penn was standing in the hall, notebook in his hand.

I turned away from him, my shoulders hunched.

“Rita?” he asked, his voice strained and low.

“I have to go, Melissa.”

“C’mon, kiddo. Don’t do this again.”

“I won’t.” I tried to shore up my voice. I would not shatter again. Even if the glue wasn’t completely dry, I wouldn’t give Jenelle the satisfaction of breaking me again. “I just gotta go. I’m still at the shoot.”

I hit disconnect then dropped my hand with the phone. I didn’t even notice it clatter to the floor.

Not that I gave a hot damn about the shoot right now. A shoot I’d done in good faith to make sureDate with Disastergot a good sendoff.

That I’d close this chapter of my life with good, solid feelings.

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