Page 9 of Finding Love in the Clouds

“Ever since I returned from vacation, you have seemed different.”

“How so?”

“I don’t know. Distant. Agitated. Short with me and others. Obsessed with your book rankings and Marie Lautner. She has bested you in the book rankings for over a year now, but this year, you are a little over the top with it. I thought you had put it aside, but now I learn you have been pulling strings to find out who she is. What is going on, Andy? Talk to me.” Sophie plopped down in the seat across from his, resting her arms on the surface of his desk, and leaned in expectantly.

Fernando sat back in his chair and ran a hand over the afternoon stubble on his chin. He didn’t want to talk about this, but if there was anyone he could discuss it with, it was Sophie. She wasn’t just his assistant; she was a friend. He trusted her.

“Okay, you’re right. I may be a little on edge. I have been trying to push it from my mind and focus on other things, but I think that is making the anxiety over the situation worse. You know how my brothers make a pact every year on New Year’s Eve?” he asked.

Sophie nodded, wondering if the yearly pact had something to do with his recent behavior.

“Well, Julio challenged us to face our biggest fear and go on an adventure.”

“Oh. The only fear I know you have is of flying. Is that what has been bothering you so much these past few months? The thought that you were going to have to fly?” She didn’t understand how that was amounting to his irritability over the past three months, but she would hear him out.

“Yes and no. I don’t have time to figure out how to face my fear. I don’t have time to go on an adventure. There is more to it, but that is all I’m willing to share right now. There are movies that are in production. One of them is going way over budget. We have several series launching in the next few months, and the stats on advertising for those are not as good as I had hoped. And then there is Marie Lautner. I had hired several P.I.s to figure out who she was, and they all came back with no information, so I set the ball rolling on a possible acquisition of her publishing house. That might actually go through, but her contract happens to have a clause in it that, under the circumstances of a sale, she has the right to walk away with all the rights to her materials. It’s insane. As in, never been done. I got a look at the contract, and let’s just say I wish someone had set me up so well with my first publishing house.” Fernando ran both hands through his hair, alerting Sophie to his level of agitation.

“So that’s how you got her name. I have a feeling sharing that contract information before the sale was final wasn’t exactly legal. Are you still going to buy out the publishing company?”

“We’re still in negotiations. It turns out they are having some internal issues. They hired some middle managers who ran off some of their best people, and there is unrest in their ranks. Sarah is their meal ticket, so they are keeping her happy, but if they aren’t careful, she’ll walk. I don’t know that I want to take on rehabbing a dysfunctional company; that is more Gabriel and Anthony’s thing. I just want Sarah.”

“So, why is this making you so grouchy? If the publishing house isn’t in top shape, doesn’t that make offering her a deal to switch to our publishing house easier?”

“It would, except I’m not supposed to know her identity. I’m not supposed to be able to make her an offer as all such communication is supposed to go through her publicist and lawyer, but if I did that, they would know that I got insider information on her. Enrique told me to treat her like I would treat Hannah and that her family is powerful and could possibly endanger my family, so now… I’m not sure what to do.”

Sophie sat back in her chair and just stared at him. “Fernando, for such a level-headed man, sometimes you make the dumbest decisions. If Enrique warned you off, why did you pursue this? Why did you ask me to call her and set up a meeting?”

“Because if she is the best and I can’t beat her, then I want her on my team. To do that, I need to talk to her,” he said defensively.

“But you got her information illegally. You looked at her contract illegally. And it sounds like you got all of thatafteryour brother warned you. Your family would not be kind to a person who went snooping around on Hannah. How do you think her family is going to respond to you snooping around on Sarah when they went to such great lengths to protect her?” Sophie’s mind was spinning. She had asked their PI to get her contact information. She had made the phone call to arrange the meeting. If her family was dangerous, was she going to be implicated in this now? What about the safety of her own family?

“Don’t worry about it. I’m sure it’s just Enrique being dramatic. He can be that way sometimes. Did you set up a meeting with her yet?” he asked hopefully.

“No. She wasn’t expecting that call, and I’m not sure she was happy about it. She has my number. If she is interested, I assume she will reach out to us. If she doesn’t, I wouldn’t pursue this particular pathany longer, Andy. I’m not sure it was a wise move to begin with. Trying a second time without permission would be straight-up foolish,” Sophie admonished.

Chapter Nine

“Fern, do you have time to talk? I have two things we need to discuss,” Enrique’s voice came through the phone with a good deal of distortion.

“Yes, I can talk. Are you outside in the wind? It’s really loud,” Fernando complained, pulling the phone away from his ear as more static rattled his eardrum.

“I was. I’m inside now. Better?” Enrique asked, a sliding door closing in the background.

“Yes, much. What’s up?”

“I’m trying to decide if I need to call in professionals to do a mental health assessment on you,” Enrique’s voice held no hint of humor with this statement.

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about the fact that you had Sophie reach out to Sarah cold turkey, and when asked how you got her number, the answer was from a family friend. That family friend would no doubt be me, and I most certainly did not provide you with any such information.When her very protective brother reached out to me to find out what was going on, it made for a rather uncomfortable conversation. He knows it all, by the way, and I have given him permission to visit you, so when it happens, remember you were forewarned. For being one of the smartest brothers in the BBC you really mucked this one up. Good luck. Second item, I’m moving to Florida and thinking about selling my penthouse. I know you use it for FK Media Group events. Are you interested in buying me out?”

“First of all, when am I getting a visit from Sarah’s overprotective brother?” Fernando asked uneasily. Enrique made it sound like it would be an uncomfortable meeting, and he wanted to be prepared.

Enrique chuckled, “When you least expect it. If you’re lucky, he will come alone. Lucky for you, he was able to trace your communication and has a pretty good idea of when, how, where, and why you got her personal information. The fact that you went to such lengths to get it may or may not work in your favor.”

“Alone? Who else would he bring with him? Why is he being so protective? She has made enough money to hire security if she needed to. It’s the price that comes with fame. If she didn’t want to be famous and make all this money, she should have chosen a more private career, not written so many bestsellers. She also could have chosen a safer genre than mystery and not allowed her books to be turned into a mini-series with one of the largest streaming services on the planet. None of that says,‘Hey, I want to live a simple life of anonymity.’ Now, does it?” he groused.

“Believe it or not, Fern, some people believe they have things to contribute to the world and don’t want the recognition or fame that potentially goes with it. They do, however, need to feed their families, so they appreciate getting paid. Her brother and legal team have gone to a lot of trouble to keep her personal life personal and did a bang-upjob at it until you used your billions of dollars worth of resources to breach that carefully erected wall of protection. Now, you will pay the consequences. Don’t worry; he promised not to kill you or maim you, even though messing with his sister definitely deserves the latter,” Enrique assured him.

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