Page 47 of Broken Rules

Turning slowly, I searched his face, his body language for some sign he was screwing with my head.I found nothing but a weary old man.“Dad,” I choked out.“You have cancer?”

“I’ve got this thing in my stomach,” he grumbled.“They found it early and the doc has hope it’ll pass with surgery and radiation.But I need to rest, and I think we both know that’s not possible around here.”

As I sputtered, fighting to make sense of it all, he asked, “Do you understand now?Throwing your attitude at me, calling me everything under the sun when I’m trying to leave you with something here.That’s all I ever wanted to do.I couldn’t hand over the reins, knowing there won’t be anything left to give you.”

There was a hollow feeling in my chest as I approached, finally sitting on the corner of his desk.“Why didn’t you tell me before now?”

“I didn’t want to see the look you have on your face right now, for one thing,” he grumbled.“I’m going to be fine.I’ll step back, spending the rest of my life enjoying the fruits of my labor.Let’s not start casting my biopic just yet.”

His choice of words brought to mind one of Summer’s many scathing comments and hardened my attitude a little.He was sick.He had his reasons, but he was still wrong.“You had no right to do what you did to her.You had to know it would kill her.”

“She’ll get over it.”

“I don’t think so,” I murmured with a sinking heart.It was easy for him to say.To him, she was a means to an end.His diversity hire.Slap her name on the project, earn some brownie points, make a mint.She wasn’t real to him.

“Oh no.”I looked his way in time to see his eyes roll.“You didn’t.Tell me you didn’t fuck the girl.”

“Charming,” I muttered.“The point is, she’s a human being.You used her and had the balls to act like there was nothing out of the ordinary about what happened earlier.Like she should’ve been grateful and kept her mouth shut.”

“Which is exactly what she should’ve done.”

“You’re wrong.”Standing, I shook my head.“I’m going to make things right.You want to hand over the studio?Fine.Which means I’m calling the shots now.”

He sat up straighter.“Wait?—”

“You made the announcement.I’ll have a press release written up to confirm it.”With one last glare, I added, “Try me.”

“Do you know what I went through to get that film edited behind her back?”he demanded, almost jumping from his chair.For a sick man, he had plenty of energy.

“I don’t care.You wasted your time.”With a shrug, I backed away.“If the investors don’t like it, they can have their money back.I’ll cover it myself.It’s what I should’ve done from the beginning.”Hindsight was twenty-twenty, after all.

“You’ll be making a mistake, son,” he warned in a chilly voice.“I can’t be any part of this.”

“I don’t remember asking you to.”I left him that way, gaping at me from behind his desk.There were things to do, calls to make.There had to be a digital copy of Summer’s rough cut backed up somewhere.I’d find it or die trying.

Dad wanted me to take over the studio.It was time for my first official duty—restoring the original film somehow.

Then, I’d spend the rest of my life making this up to the woman who directed it.

If she let me.

20

SUMMER

It took an entire month to prepare for this, practicing my fake smile.To come up with a few ways of deflecting perfectly reasonable questions I would never be able to answer.The sort of stuff people always asked on red carpets.What did this project mean to you?What was your favorite aspect of the experience?

Claudia was my rock through all of it.She stood with me beside the car, which the studio had sent to the hotel to pick us up.At least they were holding up their end of the bargain when it came to accommodations.Any planning had gone through her since she knew there was no way I could handle it.

I was barely handling it now after weeks of psyching myself up, including weeks of ignoring Lex’s attempts at communicating.All I had to do was get through this.I could go back to licking my wounds in San Francisco while struggling to figure out what came next.

“I don’t think I can do this,” I whispered, eyeing the crowd.How was I supposed to string a few words together for reporters when I could barely breathe?I looked down, ready to see my heart burst out of my chest and all over the simple, sleeveless black Gucci that Claudia had forced me into buying for the occasion.She’d battled me on a lot of things, but there was no getting around my color choice.Black seemed the most logical option.

“You can,” she reminded me in a fierce whisper, gripping my hands tight.“And you will.Get your ass in there, show them they haven’t beaten you.”

That was the problem.They had.They had beaten my dreams out of me, which was even worse.Eric had started it, but Lex and those brainless ass-kissers at the studio had delivered the death blow.

Going through it was one thing, but letting them see it was something else.I called on my breathing, focusing only on it for a few moments.The least I could do was control my nervous system.“Okay,” I whispered, giving her a nod.“Let’s do it.”

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