Page 13 of Star Pupil

“Nope, I called his personal cell.”

She jabbed her finger against the screen of my phone, disconnecting the call before she handed it to me like it was a grenade. “Why do you have Hank Lockwood’s personal cell phone number?”

“Did I forget to mention that he’s my step-dad?” The look of horror that crossed her face was almost comical. “Well, he used to be anyway. It’s been a while since he was married to my mom, but theirs was the marriage that lasted the longest so we’re still like family. He and I, at least. He still refuses to cast my mom in anything his studio produces. Can’t say I blame him, though. She did get married to husband number four only three months after their divorce was final.”

“Griffin Stone?” She was starting to put the pieces together. “Ava Stone’s son?”

“The one and only,” I confirmed. “I can tell by the look on your face that you’ve finally realized you don’t have any leverage over me and there isn’t one damn thing you can do to break up my relationship with Avery. The days of you having power over your daughter are over.”

“Oh, I’ve still got some power all right,” she huffed, refusing to back down. “If that’s the way you want this to go down then I guess I’ll have to play hard ball. As Avery’s mother, I’m in control of her money. Unless she wants to walk away from every dime she’s made, you’ll end your so-called relationship with her. Now.”

I nudged Avery behind me and rubbed my hands together. I was going to enjoy knocking her mom down a few more pegs. But before I could light into her, my phone rang. Glancing down at the screen, my lips tilted up in a smug grin when I saw who was calling. This was going to be even better than what I’d had in mind.

“Hey, Hank,” I answered.

“Good afternoon, Fin. I missed your call just now and wanted to check to make sure everything was okay.”

“About that,” I drawled, locking gazes with Avery’s mom. “Everything isn’t okay. In fact, it’s the exact opposite of okay.”

“What’s going on?”

“Do you mind if I put you on speaker?”

“Not at all, go ahead.”

I hit a button and flat-out grinned evilly at Avery’s mom. “I’m with Avery Rose and her mother. Ms. Thornton is trying to convince her daughter that the studio is pushing for her to pretend she’s dating her co-star to help foster interest in the movie.”

“Not without my approval, they aren’t. And I would never sign off on that tactic, not with all you’ve shared with me about Avery.”

“You told him about us?” Avery whispered, but not softly enough that he didn’t hear her.

“He sure did,” Hank confirmed. “Months ago, too. Fin boy stormed into my office with your contract in hand and insisted I add an addendum to ensure you had ample time to study after you were eighteen. Since education is so damn important to the boy, I agreed.”

“Wow,” she sighed.

“Then he came barging back in again about a month ago, insisting you should get a trailer since you were sharing a dressing room with three underage girls and you were about to become an adult.”

“You got me the trailer, too?” she breathed out.

“He drove a hard bargain, too. Knew exactly where he wanted it placed and everything. It did my heart proud to see him negotiate the way he did.”

I knew exactly what he was angling for since it was a conversation we’d had plenty of times in the past. “I’m not coming to work for you, Hank.”

“We’ll see about that,” he grumbled.

“The fake relationship idea isn’t our only problem,” I interjected before he could go on about it. “Ms. Thornton isn’t happy to learn about my relationship with her daughter.”

“The girl’s eighteen, isn’t she? It’s not like there’s much she can do about it.”

“She’s threatened Avery with the money she earned on the movie.”

“The fuck she did!” he roared. “She might be able to get her greedy hands on some of it, but she won’t get it all. I can guarantee that. Fifteen percent of what we’ve already paid went into a Coogan account for Avery since she was a minor when she signed the contract. When she turned eighteen, full control over those funds went to her. I’ll make sure the money due to her once filming wraps up is safe from her mother, too.”

“Thanks, Hank. I knew I could count on you. Always have. Always will.”

“Damn, boy. I’ll do you one better. I’ll make sure Ms. Thornton is blackballed from here on out.”

“You can’t do that!” Avery’s mom screeched. “Not without hurting my daughter, too. I’m her manager.”

---