Page 108 of Role Play
Anger, fiery and strong, burned in my chest. Sure, I knew Jasmine had come out with us. I didn’t know that she was reporting back to Rich on mybehavior.
Gripping the armrests, my fingers dug painfully into the leather, leaving ten spherical indents where I was squeezing. That still only partially answered my question. “Andwhywould your assistant report back to you about what I was doing specifically? Why would she care at all that I was drinking and dancing?” I already knew the answer. Already knew that Uncle Rich had betrayed me—okay, maybe betrayed was a bit strong of a word, but I knew that he had lied tome.
He sighed, his face sagging. “She’s the only person I told you were my niece, I swear. Besides, she remembered you. She helped me by going shopping for your graduation gifts in June and she recognized them both.” I touched the Kate Spade purse and necklace that Uncle Rich had given me as graduation gifts. I didn’t let him say another word. I cut him off, pushing to my feet and rushing to thedoor.
“You think me drinking and dancing with a friend is inappropriate?” I screeched. “Thisis inappropriate. This conversation. What happened on Friday night? If that had been any other crew member, would you have cared? Would you have had them watched and reported back to you by your assistant? Called them into your office to discussit?”
“Youare not just any crew member.Youare my niece and I care aboutyou.”
I shook my head and reached for the doorknob. But Uncle Rich was fast and on his feet in front of me before I was able to run. Putting his hand over mine, he stopped me as the door opened, his eyes soft. “Wait,” he said quietly. “Don’t leave so angry. I’msorry.”
“Areyou sorry?” I sighed, dropping my hand from the doorknob. “You can’t keep treating me like a child. Miguel is a friend. We weredancing. That’s all. And yeah, I had too much to drink on Friday, but so did half of Los Angeles. I’m sure tons of your crew members go out and get drunk after filming and you could give two craps aboutthat.”
Rich cringed and rubbed a hand over his wrinkled brow. “I know. But hearing Jasmine describe you that night. And then earlier last week, seeing you as the stand-in on set? All grown up and practically naked in Ash Livingston’s lap?” He cleared his throat, avoiding my stare. “Well, let’s just say, it was just a bit much for your old uncle.” He smiled, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “I’m nervous for you on set. I’m nervous for you out in the world. At the bars. At your apartment, home alone. I worry for you all thetime.”
Oh boy. Suddenly, that signed consent contract weighed a hundred pounds in my purse. “Uncle Rich,” I whispered. “I’m an adult. A sometimes immature, stupid, young adult… but an adult all the same. You have to let me make my mistakes. And if you can’t let me do that… then I need to go work for someone whowill.”
“I know. I know,” he nodded. “God, that day that I saw you as the stand-in?” Rich chuckled, shaking hishead.
“If you couldn’t handle seeing me as a stand-in, what would you have done if I had become an actress? Think of all the nude scenes and actors I’d have tokiss—”
“Okay!” Uncle Rich cupped his hands over his ears. “That’s enough,” he laughed. “I guess I got off easy with you being inwardrobe.”
“Damnstraight.”
I swallowed, reaching in my bag for the folded, signed contracts. I had to tell him. It was now or never. I slid the paper out of my bag, clutching it in myhand.
“I was afraid you got sucked in by the Livingston Charm,” Uncle Richsaid.
My grip tightened on the paper. “The Livingston Charm?” Irepeated.
“Yeah. I don’t know how that man does it. Women all over this city know he’s a cad. They know he doesn’t do relationships. He’s an irresponsible …partner.”
I swallowed. “You mean… Dom. You think he’s an irresponsibleDom.” An icy tremor danced down my spine, and even though I technically knew that I was breaking my contract to LnS by talking about Ash as a Dominant, something told me Uncle Rich knew already. But Ash didn’t seem irresponsible to me. Outside of that one night where we had a miscommunication—the one night he dealt it to me rough because I had asked for it—he’d been attentive and kind and caring and…informative.
I watched Uncle Rich carefully as his throat tightened. Blue veins pushed against his tanned skin where just the slightest hint of a five o’clock shadow began. “What did you say?” His voice was dangerously low. I hadn’t heard that threatening sound from Uncle Rich since the day he kicked my father out of ourhouse.
Somehow, I managed to hand him the contract without my hand trembling. But inside? I was shaking like a single pebble in an earthquake. “I wanted to tell you first. Myself. Before we filed thisofficially.”
Uncle Rich’s deep brown eyes scanned the paper, his jaw set tight. But he said nothing. I don’t know how long we stood there insilence.
Shifting my weight, I filled the silence. I couldn’t help it. I hated uncomfortable quiet like this. “Ash wanted to file this immediately.Iwas the one who needed some time. I wanted to make sure what we were doing… that it was, I don’t know…real.”
“He’sthirty-one,” Uncle Rich said like this was some kind ofargument.
“And I’m twenty-two. An adult.” I resisted the urge to snort and roll my eyes. That wouldn’t exactly help my case in proving how mature Iwas.
More silence. My uncle’s face was turning redder and redder and his eyes stayed fixed onto the contract, almost as though if he stared hard enough, he could change what was written there. Like he could rewrite history with his steelygaze.
“Uncle Rich… Ash cares aboutme.”
“You can still hurt people you care about, Lucy.” From behind his pursed lips, I could see his tongue run across his teeth. “Ashis—”
“Broken,” I repeated his statement from last week. “I know. But with me, he’s not. With me, he’sdifferent.”
Rich pinched the bridge of his nose and hissed, “Goddammit, Lucy. How can you be so naïve? You are talking about a man who is literally with a different woman each week. I’ve seen it with my own eyes. I’ve watched over and over again as women fall for him. The harder they fall, the more bricks he reinforces his heart with. You say you’re an adult? Well, thengrow upand see what’s right in front of yourface.”
“I’mnotnaïve. I know what I’m gettinginto.”
