Page 21 of Hollywood Games
‘No’ The heat and pressure were building. ‘I don’t want anyone making a film here.’
‘Why not?’
Rory’s throat tightened. He had to make a stand now, before it was too late. He couldn’t lose her. If Brad came back, it would be inevitable.
‘I just don’t.’
She stared at him. ‘You are joking, right? You’re saying no to the opportunity of a lifetime, massive location fees and publicity money can’t buy?’
Rory dug his nails into his palms and nodded.
‘What?’ yelled Zoe. ‘Have you lost your mind?’ She paused, as if waiting for him to contradict her. He stayed silent. ‘Jesus Christ, Rory. Have you any idea how much money the first Braveheart film brought into the Scottish economy?’
Rory bit into the side of his cheek, the wound from earlier opening again.
‘No, of course you haven’t, because if you had then you’d be on your knees begging Brad Bauer to use that bloody heap. Look it up. It took more than two hundred million dollars and that was in 1995, decades ago, and in the couple of years after the film came out, it brought an extra fifteen million quid of tourist revenue into Scotland. Fifteen million quid! In 1995! Imagine even one per cent of that coming into Kinloch. It’s not just about the castle, it’s about the whole of the local economy.’
‘None of that matters. I only care about losing you.’
‘What do you mean?’
Rory’s stomach twisted around his heart and squeezed. ‘I don’t trust him to be anywhere near you.’
‘Brad? You think with one flash of his blindingly white teeth I’d lose my mind and drop my pants? Give me some credit.’
He watched her raise her head and cry out in frustration, stamping her foot on the deck.
‘No, I—’
‘Why can’t you see Brad Bauer is a winning lottery ticket that’s landed right in your lap? This could save the castle and you won’t lose me. I’m not going anywhere.’ She pointed at the decking beneath her feet, then at him. ‘I chose here and I chose you. Brad Bauer couldn’t change that for all the money and plastic surgery in the world.’ She extended her arm and he moved up the steps to stand on the porch beside her. He held her soft hand in his enormous calloused one. ‘Trust me,’ she said. ‘You can’t look this gift horse in the mouth.’
He swallowed. He knew she was right. He had to jump and trust she’d packed his parachute. ‘Okay.’
She looked at him suspiciously. ‘You’ll say yes to Brad and trust me?’
‘Yes and yes.’
Her shoulders sagged. ‘Oh, thank god. Now, do you need to get back or can you stay for a bit so I can tell you all about it?’
Rory pulled her towards the cabin. ‘I’m staying, but we’re not going to talk about Brad.’
OceanofPDF.com
11
Rory ended up staying the night, although they didn’t get much sleep. Without a phone signal or internet, Zoe was eager to get back into Kinloch so she could speak to Sam and ask her advice about dealing with Brad and his ‘people’. Sam hadn’t been able to get out of filming, so when Zoe rang her from the estate offices she screamed at her down the phone. ‘Oh my god, Zoe, I’ve been waiting for you to ring. I can’t believe you went out for dinner with him! You know he’s shagged every Kardashian, even the mum? Did he try and kiss you?’
‘He kissed me on the cheek.’
‘Bum or face?’
‘Face! My face! You are terrible! God, I miss you.’ She sat back in the leather chair and put her feet on the desk to tell Sam all about Brad’s plans for Braveheart 2. She knew it wasn’t a done deal until contracts were signed, and even then, Brad might change his mind.
‘Look, babe,’ Sam advised, ‘get the contract right and the estate will be minted. They need to pay for power used and make sure the castle is returned to its original condition or better. If any changes are needed to the castle beforehand, they need to pay for them. I’ll speak to the location manager here and get her advice, then message you later. Just don’t agree to anything without me seeing it first. I don’t want you getting shafted.’
When Zoe got off the phone and opened her laptop, she had several emails already waiting for her from Crystal. Did that woman ever sleep? It appeared Brad was so taken with her and the castle, he was changing the shooting schedule to spend more time in Kinloch. Crystal said Brad had a connection ‘across multiple lives’ to both Zoe and the MacGinley family. She took that to mean he was looking for any excuse to pretend he was a Scottish lord, rather than an American with German roots. Could she use this to her advantage? Under the guise of showing Brad the various rooms in the castle that could be filmed in, she sent Crystal the photos she had taken of the interior, including the bedrooms, and made a point of mentioning ‘the earl’s chambers’ were currently unoccupied. Her gambit paid off when late that afternoon, Crystal rang to say Brad wanted to stay in the earl’s bedroom for the duration of the shoot. Zoe tried to keep the excitement out of her voice as she explained, yes, that was definitely possible, but there would be an extra cost to bring the rooms and bathrooms into working order. Crystal told Zoe they would do whatever was needed and for her to email through details.
Zoe got off the phone and was doing a happy dance around the piles of paper on the office floor when Rory came in.
