CHAPTER 108
The chair, a leather straight back that sat by the door, was in serious danger of joining Cole’s door on its trip to the set dumpster. DeLuca leaned on the back of it with both hands, his knuckles white, his face dark.
Cole sat down on the couch, his hand waving at DeLuca to proceed. “Okay, give it to me.”
“Nadia is contesting the mediation document, saying that your good faith actions in the mediation were false, and that you were in love with Summer the entire time.”
Cole tilted his head, trying to connect the dots. “But… she’s in love with the director prick. Has been the whole time. Why the fuck does it matter who I’ve been doing what with?”
DeLuca let out a long, exasperated sigh. “Because you knew she was doing the director prick. It was a shared understanding. See, from Nadia’s side, she was under the impression, when agreeing to our terms, that there was a chance that you two could rekindle things.”
“What the fuck?” he exploded. “She was the one who filed for divorce. And rekindle things?” He laughed and felt almost delirious, this a situation happening to someone else. “Getting back with Nadia hasn’t been part of the equation since before I even left LA.” He looked to the bedroom door and wanted Summer out there. Hated her shut away like she wasn’t part of this. He looked back at DeLuca, exasperated. “You’re the one who told me, if I loved Summer, that it was okay.”
“Is that what this is? It wasn’t that damn long ago that I asked you and you didn’t know.”
“I love her.” Cole nodded tightly and met the attorney’s eyes. “Without a doubt.”
“Right now, you have two options. Stay with Summer and split The Fortune Bottle with Nadia, or push this fling aside, we’ll repair things with Nadia and the press, and the movie will be yours. All yours.”
There wasn’t a moment of hesitation in Cole’s response. “Fuck no. Give her half if that’s what it will take.”
“You sure about that?” DeLuca let go of the chair and stepped closer, his head tilting as he examined Cole’s face. “You’re willing to walk away from half of this? Over her?” He nodded toward the closed bedroom door.
“You told me once that you had your soulmate. Would you have given half of a movie away for a lifetime with her?”
Brad’s eyes narrowed. “You’re not permanently walking away from her in my scenario. All I’m asking is for you to put this relationship on hold. Give it six months, then you can reunite, try it again.”
“Would you risk your relationship with your wife?” Cole repeated, and it wasn’t a question at all. It was a point, and Brad stared at him for a long moment before nodding in understanding.
“She must be special,” he said quietly.
“She is.” Cole grinned. “Now get the fuck out of here so that I can get back to her.”
“No second thoughts?” DeLuca said. “It’s half of your baby.”
“No.” Cole shook his head. “It’s a movie. That’s it.” A statement he would never have made a few months ago. Back when his entire life was The Fortune Bottle, and he was ready to tear apart his soul if it meant keeping it from Nadia. But now, with just a flicker of risk to his new relationship, it had lost all of its value. He wanted to be done with Nadia, done with the press, done with everything but the feisty blonde behind that bedroom door. Maybe it’d been the months in this town, a place where pretense and competition didn’t exist. Maybe it was the way that, through Summer, he had taken the first hard look at himself and wanted to change.
“Wow.” DeLuca clapped him on the back, walking past the broken door and out, the summer heat pushing through the opening.
“Anything you need from me?” Cole called.
“Oh, no. Please.” DeLuca waved his hand. “Less is more, Cole. Less is more.” He moved into the crowd, and Cole stood in the doorway and caught Justin’s eye.
“We’re on it,” Justin called, and Cole saw two engineers jogging over, tool bags in hand. Cole waved his thanks, nodded to the men, and stepped back, into the bedroom, closing the door behind him.
She sat on the edge of the bed, her pantyhose back on, her hands busy on the clasps of her shoes. “Everything okay?”
He leaned against the wall. “My door might disagree, but everything’s great otherwise.”
She stood and zipped up the back of her skirt. “You sure? I want to know if I’m causing problems.”
He stepped forward and looked down at her. “I love telling you when you’re causing problems. But no, right now, sadly, you are behaving entirely too much.”
She grinned. “I’ll brainstorm tonight over ways to cause you more grief.”
“I’d appreciate that immensely.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. You guys are in love, we get it,” Justin called loudly from the living room. “Are you dressed? Because I need to get Mr. Loverboy over to Don.”
“That’s you,” she whispered, her eyes mischievous, and his fingers itched to push her onto the bed, just for a moment, just long enough to make those hazel eyes roll back in pleasure.
Justin coughed from the living room, and she pushed Cole to the door. “He’s coming,” she called out, and he frowned down at her. “I’ll see you on set,” she promised and shut the door, his door, on his face.
Cole turned with a scowl, and Justin laughed. “Give Don ten minutes. Then you can come back to her.”