TWENTY-TWO
THE LAST STAND
Thankfully, opening night goes off without a hitch. Liam and Angel are magnificent, and the audience screams through five curtain calls to show just how much they loved the show. It’s officially a hit.
At the after-party, all I want to do is throw my arms around Liam and tell him how proud I am, but I feel Kent watching my every move. I settle for giving Liam the most loving smile I can when he glances at me from across the room. After that, Josh and I head home early.
On Sunday morning I’m as nervous as I’ve ever been. What happens today will either ensure future happiness for me and my friends, or tear our worlds apart.
I’m gambling everything on it being the first option.
When Josh and I get to the rehearsal venue, we set up my computer in the conference room, and then I lay out a plate of Danish before brewing fresh coffee.
“I can’t believe you bought pastries for that douche,” Josh says with a hint of disgust.
I shrug. “It’s all well and good to destroy an evil, money-hungry dickwad, but we don’t have to be barbaric about it.”
It’s not long before Liam and Angel arrive, but I don’t even have time to hug Liam before Kent strides into the room. He looks around at the others.
“Elissa, I’m disappointed. I thought this was a private invitation. I was looking forward to some quality alone time with you.”
I swear to God, I hear Liam growl.
“Please,” I say, keeping my eyes on Kent as I put a hand on Liam’s arm. “Take a seat.”
When Kent sits, I pour him coffee and offer him a Danish. He munches on the pastry and gives me an inquisitive eyebrow.
“Okay, so, I’m here. What’s this about? We need to make it quick because I still have to brief Liam and Angel on their interview tonight.” He gives us a smug smile. “Against all odds, the saga of their Epic Love continues.”
“Actually, that’s what we’re here to discuss.”
I gesture to Angel, and she steps forward. “Anthony, I know you think you’re acting in our best interests by keeping up this facade, but enough is enough. We want to use the interview tonight to break up. We can say we’ve drifted apart. at working and living together has taken its toll. Let the fans down gently.”
Kent stops chewing and stares at her. Then, he frowns. “Um . . . okay. Let me think about this for a second.” He swallows. “No. Next topic of conversation.”
Liam takes a step toward him, but I grab his arm. He jabs a finger at Kent. “We’re not your puppets, you piece of shit.”
“Yes you are,” Kent says, infuriatingly calm. “And you’ll dance until I tell you to stop or I’ll make sure you never work again. I made you and Angel stars. Me. You’d both still be doing soda commercials if I hadn’t come along.”
“And we’re super-grateful, Anthony,” Angel says, matching his snarky tone. “But we made you, too. You’ve gotten very rich by exploiting us, so forgive me if I don’t feel bad for telling you to go fuck yourself. You’re fired.”
Liam crosses his arms over his chest. “After today, we never want to see you again.”
Kent laughs. Actually laughs, like he’s having a good time. “I’m not sure how else to say this to get it through your thick heads. No, you’re not firing me. No, you’re not breaking up. No, to all of it. Capital N. Capital O. I’d write it down, but Liam wouldn’t be able to read it.”
Everyone in the room tenses, and Josh has to physically restrain Liam, who snarls at Kent, “You prick!”
I stand in front of Liam to calm him down, but really, I’d like nothing more than to watch him smash his fist into Kent’s bastard face.
Instead, I take a deep breath and plaster on a smile.
“Okay, Anthony, so, this is how it’s going to work. Either Angeliam breaks up tonight in an exclusive heartbreaking interview with Tori Bell, or we give her this.”
I press a button on my laptop, and a film clip starts. Kent isn’t the only one who can create fake news reports.
“Hollywood is reeling tonight amid allegations that high-powered Hollywood agent Anthony Kent has been demanding sexual favors from his famous clients. After revealing photos emerged of Kent in a clandestine clinch with megastar Angel Bell, a Hollywood insider has revealed that Kent is well-known for using his professional influence to manipulate young actresses into fulfilling his voracious sexual appetite.”
Pictures come up on the screen showing Anthony and Angel in what seems like an intimate embrace. One of his hands is on the back of her head, and the other is grasping her breast. The expression on Angel’s face suggests she’s not enjoying it. More photos appear, and in each one Kent appears more aggressive.
“The high-profile agent was caught cornering Miss Bell on the opening night of her Broadway debut, despite Bell’s fiancée being only yards away. The photographer who took the pictures said Kent physically intimidated the actress before pawing her roughly. After several tense minutes, he let Bell go, and she quickly escaped to take her place back on the red carpet. If these allegations turn out to be true, Kent could be blacklisted by his big-name female stars, as well as being liable for various criminal charges.”
When I turn to glance at Kent, I’m thrilled to see he’s gone as white as a sheet.
“This is bullshit,” he says. “I was helping fix her dress. Nothing more.”
I pause the clip on a particularly incriminating shot in which it seems as though he’s tugging Angel’s head back and kissing her throat. “As some wise man once told me, it doesn’t matter how things are, just how they seem. How do you think people are going to perceive you after this?”
Kent exhales and runs his fingers through his hair. His face has gone from ghost-white to completely red, and for the first time since I’ve met him, his composure has slipped.
“Of course,” Liam says with a smirk, “you can still walk away with zero consequences if you agree to kill our PR contract. Simple.”
Kent stares daggers at him. “You wouldn’t dare release this. If you did, I’d tell the world you’ve been lying to them for years about your relationship with Angel. You’d be blacklisted. No agent would touch you.”
Liam gives him an incredulous smile. “I don’t know if you’re aware of this, but there are many, many people in Hollywood who hate your guts. A lot of them are fellow agents. I’m sure if Angel and I offered to sign with them in the process of taking you down, they’d throw us a damn parade.”
I can see Kent’s gears spinning. He’s used to being the smartest one in the room. The one holding all the cards.
Well, you’ve just been trumped, bitch.
“In tonight’s interview,” Liam says patiently, “Angeliam is breaking up, one way or the other. You get to choose if we go out quietly, respecting our fans as best we can, or if we drop a giant shitbomb that will take you down in the messiest way possible. Your call.”
“What if my business partners won’t agree to void the contract?”
“They will. You’ve told me for years that you’re the best negotiator in the business. Convince them it’s in their best interests to drop it.”
Angel steps forward. “Either way, better get them on the phone. You’re running out of time. Tori needs to be briefed on what we’re saying in tonight’s interview, and trust me when I say my sister does not like to be kept waiting.”
Kent glares at each of us before picking up his phone and jabbing some buttons. “It’s Kent. Get me Davis.” He stands and heads toward the door. “I don’t care if he’s sucking the president’s balls. Get him on the damn phone. Now!”
Tension fills the room as we listen to Anthony’s voice reverberate in the corridor. Whoever’s on the other end of the phone is putting up a fight.
None of us talks. I glance at Liam. His shoulders are bunched and his hands are shoved in his pockets. Angel is next to him, arms crossed, gazing at the floor. They look like prisoners on death row waiting to hear if their sentences have been repealed.
After about ten minutes of tense conversation and some flat-out yelling, Kent comes back in. His usually perfect hair is disheveled, and he has a light sweat all over his face.
“It’s done.” He shoves the phone into his pocket. “All obligations have been fulfilled. Go fuck whoever the hell you like. Preferably yourselves. I’ll have the appropriate paperwork sent to you later today.”
He goes to leave, but I step in front of him. “Oh, one more thing. When you leave here, I expect you to have a private conversation with Ava, Mary, and Marco in which you explain about Liam and Angel’s relationship and clear my professional name. I don’t need my job back, but I do need them to know I’m not the horny home-wrecker they currently believe me to be.”
He crosses his arms over his chest. “I’m not admitting to the blackmail.”
“I don’t care about that. Just clear my name. And keep in mind, if you even think about starting a smear campaign against Liam and Angel, we have no problem leaking rumors that you have your own clients followed. And considering that what you’ve been doing is actually illegal, you have a hell of a lot more to lose than they do.”
He tenses his jaw so hard, he’s actually trembling. “Screw you, Elissa.”
Liam steps forward and puts his arm around me. “Sorry, asshole. That’s my job. Now, get out before I give you a reason to sue me for grievous bodily harm.”
Kent gives each of us one final glare before stalking out.
After the four of us release a collective exhale of relief, Angel squeals in triumph and pulls us all into a group hug.
“Hell, yeah! We did it! Free at last!”
After much jumping and laughing, Liam turns to me and takes my face in his hands. “You’re brilliant. You know that, right?”
I run my hands over his chest. “It was a group effort. It seems the four of us make a good team.”
“Yes, we do.” He lowers his head, and I’m holding my breath in anticipation of his lips when there’s a crash beside us.
We turn to see Josh pressing Angel up against the wall and kissing the hell out of her. For her part, Angel is kissing him back like her life depends on it.
“I hated seeing that asshole’s hands on you,” Josh says in between kisses. “I wanted to break all his fingers.”
Angels grips the front of his shirt. “Then show me what you’ve got, Kane. God knows I’ve waited long enough for you to put your hands on me.”
Josh makes an animalistic noise and spins her around so he can lift her onto the conference room table. Angel opens her legs and he quickly steps between them before kissing her again.
Liam and I look at each other and smile.
“Do you think they even know we’re still here?” he whispers.
“No. And damn them for getting to the giant table first. I had plans for that.”
He takes my hand and leads me out just as Angel starts pulling at Josh’s clothes. “I have a giant dining table in my apartment. Big. Expensive. Sturdy. Let me show you all the ways I can defile you on it.”
“Sold.”
We nearly run down the stairs and out to the street to grab a cab. It might be my imagination, but just before I close the cab door, I swear I hear Angel scream Josh’s name.