Chapter 1 #2
“I found a good attorney,” she said. “I haven’t met with him yet, but he specializes in cases like this. I bet he can get me out of the contract.”
Dad visibly tensed, his lax, everything’s-gonna-be-just-fine slouch transforming to stiff shoulders, rigid arms, and a barely perceptible rocking motion she recognized all too well.
It was what he did when he came home after a gambling spree and had to tell Mom why they didn’t have enough money to pay the rent or even put food on the table.
“You don’t need to do that, Ell, come on.”
“Apparently, I do, because you’re not willing to help me. And you should know that this attorney will take a deep look at not only the current contract but also my prior contracts—along with how the monies were allocated.”
He was rocking faster now, teetering from the waist up, back and forth on the seat.
Yep, that got his attention. She’d known for quite some time that Dad's allocation of funds was sketchy at best and criminal at worst. But since it was never about the money for Ellie, and she had more than enough, she’d been fine to let the matter lie.
Dad had a reputation for getting into tight financial spots. She and Mom knew he relied on Ellie’s career far too often; he’d used her income to pay off his ill-gained debts. She’d never said a word. But if Dad was going to force her hand, she’d play that card. Or at least threaten to play it.
Dad huffed out a breath and turned to look out the window.
He smeared his palms over his tailor-made suit pants and shook his head.
"Well, you’re forcing my back to the wall now, aren't you?
Looks like I'm going to have to tell you something that I didn't want to burden you with, but since it affects you as much as it does me, I think you should know. "
The car came to a slow roll, and the partition window separating the front and back seats rolled down.
"We’re entering the private drop-off, Ms. Blaire. Once we pull up, I'll retrieve your luggage and get your door.”
"Thank you, Bronson," Ellie said with a nod.
"We’ll need a few extra minutes," Dad blurted. “Grab the luggage and wait by her door. Once we’re done speaking, I’ll send her out.”
Bronson, who was Ellie’s bodyguard as well as her chauffeur, looked at her.
Ellie gave him a reluctant nod.
He turned a look on her dad. "Sure thing, sir."
The window went back up, but not before Ellie caught Bronson’s expression, one of pity, maybe disgust. He didn’t like Dad much.
Ellie’s chest went achy and tight. Once Dad confessed, there was no going back.
No blissful spot of ignorance to dwell in when her mind started to race with fear over just how much trouble Dad had gotten himself into.
She’d told herself that if the situation was so bad, she’d know about it by now, but Ellie worried that that might not be the case.
She blew out a paced breath, preparing herself for the worst. "Go ahead, Dad. What do you have to say?"
His face reddened, and his teary eyes blinked fiercely. As many movies as Ellie had starred in, she knew just which character her dad would play—the hero’s bad-influence-bestie. The reckless guy who barely toed the line and dragged his friends down when he got in over his head.
He was sweating now and raking a hand through his hair. The tabloids had called out the hair plugs when he got them a few years ago, but that hadn’t stopped Dad’s admirers from swooning in his presence.
"A while back,” he started, “I got in some trouble. Some really big trouble with some very dangerous people."
Dread rumbled through her in a steady, terrible crawl.
Dad risked a glance at her before looking down at his suit pants, his thumb circling a spot around his knee.
"Turns out I was getting involved with a deadly syndicate.
Now, you know I've had problems with gambling before, so this shouldn't come as much of a surprise to you, but at one point, they threatened to take my life. They threatened you and your mom, too. This was prior to the divorce, you see.” He pinched his lips together and shook his head.
“In fact, they were this close to killing me one night when your face came to mind.”
He glanced up at her through tear-filled eyes. “Like an angel. I knew what I could give them. I knew we were capable of paying them back if your career took off."
Ellie shook her head. "Paying them back? If that's all you had to do, you should've done that by now. We've made millions in the last few years alone, and you got a pretty hefty chunk of that, Dad."
"Yeah…" he said, scratching his head and then looking outside again. His thumb kept circling that same spot. "The thing is, it wasn't just like a one-time sum. It was a gamble for them, too, you see, since you hadn’t actually made it big yet. You’d done a few commercials, mind you, and you’d just scored that role in Night Gone Wrong. But the kicker was your second call-back for Come Out Swinging. That’s what convinced them to cut a deal—they’d get a percent of whatever you brought in if you got the job. ”
“A percent for how long?”
His thumb stopped circling. “Huh?”
“Dad,” she persisted, “that was over ten years ago.”
"Well, that’s what I’m trying to tell you. When we wrote up your last contract, I had the deal we made in mind. It um…goes until your twenty-sixth birthday.”
"What!” she blurted. “How could you plan on taking part of my income until I was twenty-six years old? And giving a portion of that to some skeezy syndicate that murders people?"
Dad started waving his hands. "Shh, shh, we don't want anyone to hear. Listen, it wasn’t that long at first, of course, but I got myself into another pickle just before you turned eighteen. I’m sorry, hon, I am, but it’s not like you’re hurting for money.
And you can’t say that I don’t earn my share of it.
I work hard. I attend all your events, I schmooze all the right people, and rub all the important shoulders.
Let’s face it: I’m more amiable than you.
And the good news is, you can quit in just a few years if that’s what you really want. ”
"I can also quit now if I really want. If I'm not acting, then nobody can take a portion, right?"
Her dad tipped his head from one side to the next.
"The stakes were a little higher with this one, hon, so there were a few more stipulations. You need to keep going for jobs, and you can’t turn any of them down without his approval.
But so far, he’s agreed with us on the smaller stuff.
In fact, you’ve met the guy a few times. You remember Wolf, don’t you?”
A recollection shot to her mind, one that caused her body to tense. “The guy you said was an acting coach?”
“He practically is an acting coach. He’s been watching your career very closely, and he’s had some great advice.”
Nausea rolled through her gut. She remembered Wolf—slicked-back hair, silk dress shirt with half the buttons undone, and a searching gaze that made Ellie shift in her seat.
“I hated that guy.”
“That’s why I never took you back to him.”
“Why did you make me go there in the first place?”
“Cuz I lost a side bet, but that’s beside the point.
The bottom line is that I need you to finish out your contract.
You’re almost done, anyway. Then, if you want to step away from acting, you can.
Or if you want to keep going and fire your mean Dad, you can do that too, and I’ll graciously step down. ”
Her mind raced with possibilities as she looked back on her casting calls with new eyes. The meetings with Geneva—had Dad been speaking as himself or on behalf of Wolf and what he wanted? “This is worse than I imagined.”
“No, don’t worry about it. I’m in good with him now, hon, because of you. Wolf and I—we have something in common—we both see unlimited potential in Hollywood’s sweetheart, Ellie Blaire.”
He said it like Ellie should be flattered. She wasn’t; she was livid and terrified and sick to her stomach.
“Hey, I didn’t want to tell you this, but I’m actually getting some help for my gambling problems. I’ve been talking to someone, and I might even check into a facility myself while you’re in here.”
He didn’t sound convincing, but Ellie wanted desperately to believe it.
Because the fact was, she couldn’t really imagine siccing a team of attorneys on her own dad.
The case would go public, and the whole world would know what he’d done.
As messed up as Dad was, she’d never want him to endure that kind of humiliation and scrutiny.
The whole situation made Ellie want to disappear; unfortunately, this exile in the middle of nowhere wasn’t what she had in mind.