CHAPTER 9 ALEXIS
“What was he really doing in here, Alexis?” Brooks demands as soon as the door closes behind Danny.
“He has a small role,” I repeat. I force myself to school my reaction right now. I can’t have him finding anything out I don’t want him to know.
“Okay, fine. He has a small role. That does not explain why he’s in your trailer between takes,” he points out.
“He’s a friend, Brooks. He’s a nice guy who stopped by to say hi since we’re in the same town filming the same movie.” I go for exasperation on purpose when the truth is I’m beyond exasperated.
I already know he’s going to tell my father. I really can’t wait for that call, by the way.
“Why are you really here?” I ask him.
“Your dad was worried. He said you sounded stressed when you last spoke,” he says.
Right. Because he’s forcing this wedding on me in eighteen days. I am stressed. I’m panicked. I’m nervous. I’m scared. I’m all the things a bride should be eighteen days before her wedding…except I’m marrying the wrong man.
I wish there was some magic solution for all this, but I have yet to find it.
And the truth is that either my dad found out about Danny, and that’s why he sent Brooks, or he suspects I’m up to something. He’s finding some way to ensure I really go through with this. He’s pressing his thumb over me just like he does when we’re at home.
He’s putting me back in the prison he keeps me in, and I have no way to escape.
I can’t even if I wanted to. I already agreed to the stupid wedding.
“He also wanted me to get your opinion on a few details about the wedding,” he says. “We agreed that while he has a good feel for your preferences and he’s shared that with the wedding planner, you should have a hand in some of the final details.”
I blow out a breath. “Why? You two are forcing me into this. I don’t care what you pick. Just pick.”
His brows quirk. “I’m sorry you feel that way, Alexis.”
It almost feels like my feelings on the subject are a surprise to him.
“Do you want this?” I ask.
“I’m on board with the merger, and of course I care deeply about you.”
“As a wife, though?” I press.
He blows out a breath as he averts his eyes to the ground for a beat, and I get the very real sense that he’s never actually let me in. He’s keeping something from me, and I don’t like it.
“Brooks?” I ask.
He finally glances up at me. “Love, relationships…I guess I’ve always viewed them as business decisions. And I thought you were the same. I thought we were cut from the same cloth.”
Maybe I was. But then I met Danny.
I’m not anymore.
I can’t tell Brooks that, though.
I press my lips together and nod. “It’s for the brand,” I say softly.
He nods. “It’ll put you front and center in the news. It’ll raise your stock. It’ll garner new fans because of the designer you choose for your dress or the music you choose for our first dance.”
“I didn’t choose any of it,” I roar. I’m not sure where the deep emotion comes from, but I hope I can channel back to it at another point because there’s a scene in the movie coming up when we’re back in Los Angeles that rings very similar to this conversation right now.
“I know,” he says. “And all that’s already been chosen anyway. Your dad just wanted to know who you wanted to be your maid of honor.”
“He doesn’t have any business contacts for that?” I spit.
“There needs to be some personal touches to make it believable.”
Only one name springs to mind.
Danny’s sister, Anna.
It’s not like I can share that name with Brooks. It’s not like I can ask her, either—not when she knows the truth. She can’t stand up in support of me marrying another man when she knows how her brother feels about me…and how I feel about him.
I’m not really all that close to any other women, except I sort of led my father to believe I am. “I don’t have anyone in mind.”
“What about Leila Monroe?” he asks, naming my co-star.
It’ll help promote this movie if we show a united front as I marry Brooks during filming.
One more lie. One more facade. One more manipulation.
I hate all of it.
But the wheels are already in motion, and I have no idea how to stop any of it. “I don’t care.”
Brooks picks up his phone. “Mr. Bodega, hello. Alexis has chosen Leila Monroe as her maid of honor.” I can’t hear my father’s side of the conversation, but Brooks says, “Yes, she’s right here. Of course.” He hands me the phone.
“Dad?” I say as I hold it up to my ear.
“Alexis, that’s a fine choice, and a smart one, too.”
“Thanks,” I mutter.
“Are you okay? You seemed upset last night when you hung up on me.”
The accusation is there, and it’s not untrue. I did hang up on him when I started having a panic attack thinking about this stupid sham of a wedding, and those same feelings are starting to unfurl in my periphery now that Brooks is here and Danny is…with Kit?
He wouldn’t. I know he wouldn’t. I know he mentioned her to throw Brooks off our scent.
I shouldn’t feel sick at the thought. He deserves someone who he doesn’t have to wait for.
Still, I hate thinking that he ran to her.
“I’m okay. I need to get back to set soon, so I’ll pass you back to Brooks, okay?”
“Okay, sweetheart. Love you.”
I mumble it back and hand the phone back to Brooks.
“Sir, one more thing,” he says as I absently flip through the script. “When I arrived at your daughter’s trailer, she was in here alone with Danny Brewer.”
Dammit.
Really, Brooks?
What a fucking traitor.