Lovestruck (The Starlight Studios #2)

Chapter 1

Chapter One

ROMAN

“Are you kidding me?” I ask, fighting the urge to toss the phone across the room.

Perhaps I’m not my most patient self now that I’ve given up smoking.

Pacing back and forth along the cool oak floor of my penthouse condo, I desperately will myself to be calm about this change.

When my agent told me he needed to call me this afternoon, I knew it wasn’t going to be good.

Did I expect it to be this bad? Fuck no.

“Roman,” Bill sighs. I know he’s unimpressed and likely doesn’t have the bandwidth to deal with my mood, but I can’t help it. I’m pissed off, and unfortunately, he’s on the receiving end of it.

“Part of the reason I signed on to do the movie was because of Hailey McDonald,” I explain through gritted teeth.

“I understand that Roman, but—”

“She brought a huge fan base with her.”

“Yes, I know that, but—”

“How sure is it that she’s out?” I cut in.

“It’s official, she’s signed departure papers,” Bill confirms grimly.

“Fuck.”

Bill ignores my cursing and continues. “The good news is the studio still wants to move ahead with the film, which means they’ll be recasting her role ASAP.”

I close my eyes and pinch the bridge of my nose as he talks.

To say I’m annoyed about this recasting news would be an understatement.

Hailey and I were slated to co-lead a new superhero film that my family’s business, Starlight Studios, is producing.

It’s going to be a huge production for the studio, with an astronomical budget.

The pressure is on to make sure it performs well at the box office.

Especially since superhero movies have been flopping lately. If we fuck this up, the studio will be out millions of dollars.

What adds to the stress is the fact that my father will surely find a way to blame me and hand me my ass if this goes poorly.

Starlight Studios—and my father, in particular—are pushing me to sign a fake relationship contact with the other lead. The studio thinks it’ll help generate PR for the movie. They’ve been pushing my older brother, James, to enter into a fake relationship for the film he’s shooting too.

I know James is vehemently opposed to it, but honestly? I’ve kind of stopped giving a shit when it comes to Deacon. I’m used to disappointing him no matter what I do, so what’s the point in fighting it if it’ll be good for the movie?

Getting this film made is important to me. I’ve been a fan of the Darkness Rising comics since I was a kid, and getting the chance to play Peter Hatch—aka Eclipse—is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Doing this film excites me, and that’s something I haven’t felt in a long time.

Besides, when it comes to doing one of these relationship contracts, there’s usually a bunch of stipulations and everything is laid out pretty clearly in advance.

Nothing wild, but there’s an expectation of keeping up appearances in public.

What we do privately is our own business and the studio doesn’t give a shit – so long as publicly we maintain a certain level of interest.

The idea of doing all that with Hailey seemed okay. Her and I got along well at the initial casting meetings, and we’d had coffee a few times since. She brought with her a massive fan base from her work on the show, Seasons. Which was a massive bonus.

“Did she give a reason?” I ask, trying to find some way to make it make sense.

“It was the stunts,” Bill says, his voice strained.

I can feel my blood pressure rising. From the get-go it was always made abundantly clear to us that this movie was going to be heavy on stunts.

There’s been a big push from Starlight to have us perform as many of our own stunts as possible in an attempt to use that for marketing purposes.

Hailey knew from the outset what was expected from her, and I’m pissed as hell that she signed on if she knew she wasn’t up to the task.

Why bother making the studio go through all that effort?

Why bother meeting up for the coffees? What a fucking piss off.

A groan is my only response.

“They’ll need you back at the studio on Tuesday for chemistry reads.” Bill adds.

Right. Chemistry reads. Where you’re shoved in front of a camera with a potential co-star and you act out an emotionally intense scene to see if you have “chemistry” or not.

Hailey and I did one and since we got along so well, it was easy and the studio was happy with it.

I’m not excited about the prospect of doing it again.

It’s awkward at best and downright uncomfortable as fuck at worst.

“Fine,” I say as I lean against the cool granite countertop in my kitchen. The cool ledge beneath my fingers is helping to steady me.

“Great. They’ll see you Tuesday at two,” Bill says, clearly desperate to wrap up this conversation.

“Do we know who they’re bringing in yet?” I ask, hoping to be able to do some digging on my potential co-star tonight.

“Let’s see,” Bill says, and I can hear the sound of his keyboard clacking in the background. “It’ll be two women. Vivian Treadway, and someone named Clover Daly.” I scratch the names on an old takeout menu floating around the counter so I can do my reconnaissance later.

“Thanks.”

“Good luck on Tuesday,” he adds before hanging up. I roll my eyes, barely getting my phone away from my ear before it begins buzzing again. I look at the screen to see if Bill’s already calling me back because he forgot something, but I curse when I see the name on the screen.

“Deacon.” I haven’t bothered calling him “dad” in years.

The asshole never deserved that title. I try to limit contact with him where possible, but I know avoiding his calls will only piss him off.

Something I’m keen to do half the time, but I’m strategic.

There’s a time and a place to piss a man like my father off.

“To be clear, you’ll be signing a relationship contract with whoever gets the role.” He says, completely forgoing any pleasantries or even saying “hello”. But then again, that’s like Deacon – nothing pleasant anyways. The way he’s framing this conversation is already setting me off.

“I will have a conversation with my agent and get back to you on that,” I hedge.

“It’s not up for debate. You were alright with it when it was Hailey, therefore you’ll be alright with it when it’s someone new,” he says matter-of-factly.

I grind my teeth together. “As we’ve discussed, Roman,” he says my name like it exhausts him, “you’re lucky to have this role.

Plenty of actors would’ve killed for this opportunity, but given that you’re an Everett, it went to you.

The very least you can do is support publicity efforts with it. ”

I close my eyes and sigh.

Of course, there he goes making me feel like shit again.

Mentioning our family name like it’s the only reason I have this role.

The only reason I’ve had any success. And while it’s true that my siblings and I have followed in the family’s footsteps, we’re all talented in our own rights.

I’ve acted in dozens of films, and have always gotten good reviews where my performances are concerned.

Yes, my family name opens doors, I’d be a naive idiot to think otherwise.

But what my family name can’t do is imbue talent. And I know I’m talented.

“Understood?” Deacon snaps on the other end of the line, pulling my focus back.

“Fine, but I’m not happy about it,” I say.

Deacon laughs briefly on the other end of the line. “Like I give a shit,” and then the call ends.