“You think I wouldn’t find out? You getarrested, Ansel.Arrested. For beating the shit out of some guy inside a coffee shop, and then disappear off the goddamn grid?Thisis what you’ve been doing?”
I shut the bedroom door behind him before Juniper could hear more — but it was too late. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see her sitting up in bed, fingers gripping the sheets. I could feel her panic like it was stitched into my skin. “I’m handling it.”
“Oh, you’rehandling it? Is that what this is?” Kellogg gestured wildly, voice rising. “Because I just spent the last six hours fielding calls from legal, from the network, frompress— because guess what, your face is still recognizable under all that blood. And now I find out you’re shacked up withher?—”
“Don’t,” I said, sharper than I meant to. “Don’t bring her into this.”
He froze. “Christ,” he muttered, staring at me like I’d grown another head. “You’re actually serious about her.”
I said nothing.
“I thought this was some rebound. A spiral. Marianneassuredme you weren’t a flight risk. That this stupid relationship wasn’t even real. But you’re — what, in love with her?”
“I told her that days ago,” I said flatly. “So if you plan to keep yelling, you can do it somewhere else.”
Kellogg stared at me for a long time. His chest rose and fell. Then — softer now, almost pitying — “You’re going to ruin everything, you know?”
My jaw tightened.
“This stupid fucking film?” he said, almost laughing. “I only cast you so we could draw the pathetic crowd of women who used to fawn over you in your best years. You weren’t even my third choice. You were agimmick.A warm body with a tragic backstory.”
He shook his head, disdain curling in his mouth. “And now you’rein lovewith your press nightmare? The woman I wanted topayto disappear? Your stupid publicist assured me thatshewas better press than anything she could come up with.”
I felt it like a blow to the chest. Instant. Hollowing.
“I should’ve dropped you after the first meeting,” he added. “You were a mess then. But Marianne begged me to give you a chance. Said you needed this. Said youwantedto be good again.”
I stepped forward, voice quiet but shaking. “You done?”
He blinked. “Excuse me?”
“I said — are you done?” My fists were clenched. My throat burned. “Because whatever game you were playing — whatever part of this was about reviving your name or controlling mine — it ends here. If you’re gonna fire me, do it. But don’t stand in my house, talking about her like she’s amistakeI made.”
A beat.
He looked like he wanted to argue. But he just scoffed, stepping back toward the door.
“You’re a fucking idiot,” he muttered. “You had a shot. A real one. You could’ve rebuilt something.”
I opened the door for him. “I…” I pulled my hand through my hair, shaking my head. “There was nothing to rebuild, Kellogg. Instead… I’mbuildingsomething. It just has nothing to do with you, or this movie, orHollywood.”
He stepped out.
But then — he stopped. Spun on his heel. Eyes dark.
“You’re just lucky your part in this little fucking indie film is practically finished, Barlowe,” he snapped. “We’ll wrap without you. I’ll rewrite the whole damn thing if it means I don’t have to see your face again.”
And then he left, storming off as he muttered expletives under his breath.
And when I turned around, she was standing there — wrapped in the comforter, eyes wide, mouth open slightly, heart written across her face like she’d been listening the whole time.
She stood there for a beat.
Blanket clutched around her. Mouth parted like she wanted to say something — anything — but couldn’t quite find it. The silence stretched.
I didn’t move.
My hands were still clenched. My jaw ached from the way I’d locked it. Every inch of me still felt braced for something — a punch, a shove, the door slamming behind him — and none of it came. Just her. Just her eyes, wide and stunned and watching me like I might come apart.
