I shuddered, my heartbeat ringing in my ears.Thank God you’re not mad, but not the L word, please.Hearing it ignited every spark I’d been suffocating for months. He didn’t mean it the way I’d been dreaming he’d mean it one day, and hearing it like this hurt. Burned.
“Do you know what this means?” he asked.
That I fuckin’ won the contest, but the pain of my unrequited love for you can’t let me be happy for winning.I just stared at him, motionless.
“You won, and we’re gonna work together,” he said, a big smile on his face.
“You mean Raoul won.” I chewed on a thumbnail. “There’s only one winner, and I insist you pickBlack Sheep.”
“You can’t tell me which to choose. I’m the final judge of this contest.”
“You asked for my help, and this is my opinion.Black Sheepis the best fit for you right now.”
“Maggie, if you’re gonna make it in the movie business, you gotta be an asshole. You can’t give away an opportunity like this.”
“If I’m gonna make it, I’m gonna make it on my own, not by climbing your shoulders.”
“You’re not… I loved those scripts before knowing they were yours.”
“But now you do, and you wantDark Hopesto win because it’s mine.” I tapped on the white paper. “You and I both knowBlack Sheepis the right choice for the time being.”
“Are you saying that I’m not ready forDark Hopes?”
I folded my hands across my chest. “Yes.”
“I know you’re lying.”
“Mike, please. I can’t… I don’t want people to say I made my way in because you’re my friend, or because Andrea is my mother, or any fucking reason other than I’m good.” I gritted on my thumbnail. “Can I please have that?”
He held my gaze long enough to break my nerves. “My decision is final.”
“Fuck! You fuckin—” I snapped, my hands flying in the air.
His hands squeezed gently around mine. “Hear me out, pazza, before you explode in my face…or have one of your panic attacks.”
My chest heaved with rage and anxiety and shit.
“Black Sheepwill be announced the winner of the contest under your friend’s name. It’ll be Mondo M’s debut. But I’m buyingDark Hopes, too. It’ll be Mondo M’s second project, which we’ll shoot after you finish your debut with Robello. When you’re alreadyinHollywood.”
My heart jumped against my ribs. “Why didn’t you say so from the start, asshole?”
“Stop cussing. I’m not finished,” he commanded. “All this will happen under one condition.”
I swallowed. “What condition?”
“You will be the director for both projects.”
“Motherfucker! You can’t be serious about this.”
“As serious as dick cancer.” Before I could object, he glanced at his Rolex and said, “I’ll send you the contracts. You’d better find an agent real soon.” He started for the door.
“What about your partners at Mondo M? They won’t agree to this.”
“They sure will ‘cause you’re not gonna cost them. Besides, I have the upper hand in my own company. That was the point, remember?”
“Go fuck yourself, Gennaro.” I ran after him. “You can’t do this. I’m an amateur!”
He twisted, wearing his hard, plastic, celebrity face. “You can’t say shit like that when someone is offering you a two-movie deal.” Then his face softened into the loving friend he’d always been. “You’ll learn the ropes in Robello’s movie. I’ll assign you the best assistant directors and directors of photography for our movies. You have no excuse.” He smiled. The Mike Gennaro smile that opened every closed door, sealed all deals, made girls take off their clothes and kneel. It melted through my stubbornness, clouded my judgment, ordering me to submit.
