Page 10 of The Devil of Hollywood

“Mr. Upton⁠—"

“Not now, Mr. Turner.” Geoffrey did pull at his tie then, grabbing the pen but not moving the paper in to sign. His gaze jumped from me and my colleagues to the blank space for the signature. Time stretched out as sweat began to bead and run down his forehead.

“How long do I have before you pull the trigger on this secret?”

“That depends. Never… or… the news may catch wind before you get off my elevator. It’s entirely up to you.

His jaw flexed while the rage grew. “Four hundred million more. Then, I’ll sign.”

“No. The price is nonnegotiable. One minute.”

“You don’t understand,” he exploded. “I didn’t have a choice.”

“Fifty-five seconds, Mr. Upton.”

“Fuck. Fuck! You don’t know what you’re doing.”

“Sir, if we could just⁠—”

Geoffrey spun, pinning the man with a glare. His stare shifted between my colleagues but came back to me.

“You’re a cunt. I know you paid one of my men to flip. You threatened and got to Mr. Wilshaw’s men the same way. You’re playing with fire, Ms. LaRoe. Secrets breed success. We all have them. What about you? What are your secrets?”

“Secrets are for the insecure. My success is made in public with a paper trail.”

“But the writing is in blood! My blood.”

My lips pursed the smallest amount. “Spare the dramatics. I see only one of two things happening. You sign that paper, or you lose everything.”

“You’re not going to get away with this.”

“Are you threatening me, Mr. Upton?” I couldn’t keep the slight sarcasm from my tone. “Maybe I should cut your amount in half right now. Or perhaps I watch everything you’ve worked hard for crumble to the ground. Open your eyes. No one will touch Dodge Corp once they find out your secret. Your product instantly loses all trust. I can fix that. I can transfer the production back to the states to my US companies where you promised the supply was being made to begin with. You lied. You hired cheap labor and slapped a US sticker on it like a band aid. You thought you’d be saving money, but you fucked up. It’s time to learn your lesson.”

A gasp sounded from one of his men. Mr. Upton’s lids nearly closed from the glare he kept on me.

“You’re out of time. What will it be?”

The table rocked at the side of Geoffrey’s fist connecting against the wood. “You have more enemies than friends. Everyone hates you.”

I smiled. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.” I looked down at my watch. “Ten seconds.”

Scribbling sounded in the room, and the pen bounced hard from the table at his throw, sliding to fall over the edge to my side. My bodyguard stepped in, but I put my hand out to Elliot, stopping him from coming closer. Geoffrey pushed to stand, his face tinting with red. He didn’t speak, but I did.

“It was a pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Upton. Send flowers when you send your generic thank you card. Roses. Dark pink. It represents gratitude and appreciation.”

“Fuck you. Burn in hell.”

The men shuffled to keep up, and I didn’t turn from the wall-length glass windows of LaRoe Industries until the door closed behind them. My deep exhale came immediately. I pushed the papers to one of my associates, giving them time to leave the room. I grabbed my phone, hitting my father’s number. Voicemail had my lids closing for the briefest moment. He hardly picked up these days. He was always on his boat or playing golf.

“Dad, it’s me. Dodge Corp is ours. Everyone knows what to do. We’ll start transferring over production immediately. The contract will be emailed to you soon.”

Hanging up, I placed the phone back in my laptop bag, putting the leather strap over my shoulder. I turned, feeling Elliot move in behind me as I left the conference room in our building, heading for the elevator. I could hear him radioing in for our car to be brought around to the front. It was a relief. I was ready for a vacation. I needed a break from the threats and cut-throat business I usually thrived in.

The elevator ride was quiet, minus the soft classical music that played within the glass walls. Elliot stared ahead, his deep voice breaking the silence as he stayed as straight as a statue.

“Mr. Upton is not a man who makes idle threats, Ms. LaRoe.”

I glanced over. “Geoffrey knows better. His fear over his secret getting out worries him. When he sees that it stays under wraps, he’ll move on and start working on his next project. He just needs a few days to cool off.”