Page 9

Touché.

I couldn’t spend another minute in this suite with her staring at me like I was a reanimated corpse of someone she had killed and buried. “Jackson, we can finish this up via email before auditions start on Monday,” I decided, gathering the pages I had marked up and sliding them into my shoulder bag.

“Are you sure?” He sounded almost disappointed, following me to the door while Diana glared at me from behind him. She didn’t know it was me. She couldn’t have. What a way to break the news.

“I’ll take the elevator down with you. I left my phone in the car and hate to be anywhere without it.” Diana shot daggers at me with her eyes while Jackson stepped aside. “Darling, I’ll be back up in a minute or two. There are a few things we should talk over after our dinner last night.” There was heavy meaning in her voice, and he definitely looked like he had swallowed razor blades as the door began to swing closed. There was nothing in the way he looked at me one last time to hint at him having the first clue that I’d met his mother before today.

But I knew, and I could either blurt out the whole thing or I could deal with it. And, I could deal with this woman because, at the end of the day, she was only a woman. She had loomed large in my nightmares for years with her threats every time things were hard, and I wasn’t sure I could raise Liam on my own. Every time I felt lonely, sitting up with my wailing infant, having no one to fall back on for a break, I would think of Jackson and how nice things might have been if I ever had a chance to tell him about the baby. If his mother hadn’t gotten to me first and exploited every single weakness, every pain point, everything I needed help with.

I stiffened my spine and resolve and followed her to the elevator without a word. Neither of us spoke until we were inside with the doors closed, where she wasted no time stopping our progress by pressing the stop button, then turning my way, and tapping her foot on the tiled floor. “Exactly what part of our arrangement was lost on you? Or do you need a reminder of the terms?”

“I haven’t done anything to break the terms, Mrs. Bennett.” When she scoffed, it took everything in me to keep from screaming. “You know your son. Would we have left his suite without him biting both our heads off if he had the first inkling?”

That made her think, at least. It didn’t stop her from lifting her crimson lip in a sneer. “All right, so he doesn’t know about the child, but the idea was for you to stay away. That was the agreement we came to.”

The child? Her own flesh and blood, and she referred to him as ‘the child.’

“You mean your beautiful grandchild, whose life you’ve unfortunately missed out on?” I muttered, my teeth clenched just like my fists. When all she could do was scoff softly, I gritted out, “I remember our agreement, which is why I was so surprised when your company reached out and was eager to purchase the rights to my production.”

Baring her teeth, she snarled, “You should have contacted me.”

“I had no idea the president of Bennett Entertainment was unaware of who was being signed on…” I retorted. “And that’s the truth.”

That hit a nerve for sure. Her eyes narrowed, and I could almost see steam wafting out of her ears. The woman was ready to start boiling. “How much will it take to get you off this project?”

I am not going to run again. I’d never felt anything so strongly in all my life. I would not give her what she wanted because I was not the same girl. “I won’t leave. This is important to me and my family.” She didn’t need to hear all about Mom’s fear of flying or the fact that I wanted her to see, just once, what I was capable of choreographing. She didn’t need to hear about me wanting a sense of family and continuity for my son, who unfortunately happened to share some of her DNA. She didn’t deserve to know about any of that because she thought I was nothing more than a problem to be cleared up with a damn check.

Not this time.

Never again.

“So that’s how it is?” she whispered.

Drawing myself up to my full height, I nodded firmly. “That’s how it is. I’m contracted to supervise the choreography and get this show off the ground, and that is what I’m going to do. But that is as far as things will go.”

“For your sake, you had better hope it is because I can still destroy you. It wouldn’t even take me any effort. Do you think I’m lying?” That was the worst part. I knew she wasn’t. Rather than say it in words, I gave my head a slight shake. “Then you’re smarter than I thought you were. Do not get in my way, Winter, or my son’s.”

How the hell did she expect me to do that?

Who did she think I was?

What was I supposedly capable of?

One thing was for sure—I had no desire to spend an extra minute in this elevator with her. It was like she sucked up all the air in it, giving me nothing to breathe. “I have no intention of getting in anyone’s way,” I replied, lifting my chin to stare her down.

This bitch. Knowing I was the mother of her grandchild, knowing I had choreographed a huge hit show, and it wasn’t enough to change the way she spoke to me or thought about me.

She reached out to restart the elevator, then pulled her phone from her purse. Of course, that was only an excuse. Keep it together. It’ll be over soon. I drew slow, deliberate breaths until we finally reached the lobby, where, of course, Diana stepped off in front of me.

“Aren’t you ever curious about him?” I had to know. Never once did she mention Liam, ask about him, or anything. How could she not care?

“Excuse me?” She turned gracefully, pivoting on the pencil-thin heel of her Louboutin pumps.

“I asked if you are ever curious about him.” Stepping out, I met her gaze, daring her to look away first. “His name is Liam, in case you’re wondering. He’s three years old, and he looks a lot like his father.”

What did I expect? A flash of recognition? A touch of emotion, maybe regret?

There I went, giving her more credit than she deserved.