Wicked Heart (34 page)

A sickening realization washes over me. “
You
sent that e-mail. You wanted to get me away from Liam.”

“You’re damn right I did. He’s not jeopardizing everything I’ve worked for just to nail a nobody who gives me zero promotional traction.”

I’ve never wanted to punch someone before, but man, right now, I’m itching to smash my fist into Anthony Kent’s nose. “Why bother being anonymous? You’re a big-shot
agent. You could have demanded I be fired.”

He leans against the door frame and sighs. “I could have, but then pesky questions about where that video came from would have cropped up, and admitting I had someone follow Liam to keep
tabs on him would have seemed . . . questionable, at best.”

Liam was right. He was being stalked. He just didn’t know his agent had arranged for someone to do the stalking. “I’m betting all those videos of Liam getting into drunken
fights were sold to TMZ by you too, right?”

He shrugs with not a hint of shame. “Someone needs to profit off the bottom-feeders. Might as well be me.”

“Unbelievable.” Hot anger rises up my neck and sets my face on fire.

Anthony looks at me in mock sympathy. “Did you really see this thing with Liam working out, Elissa? Honestly?” The condescension in his tone makes me even angrier. “Can you
imagine yourself on the red carpet next to him? I mean, come on. You’re beautiful, but irrelevant. In every single shot you’d just be a hand whose body is cropped out, because people
don’t give a shit about you. The best you can expect is to be ignored, but most likely, you’d be hated. All the women who want to beat off to images of Liam would see you as an obstacle
to their fantasy.”

“And Angel isn’t an obstacle?”

“No, because Angel
is
the fantasy. You’re the reality. And let me tell you, in Hollywood, the fantasy is going to win out every time. The best thing you can do right now is
put this whole thing behind you and forget about Liam. The contract will stand, the wedding will happen, and if you do a single thing to fuck with me, I’ll destroy Liam and take you down with
him. And just in case you doubt me, I made this little teaser for you.”

He slaps his phone onto the desk and hits “play.” A montage of me pops up onto the screen with the caption,
AMERICA
’
S MOST HATED
WOMAN
.

He’s gone to the trouble of producing a whole news report, complete with voice-over.

“Broadway stage manager Elissa Holt is tonight being hailed as the most hated woman in America amid revelations that she has seduced
Rageheart
superstar Liam Quinn and convinced
him to break off his engagement to Hollywood’s sweetheart, Angel Bell. Industry insiders say the ambitious blonde has been obsessed with Quinn for years, and that during rehearsals for his
latest venture she pursued him relentlessly, despite his fiancée’s presence.”

It cuts to a shot of me standing next to Angel in a wedding dress. Then there’s a close-up of me with Angel’s head in my lap. “Angel, your fiancé is the hottest man
I’ve ever laid eyes on. He’s a perfect specimen of manhood. If he wasn’t engaged to you, I would climb him like a tree and bang him like a screen door in a hurricane.”

Bile rises in my throat. He’s cut out Angel demanding I say all those things. Instead it closes in on her teary face as she says, “Why would you say that? I thought you were my
friend.”

He’s made me look like a first-class bitch.

Next is footage of us in the bar. I’m touching Liam’s face, then he takes my hand and kisses it. It doesn’t matter that I was consoling him about his brother. It just seems
like two people having a hookup in a seedy location.

“Sources close to Quinn say the star hasn’t been himself since associating with the woman, and suggest the two may have bonded over illicit drugs. Whatever the reason, it’s
clear that the brazen blonde has had a major hand in destroying what some commentators call ‘the most iconic couple in Hollywood’s history.’ Rumors imply that Quinn may have
killed his career along with his relationship, with many producers now reluctant to work with him.”

The clip finishes, and I’m too shocked to speak. I feel sick. And furious.

Kent looks down at me in smug triumph.

“One word from me and that story hits every news outlet on the West Coast within five minutes, along with the video of you two in the alley.”

“You’ve taken everything out of context. That’s not how things are.”

“It doesn’t matter how things
are
, Elissa. All that matters is how they
seem,
and I’m an expert at making people believe whatever the hell I want.”

“You’re disgusting.”

He’s still smiling, but I can feel the venom behind his words. “What I am is protecting Liam and his career. Stay away from him. If you visit him, I’ll know. If he visits you,
I’ll know. The one call you’re allowed to make is to tell him it’s over and he should ride out his contract with Angel. Be smart, Elissa. You know it’s the only thing you
can do.”

He leaves and closes the door behind him.

I sit there and stare blindly at my computer screen for a long time as white-hot fury pounds behind my eyeballs. Getting fired was bad enough. Add to that having my professional reputation
trashed and I already want to inflict massive amounts of physical pain on Kent. But more than that, this asshole is messing with our lives. Our happiness. He has to be stopped.

One reason I’m such a good stage manager is that I excel at assessing problems and finding ways to fix them. I have to approach Kent in the same way. Right now, he has leverage over all of
us, and unless I can figure out how to reverse that, Liam, Angel, and I might as well forget about our happy ever after.

By the time I’ve packed up all my belongings from my office, news of my departure has filtered down to the crew. They’ve been told I’m leaving “for
personal reasons,” and thankfully, no one is brash enough to ask what those reasons are. After I bid them all good-bye, I head over to Liam’s dressing room to wait for him. Even if he
is being followed, unauthorized personnel can’t get into the theater. And there aren’t many places for a paid stalker to hide back here anyway.

When Liam enters his dressing room and sees me, he beams, but his smile quickly fades when I give him a rundown of the morning’s events.

By the time I’ve told him about my conversation with Kent, he’s trembling with so much rage, I fear for Anthony’s safety.

“Calm down,” I say, and stroke his arm. “We’ll figure this out.”

“No need,” he says, quiet and intense. “I know exactly what to do. I’m going to murder that motherfucker.”

I pull his head down and kiss him. He’s tense for about three seconds before he kisses me back, and then we both forget about everything but each other until the speaker above the door
crackles with Josh’s voice.

“Ladies and gentlemen of the
Taming of the Shrew
company, this is your half-hour call until places for the tech run. Thirty minutes. Thank you.”

I make Liam look at me. He seems calmer, but not by much.

“I don’t want you to be distracted by this,” I say, looking into his eyes. “You have opening night in a few days, and your head needs to be in the game. Okay?”

“Can’t guarantee that.”

“You need to. Do you trust me?”

“Of course.”

“Do you love me?”

He pulls me against him and rests his forehead on mine. “More than anything.”

I stroke his cheek. “Then just concentrate on this show, keep up your act with Angel, and stay away from me for a while.”

“Okay to the first two things.
Fuck no
to the last one.”

“Liam, we can’t give Kent any reason to screw with us. Just give me some time. I’ll find a way to take that asshole down or die trying. If he thinks he can bully and intimidate
me into giving up the only man I’ve ever truly loved, he’s in for a world full of hurt.”

I kiss Liam again, and make it a good one. If this is the last time I see him for a while, I’m want to be sure we both remember it.

I’m bent over my laptop scouring the Internet for dirt on Anthony Kent for the third day in a row when I hear the front door slam. Five seconds later, Josh walks into my
bedroom and face-plants onto my bed.

“How’s it going?”

“Peachy.” His words are muffled by my duvet. “Third preview is done and I only screwed up five cues.”

“Much better than the nine from last night.”

He flips onto his back. “Right? I think I should get a bonus or something. To be honest, I think my choice to not bring up Liam’s spotlight for his first entrance was bold and
unexpected.”

“I’m sure Marco didn’t expect it.”

“Yeah, he yelled at me. A lot. See, this is why I like being second-in-command. When I’m in the background there are fewer people kicking my ass.”

“Have you kissed Angel yet?”

He looks over at me and scowls. “Are you seriously asking me this? The woman who’s drilled into me since we were teenagers that I’m not allowed to mess around with girls on the
shows we’re running? Just because you didn’t have the willpower to resist jumping Quinn doesn’t mean I have to travel that slippery slope.”

“She still scares the crap out of you, huh?”

He throws his arm over his eyes. “She’s just too goddamn perfect. It’s intimidating.”

“Poor baby.” I finish scanning the article I’m reading and grunt in frustration. “Dammit! Anyone as sleazy as Kent must have some skeletons in his closet, but I’m
coming up empty.”

“So your revenge plan is still a bust?”

“So far. But I’ll get there, don’t worry. It’s just a matter of how and when. Do you have something for me?”

“Oh, yeah.” Josh pulls his phone out of his pocket and hands it over. Since Liam and I can’t see each other, and we have no idea if his phone is being monitored, Liam has been
videoing himself on Josh’s phone. It’s not as good as a phone call, but at least I get to hear his voice and see his face.

I bring up the latest entry. He appears on the screen in his costume. He must have filmed it straight after exiting the stage tonight. God, he looks sexy in that leather doublet.

“Hey, Liss. Hope you’re having a good night. I freaking miss you. So much. The previews are going well, but it’s not the same without you. And if Josh forgets to bring up my
spotlight one more time, I’m going to kill him.” Josh grunts and waves his hand. “If you’re listening, Josh, I’m not kidding. Get it together, man.”

I smile as Josh flips him the bird.

Liam leans his elbows on his knees and sighs. “Anyway, I can’t believe I still have to go through the motions with Angel as we leave the theater every night. She says hi, by the way.
She said she misses you and she’s pissed about you getting fired. She also wants to pull out Kent’s toenails with rusty pliers. Keeping up the charade isn’t fun for either of us
anymore, and now, there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight. To make things worse, Angel won’t shut up about Josh. It’s boring as hell.”

Josh sits straight up and frowns at the phone. “What the . . . ?”

“Josh is freaking out over that piece of information, isn’t he?”

Both Josh and I say, “Yes.”

Liam chuckles. “I can just imagine. Now that he’s running the show, he has a new air of authority, and I guess Angel finds it hot.”

Josh puffs up like a peacock. “I have an air of authority? Hell, yeah.”

“Now, Josh,” Liam says. “I need to say something to Liss alone, so do me a favor and get the hell out, okay?”

Josh sighs and stands. “Fine. I’ll take my air of authority and go. Guess I can be all hot and authoritative somewhere else.”

After Josh closes the door behind him, Liam exhales and looks into the camera. “I really hope he’s gone or this is going to get awkward, real fast. I fucking miss you. Everything
about you. I miss your face. Your lips. Your body. God, Liss, I’m dying to see you. Not even sex. I just need to hold you. Can’t we just meet up somewhere for a few hours?”

He drops his head. “I know we can’t, but I really want to. Did you hear that Kent has organized an interview on Sunday night for us with Angel’s sister Tori? An exclusive live
chat so Angel and I can reaffirm our love and assure everyone we’re stronger than ever. I don’t think I can do it. I really don’t. I’m so tired of pretending. I can’t
wait until all this is over and I can tell the world I’m in love with you. For real.”

There’s a noise behind him, and he looks over his shoulder. “K, I’d better go. I have to get changed and go sign autographs at stage door with Angel. It’s
required
.” He looks back at me, and smiles. “I’ll talk to you soon, okay? I love you.”

He reaches forward, and then the screen goes black.

I lie back on the bed and close my eyes.

Kent is such a prick for making them do that interview. It’s like rubbing salt into their wounds.

My need to take him down intensifies.

Apart from a few incriminating posts about him on a site called
Agents Behaving Badly,
the Internet has been a bust, so if I want to put this guy in his place, I’m going to need
to think creatively.

I deepen my breathing and concentrate. In order to catch a rat, I need to think like a rat.

If Kent were me, what would he do?

I go through several different scenarios until a kernel of an idea hits me.

Oh. Wow. Could that actually work?

I think it through some more, and when I’m done, I feel myself smiling. It’s so simple, it’s genius.

They say you have to fight fire with fire? Fine. That’s what we’re going to do.

I sit up and yell, “Josh!”

Within seconds, he’s poking his head around the door. “You bellowed?”

“I have an idea, but it’s risky. And it’s going to take all of us to pull it off.”

Josh flops onto my bed with an excited expression on his face. “Sounds pervy. Count me in.”

I put the finishing touches on my lipstick and step back to assess the result.

Not bad.

When Marco called and said he wanted me at opening night, I was so happy, I cried. I’d invested so much hard work in this production, it devastated me to think I wouldn’t get to see
it come to life. I was also happy because it helped solidify my plan against Kent.