Wicked Heart (36 page)

Kent stops chewing and stares at her. Then, he frowns. “Um . . . okay. Let me think about this for a second.” He swallows. “No. Next topic of conversation.”

Liam takes a step toward him, but I grab his arm. He jabs a finger at Kent. “We’re not your puppets, you piece of shit.”

“Yes you are,” Kent says, infuriatingly calm. “And you’ll dance until I tell you to stop or I’ll make sure you never work again.
I
made you and Angel
stars.
Me
. You’d both still be doing soda commercials if I hadn’t come along.”

“And we’re super-grateful, Anthony,” Angel says, matching his snarky tone. “But we made you, too. You’ve gotten
very
rich by exploiting us, so forgive me
if I don’t feel bad for telling you to go fuck yourself. You’re fired.”

Liam crosses his arms over his chest. “After today, we never want to see you again.”

Kent laughs. Actually
laughs,
like he’s having a good time. “I’m not sure how else to say this to get it through your thick heads. No, you’re not firing me. No,
you’re not breaking up. No, to all of it. Capital N. Capital O. I’d write it down, but Liam wouldn’t be able to read it.”

Everyone in the room tenses, and Josh has to physically restrain Liam, who snarls at Kent, “You prick!”

I stand in front of Liam to calm him down, but really, I’d like nothing more than to watch him smash his fist into Kent’s bastard face.

Instead, I take a deep breath and plaster on a smile.

“Okay, Anthony, so, this is how it’s going to work. Either Angeliam breaks up tonight in an exclusive heartbreaking interview with Tori Bell, or we give her this.”

I press a button on my laptop, and a film clip starts. Kent isn’t the only one who can create fake news reports.

“Hollywood is reeling tonight amid allegations that high-powered Hollywood agent Anthony Kent has been demanding sexual favors from his famous clients. After revealing photos emerged of
Kent in a clandestine clinch with megastar Angel Bell, a Hollywood insider has revealed that Kent is well-known for using his professional influence to manipulate young actresses into fulfilling
his voracious sexual appetite.”

Pictures come up on the screen showing Anthony and Angel in what seems like an intimate embrace. One of his hands is on the back of her head, and the other is grasping her breast. The expression
on Angel’s face suggests she’s not enjoying it. More photos appear, and in each one Kent appears more aggressive.

“The high-profile agent was caught cornering Miss Bell on the opening night of her Broadway debut, despite Bell’s fiancée being only yards away. The photographer who took the
pictures said Kent physically intimidated the actress before pawing her roughly. After several tense minutes, he let Bell go, and she quickly escaped to take her place back on the red carpet. If
these allegations turn out to be true, Kent could be blacklisted by his big-name female stars, as well as being liable for various criminal charges.”

When I turn to glance at Kent, I’m thrilled to see he’s gone as white as a sheet.

“This is bullshit,” he says. “I was helping fix her dress. Nothing more.”

I pause the clip on a particularly incriminating shot in which it seems as though he’s tugging Angel’s head back and kissing her throat. “As some wise man once told me, it
doesn’t matter how things
are
, just how they
seem
. How do you think people are going to perceive you after this?”

Kent exhales and runs his fingers through his hair. His face has gone from ghost-white to completely red, and for the first time since I’ve met him, his composure has slipped.

“Of course,” Liam says with a smirk, “you can still walk away with zero consequences
if
you agree to kill our PR contract. Simple.”

Kent stares daggers at him. “You wouldn’t dare release this. If you did, I’d tell the world you’ve been lying to them for years about your relationship with Angel.
You’d be blacklisted. No agent would touch you.”

Liam gives him an incredulous smile. “I don’t know if you’re aware of this, but there are many,
many
people in Hollywood who hate your guts. A lot of them are fellow
agents. I’m sure if Angel and I offered to sign with them in the process of taking you down, they’d throw us a damn parade.”

I can see Kent’s gears spinning. He’s used to being the smartest one in the room. The one holding all the cards.

Well, you’ve just been trumped, bitch.

“In tonight’s interview,” Liam says patiently, “Angeliam is breaking up, one way or the other. You get to choose if we go out quietly, respecting our fans as best we can,
or if we drop a giant shitbomb that will take you down in the messiest way possible. Your call.”

“What if my business partners won’t agree to void the contract?”

“They will. You’ve told me for years that you’re the best negotiator in the business. Convince them it’s in their best interests to drop it.”

Angel steps forward. “Either way, better get them on the phone. You’re running out of time. Tori needs to be briefed on what we’re saying in tonight’s interview, and
trust me when I say my sister does
not
like to be kept waiting.”

Kent glares at each of us before picking up his phone and jabbing some buttons. “It’s Kent. Get me Davis.” He stands and heads toward the door. “I don’t care if
he’s sucking the president’s balls. Get him on the damn phone. Now!”

Tension fills the room as we listen to Anthony’s voice reverberate in the corridor. Whoever’s on the other end of the phone is putting up a fight.

None of us talks. I glance at Liam. His shoulders are bunched and his hands are shoved in his pockets. Angel is next to him, arms crossed, gazing at the floor. They look like prisoners on death
row waiting to hear if their sentences have been repealed.

After about ten minutes of tense conversation and some flat-out yelling, Kent comes back in. His usually perfect hair is disheveled, and he has a light sweat all over his face.

“It’s done.” He shoves the phone into his pocket. “All obligations have been fulfilled. Go fuck whoever the hell you like. Preferably yourselves. I’ll have the
appropriate paperwork sent to you later today.”

He goes to leave, but I step in front of him. “Oh, one more thing. When you leave here, I expect you to have a private conversation with Ava, Mary, and Marco in which you explain about
Liam and Angel’s relationship and clear my professional name. I don’t need my job back, but I do need them to know I’m not the horny home-wrecker they currently believe me to
be.”

He crosses his arms over his chest. “I’m not admitting to the blackmail.”

“I don’t care about that. Just clear my name. And keep in mind, if you even
think
about starting a smear campaign against Liam and Angel, we have no problem leaking rumors
that you have your own clients followed. And considering that what you’ve been doing is actually illegal, you have a hell of a lot more to lose than they do.”

He tenses his jaw so hard, he’s actually trembling. “Screw you, Elissa.”

Liam steps forward and puts his arm around me. “Sorry, asshole. That’s my job. Now, get out before I give you a reason to sue me for grievous bodily harm.”

Kent gives each of us one final glare before stalking out.

After the four of us release a collective exhale of relief, Angel squeals in triumph and pulls us all into a group hug.

“Hell, yeah! We did it! Free at last!”

After much jumping and laughing, Liam turns to me and takes my face in his hands. “You’re brilliant. You know that, right?”

I run my hands over his chest. “It was a group effort. It seems the four of us make a good team.”

“Yes, we do.” He lowers his head, and I’m holding my breath in anticipation of his lips when there’s a crash beside us.

We turn to see Josh pressing Angel up against the wall and kissing the hell out of her. For her part, Angel is kissing him back like her life depends on it.

“I hated seeing that asshole’s hands on you,” Josh says in between kisses. “I wanted to break all his fingers.”

Angels grips the front of his shirt. “Then show me what you’ve got, Kane. God knows I’ve waited long enough for you to put
your
hands on me.”

Josh makes an animalistic noise and spins her around so he can lift her onto the conference room table. Angel opens her legs and he quickly steps between them before kissing her again.

Liam and I look at each other and smile.

“Do you think they even know we’re still here?” he whispers.

“No. And damn them for getting to the giant table first. I had plans for that.”

He takes my hand and leads me out just as Angel starts pulling at Josh’s clothes. “I have a giant dining table in my apartment. Big. Expensive. Sturdy. Let me show you all the ways I
can defile you on it.”

“Sold.”

We nearly run down the stairs and out to the street to grab a cab. It might be my imagination, but just before I close the cab door, I swear I hear Angel scream Josh’s name.

Six Months Later

St. Patricks’s Cathedral

New York City

A storm of nerves churns in my stomach as I look down the aisle. The church is packed with friends and family, and down in the front, I can see that my mother is already
crying.

God, Mom. No. It’s a happy day. Please don’t cry or I’ll follow, and then my makeup will be ruined for the photos.

I take a deep breath and glance down at the bouquet in my hand. The symmetrical beauty of the flowers calms me a little, and when I look back up the aisle, Liam’s handsome face gazing back
calms me even more. He looks at me with so much love, my heart swells.

I step away from the door and turn to Cassie, who’s waiting nervously behind me. She looks absolutely stunning in her ivory form-fitting gown and long veil. I always knew she’d make
a stunning bride.

“Everyone’s seated,” I say, and take her hand. “Ready to make an honest man out of my brother?”

She nods, and I can tell she’s fighting back tears. “I’ve been onstage in front of thousands of people, and yet I’ve never been this nervous before. As soon as I see
Ethan at the end of the aisle, I’m going to be a sobbing mess. You know that, right?”

“Yep. Don’t worry—I’ll be right there with you.”

Ruby, Cassie’s best friend from college, steps forward. “I have tissues and a flask of vodka. Don’t panic, girls. We got this.” Ruby’s a nice no-nonsense
counterpoint to Cassie and me. We all take a deep breath and share a group hug.

When the music starts, we do last-minute checks before taking our positions, then it’s time to take the long trek down to the altar. I go first, followed by Ruby, and then Cassie.

At the end of the aisle, my brother turns. As soon as he catches sight of his bride, his jaw clenches and his eyes fill with tears.

Oh, Ethan.

I well up just looking at him. I can’t remember the last time I saw my brother cry. He used to be so closed off and damaged, and now look at him. I never thought I’d see the day
he’d stand in a church and take a wife, looking so handsome in his suit, with so much love on his face I can’t even deal with it.

Beside him is Tristan, Cassie’s other best friend. Tristan is huge, exotic, and gorgeous, and he isn’t even trying to hide his tears. Behind me, I hear Ruby and Cassie sniffling as
well.

Man, we’re all going to look like raccoons in the wedding pictures.

As I pass Liam, I reach out and he gently grazes my hand. That tiny touch brings everything into sharp focus. How lucky I am. How lucky my brother and Cassie are. Even Josh and Angel are here.
As I make my way to the front of the church, I see old friends from e Grove: Miranda, Aiyah, Lucas, Jack. Zoe is here with a boy who’s mildly famous. Connor Baine, who loved Cassie from afar
for years, seems to have a new girlfriend. Even Erika Eden, the head of acting at The Grove, is here. She grips Marco’s hand and lays her head on his shoulder as they catch sight of Cassie in
all her glory.

As we take our positions at the end of the aisle, I float between grinning and weeping during the whole ceremony. Ethan and Cassie recite vows they’ve written themselves. By the time
they’re done, there’s not a dry eye in the house.

What is it about weddings that reduces us all to romantic saps? Is it the presence of such incandescent happiness and love? The miracle of two souls finding perfection in each other when so much
in this world is imperfect and wrong?

Whatever it is, everyone in the church feels it today. Having Liam here after so many years of struggling without him, I feel it more than most.

After the ceremony, everyone decompresses with lots of hugging and laughing, and then we all pose for photos until our faces ache. Cassie and Ethan are radiant in their happiness, and every now
and then I see them gaze at each other, and I know that for those few seconds, no one else on the planet exists for them except each other.

I feel the same way when I gaze at Liam. It’s like everything else fades into hazy black-and-white while he glows in brilliant color.

It’s not until hours later, when I finally have my arms wrapped around him on the dance floor, that I can take a moment to just exhale.

“Have I told you how beautiful you look today?” Liam asks as he strokes my cheek.

“Just a few times,” I say. “Well, that makes number twenty-seven, but who’s counting?”

“Hmm. Only twenty-seven? I’m slipping.”

He tightens his arms around me.

In the six months since the news that almost broke the Internet aired on prime-time television, it’s been a long road to get to where we are now.

Mayhem erupted after Angel and Liam “broke up.” The interview that had been hailed as their phoenix moment ended up being their swan song. When they both admitted to having fallen
out of love with each other, the whole country gasped. They vowed to remain lifelong friends, but they announced that the wedding had been canceled. Liam was being sincere when he said he’d
always love Angel. In a way, Angel is Liam’s Josh. She’ll always be in his life, come what may.