Total pages in book: 100
Estimated words: 95609 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 478(@200wpm)___ 382(@250wpm)___ 319(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95609 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 478(@200wpm)___ 382(@250wpm)___ 319(@300wpm)
“I want to get married,” Hannah concedes.
A groan goes through most of the women, though I note that Riley puts a hand on her friend’s shoulder.
“Well, I think it’s safe to say none of us would reject the man.” Katy’s arms cross over her chest. “None of us except Anika. I could see her doing it. Look, I’m never going to see you as anything but someone production forced on us. I have to wonder if you’re here to spy on us.”
“Then I should do a better job.” I’m sick of defending myself. “I’m not the one who is trying her hardest to take out the competition. According to your precious process, there is no competition. We’re all supposed to get along and let the guy figure out who he’s in love with. I’m trying to do that in my own way, and I’m not going to let you steamroll me into being someone I’m not. If you want to talk to the king about how much you hate someone else here and that you can’t handle your own problems, so please, please, Your Majesty, help the little girl out then do it yourself. As for me, I’ll take care of Shelby myself. Because I don’t need a crown to be a queen.”
“And cut.” Joe is behind me, and he claps his hands. “Now that’s what I’m talking about. That’s the energy I need. We can edit that down so we’re not talking about production. That was perfect.”
Katy beams his way. “Thank you. I told you I could get her there. She’s been kind of waiting to explode.”
“Get me there?” I’m on the edge of exploding now because I’m beginning to figure out how much of this scene was set up, and I wasn’t even allowed to read the script. They’d had a meeting I hadn’t been invited to. “This was some kind of setup?”
Hannah shakes her head. “I didn’t know. Neither did Riley.”
But the rest of them were clearly in on it.
Ashley F gives me a sympathetic look. “Sorry. They told us they needed to see some emotion from you. You’re the only one of us who hasn’t cried in confessional yet. They’re worried you come across as not wanting to be here.”
I feel like a complete idiot. “So this wasn’t about Shelby. This was about me.”
Joe steps into the living room. “Of course it’s about Shelby, and we still need to have a talk about how the house wants to handle her, but this was a good scene. I’m glad I kept the cameras rolling. That speech you gave? Fire. That last line is going to be around for a while, just watch it. Thanks, kid. You did good. Now take a break and we’ll get back to all of you discussing Shelby.”
I should have remembered that a “break” isn’t a break if cameras are working twenty-four seven.
“I think I’ll take my break in my room.” I need to breathe because now my mind is rolling with everything these women have said to me. With the exception of Hannah and Riley, they’ve all allowed me to walk into some kind of trap that’s likely going to get me way more screentime than I want.
“Be back in twenty,” Joe says, and I can tell he’s disappointed in me.
“Hey, you’re welcome,” Katy calls out.
“Leave her alone,” Ashley F says. “She needs a minute. You got the reaction you wanted now leave her be.”
I hurry up the stairs and into my room.
What would they say if they knew the truth? I like some of these women. I respect them all. Sure, I want to toss a couple of them into the Hudson, but I respect them.
The pressure of being stuck in this place is starting to get to me, and now I have to wonder if Luca is beginning to regret the whole no-kissing thing. Maybe he’s connecting with these women the way production hoped he would, and he feels bad that he put himself in a corner. Maybe he’s only coming around to see me because he put me in this stupid room and he doesn’t have another choice.
“I could kill her and stuff her body in the foundation of the building we start on in two days,” Harper says from the doorway. “I do that kind of stuff for the mob all the time. Part of being in the construction business in the city. Lots of bodies in foundations around here, you know.”
I sniffle and sit down on the bed, a bit weary. “I don’t like it here.”
“Then why haven’t you walked away? You can leave. They can’t keep you here. If you’re supposed to find dirt on the director, I don’t think that’s going to happen. I’ve watched him. The only woman who comes and goes from his private rooms is that Christy chick, and if they’re banging, I would be surprised. They seem congenial. I take it we’re looking for something a little more nonconsensual,” Harper suggests.