Total pages in book: 65
Estimated words: 61005 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 305(@200wpm)___ 244(@250wpm)___ 203(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 61005 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 305(@200wpm)___ 244(@250wpm)___ 203(@300wpm)
I lifted an eyebrow but kept my thoughts to myself.
The truth was, a lot of my clients were like this when I first got to them. Messy family dynamics were usually a given when you were talking about a client with millions and millions and millions of dollars on the line. I wouldn’t be able to unwind all the tangled vines of the situation until I really dug in, but I was starting to get a hazy outline.
“What kind of paperwork did you have her sign?” I asked. “What are we working with here?”
“Yes, yes,” Milo said, perking up. “We did everything by the book as far as HR at his talent agency. I disclosed that Leander was sleeping with a contract employee and they both signed liability waivers.”
“I did?” Leander asked, sounding genuinely surprised.
Janus waved it away. “I signed it for you.”
“I didn’t hear that, and it never leaves this room,” I jumped in to say quickly. “So she has no leg to stand on legally? Not that it always matters, but it’s a start.”
Janus nodded. “Some of her fuck-ups on the job were so public, we had endless grounds to fire her. But if she goes to the press, that’s not what they’ll care about.”
“Nope,” I agreed. “All they’ll hear is the salacious bit.”
“So far Geena’s only threatening to go to the press,” Milo said, like he was trying to be hopeful. “She hasn’t actually done it yet. Maybe it’s just a bluff.”
I jotted down more notes on my pad as I continued asking questions. “Is she making demands? Money? If she’s trying to extort you, we can use that against her.”
Milo tipped his head back and forth. “Not exactly. She doesn’t want money. She wants…” He looked back and forth between Leander and Janus.
“What?” I asked. “Don’t hold back now.”
“What if we did let her back in?” Leander asked in a tone I couldn’t read.
“Wha—?” Milo started, outraged, and Leander waved a hand. “Not as our publicist. But just—” Leander waved a hand. “You know. For an occasional night in.”
What? My gut reacted at his words even though I barely knew him. “Absolutely not,” I sputtered. “You aren’t prostitutes! You don’t have to give in to her demands.”
Leander arched an eyebrow, but my mouth was still running away with me.
“We do not give in to terrorists,” I continued passionately, even though no one was exactly arguing with me. Crap. Get back on track, Hope. Get back on track. I strove for focus. Difficult with Leander’s and Janus’s twin gazes piercing into me.
“So what’s her most nuclear option here?” I asked rhetorically, trying to get back into game mode. “She goes to the press with a video? Deep fakes are so common these days. TikTokers do it all the time, and let me tell you, they look convincing.” My eyes flashed as I looked back and forth from Janus to Leander.
I was just passionate about helping them, that was all. I hated revenge porn. I’d been terribly vigilant about protecting Makayla and Destiny from it. It was just as despicable when it was a woman doing it to a man.
Everyone had a right to privacy. That was all. Yep. Uh huh. Nothing at all to do with the twin pair of bullet-gray eyes that felt like they were piercing right through my skin.
Time to wrap up.
“She’s the one who’s forced you into this position,” I finished emphatically. “I say you deny, deny, deny. You’re hunky twins, I’m sure people have had this—”
Dammit, my cheeks flamed yet again and I dropped my eyes but finished strong in spite of a minor stutter. “This f-f-fantasy about the two of you before. If she releases it, we’ll put out a statement saying she’s a bitter ex-employee who you had very good reason—documented good reason—to fire, and she’s just viciously retaliating.”
I stood up, pacing if only to get away from Janus’s proximity as I finished the rest of my thought. “We inform her that if she goes forward with this revenge porn, we can go just as nuclear. We’ll destroy her. And it won’t be mutually assured destruction. She’s the only one who will never be able to find a job again.”
I looked back at Leander, eyes blazing. “You’re Leander freaking Mavros. You’ll come off scot-free. But if she ever wants to work again, she better keep her mouth, and her video, to herself. And if she does, then you’ll provide a lovely severance package and do her the privilege of forgetting she ever existed.”
Milo was nodding, obviously excited about what I was saying. “Of course. Genius.”
“Plus,” I said, looking around at all of them, “if it does come out, having me as your publicist will be even more protection. Which is exactly why you called me, isn’t it?”
I zeroed in on Milo now, getting exactly why he’d come to me of all people. Because we really were only acquaintances. He knew lots of publicists. But he’d called me.