Unleash Me, Vol. 2 (Unleash Me, Annihilate Me Series) (4 page)

The man obviously had a problem.

And when he
’
s
gone, then what?
I thought.
 
A
new editor?
 
Naturally.
 
But who would that be?
 
And what if they hated my book?
 
What then?
 
Another complete rewrite, only with
their own directives and perspectives?
 
I
’
d
have to trash what I
’
d
already implemented for Marco and start from the beginning.

And then a thought occurred to me.
 

Everything hinges on Julian West and what he says to Alex, if he does
indeed make that call to him.
 
If
West is still interested in my book
—
if he wants to make a movie out it
—
I might just win
this.
 
My book isn
’
t perfect
—
far from it.
 
God knows, it needs some help.
 
I just want to keep the core of it as
close to how I
’
d
envisioned it if that
’
s
even possible.

I sipped my drink and put it down on the table in front of me.
 
My thoughts turned to Kevin.
 
I thought of how different he looked and
how vicious he
’
d
been.
 
Then, I recalled the car
chase that had ensued because I
’
d
refused to give him money so he could buy drugs.
 
The idea that he might have nude photos
of me was crippling.
 
And if he did
have them?
 
What then?
 
How badly would they affect my
career?
 
Obviously, it would kick it
to the curb.
 
But that wasn
’
t what really concerned
me.
 
What bothered me was how those
photos would affect my relationship with Tank.
 
How would he view me when I told him
about them?

Tank was nothing if not conservative.
 
The idea of how he might react made me
sick to my stomach.

But I
’
d be
honest with him about it.
 
I
’
d hide nothing from
him.
 
Even though those photos of me
were clearly taken while I was asleep, I couldn
’
t help but be concerned about how Tank would react when
he found out they existed.
 

Will he judge me for it
? I wondered.
 
I was asleep when they were
taken.
 
Obviously, the photos were
taken without my consent.
 
That
’
s the truth.

But what if he doesn
’
t
believe me?

I stopped myself short.
 
What
was I doing?
 
I closed my eyes and
took a breath, knowing in my heart that I was getting way ahead of myself.
 
Tank wasn
’
t going to judge me or mistrust me.
 
That wasn
’
t who he was.
 
He only was going to support me.
 
I could sit in this living room and come up with a hive of what-ifs, but
what good would that do?
 
I needed
to get a grip.

I also needed to work on my book.
 
I didn
’
t know
for sure what would come of Marco Boss after tonight, but I still was under
contract, and I had a limited amount of time to produce the book he
wanted.
 
Since I was wide awake
anyway, I took my martini into the bedroom, started my Mac, and changed into
shorts and a T-shirt.
 
Then I looked
at his edits, and got to work.
 

CHAPTER
FOUR

It was just past midnight when Tank called.
 
When I saw his name flash on my iPhone,
it was with a sense of relief and trepidation.

“
You arrived
safely?
”
I asked when
I answered the phone.

“
We
’
re refueling now.
 
Should be leaving in another hour or so.
”

“
I miss you.
”

“
I miss you,
too.
”

“
How are
Jennifer and Alex?
”

“
Jennifer is doing
research.
 
Alex is on his computer
preparing for tomorrow.
”

“
Sounds about
right.
”

“
How was your
night tonight?
 
Am I going to be
seeing your book on the big screen soon?
”

If I had only one hour with him, I wasn
’
t about to pull any punches.

“
Let
’
s just say that tonight
was a disaster,
”
I
said.

His voice deepened a notch.
 
“
On what level?
”

“
On all
levels.
”

“
What
happened?
”

I told him everything, starting with how Boss had grasped my hand when
we exited the limousine, and that it was captured by dozens of photographers.

“
Expect to see
those soon in a newspaper or a blog near you.
”

“
He did that
on purpose,
”
Tank
said.

“
Of course he
did.
 
The moment I realized what he
’
d done, I shook him off,
and went inside.
 
But not before the
damage already had been done.
”

“
Don
’
t worry about it,
”
he said.

“
Actually,
that
’
s the least of
my worries.
”

He hesitated before saying,
“
Go
on.
”

I told him about our meeting with Julian West, how excited he
’
d been about my book, and
how, because he was prepared to pay a seven-figure option for it, I
’
d decided that I needed to
tell him the truth about how the book was in the process of getting a complete
rewrite.

“
Seven
figures?
”
Tank said.

“
That
’
s right.
 
Boss stood there saying nothing about
the proposed changes.
 
He just stood
silent, more than willing to deceive West to get the deal.
 
But I don
’
t deal in deceit.
 
I was damned if I
’
d
allow Julian to purchase a book of mine that was being turned into something
radically different from the one he
’
d
already read.
”

“
Good for
you.
 
But let me guess
—
that pissed off
Boss.
”

“
Not just
me.
 
West let him have it, too.
 
This was after Boss had had three
martinis within forty-five minutes of our being there.
 
He downed the last one just before we
went over to speak with Julian.
 
That
’
s, like, nine
shots of vodka in less than an hour.
 
I understand that Boss is a mountain of a man, but few can consume that
much alcohol and not feel some of it.
”

“
He
’
s pretty much as big as I
am.
 
I couldn
’
t take that many drinks in such a short period of time
without feeling something.
 
Was he
drunk?
”

“
Not at that
point.
”

“
Then he was
at some point?
 
Explain.
”

“
Julian told
him that he wasn
’
t
interested in buying the rights to my book if substantial changes were being
made to it
—
you
know, like bitch slapping the storyline to the ground.
 
Then, after Julian walked away, Boss
laced into me.
 
He said that I
’
d used the situation to
try to keep my book as it was.
 
I
told him that I was under contract to give him the book that he wanted and that
I was in the process of doing just that.
 
Then I told him that I didn
’
t
lie to anyone, including lies of omission, which he apparently has no issues
with.
 
So, I gave it right back to
him.
 
We exchanged a few words, and
then he went into the gutter when he said that I needed to be a better
writer.
 
At that point, I was
finished with him.
 
I was about to
leave when Helen Young, a senior editor at Hatchet House, stopped me.
 
She told me that she had been about to
bid on my book before Wenn got hold of it.
 
I told her that Marco had plans to change all of it, and because she
enjoyed the book so much, she publicly took him to task for it, which only
fueled his rage.
”

Tank was quiet for a moment.
 
“
What do you
mean by
‘
fueled
’
it?
 
Did he do something to you?
”

“
He followed
me outside, but I ignored him because I was through with him and his lies.
 
I called for a cab even though Marco
demanded that I get in the limo that was waiting for us at the curbside.
 
I kept my back to him, which apparently
incensed him enough to slap my clutch out of my hand.
”

“
He did what?
”

“
Just so we
’
re clear, he didn
’
t hit me.
 
OK?
 
He struck my clutch and it fell into the street.
 
Still, I could see the anger on his
face, and I had no idea what he
’
d
do to me next.
 
That
’
s when I told him to get
the hell away from me.
 
That
’
s when I told him that he
was drunk, which he denied even though he was wavering on the sidewalk.
 
I called the police on his ass when he
refused to leave because, at that moment, I felt threatened by him.
”

“
He
’
ll pay for what he did to
you.
”

By the tone of Tank
’
s
voice, I had no question that somehow, Marco Boss would pay for it
—
likely with his
job.
 
Or maybe by a visit from Tank
himself.
 
And so be it.
 
Boss had crossed several lines tonight.
 
Tank worked for Wenn.
 
He answered to Alex.
 
I could only imagine what would be said
between Tank and Alex when we got off the phone.
 

“
I
’
ll be telling Alex all of
this,
”
Tank said.

“
That
’
s fine.
 
Boss deserves it.
 
No one has the right to do what he did
to me tonight.
 
I have a feeling
that Alex will be receiving a call from Julian West as well.
”

“
What I need
to know is if you
’
re
all right?
”

And there was the loaded question of the night, because what Tank didn
’
t know is what came later,
when I ran into Kevin in Times Square.
 

“
Let
’
s just say that the evening
only got worse,
”
I
said.
 
“
And in ways that I never expected.
”

“
What does
that mean?
”

I told him about going to look at my billboard in Times Square, and what
had happened when I arrived to take photos of it.

It was a moment before Tank spoke.
 
“
You
’
ve told me that you had
two boyfriends before me.
 
Which one
is Kevin?
”

“
My
first.
 
I was seventeen when we
started dating, and eighteen when I broke it off with him.
”

“
And he just
happened to be there tonight?
”

“
Yes.
 
I was so shaken by the exchange with
Boss that I didn
’
t
want to go home right away.
 
So, I
asked the driver to take me to the Square.
 
I wanted to see my billboard.
 
I wanted to see something good.
 
I
’
d just
started taking photos of it when Kevin called out my name.
”