Bad Boy Brody

by Tijan

  Gayle leaned forward again. “The movie will still happen. Finding out about this girl won’t change that unless Shanna decides to start that fight.”

  Shanna rounded on her, her chest puffing up. “I don’t—”

  “They didn’t put her in for a reason, Shanna.” Gayle clipped her head from side to side. “They’re going to fight you on it, and you know it. They’ll take you to court, and they have the money to do it.”

  “Aren’t they also the producers?”

  Shanna groaned at my question as her hands flew into the air. “She’s a gold mine. She is drop-dead gorgeous. Her whole story is captivating. She’s sleeping with Hollywood’s bad boy, and she’s a Kellerman! A Kellerman. A movie needs to be made just about her.”

  “But not this movie. This one is about her mother.”

  “Oh my God, her mother.” Shanna’s head fell back at Gayle’s reminder. “Was she there when her mom was murdered?”

  Both women waited, watching me.

  I scowled. “None of your business.”

  “Brody—”

  “No!” My voice rose over Gayle’s. I stared hard at Shanna. “She is not a part of the movie, and it is not my job to divulge anything. My job is to act in this movie. I will do that, but I won’t do that.”

  Problem number one just uncovered itself.

  I was staring into the faces of two women I respected and wanted to keep working with, but they both had agendas. I shot Gayle a look. “You’ll have my back on this. There is no leeway on this subject matter.”

  Her eye twitched once, then twice, before she glanced sideways to Shanna.

  My director’s pupils were dilated. There was a sloppy, mad quality to her, but her eyes were still locked on me. Hard. Her mouth was set in a fierce line. “Brody.”

  “I mean it.” I skewered both of them. “When it comes to her, there’s no negotiation on my part. None.”

  “I can replace you.”

  And threat number one was just thrown out.

  I waited a beat, choosing my words, but not fast enough.

  Gayle shoved back her chair and folded her arms over her chest. “His job is to be an actor, not an informant. Your argument is not with him for that one.”

  “With who then?” Shanna’s head swung a little more than it needed to. She almost fell off the chair. “With the girl? She took off on a freaking wild horse. Let me go round up one of my own to find her! Are you kidding me?”

  Gayle’s chest rose and fell a few times. When she spoke again, she was a little calmer. “I suggest you ask the appropriate people, like her stepfather or any one of her stepsiblings—not my client.”

  Shanna’s gaze switched, settling directly on me before she slowly pushed back and stood. She took a breath, smoothing her hands down her shirt and pants and then patting her hair into place. “I see. If you’ll excuse me both, I have a few Kellermans to pin down.”

  The room was thick with tension, and neither Gayle nor I spoke a word as Shanna walked across the room, opened the door, and went outside.

  Once the door clicked shut, Gayle slumped back into her chair. “For fuck’s sake, Brody.” Her eyes sparkled in anger. “Goddamn warn me when you have a secret like this, would you?”

  I swallowed. “It wasn’t supposed to come out.”

  “Secrets like this always come out! That’s golden rule number one.” She leaned forward and jammed her finger against the table as she continued, “They always come out. You plan for when they do. Got it?”

  I nodded. “Got it.”

  “Now”—she waved in the direction Shanna just disappeared—“that problem is resolved, for now, but she’ll come back. Trust me. Shanna isn’t called a pit bull when it comes to her movies. She’s a great white fucking shark. She’ll be back.” She motioned out toward the mountainside next. “I have to know about your girlfriend. I don’t care if you’re in love with her. I have to know how to protect you as well as how to protect her.”

  “No.”

  “Brody!”

  “No.” I didn’t yell, but I made sure she knew I meant it when I said, “I will not violate her trust.”

  “Brody!” Gayle yelled again.

  “Brody.”

  We both swung around at the second name spoken. It was soft but clear, and like the ghost she constantly embodied, Morgan appeared just inside the patio doors. She had climbed up over the patio and came inside. Gayle and I hadn’t heard her at all.

  Her hands were flat against her legs as she stepped farther inside, eyes fixed on Gayle. “I’ll tell you what you need to know if it means you’ll protect him.”

  Gayle blinked a few times, and she looked taken aback. Then she nodded, her eyebrows pulling together. She cleared her throat. “I’d like that. Thank you.”

  We were all off balance. The tension was still in the air, and for a moment, Gayle and I didn’t move. The only one who seemed calm was Morgan.

  She took Shanna’s vacated seat and gestured to Gayle’s. “If you’d like to sit for all of this?”

  Brody

  It was three hours later when Morgan left to find her sister. Gayle had stayed behind longer to collect herself, and she was still shaking her head when I pulled the cabin door shut behind us. “That girl . . .” She wrapped her arms around herself. The air had gotten noticeably colder, but I didn’t mind it. “That girl is special, Brody.”

  “I know.”

  “No.” She turned around and placed her hand on my arm. “You aren’t fully understanding me. Yes, she’s special in the way that she’s remarkable, and I can see why Shanna is going to do everything she can to get that girl into the movie, but she’s special in a way that not even you can compete with. I can see the bond between you two. I can tell you think you love her.”

  Think?

  I wish I hadn’t. It was deeper than she could possibly realize.

  Picking her words carefully, she went on. “She is wild in her heart. You cannot tame her. You will never be able to take her with you on your next acting gig. You travel constantly. You go everywhere, all over the world. You’re from two completely opposite worlds. You’ll never fully fit in with hers, and she’ll never fully fit in with yours. I watched her in there as she told me about her mother, about everything. She looked out that window no fewer than twenty times in three hours. Twenty times, Brody. Did you watch her body language? She kept rubbing her arms. She kept moving in her seat. She kept tapping her leg. She was restless because she wanted to go back out there. I saw how she took off before. Her mare was responding to her. She wanted to run, not the mare. The mare would’ve stayed beside her through a fire. It was her. Not the mustang.”

  Anger burned my throat. “Why are you telling me this? To keep me from falling for her? Too fucking late. I fell. I’m in. I’m all in.”

  A sadness fell over her face, and she patted my arm. “Then I am here for you not just as a manager, but as a friend.” Her hand fell from my arm. The sadness deepened. A tear formed in her eye.

  She reached up to wipe away it away, but I caught her hand. She looked at me in surprise.

  “I have to try. I’m so far gone that I’ll regret it more if I walk. Can you understand?”

  She nodded. The tear slipped down her cheek. “I do.”

  This was the mother side of her, the part that started to extend towards me. I’d gotten glimpses of it before, but a tear—that was new. I couldn’t remember my own mother crying for me.

  It calmed me, slightly.

  She pulled her hand free, going back to hugging herself as she looked toward the main house. “You say the whole estate is in her name?”

  “Yes.”

  “You’re worried about the father, aren’t you?”

  I looked too.

  The main house stood high up on the cliff’s hill, nestled into the side. It took on an imposing air, as if it were daring someone to challenge it. Authority clung to it tighter than it had before, and I knew it was Peter Kellerman’s effect. He had
everyone on edge, whether they realized it or not.

  Yeah, to answer her question. I was worried. I was more than worried, but I didn’t know what problems his presence would bring. I just knew they would.

  A soft sigh left me.

  It’d been a long night of shooting. An even longer few hours until I found Morgan, and all I wanted to do was hold her.

  “Is everyone still here?” I moved around Gayle, going toward the house. There were more cars in the driveway than there should have been.

  She fell into step beside me. “I suppose they’re all just waiting to be told what to do.”

  No. They would’ve gone to the hotel or to a bar to do that. No one slept last night. They would’ve been tired.

  My pace quickened.

  If they were inside, there was a reason.

  They were gathered in the main living room. Shanna was at the front, standing on the fireplace’s hearth and holding up the movie script. Everyone else was gathered inside, so tight all the chairs were filled. People were sitting on the floor. Others were lined against the walls, a few spilling out to the entryway and even in the kitchen behind.

  “It is the right thing to do, so I apologize for the mess up in your schedules.”

  I looked for the Kellermans, Jen, or Morgan, but none of them were there.

  They weren’t on the back patio, which left Matthew’s office maybe?

  “I realize you might have projects lined up after this, so we’ll be in touch to work out the new schedule. But, guys. I really think this will make the movie better. It’s the truth too.”

  Shanna’s words got my attention, and I went back.

  Her eyes were shining. Her neck was straining, and she was waving that movie script around. “This story is no longer about Karen Kellerman. It’s no longer the story the Kellermans have told us. It’s about Morgan—”

  “What are you doing?” I was pushing forward into the room before Gayle could stop me.

  That anger was back. He was pushing from the dark regions inside me, knowing he might have to be let loose soon.

  Shanna’s hand went down to her side and she squared off to me. “I’m changing the script, Brody.”

  I looked at Gayle in the doorway. She didn’t give me any nod to keep going or to shut up. She was as surprised as I was.

  “You don’t have the right.”

  “I do, actually.” Shanna pulled out the packet of papers that had been rolled up in her back pocket. It was her contract. “This gives me the creative license. I can change the script if I decide to do so. I’m sorry. I am. I know you want to protect your girlfriend, but this is going to happen.”

  “They’ll fight you.”

  “No.” She shook her head. “I talked to my lawyers before I had a meeting with Peter and Matthew Kellerman. They all agreed. I can do the changes, and I’m going to. I’ll need time to have the script rewritten.” She gestured around the room. “That’s what I was telling everyone. Everything is on hold for now. The rewrites and a new ending will completely change the entire scope of the movie, for the better, though. This will all be for the better.”

  “For whom?”

  I could see Morgan’s face in my mind. She would be so terrified. She’d go back to Shiloh.

  “She is wild in her heart . . .”

  “You’re from two completely opposite worlds.”

  Gayle met my gaze, both of us remembering her words. Her face twisted in regret, a pitying expression pulled at her mouth. She tilted her head to the side as if to tell me she was sorry.

  I didn’t want to see it, hear it, take it.

  Shanna answered my question, “This is better for everyone.”

  “Not for Morgan. She won’t want this.”

  “You don’t know that. Everyone wants to be famous.”

  Not her. Not Morgan. I shook my head. “That’s her worst nightmare.”

  A step creaked behind me, and I whirled. Matthew Kellerman was on the stairs. His father behind him. Matthew paused on the last step before stepping all the way down.

  “You did this?”

  His eyes widened. “I—”

  It took one second, one single breath, for me to be across the room and have him up against the wall. I had him pinned, and he didn’t fight me. “You sold her out? You’re her stepbrother. You’re supposed to protect her. You said you would protect her!”

  “Yo. This is Kyle. Do your thing.”

  I slammed him against the wall again. “You’re supposed to be there for her. You aren’t supposed to sell her out.”

  “Kyle, fucking call me. Where the hell—”

  I saw the guilt in his eyes. He’d done what I said. He wasn’t even trying to hide it.

  “You’re supposed to love her. How is this loving her?” But the fight was leaving me.

  “Kyle, where are you?”

  He wasn’t struggling.

  I was just beating him up. That was all.

  “Listen, Brody—I’m damn proud of you . . .”

  I swallowed hard. My throat was burning.

  I felt gentle hands on top of mine, and someone was saying, “Let him go, Brody. Let him go.” I let him slide back down until his feet touched the ground, but I didn’t let him go. My hands were still curled around his shirt as I leaned closer to him, spitting the words into his traitorous face.

  “How could you tell Shanna about Morgan?”

  “Brody. Stop. Please.”

  Kara was trying to pull my hands away from Kellerman.

  “I can’t wait to get there.”

  And I blinked.

  How had my hands gotten around his throat? Disgust rose up, but I didn’t know who it was for: him or myself.

  I lowered him back to the floor.

  When had I done this?

  “Kyle,” I whispered, finally releasing Kellerman.

  “Kyle!”

  “9-1-1. What is your emergency?”

  “Brody!” Someone slapped me across the face.

  I came back to reality. Kara was winding up to slap me again. I gently caught her hand and moved out of the way. “Don’t hit me.” It was a hoarse whisper, nothing more.

  “You spaced out.” She let out a huff, gesturing to Matthew, who was holding his throat and gasping for air. “You assaulted your boss. You’re whack-o in the head, you know that?”

  Matthew kept rubbing his neck, but he gasped out, “No, no. It’s okay. I asked for it.” He was watching me, and I saw the fear there. I rolled my eyes. He didn’t want me to tell anyone about the security footage.

  I turned around, knowing Morgan’s father would be there.

  He was watching me; his face was impassive. He was tan, abnormally so, but everything but the lines of age were the same as what I noted before.

  He stood like he could handle himself well in a fight. He wouldn’t back down like the weasel shit behind me.

  Then he spoke, “You’re in love with my daughter?”

  I looked beyond him, out to the patio and even farther. I saw Morgan there. She had returned to the fields and was standing on top of Shiloh, but she was watching me. I knew she was. I could feel her gaze.

  I said, “No, sir. I’m in love with your stepdaughter.”

  “Brody.”

  Shanna had come into the hallway where we were standing. My eyes fell to her hand. She was still holding that damned script. “They gave me the okay, not that I needed it. There’s no fighting this. It is going to happen. Your girlfriend is going to be written into the movie. It might be in her and your best interests if I get the true story.” She paused, biting her lip. “I’ll need to talk to her to get that.”

  I laughed in disbelief.

  This was why they were all okay with me putting my hands on Matthew Kellerman. They weren’t even balking at that.

  They wanted my help with Morgan.

  I shook my head. “You gotta be kidding me.”

  “Brody.”

  I held out my hand. “Not another goddamn step,
Shanna.”

  I was watching out that patio. She was still there, still standing on top of Shiloh, and still watching me. No. She was waiting for me.

  “We can talk later, Brody? How about that?”

  I tuned her out. I was at a loss as to how to handle the amount of betrayal that happened in this room.

  I lifted my gaze to Peter Kellerman. “You just did a very stupid and careless thing.”

  Laughter filled the house, coming in from outside.

  It died sharply a second later, and I heard Abby ask, “What’s going on?”

  I didn’t take my eyes away from the Senior Kellerman. “You left her when she was a child. You paid for strangers to raise her and then pulled them when she was eighteen. You think audiences are going to care that you financially took care of her? Created a bank account for her with her inheritance, but your son had to show her how to get the money?” I felt the air in the room shift. People were waking up and realizing there was maybe a whole other story to be told than what they originally thought. “I don’t know about your love story with Morgan’s mother. I heard it was a good one. You must’ve really loved her, but you’re going to sell out Morgan for what? You’re going to become the villain of the story, not the guy who murdered Karen. If the truth is going to come out, they’re going to know how you abandoned your children once Karen Kellerman was in the ground.”

  “Brody!”

  Someone gasped.

  I didn’t know who. I didn’t care.

  A storm was raging within Peter Kellerman, and his impassive guard slipped. He took a step toward me, trying to loom over me. He didn’t. We were the exact same height. He jerked his hands up. I didn’t flinch.

  I wanted him to hit me. I could hit back.

  But it was just an intimidation trick. He wanted me to cower in front of all these people.

  I grinned and lifted an eyebrow mockingly. “My father used to do the same thing. It stopped working long ago.”

  A vein popped out from the side of his neck. He ground out, “Get the fuck off my lands, boy.”

  I didn’t move. “This is Morgan’s land, Morgan’s house.”

  “I goddamn know whose land this is.” He almost spit on me. “I want you out of this house or I won’t give a shit about lawyers and courts. I will pound your face into the ground. You hear me?”