“Is she okay?” Elizabeth asks.
“I guess.”
“You guess?” Her eyebrows climb her forehead. “You didn’t talk to her?”
I sigh, not liking having to answer the question. “We did, but it wasn’t very productive. Both too emotional.”
Elliot shakes his head. “Damn, Ryder. You should be with her. She needs you.”
“Thanks for the advice there, love-sensei.”
“He’s right,” Elizabeth says. “What happened to her is so terrible, she’s going to need all the support she can get. Besides, you need to brainstorm with Mira about how you can get back at the person responsible.”
“You mean sue?”
“Good god, no.” Elizabeth gestures with her glass. “You’re a great actor. Pretend you’re…” She considers. “Pretend you’re Dane. What would you do?”
What would that borderline sociopath do? Nothing as simple as filing a lawsuit. “Probably ensure that he can never have what he wants the most.”
“Okay, good. Do you know what that is?”
“Fame and fortune. He’s in Hollywood, isn’t he?” From what I gathered, Shaun is handsome enough to be an actor, although he’s never gotten a role. But a good face isn’t even close to enough. L.A. is spilling over with good-looking men.
“Well, there it is. Get him blacklisted, make sure that no one will return his calls or let him read for a part. Make him toxic. Avenge Paige,” Elizabeth says, with more than a little heat.
I stare at her. “What happened to my sweet sister?”
“She’s too outraged to be sweet right now. I just feel sick to my stomach thinking about what Paige must be going through.”
“You really think she has nothing to do with the tape?”
Elliot and Elizabeth both stare at me. A very long moment passes, and I start to feel uncomfortable under their gaze. “You think she does?” Elliot asks finally.
“Well…yeah. The thought crossed my mind, especially when I heard she scheduled an interview.”
“But that’s crazy. If she wants fame, this is the worst way to do it.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Because she’s already famous for marrying you! And it’s a helluva lot more respectable than a sex tape.” Elliot knocks back his drink. “I released mine because I wanted to embarrass the shit out of Dad. Plus, I basically didn’t give a fuck. But Paige is different.”
“Exactly.” Now it’s Elizabeth who decides to drive in how wrong I am. “People crave fame because it can get them something—mainly an ego boost and money. What does this give Paige? No respectability, certainly not love. And she has to know that this might make you call off the wedding.”
“In which case, she’s not getting whatever you promised in return for marrying you.” Elliot reaches for the bottle and pours himself some more. “Besides, if she wanted money, she would’ve failed your test years ago.”
That makes me hesitate. I always probe a new hires’ suitability by having my private investigators pretend to be “journalists” trying to buy information about me. They always offer decent amounts of money with the promise of more to come. The total sum adds up to mid-five figures a year.
My men tried four times—the last one offering a low six-figure deal for just two stories—and Paige turned them all down flat. No exceptions, no hesitation whatsoever. That’s why I began to trust her soon after I hired her. And the trust turned into something else, something more precious as time went on.
But that was before Paige saw what fame could do in Hollywood. She could’ve changed…just like Lauren.
“Paige had no idea she would end up marrying you,” Elizabeth says. “I don’t think the idea ever crossed her mind. And tell me. Who proposed first? Did you ask Paige to help you or did she offer first?”
“I did. She thought I was crazy when I asked her.”
“See?”
“If you have to jump to a conclusion about the guilty party, I’d look at Dad.”
My head swivels in Elliot’s direction. “Dad?”
“He’s the most likely person to pull this shit. Okay, let’s say that her boyfriend leaked it. What does he get? Ten minutes of fame. But unless he’s a complete idiot, he’ll end up alienating you and every one of your friends. If I’m a guy trying to break into the movie business, the last thing I’m going to want to do is piss off one of the biggest stars in Hollywood, plus his agent, plus all the people he knows. It’d be career suicide. But Dad?” Elliot gives me a meaningful look. “I can see him doing it. He’d get to humiliate you. He knows what you’re doing. And we all know he has no desire to hand over the portraits.”