Hollywood Hero: A Sexy Billionaire Romance (The Director's Assistant Book 4) Read Online Free Page B

“I’ve got the tape, and the videos too. I hold all the cards—the only thing you’re holding are your hands up in supplication.”
    “Don’t forget Christian’s debt, too,” I said. “You’ve also got that.”
    McNamara stilled. “What do you mean?”
    “Well it makes sense, doesn’t it? You got me to work for you through blackmail. Why wouldn’t you do the same with him?”
    He looked from myself to Christian and then back to me suspiciously. “You’re right, of course. We do own a sizable amount of debt on Christian.” He jabbed a cigar at Christian viciously. “And you’d better not forget it, either. What is it your father has again? I keep forgetting. Those drugs keeping him alive don’t come cheap.”
    Christian reached into his pocket, fiddling with something, then pulling it out. It was his phone. “I’ve never forgotten,” he said, eye on the phone as he typed something in. “Not the way you’ve treated me, or the way you’ve treated my father—cutting him off each time I tried to walk away.”
    His hand went to my shoulder and squeezed it, gently, once he was done. “When Josie and Archer caught me in that studio, I thought… well, doing something anonymously is one thing, but being found out is another. I… I wasn’t in a good state, after I got away. I’d gone as far as buying a rope, and writing a note.”
    Then a smile crossed his face. The first genuine happy emotion I’d seen in him since we arrived. “Then Josie sent me a text—she still had my number. And she… well, she gave me a chance at redemption.” He looked at me gratefully. “I can still remember that text—in fact, I have it right here: ‘ There are three things in life that are important—love, family and a clear conscience. I know Janus is holding something over you. Let’s work together to fix it, ” he said, reading off the screen.
    “It was something my mother said,” I said softly.
    He gave my shoulder another squeeze. “She’s a smart woman.” Then he looked at McNamara again. “It was funny. I had the love of my father, and working for you I had the second point too—but I realized with Janus I’d never had the third. That’s when I replied to her text, and we came up with a plan.”
    “What plan?” asked McNamara, suspiciously.
    “This plan,” said Christian, holding up his smartphone, then pulling out the small microphone that had previously plugged into it, still in his pocket. “I’ve just recorded every single word you said.”
    The silence in the room stretched for several long moments. It grew so quiet that I thought I could make out the distant sounds of traffic, way down below, and a helicopter thumping across the sky somewhere above.
    Then McNamara burst out laughing. “Oh, that’s good. Real good . You had me worried there for a moment.” He looked very pointedly at Christian. “Do you want your father to die? Is that it?”
    I answered before Christian could reply. “You’re not the only game in town, McNamara. The first thing Archer did when we heard from Christian was offer to cover his father’s bills. He can afford it easily, you know—you don’t have leverage over Christian anymore.”
    “You two think you’re very clever, don’t you?” McNamara said, scowling. He stubbed out his cigar. I got the distinct impression he was imagining the ashtray was my face. “But you forget you’re just two people. Janus is global. You’ll never be free of us.”
    I rolled my eyes. “Give me a break. With the recording we’ve just taken, we’ve got everything we need to take you down. And then some.”
    He smiled tightly. “Yes. About that.” He reached under his desk to press a button, and a moment later two burly security guards barreled into the room. One of them seized me, hauling me roughly from the chair. The other seized Christian. I didn’t struggle as he twisted my arms behind my back.
    McNamara pushed his chair out and walked slowly round from behind