Dishonorable Intentions Read Online Free

that.”
    â€œGala doesn’t like to talk about him, so I’ve heard only the bare minimum, and I couldn’t find anything to like in that.”
    They pulled up at the canteen, and everybody got out of the carts and went into the dining room, where a large table had been reserved for the board. Two of them hung back at the door, their cell phones glued to their heads.
    â€œI’m glad I’m not a part of those conversations,” Leo said.
    They took their seats, Stone next to Leo.
    â€œOh, and Ben Bacchetti was confirmed as senior VP in charge of production.”
    â€œI’m delighted to hear it,” Stone said.
    â€œThe kid is going to be great. There hasn’t been anybody that smart at the studio since me. Not that your kid isn’t smart—he just doesn’t have the ambition to run things, the way Ben does. All he wants to do is write and direct movies, and that’s just fine with me—he keeps going like he is, and he’ll be one of the greats.”
    â€œThank you, Leo. I’m glad to hear that.”
    Leo’s cell phone went off. “Goldman. He’s where? I don’t care what he says, I don’t want to see him. And revoke his gate pass right now. I don’t want him on the lot again.” Leo hung up. “That was our head of security. Boris Tirov showed up at the main gate, demanding to see me. The guard didn’t like the way he sounded and called his boss, who called me. You heard my response.”
    â€œEverybody at the table heard it, Leo,” Stone said.
    â€œI wanted his buddies to hear it. Now no one will so much as mention his name to me again. Nothing like a little yelling to make a point.”
    Stone laughed. “That works, does it?”
    â€œYou bet your sweet ass it works. I’m not going to spend my last couple of years here dealing with assholes. Life is too short, especially mine.”
    â€œAre you unwell, Leo?”
    â€œLet’s just say I’ve been better. My doctor says I’ll have a good year or two, then one day I’ll clutch my chest and turn blue.”
    â€œHow about a transplant?”
    â€œI’m not a candidate for that, and anyway, who wants to spend months in bed getting over it? I mean, Bob Altman got himself a new ticker on the quiet, and nobody was the wiser, not even the insurance companies, and he worked like a dervish for another ten, eleven years after his transplant. Tell you the truth, I’m not anxious to live all that long. I’ve had a great ride, I’ll leave the studio in great shape, and if he’s as good as I think he’ll be, Ben will have a shot at succeeding me. Anyway, my wife would put me in the Motion Picture Home the minute I got to be a pain in the ass, and I don’t want to sit around there in a wheelchair listening to old actors tell me how they were screwed out of the Oscar that time.”
    â€œI don’t blame you, Leo,” Stone said.
    â€”
    S tone got back to the house at the Arrington in time for a swim and a drink by the pool with the Bacchettis, the Eagles, and Gala. And Bob, who was soaking wet.
    â€œBoris didn’t get his deal at Centurion,” Stone said to her in a quiet moment.
    â€œI heard from him about it. He takes the view that you screwed him because of me.”
    â€œI wasn’t even at the meeting,” Stone said. He related his freeway experience. “I got there in time for lunch.”
    â€œI don’t think Boris will ever buy that,” Gala said. “Not for a minute. He’s always liked having a bête noire in his life, somebody to blame for his failures, and now, it looks like you’re it. I’m sorry.”
    â€œDon’t worry about it,” Stone said. “Anyway, what could he do to me?”

6
    S tone’s son, Peter, arrived for pre-party drinks with Ben Bacchetti, and Stone sat them down in the library with his houseguests.
    â€œCongratulations,