Broken Glamour

by Maggie Marr

  “How’s the film?” I asked.

  “Good, good. Wish Sterling would finally figure out how to produce a damn film. Director’s a pain in the ass. The bugs are big sons a bitches and I’ve killed three snakes on set. Be lucky if I don’t die making this thing.”

  The corners of my mouth twitched upward. This was my dad. Bigger than life, louder than a herd of elephants, and a narcissist to his core, but I loved him. Dammit I loved him.

  “Doll, I got a little favor I need from you.”

  I sat taller. “Of course, Daddy,” I said. “You know, anything you need. Always.”

  “I need you go to the Legend Foundation’s Literacy Gala.”

  My heart plummeted to my toes. Anything but that. I closed my eyes and pressed the fingertips of my free hand to my temple. Everyone in entertainment would be at the Literacy Fundraiser. This was a gargantuan event, but an event I’d decided I would and could skip while being on ice with my father. Besides, Kiley was sure to be in attendance.

  “You have to represent the family, Doll. I’m stuck down here, and so is Sterling. And … well … there’s no one else I trust to act like a Legend.”

  Daddy was saying a lot about his new marriage while not actually saying anything specific.

  “It was your Mom’s idea, the Foundation, and I won’t let it go to shit just because she’s gone. Will you do this for me, Doll?”

  Daddy didn’t do requests often and when he did they sounded strange on his lips. He was uncomfortable asking anyone for anything. Even me, his daughter. There was only one answer I would ever give my father.

  “Of course, Daddy, you know I’d never let you down.”

  “I know, Doll, I know.”

  Right then I knew I couldn’t ask him any of the questions I had for him—like did he believe me about the wedding? Was I forgiven? Would he come back and still love me? Could I move back into Sterling’s house? Had he kicked the step-bitch to the curb? None of those questions would have been Legend. I could only know that he’d called and asked me to do something for him, which meant that at least he was no longer so incredibly mad that he was continuing with the silent treatment.

  “And Doll?”

  “Yes, Daddy?”

  “Be careful who you’re hanging around with up there in L.A. People might get the wrong idea, based on who you choose to associate with.”

  Suddenly, I was on high alert.

  “You get my meaning, Doll?”

  “Yes, Daddy,” I said.

  He didn’t have to be explicit and spell out his expectations. Daddy had made his feelings known by just that one sentence. I was meant to dump my connection to Ryan Sinclair if I wanted to be daddy’s little girl ever again.

  Chapter 18

  Amanda

  “I can’t do the step and repeat,” I said. “I’m slipping in the back entrance and going straight to our table. Ryan will be with you and Dillon on the carpet.”

  The tiny tendrils of hair that curled around Lane’s neck bobbed as she nodded. “Got it.”

  Here was the Amanda Legend I remembered. Within twenty-four hours of speaking to Daddy two racks of designer gowns and Marni, a stylist I’d worked with for years, appeared on Lane and Dillon’s doorstep. Lane, Marni, and I worked together to find the perfect look for each of us. I’d settled on a beaded Dior gown, blue with a V neck. The gown skimmed my sides. The fabric shifted and sparkled when I moved. Lane chose a sea-foam green Marchesa gown to wear. Much more demure than my choice. The gown fit not only Lane’s body, but her personality.

  Hair and makeup had arrived earlier in the afternoon. With each stroke of the flat iron and swipe of the mascara brush the tiny tremor of panic in my belly grew. While I wasn’t required to speak at the event—the Legend Foundation President would do so—I was required to sit at the Legend Family table. Front and center. I’d secured three additional seats at the table for Dillon, Lane, and Ryan. I’d ignore Daddy’s edict about Ryan for tonight. I needed all three of them around me to get through the event. Sterling had not been able to either confirm or deny that Kiley would be at the Legend Literacy Gala tonight.

  The beads stitched onto my dress were hard and cool under my fingertips as I stroked a wrinkle from the side of my hip.

  “Car is here!” Choo stood in the doorway. “Girl you look all shades of beautiful. Almost as good as my soon-to-be sister-in-law over here.”

  Choo tilted his head and let his eyes roam over Lane and her gown, and hair, and makeup with a look of appreciation and genuine affection on his face. “Girl, you are so not in Kansas anymore!” He reached out his hand and Lane grasped his fingers and did a tiny pirouette in front of the three-way mirror. They acted like brother and sister already. Choo released Lane’s hand and turned his attention to me.

  “Amanda Legend, you were simply made to wear haute couture. Don’t ever let your daddy take away your money again.”

  A smile broke across my face. “Sure you and Jackson don’t want to go? I can probably still score two more spots.”

  “Honey, I just worked three red-carpet events in two days. I am so done with tuxedos and red carpet. We are staying in, ordering a pizza, and watching some damn action movie that Jackson wants to see.” His palm clasped his chest. “Personally, I prefer some romance in my movies, but Jackson, he is just full of testosterone.” Choo wiggled his eyebrows. “Which is not necessarily a bad thing, you know what I mean?”

  In January, Choo had ditched CTA to work part-time for a boutique public relations firm, Banner & Sykes. The same firm that Dillon switched to when he fired Boom Boom Wong. The job of a publicist fit Choo’s personality perfectly. A good publicist schmoozed and massaged and fought for their client’s image. Choo could do all those things. He’d graduate college next year and his part-time job at Banner & Sykes would turn into a full-time gig.

  “Go on girls, there are two good-looking men at the bottom of the stairs who are waiting for you both. Actually,” Choo said and quirked his eyebrow, “one good-looking man and my brother.”

  Lane had grown used to the good-natured teasing that went on between Choo and Dillon. There was a whole lot of love between the MacAvoy brothers. A warm feeling swelled my heart. I was so lucky in this crazy world called Hollywood to have collected this group of friends. They had embraced me as family this summer and helped me with my struggle.

  “Oh, honey,” Lane said. “What’s wrong?” She leaned forward and pressed her arms around me. “Don’t cry.”

  “I’m just so lucky to have you guys. I don’t know what I would have done without you.”

  Lane pulled back and looked into my eyes. “That’s what friends do. We take care of each other. You remember last summer when I was sobbing in the ladies' room at a premiere?”

  My lips turned up into a smile.

  “You took care of me,” Lane said.

  “Stop the tears!” Choo said. He waved a tissue toward me. “You’re gonna ruin your makeup!”

  My smile widened.

  Choo fiddled with his cell phone. “Amanda, you are the best friend we could have. Of course you stay here with us.” Choo looked at Lane who nodded. “You stay here for as long as you need.”

  Ryan

  My muscles tensed and I couldn’t breathe. No woman should be allowed to look that beautiful. I scrubbed my hand through my hair in an attempt to look cool, but it was so fucking false. Amanda walked down the stairs in this blue dress that clung to every curve. The damn thing dipped low in front and would give any man with two eyes a thrill. I wanted her out of that dress and in my bed.

  Her fingertips grasped my hand as she stepped down the final step.

  “You look beautiful,” I whispered in her ear, and the heat of her skin grazed my lips. The urge to throw her over my shoulder and take her back upstairs and hide her from the world burst through me.

  “Thank you,” she said. She tossed her head and that mane of thick rich black hair swept over her shoulders.

  The scent of mint
and flowers hit me in the face and my heart pounded in my chest. Amanda. That was Amanda’s scent.

  “Have a fab time!” Choo called from the center of the staircase. I waved good-bye and followed Amanda out the front door.

  Amanda

  Getting ready for the Legend Foundation Literacy Gala required hours of makeup and a formal gown, but once you arrived the whole thing went by super fast.

  We were seated at the center front table. Lane was next to Dillon and me, with Ryan on the other side of Dillon. Ryan was here, but I didn’t need to throw my rebellion at Daddy’s explicit words in his face by sitting beside him. Buddy, daddy’s agent, sat between his wife, Rhonda, and me.

  Things got underway and the president of the foundation got up to give her speech during the salad course, but two seats at our table remained empty.

  “Who is supposed to sit there?” Lane whispered in my ear.

  “Hopefully not—”

  “What the hell are you doing here?”

  My heart slipped from my rib cage at the sound of Kiley’s voice. I forced my lips to turn upward into a smile. Roberto, her Italian supermodel friend, trailed her. Heat burned through my chest. How could she possibly bring a man she was having an affair with, while married to my father, to the Legend Literacy Gala?

  I felt sick.

  Was I just as bad? Perhaps even more so? Hadn’t I brought as my guest/semi-date/who-knows-what a man who had tried to bed my father’s future wife on his wedding day? I set my fork onto my plate. My appetite had disappeared. Was I no better than Kiley? I pressed my napkin to my lips.

  This foundation was in my mother’s memory. I had to pull myself together. I needed to be the Legend my mother would want me to be.

  “Kiley,” I said and rose to greet her, “so glad you could join us.”

  “Join you?” She stopped short and her head nearly swiveled from her neck. “This is my table. What the hell are you doing here?”

  “Kiley,” Buddy said, “this is the Legend family table and Amanda is family. She is her father’s guest and representative.” His brows tightened. His look was a warning to Kiley.

  Roberto pulled out her chair and Kiley slipped into her seat.

  “Where the hell is my drink?” Kiley muttered. She was one pinot grigio away from drunk. Roberto slouched into the chair beside her. He looked at Ryan.

  “You are the fellow who drove over the cliff, no?”

  “Yes,” Ryan said.

  “Is amazing you survived.”

  “Amazing,” Ryan said. He flicked his gaze toward me. A wordless apology passed from him to me. I could see how badly he felt—there was a crease in his brow and pain etched in his eyes.

  “And now Amanda is sampling my leftovers,” Kiley said.

  I forced my mouth to remain closed. Lane clasped my fingers under the table; her touch encouraged me to stay calm, stay focused, and stay cool. She needn’t have bothered. I was a Legend, I was well-trained in ignoring those who wanted to see me have a reaction, any kind of reaction.

  “How did you even get in here? And where did she get the dress? Buddy, you told me she was completely cut off. What the fuck is going on?”

  Buddy’s face reddened. My tiny smile remained affixed to my face. I wouldn’t allow Kiley’s bad behavior to cause me to behave badly. Besides, wasn’t this the perfect place for people in the industry to see just who, in fact, was the problem?

  “Kiley,” Buddy said, “might I suggest you either sit quietly, eat your meal, drink your wine and entertain your”—Buddy’s eyes roamed over Roberto—“guest. Or, if you can’t manage those simple things, then I suggest that you leave.”

  “Who do you think you are?” Kiley’s voice pierced the clink of silverware on plates and the innocuous dinner conversation. The room fell silent.

  Ryan tensed. He moved to stand and Dillon grasped his bicep. “She is not worth it,” Dillon said.

  The back of my neck heated. I knew without turning my head that every pair of eyes in the Beverly Hills Hotel Crystal Room was trained on Kiley and me. We were the show, the entertainment, especially now. The rumor mill had churned for months regarding me and Kiley, and the news about Daddy cutting me off. Kiley had continuously slandered my good name since the wedding.

  “Get security,” Kiley said, “I want Amanda escorted out.”

  My chest tightened. I grasped my linen napkin in my lap. “You’re embarrassing yourself,” I said. “You need to stop.”

  “Stop? You want me to stop? Amanda, please, you little bitch, who do you think is going to beg here, me or you?”

  I cocked an eyebrow. My gaze looked beyond Kiley to a familiar face. With her black blunt cut hair and jet-black evening gown, Boom Boom Wong cut a striking figure. She appeared at Kiley’s side.

  “Darling, I believe it’s time for you to go,” Boom Boom said.

  I locked my gaze with Boom Boom. She understood the Hollywood pecking order. Kiley might be hot, but my father was more than just his name. His account was the biggest one Boom Boom’s PR company had. She understood that while my father might succumb to his wife’s whims, he would not let anyone fuck around and embarrass our family. Especially not at the Legend Foundation Literacy Gala.

  “What the hell, Boom Boom? You work for me,” Kiley said.

  “No, darling, tonight I work for the Foundation and for Steve. Now, I’m going to ask politely once more and then, darling, I am afraid if you don’t do what I’ve asked, security will come over and be much less polite. ”

  Kiley’s gaze locked with mine. “Don’t think you’ve won, because you haven’t.” She stood and tossed her napkin onto her plate. “You may be fucking my leftovers,” her gaze flicked to Ryan, “but I am still fucking your dad.”

  “Kiley, don’t forget Roberto,” I said, looking at the male model who was now squirming under the unwanted attention. “I do believe from what Daddy is hearing that you are sleeping with Roberto, too.”

  Lane held up her phone and snapped a pic of Roberto with his arm around the waist of an angry-faced Kiley.

  “Ciao, darling,” I called as Kiley stumbled toward the door.

  Chapter 19

  Ryan

  After the debacle at the foundation event, I knew more trouble was inevitable. Kiley might have been drunk and disorderly at the fundraiser, but she wasn’t dead. It only took her three days before she attempted to exact her revenge.

  I’d just finished my NA meeting and was walking toward the car where Amanda waited when my phone rang.

  “Hey, Webber,” I said seeing his name on the call display.

  “Listen, bud, we’ve got a problem.”

  My stomach pitted. I had lots of problems, but lately work hadn’t been one of them.

  “What’s up?”

  “Just got a call from the producers on your film and they’re concerned,” Webber said.

  “Concerned how? They seemed pretty happy on set today.”

  “No, man, nothing like that. They love your performance. They said you’ve been rock solid on this picture.”

  “Then what’s the problem?” My gaze lingered on Amanda. She sat behind the wheel of the car reading a book. I let my eyes roam over her neck. Every night I fought back the urge to walk into her room.

  “They’re worried about your sober companion,” Webber said.

  “What? I haven’t dropped dirty. Why the hell would they be worried? So far she’s done exactly what she’s meant to do—get me to set on time and keep me away from the booze and drugs. What the hell are they worried about?”

  “Right now,” Webber said, “Amanda has some tough enemies.”

  “Kiley?”

  “These producers want her in their next film and she knows it. She called them and told them she isn’t interested in working with a production company that has employed Amanda Legend.”

  I scrubbed my hand over my jaw. “Can they do anything to prevent me from using Amanda?”

  “Technically, no,” Webber said. “No
t as long as you stay sober. But if you drop dirty or show up drunk, then they can require that you get a new sober companion. I’m letting you know that they’ve made the request. The words ‘team player’ were used.”

  “Right,” I said. “Well, you let them know that I don’t cut people from my team simply because some bitch with a bad attitude is being a brat. Maybe they should consider the quality of people that they want to be in business with.”

  “Yeah, okay,” Webber said.

  “And you can quote me.”

  “Not gonna happen. I’ll make the call. I’ll tell them it’s a no-go, and I’ll try to convince them that there is no point in changing anything this close to the end of principal photography. Frankly, after the other night, I’m right there with you. It’s only a matter of time until Kiley implodes. What the hell was she thinking coming to the Legend Gala with the Italian model she’s been banging?”

  That guy was only the half of it. Roberto wasn’t the only guy at the event who’d been with Kiley. Granted, I couldn’t remember the night of the wedding, but … I glanced toward Amanda. She was now watching me from the car. Shit. How much harder could I make things? I was the guy interested in Amanda. I was also the guy she saw trying to screw Kiley Kepner at her father’s wedding.

  “Dude, one more thing. I’ve got this thing tonight at Ballou and I need you to come.”

  “To a bar?”

  “That’s why you have a sober companion. Bring her with you. Michael Franz is going to be there. He’s directing the two-hander with Dillon that I told you about? I need you to drop by this party and meet him. I’m pitching you hard for this.”

  “Text me the details, I’ll come by.” I ended the call.

  I slid my phone into my jeans pocket. I was doing everything right, or trying to, and still this town wanted more. The producers of The Exuberance of Prosperity wanted me to fire Amanda to increase the possibility that Kiley would work with them on their next film. This town was fucked up. But I wasn’t. At least, not anymore. I walked toward the Tesla.