by April Zyon
“What would they need care for?” Her confusion was evident.
“Sit, relax, and get into your happy place. I’ll get drinks and take a peek out front to ensure no one’s done damage with any of the power tools.”
“Okay.” She did as he told her to, however, something that had him grinning. He liked that she took direction easily. “Then I’ll just wait here until you come back. I might read through the script again to make sure nothing else has changed that I wasn’t made aware of.”
“Sounds like an excellent plan. Try not to get too pissy if he did alter something. You know now that we can get it fixed.” Brushing a hand through her hair, he left her sitting in the shade to go inside the house. After collecting some juice, he checked on the other guys through a window. He had to shake his head when he found them all lounging around chatting with Dionysus, who seemed to have remembered to make a pitstop at the Farm for the sauce. With the knowledge all was right in the world for the moment he went out to check on Brooklyn.
When he walked back to Brooklyn, he could see she was angry as she flipped the pages. “That ass.” She didn’t look up, just read. “I might not have to be nude, but he has the male lead nude and not only that, has me going down in front of him on my knees as if I’m giving him head. Jesus, this bastard is trying to turn this into the next adult film, or as close to it as he can get. What a butt.”
Antonio settled in next to her and set the glasses of juice on the table. “Make the call,” he told her. “The studio won’t stand for him turning this into a porno. They already approved a script, and changes like this go against what they agreed to. Maybe suggest they have someone overseeing everything until this is completed. Seems to me that Michael needs to be put on a leash, and now, before he pulls something that gets everyone into trouble.”
“I think so as well, which is awful. The man is honestly brilliant. I never dreamed that something like this could ever happen. He’s one of the best of all of the directors that are out there. He knows where things need to be on set, he knows how people need to react and is brilliant. However, this is ridiculous.” She took the phone and made the call to the executives.
Holding her hand, he pressed a kiss to her fingers and then held it against his cheek while she spoke. The others wandered out of the house, so Antonio put a finger to his lips to tell them to keep it down. When Brooklyn got good and angry Dionysus stepped in to take the phone from her. Being as he was her manager, the god made sure to tell the execs how displeased he was with things.
How Dionysus even knew what was going on was something to find out later. At the moment, Antonio was only glad he was dealing with the execs instead of a visibly upset Brooklyn. Thomas and Lincoln stayed over by the grill getting things set up and turned on. Stefan joined them at the table and took her other hand while they listened to Dionysus say his piece in biting tones.
Finally, he hung up. “Fucking idiots,” he muttered. “They’ll be putting someone in place starting tomorrow to ensure that any changes are routed through their offices before going out to the actors. Anything not approved is not filmed, so if we don’t see their three signatures on the scripts, it’s fraudulent.”
“What did you say to get them to agree to that much oversight?” Stefan asked.
“I told them flat out that the way Michael was going he was going to be in breach of contract with my client sooner than later. And if that occurred I would soon own a particular studio, and certain executives would be on the street corners begging for change once I got through with them in Hollywood. I even pointed out that they’d be lucky if they could manage that by the time I was through with them.”
Brooklyn smiled up at Dion and laughed. “I never would want to be on your bad side. Even before I knew what you were I wouldn’t want to get on your bad side, but right now? Wow. Seriously you are terrifying, and it’s awesome. Thank you, cuz.” She bowed her head in respect for him. “I appreciate everything that you do and have ever done for me. Thank you. So much, thank you.”
“You know I’d do anything for you, Brook. I meant that, baby girl. Now,” he said, clapping his hands together. “Enough worry for tonight. We have meat to grill, and food to eat. Let’s get this shindig going because if her stomach gets any louder, the neighbors will be calling in noise complaints.”
Chapter Seven
It was in the middle of one of the last days on set that it happened. Brooklyn was poised on the edge of a roof with a harness on. The villain took her up to the rooftop to push her off. She was to grab a ledge on her way down and hang on for the hero to save her.
She shifted slightly on the edge of the set and looked down. She was grateful for the large safety bag down there just in case she slipped, but between that and the harness she should be good.
She heard the door open and heard the call to start filming, so she was once more in that mode. She saw Michael in the seat of the giant camera contraption on the edge of the roof and frowned when he stood. Why would he stand? Was he screaming? He looked to be shouting, but why?
She turned and saw one of the caterers coming at her with a huge knife. It was especially weird because he was now dressed as a member of the effects team, but she remembered him serving as a caterer earlier in the day. Briefly, she wondered how anyone would have gotten up there with the perimeter that was set up around the set, but then she slipped, her foot caught on a loose tile, and she went over, hitting the back of her head on the rooftop. She felt the harness catch, heard the shouts all around her, but when she looked up, she saw the man sawing through the rope that held her up.
She twisted, pain radiating from her head, down her back, and to her feet. “Stop!”
Yeah, that was so going to work, she thought to herself. She heard the door again, but it was too late. The line was cut, and she was falling again, right into the air bag that she had only seconds earlier been looking at feeling thankful for.
She felt her consciousness slipping, and the air bag she fell into moving, then felt someone coming for her. She was thankful that they were coming for her since she couldn’t seem to move at all. She was frozen, not only from the pain but in fear. Someone had gotten close enough to kill her, literally. If she hadn’t been standing where she had been right over the airbag, she would have been dead.
Stefan’s face came into view, sort of. His hands cupped her face, and she could see his lips moving. Her heart was pounding too hard for her to hear anything right away. Finally, she heard him saying her name and ordering people around.
“Get those fucking EMTs over here, now! She hit her head before falling,” he snapped out. It was then she realized he wasn’t only holding her face, but keeping her neck still. “I’m right here, Brooklyn. Slow your breathing down for me, honey. We’re going to get you checked out,” he said softly, his tone soothing and gentle.
She reached up and touched his cheek with her fingertips. “I have a bit of a headache, and I’m seeing a little bit double right now. I think that I’m ready to call it a night, please.”
Leaning in closer, he smiled at her, and brushed his thumbs lightly to her cheeks. “You’re going to be all right, but the EMTs are definitely going to check you over. If we have to go to the hospital, we’ll do that, too. We’re not taking any risks. About damn time you guys decided to join the party,” he ordered one of the on-set EMTs.
“I’m trying to stay awake so keep talking to me, okay?” She grasped his hand in hers. “My head is killing me. Can you have them kill the sirens that seem to be super loud right now, please?” She had been hurt on set before, but nothing like this. She had hit her head pretty hard on the way down and knew she would likely have a massive bruise or worse. She felt him wiping the blood from her face as well.
She listened to the EMTs, watched them as they moved around her and heard Michael shouting to get past someone, she had no idea who, though. “If it weren’t for him I would have a knife in my back right now.” It had been Michael standing up and yelling tha
t had her looking behind her.
“If it wasn’t for him you wouldn’t have been up there in the first fucking place. Thomas, you sit on that asshole of a director,” he ordered. “He’s not allowed near her.”
Antonio’s head appeared over Stefan’s shoulder, and she watched him let out a breath. Relief flickered in his eyes as he gave her a smile. “How are you doing, sweetheart?”
“Maybe we should get off this pillow? That way they can look at me so that you don’t have to let me go?”
“We’re not moving you until they check your neck and spine. It’s why I haven’t moved my hands at all even though I’m itching to touch all of you to assure myself you are okay,” Stefan warned.
She had tears in her eyes and was looking up at Stefan and licked her lips. “Stay with me. I want to get out of this cushion and then home. Did you get the man that did this?”
“We got him,” Antonio assured her. “Thomas and Lincoln each got him in a limb. He’ll need a few stitches, and if he’s lucky a little morphine for the pain, but he’ll live to see the inside of a jail cell for the next few years, minimum. He’s currently tied to one of the light standards awaiting the police. We had one of the EMTs stuff the wounds so he didn’t dare bleed out before his trial.”
“Good.” She closed her eyes again and licked her lips. She felt the backboard being put under her and opened her eyes to look up at Stefan. “What’s going on?”
“A precaution, ma’am,” one of the EMTs said. “We’re going to put a neck brace on as well. We’re taking you to the hospital for a doctor to check you over fully. I’m not finding any damage, but from what everyone’s saying about you hitting your head, and an unplanned fall, it’s better to be safe.” The other EMT moved in to help adjust her for the neck brace before Stefan could move his hands from her face. They strapped her down, and then they and the four men who had been her constant shadows for two months, lifted the board up to walk slowly off the mostly deflated air bag.
“I can’t do codeine or morphine,” she stated suddenly. “At all. None of the derivatives of it either.” Which meant she was going to be hurting for a long while. Damn.
Once they were clear of the airbag, the backboard she was riding on was put on the gurney, and more straps were added to keep her in place. The men cleared a path for her to the ambulance. Stefan and Antonio both got into the back with her, and one of the EMTs. The guy looked ready to complain, but she saw the hard looks her men were throwing at him, and the guy likely thought better of it.
Antonio took her hand once the IV was secured in place, and rubbed his thumb rhythmically over her fingers. “Keep talking to us,” he said while they got moving. “Go over what you remember so when the police come to ask you it’s all solid in your head.”
She did just that, kept talking the entire ride to the hospital. She bit back a curse when the ambulance slammed to a sudden stop. She realized that they were in the emergency room when the back doors opened.
Once they were in the emergency room Brooklyn answered the questions that the doctor asked her and winced when he pushed the back of her head with his fingers. “Yes, that hurts. A lot. No, I do not see double. I have a massive headache, and my back is killing me, but other than that I’m good. I’m sure I have pulled muscles, but I’ll live.”
Someone gave her ankle a gentle squeeze. Taking a peek down the length of her body, she saw Stefan watching her with a worried look. Antonio was on the other side looking equally concerned. The other two men were at the doors with Thomas watching the hall and Lincoln keeping an eye on the room.
She gave Stefan a smile and nodded. “It’s going to be okay.” She hoped she was being honest. Right now, she just simply hurt. She was hopeful that the pain was just bumps and bruises. “Thanks for being here, seriously,” she told the men and offered them both a smile as she spoke.
“Nowhere else we would be, and there is definitely nowhere else we’re going as long as you’re in here. These threats are serious, and we’re not taking any chances.” She knew Stefan said that for the doctors and nurses, who weren’t happy they hadn’t been able to keep the men out of the space. The guys hadn’t been happy to have to stay so far from her during her precarious perch scene on set either. Now it appeared they were going to be glued to her sides. Oddly, that sounded really amazing to her.
She saw the doctors nodding and took a deep breath. “I’ll be happy when you guys have done your assessments so someone can give me something for the headache.” There were some medications she could take, just not ones that were codeine or morphine or any of the derivatives of it because of her allergies, but anyone who had ever seen her medical files knew that.
“Soon,” one of the nurses said with a gentle smile. “Close your eyes so the lights don’t bother you so much. We’ll be through our assessment soon, and depending on what we find we may need to send you up for a CT before we give you anything.”
“Thank you.” Brooklyn was happy to close her eyes and rely on her men to keep her safe. “Hopefully there won’t be any need for a CT scan. I really hate those things.” God, she listened to herself, and she was doing nothing but whining and bitching and moaning and complaining. “I’m so sorry. I’m typically not this much of a crybaby.”
The same nurse gave a chuckle. “It’s all right. You’ve had a rather rough day from the sound of things,” the woman said.
“When I fell the harness jerked me hard as well. It hurts like crazy everywhere that I was strapped in. I’m sure that there are going to be bruises, lots of them.”
After a CT scan and thorough exam Brook was ready to leave the hospital. Her injuries weren’t bad enough that it would require an overnight stay, so she assured the doctor, “I will be good. I have several men looking out for me, so I’ll be fine. I promise.”
The doctor didn’t look impressed by her claim. He gave her a prescription for some painkillers of a non-addictive form. Only when he removed the neck brace did she know she was golden to leave. Her men helped her to sit up slowly. Oh, yeah, she was really starting to feel all those aches and pains settling in.
“No hot tubs, or Jacuzzis. Hot showers or a regular bath are okay as long as someone is close by to keep an eye on you for the next couple of days. If you feel dizzy or black out for any reason you need to come back to the ER pronto. Any nausea, same thing, back to the ER. Are we clear, Ms. Anderson?”
“As crystal. Thank you, Doc, for letting me go.” It was a closely-held secret that she hated closed spaces, and this emergency room was just that, a closed space.
He grunted, and left the space with a nurse passing him another chart.
Stefan looked at her and shrugged. “I think we should get you out of here before he changes his mind. Do you want help dressing, or can you manage on your own?”
“Help if you don’t mind. I’m a little on the sore side, so whatever I don’t have to touch will be good.” She accepted his hand to help her to sit and groaned. “Right, note to self, leave the stunts to the stunt doubles.” She giggled a little then and added, “And mine needs a raise. Holy balls, this sucks ass.”
After getting her dressed, Stefan helped ease her off the gurney to her feet keeping a hold on her when she swayed. “I’ve got you, honey. Hang onto me, and lean in if you need to. I won’t let you fall,” he said against her hair. “We’ll move nice and slow. Thomas, are we clear to come out?”
“All clear, but make it quick. Looks like something might be up near the entrance. Probably best we get the fuck out of here now instead of after they swarm the joint.”
“I’m ready to go. If you are?” Brooklyn told them.
With a light squeeze from them both, they changed up the hand holding hers so they could each brace their other hand on her back, sitting her in a wheelchair with Lincoln guiding them out of the hospital, and Thomas watching their backs. When they made one of the side doors, Lincoln jogged off to get the SUV while Antonio and Stefan waited and held her up. Soon though they were on th
eir way back to her place, and all she could think of was sinking into a tub full of hot water.
“I have a massive tub at home that’s calling out my name,” she whispered her thoughts aloud. “No Jacuzzi but totally going to get into the nice, hot bathtub.” She was looking forward to it, looking forward to going home and just chilling out for a time.
“So now that the guy who was after me has been eliminated, what’s next?” She hoped that the man was out of the picture at least.
“For now, some downtime for you,” Antonio said. “We’ll talk about what’s to come when you’re no longer wobbling around like you’re a hundred years old. You’re really going to hurt tomorrow, so we’ll take a couple days to chill. Plus, I’m sure there will be a few things you’ll need to tend to before we can sweep you off your feet and make for the hills.”
Stefan stroked a finger over her cheek and sighed. “You are lucky, Brook. Evidently the man who was dressed as a caterer and then an effects guy was actually a set runner who was hired to kill you, or at least that’s the word from Dion.”
She shifted slightly so she could lay her head on Stefan’s shoulder and squeezed Antonio’s hand once more. “This is nice. Think we can talk them into driving us around all the time?” She was feeling like teasing now, so that was good. Whatever they gave her in her IV was working, finally, and she was able to tease and relax.
Chapter Eight
Four days later
“I’m telling you I feel fine,” Brooklyn told Antonio once more and smacked his hand lightly. “With the boost that Dion was able to give me, I’m feeling fantastic actually. I keep telling you guys that I’m good, but you won’t listen to me.” She moved so that she was up on Antonio’s lap on the couch and leaned in so she could whisper in his ear. “I wouldn’t mind us going upstairs and getting naked. If you’re up for it?” She knew just how up for it that he was, him and Stefan both.
