Chapter 55

Staringat the words on her computer screen, leg bouncing with restless energy, Natalia tried and failed to focus her mind. She engaged all of her self-control to quiet her racing thoughts. It was no use.

Sam persisted in invading her mind, despite Natalia’s efforts to block her out. The sensation of Sam’s fingers tangled with hers, the heat of her mouth, her low laughter in the darkness — all of it kept breaking through Natalia’s defenses.

Even worse, there was an intense longing in her chest. A nearly uncontainable desire to see her after nearly ten days apart. But she couldn’t give in to selfish desires. Not when she still couldn’t think clearly. Not when she couldn’t see the right choice.

With an irritated sigh, she clicked over to her email inbox, hoping for a distraction. Near the top sat a newly forwarded message from Leonard Mackenzie at Black Forge Films.

Natalia hesitated, cursor hovering over it. She knew she should delete it unread, like all the others. But she was tired after another night of insomnia and curiosity won out.

The message was a discussion between Mack and the film studio about the Lilith script. Natalia’s chest tightened as she scanned the alarming changes they proposed. Everything Sam had feared was coming to pass.

All the heat drained from her body. It was the worst possible scenario. With trembling fingers, she moved her mouse over the list of email recipients. There was Zoe’s name, but why hadn’t she chimed in on the thread? Why wasn’t she fighting to keep the project’s integrity intact?

Natalia sat back heavily, mind whirring. She shouldn’t get involved, she knew that. But how could she stay silent now that she knew the truth? Before she could think better of it, she picked up her office phone.

“Adriana,” she roared when she answered. “Grab Lola and get in here now.”

It had probably taken less than a minute for her two trusted associates to appear in her office, but Natalia’s rage had only intensified while waiting. She couldn’t care that they looked terrified to face her wrath.

“Did you know about the changes they want to make to Lilith’s story?” Natalia demanded.

The two women exchanged an uneasy glance. “We... we just found out,” Adriana said carefully.

“Just found out?” Natalia roared. “This is unacceptable! Why didn’t you come to me the moment something was wrong?”

Lola blanched but stood her ground. “With all due respect, you explicitly instructed us not to involve you in issues with the production. Or tell you anything?—”

Natalia waved a hand sharply. “Don’t give me that. I needed to be informed if things went off the rails. That project is too important.”

“We didn’t want to overstep,” Adriana said pleadingly. “You were so clear about maintaining distance.”

Frustrated heat flashed through Natalia’s veins. She knew she had no right to be angry with them for following her orders. But fear and lack of sleep had eroded her composure.

“Just tell me everything you know about the changes,” she spat. “Now.”

Her associates shared another worried look, then launched into an explanation. Natalia listened intently, hands clenched. She had to fix this. Had to make it right, no matter the cost.

“What would you have had us do? To try to save the movie and advocate for Sam, all we could do was negotiate. And we have been negotiating!”

Natalia pinched the bridge of her nose. She couldn’t reveal how deeply and dangerously tied her own hands were. But they needed to understand the gravity of the threat they faced.

“Mack made it clear there will be... consequences if the production doesn’t align with his vision,” she said carefully. “Consequences for certain individuals close to the project.”

Lola’s huge, dark eyes blazed with the outrage Natalia was trying to keep contained. “What threats did he make? That’s blackmail! No, extortion - pretty sure that’s extortion.” She whipped out her phone. “I’m calling Carmen right now. We need a lawyer on this.”

“Lola, stop,” Natalia said sharply. “Put the phone away.”

“But if he’s?—”

“He’s playing hardball and cheating at it, but don’t lose focus. I’ve never cowed to a threat, and I’m certainly not going to start now.”

The fight drained from Lola’s stance. Natalia felt a pang of guilt. She shouldn’t have burdened them with the ugly truth of the situation. But it was too late to turn back now.

Natalia began gathering up her things, jaw set. “I’m going to handle this myself. I’ll just... bend my rules a bit to get this sorted out.”

“Wait.” Adriana stepped forward, uncharacteristically bold. “You can’t intervene directly. Not with Zoe’s interests tied up in this, too.”

Natalia froze, eyes flashing. “What exactly are you saying?”

“I’m saying you can’t openly advocate for Sam without going against your duties to Zoe,” Adriana said steadily. “If you fight for the original vision, you undermine the production. And if you push for the changes, you fail Sam.”

Natalia opened her mouth to argue but found no words. Adriana was right. She was trapped between two impossible, colliding loyalties.

“You chose to make us your associates for a reason,” Adriana pressed on. “Trust us.”

Lola nodded firmly. “She’s right. We’ve got this, Natalia. Let us handle it.”

Natalia wavered, every instinct screaming to take control. But she was out of moves. With great effort, she nodded.

“I have an idea,” Adriana said with so much confidence, Natalia almost convinced herself to believe her.

“What is it?” Natalia asked, desperate for any glimmer of hope out of this nightmare.

“You know I can’t tell you,” she replied, standing her ground without dropping Natalia’s gaze. “Not until it’s done.”

Natalia struggled to maintain her composure as she acquiesced to letting Adriana and Lola take the lead. Every muscle in her body was taut, nerves jangling with the monumental effort of not seizing back control.

She had built her career on handling things herself, trusting no one. The thought of handing responsibility for something this critical over to anyone else made acid burn in the back of her throat.

But she was out of options. Adriana had backed her into a corner by pointing out the irreconcilable conflict of interests if Natalia intervened directly. As much as it galled her, she had to step aside for the greater good.

Natalia glanced between the two women, jaw clenched. Could she really trust them to manage this precarious situation? To chart the right course between clashing loyalties and avoid disaster for all involved?

Looking into Adriana’s steady, compassionate eyes, Natalia felt the anxiety churning within her settle slightly. She had chosen them for a reason. Their competence and integrity had never wavered since. Natalia had to silence the voice screaming at her to take the reins back and do this her way.

She swallowed hard and gave a terse nod. “Alright. The ball’s in your court now. Don’t let me down.”

The quiet confidence emanating from Adriana and Lola eased her doubts, if only marginally. Natalia still felt like a tightly coiled spring as she watched them leave to set this secret plan in motion. But she forced herself to remain still, hands balled into fists.

This was out of her control. What choice did she have but to trust them with the future of everything that mattered to her?

Staying out of a fight went against every fiber of Natalia’s being. She paced her office like a caged tiger, muscles wound tight.

She’d lowered the shades on her glass-encased office to avoid looking into the conference room where she knew Adriana and Lola were meeting with Black Forge. With the sun having long set, Natalia’s usually bright, airy office felt like a dungeon cell.

It was excruciating not knowing what they were planning. Natalia’s mind raced with all the ways this could go catastrophically wrong. She pictured the studio burying Lilith’s adaptation in endless rounds of development hell until Sam eventually gave up. Or worse, they could let it languish in limbo, with Sam having no chance of getting Lilith back.

Natalia’s lip curled. The thought of that made her want to break out of her own skin. Made her want to turn back and refuse Zoe’s petulant demands.

Natalia could have told the girls how to kill the deal. Let Sam take the hit on the liquidated damages clause. It would be like none of this ever happened, no harm done in the end. She’d already told her she hadn’t spent the money. The harm would be minimal.

But she couldn’t suggest that without undermining Zoe’s interests in getting the film made. Natalia pressed her fists to her temples, head throbbing. She was trapped, forced to watch this precarious situation unfold without any control.

She screamed internally even as she clenched her jaw. A whirlwind of curses echoed in her mind while a wave of shame and guilt and regret strangled the oxygen from her lungs.

To her horror, it was the thoughts of losing Sam that made taking a deep breath impossible. She wasn’t afraid of Mack’s threats, and she hadn’t technically crossed the line so far with Zoe’s interests that her reputation would be tarnished. It was Sam that she couldn’t fight her way back to — Sam that she didn’t want to slip through her fingers.

Natalia’s knees nearly buckled under the weight of her anxiety. She should be in that room. On the call. Should be the one finding a solution, handling this crisis. Instead, she wore a rut in the tile, uselessly speculating about worst-case scenarios.

Natalia squeezed her eyes shut, breath coming sharp and fast. The not knowing was agony.

She stopped her frantic pacing, realization crashing over her. This was a massive mistake. She never should have secured the rights for Zoe in the first place.

Somewhere deep down, she had known even then that Sam would never be able to hold on to her vision through the studio machine. But Natalia had only been thinking of advancing Zoe’s career, not the consequences for Sam.

Her hands trembled with emotion she could no longer suppress. This was so much bigger than business. For longer than she cared to admit, her heart had been invested in protecting Sam, not just serving Zoe.

Natalia glanced at the closed office door. She should be in there fighting for Sam, but it was her heart she was more interested in. Consequences be damned — she had to make this right.

Before she could second guess herself, Natalia grabbed her keys and headed for the elevator. She sped out of the parking garage, driving on autopilot to Sam’s house. It was late, but she couldn’t wait another second. She’d already waited too long.

Natalia had no idea what she would say. But she had the irrepressible need to confess.

At Sam’s door, Natalia’s thoughts were a jumble. Her system was flooded with more emotions than she’d ever felt in her entire life combined. She didn’t let herself slow down. Didn’t let herself think.

At Sam’s door, Natalia hesitated just a moment before knocking. Too late to turn back now. Whatever happened next, she was through hiding from the truth. This ended tonight.