Page 157 of The Sun & Her Burn

“What do you want?” I gritted between my teeth.

“Twenty million dollars,” he said, as if asking for spare change to buy a coffee.

“You think I have twenty million dollars?” I asked, incredulous.

I had been a movie star for a decade and I made that much onWaking Nightmare, but I had also spent the first five years of my career setting my family up with houses, cars, and careers. I had savings, but not as much as one might think.

“Nice try, hotshot. I know you made ten mil onWaking Nightmareand twenty onBlack On. You can afford me.”

“This is fucking extortion,” I ground out. “What makes you think I’d pay your hush money?”

“You love him,” he said simply. “You always have, I think. It’s disgustingly obvious. And I have it on good authority that you’d do anything for the ones you love.”

My pulse pounded so hard against my ribcage I thought I heard the crack of bone breaking under the pressure.

“If I do this, you’ll delete the video,” I said.

“Oh, I think I’ll keep a copy just in case, but I’ll sign something promising never to release it,” he promised, and at my skeptical look, he laughed. “You can have your lawyer drawsomething up, and I’ll sign it in blood. Just get me the twenty million dollars.”

A muscle spasmed in my jaw as I ground my teeth together. I couldn’t think of a way out of this other than to do what the sniveling little weasel wanted. And if I could shield Adam from this, I would take any chance at that, even if it meant keeping a sordid, awful secret from him forever.

“Fine,” I grunted. “I’ll have my lawyer draw something up.”

“Excellent,” he crowed, clapping his hands.

Behind him, someone knocked at the door, and I realized Oscar had locked it behind me.

“Just one more thing,” he singsonged. “And you have to understand, this is a pivotal part of the deal.”

“What?” I bit off like a curse.

Oscar rolled to his tiptoes to smile in my face. “You break up with Adam and Linnea.”

30

ADAM

Ihardly remembered the rest of the Academy Awards ceremony, but for the moment, the only man I’d ever loved took the stage to accept his Oscar for Best Actor.

He ended his speech by looking over at the table where Linnea and I sat, and even though I knew he couldn’t really see us through the stage lights, it felt as if he was looking directly into my soul.

“Finally, to two people who put me back in touch with my soul. The brilliant and beautiful Linnea Kai and my old friend Adam Meyers. No matter what happens, thank you for reminding me what’s important.”

In the wake of our engagement, Seb’s words received a resounding round of applause and some hooting and hollering.

It took forever to get out of the theatre after the show ended because everyone wanted to congratulate us. In the end, I was almost growling and snapping at people, with Linnea making excuses for me by calling me a “grumpy goose.”

God, she was ridiculous and lovely, and somehow,mine.

As soon as we got into the car, she was straddling my lap with her hands in my hair and her mouth fixed to mine. She tasted of the lemon sparkling water she liked to drink, and her complicated oceanfront-rose-garden scent consumed my senses.

“Congratulations, you two,” Chaucer said, laughter in her voice. “Linam is the number one trending hashtag on social media right now.”

“Huzzah,” Linnea said dryly without looking over her shoulder. “Chaucer, be a dear and put up the partition or else you and the driver are going to get an after-dinner show.”

I knew Chaucer well enough to cut off her saucy remark before she could make it. “Chaucer, partition upnow.”

The whir of the screen rising was my answer as much as her soft chuckle was.