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No, it had to have been pure malice.
“I wish it was,” Brett said. “Look, I can’t believe it either. But it’s real.”
Cole had assumed that finding out the source of the quotes would make all the rest of it clear, but this—this made no sense. “Do you understand this?” he finally asked after what felt like an eternity. His mind felt like a computer that wouldn’t boot up. He couldn’t put the pieces together. Not at all.
“No,” Brett said. “I’ve been doing this for a decade, and I’ve never seen an agent plant a story to discredit their own client. Not ever.”
“He didn’t like that I talked to Libby Hansen,” Cole said slowly. And there had been other disagreements, too, smaller ones. About potential parts, publicity. For so long, Cole had obeyed every one of Drew’s instructions. And this time, he hadn’t. “Maybe he didn’t like my independence.” It sounded almost funny, but it also sounded a lot true.
“Frankly, he would’ve made a lot of money off of your success—and I still think the career renaissance is going to happen. Now that I know what I’m dealing with, I can probably smooth this over. But look, we gotta bring Quinn in, and you—you have to fire Drew. It’s going to be an ugly fight, but you have to shut him up, and fast. Then we can start the damage control. I know you’ve worked together for a long time, but—”
“I have zero problem firing his ass.” It was going to take a hell of a lot of self-control not to pound him too. “I’m leaving the gym now. Ineed to get cleaned up, but I’ll call Quinn on my way home. Can you send him the evidence?”
“Yup. I’m on it.”
“Thanks, Brett. I’m sure we’ll talk again in a few hours.”
Cole got to his feet. He was beyond pissed, but for the first time since yesterday, he knew what he needed to do. As terrible as he felt, at least there was that.
This betrayal was—God, Tasha would understand what he was feeling. This was why she hated her mom more than Vincent. When someone who was supposed to be on your side turned out to be operating only for themselves, it was like setting a cup on the counter and watching it float to the ceiling.
What could you trust, if not that?
Maggie.He could trust Maggie.
And if he could fix this, maybe she could trust him again.
“Did I hear that right?” Ryan asked. “It was your agent?”
“Yup. That son of a bitch. At least Brett thinks he can clean it up. I’ll give you and Tash a call when I know more.”
Cole broke into a jog on the way to his car. Now that he could see the path in front of him, he didn’t have a minute to lose.
INT. BRETT’S OFFICE—EVENING
Brett brought Drew into a conference room at his PR firm where Quinn and Cole were waiting ... along with some hidden recording equipment.
Drew beamed behind the aviators he hadn’t bothered to take off when he’d come inside. “How’s my favorite client holding up?”
“Favorite?” Cole couldn’t keep the sarcasm out of his voice. But because that wasn’t part of the plan, he quickly added, “I’m fine.”Compared to that morning, he was. And they had a script here. He couldn’t just tear into Drew, as much as he wanted to.
“That statement from Zoya was fantastic.” Drew took a seat and pushed his sunglasses to the top of his head. “It sounds like the smoke is already starting to clear. Now you’ve got to get out there—on your own, not with Maggie. You really ought to break up with her if you haven’t already. She’ll just remind everyone of these rumors, even if they are false.”
There was the patented Drew Bowen advice. He’d dropped so many little nuggets over the years, all of which Cole had taken. Cole could only hope Drew hadn’t been playing him like a guitar the entire time.
Cole assumed that Drew had done this because he wanted to get Cole back in line. Maggie had just been collateral damage, and Drew had probably assumed he’d never be caught.
What an asshole.
“Theyarefalse, and I’m not going to discuss Maggie with you.” Cole wasn’t going to put up with that, script or no script.
Brett signaled to him:Simmer down. But Cole’s simmer was as down as it was going to get.
“If you don’t break up with her, you’re making a big mistake.” Drew had said that mistake line to Cole a time or ten. In Drew’s estimation, Cole had messed up by taking certain projects and turning other projects down. Mostly bynotkissing this ass or keeping his head down.
Cole was going to spend the rest of his life second-guessing all those decisions. He’d caught Drew this time. How much other stuff had he gotten away with?
“The other thing is,” Drew said, as if he were about to impart some crucial secret, “you have to be careful.”
