Chasing Love's Wings (28 page)

“What about Christmas?” She squirms a little bit. “What?”
 

“Um, I...” Her eyes dance, and the glassiness of tears forms. “Tristan, I’ve never
celebrated Christmas.” She looks at me. “At least not that I can remember.”

I fight my own tears. Sure, since my mom passed away, Christmas has never been the
same, but I’ve always done something to celebrate it. “That will never happen again.”
I wrap my arms around her. “I think we need to start our own Christmas tradition,
and I have the perfect idea.”

FORTY-ONE

******

Cami

******

“I’m laying ground rules, right now,” I bark at Trinity. I’m standing in her office
in Los Angeles, and she’s just returned from her personal leave. Tristan filled me
in on her “personal time” and when he went to Montana to confront Bobby about what
he did to me and it turns my stomach. Though it doesn’t take much to do that these
days. Tomorrow I cross the sixteen-week mark of my pregnancy, and I’ve had to buy
some new pants and have taken to wearing baby doll style shirts because hiding underneath
is a bump that grows more pronounced with each passing week.
 

“What’s that?”
 

“I don’t want to hear about it. I don’t want to know about it, and more importantly,
anything that happens in this office stays in this office. There will be no reporting
back to him.” Because I know you will.
 

“Cami, I’m not sure what you’re—”
 

“Trinity, I know you were in Montana with him. I know full well where you’ve been
on your leave of absence, and I don’t care. I just don’t want to hear about it.”
 

“Cami, he’s gone.”
 

“Wait, what?” I say.
 

“He left late last week. He left the country. Said that he had to leave because too
many people knew where he was and that he wasn’t sure about where things stood with
the investigation, so he’s left the country. I thought you knew?” I shake my head.
“I could’ve sworn.” She shakes her head too. “Maybe not. Look, he’s gone again, maybe
for good, I don’t know. But it is better this way.”
 

“Is it really?” I ask her, completely serious.
 

“I think it is. Yeah, it’s fun for a while, but...meh,” she says, like it’s no big
deal.
 

“Regardless, the same rules apply,” I say to her and then leave, walking down the
hall to Vinnie’s office. I knock.

“Come in.”
 

I take a deep breath before entering. The last time I was here, so was Bobby, and
more importantly, it was the day I ran away from Tristan, and I don’t want to get
myself worked up like that again. I open the door and Vincent is alone in his office.
Thank God.
 

“Hi, Cami.”
 

“Hi, Vinnie.” He smiles. I haven’t called him that in a long time. I close the door
behind me. “Listen, I need to—” He stands to come around his desk and gestures for
me to sit on the couch. “No, I’m good. I need you to join me, along with Trinity and
the board members, in a few minutes. But I needed to come in here first. Listen, I
owe you an apology. I should’ve never reacted the way I did, and more importantly,
I should’ve never blamed you for any of this.”
 

I watch as there is a lost look of sadness in his eyes. “Your father was my best friend
and I miss him dearly. Though I helped him, it killed me nearly every day. It tore
me up for the longest time. Both because of what he did, but then because of what
he was doing to his daughter. If I could’ve talked him out of it, Cami, believe me,
I would have, but I tried and—”
 

“I know. But I needed someone to blame, and it was easier to blame you because I felt
no attachment to you. But then I realized I was wrong. You’ve been there for me, and
I treated you horribly and I’m sorry.”
 

He takes a couple of steps closer to me, then pauses, then comes forward and gives
me a hug. “I will always be here for you—” He pulls back. “What’s that?” he says,
looking down. Shit.

“Um...” I take a small step back and place my hand on top of my mound.

“No way, Cami, are you serious?” His face lights up like a kid’s on Christmas. I nod
and smile, and for the first time there is true excitement in my nod and in my smile.
He hugs me again. “Congratulations.”
 

“Shh. No one knows, and I want to keep it that way. At least a little while longer.”
 

He makes a show of sealing his lips and he smiles. “I’m really happy for you and for
Tristan.”
 

“Speaking of Tristan, did you get that contract on that movie we talked about?”
 

He smiles and nods. “I did.” He goes back to his desk and pulls a stack of papers
from a larger stack and brings it over to me. “Take a look.”
 

I look at it; it looks like a bunch of legal jargon, but something catches my eye.
Something... “No way,” I say, covering my mouth.

“Yes way. He’s climbing the big leagues now, girl.”
 

“Can I take this to him?”
 

“Please do. I need it back by the eighteenth,” he says.
 

“Okay, I’ll take it to him. We can courier it back as soon as we’re done with it.
I’m pretty sure he won’t hesitate to sign it, he loves the script.”

“Have you read it?” he asks.
 

“No.” I look at him. “Why?”
 

“You should.”
 

I cock my head at him. “Do you have it too? The complete script?”

He goes back to his desk and he grabs a very large bound book. “Don’t open it. Take
it home to him.”
 

“Okay.” I say, thanking my lucky stars he’s here in L.A. with me. When I told him
I was coming he refused to let me come alone, and I can’t blame him for that.
 

“You said a board meeting?”
 

I look at him. “What? Oh, yeah, we need to go.”
 

We step into the boardroom, and sitting there are Trinity and every member of the
board, along with Bold’s attorney. I take my spot at the head of the table, and Rayne
comes in right behind us; she is carrying a large stack of rather thick packets and
begins passing them out.
 

“Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.” I get quiet greetings back, and I suddenly
wish Tristan were here with me. He’d offered to come, but I told him no. “I’d like
you to take a look at what Rayne is handing you. This is an updated business proposal
pertaining to Bold and Bold’s clientele.
 

“Starting off the package you will find a list of actors, athletes, and musicians.
On this list you will also see who their agents currently are, and then next to that
you will see the date that their contracts are expiring. We are going to begin by
making contact and recruiting these individuals to bring them to Bold when their contracts
expire.” I look at Vinnie, who has a very ‘Proud poppa’ style look on his face, and
I smile at him. But I continue. “On the subsequent pages you will find a list of agents
and industry professionals who are either looking to get out of their existing agency
or who are struggling under their own weight. With each agent there’s also a list
of their current clientele. We are going to enter into some negotiations and decide
which of these seventy candidates have what Bold needs, and we’re going to bring them,
along with their clients, under our umbrella.”
 

“When do you plan to start putting this into place?” Al Pierce, one of the board members,
asks the question that I was expecting.
 

“Beginning January fifteenth. The day that I step into my role as full-time CEO.”
I look at Vinnie, who, like Trinity, is quietly applauding. “We are going to revitalize
what we have and where we go from here. Bold International has been a staple in Hollywood
for more than thirty years, and it is time that we turn that staple into a stamp.
I want Bold back to the premier company our clients turn to for anything they need.
My stepping up also means that Vincent and Trinity will no longer have clients under
them, with a small exception of our two biggest clients, Tristan Michaels and one
I am going to tell you about momentarily, whom Vincent will still continue to manage.
Trinity is hereby relieved of her PR duties and will be in charge of Bold’s PR Department,
overseeing everything underneath her now, and nothing more.”

“We are not staffed to handle this kind of client influx,” Al says.
 

“You’re right, we’re not. But it is my goal, over the course of the next two years,
to increase Bold’s clientele by fifteen percent and increase its employees by at least
thirty percent. It is time that we grow bigger and stronger, and these are the steps
in the right direction to do so.”
 

“How can you be so confident that this will work?” Al asks.

“I’m not.” There is an audible gasp from everyone in the room. “Relax. But what I
am confident in is Bold’s longstanding reputation and its ability to hold some of
Hollywood’s finest in their arsenal. I want directors and studios to come to us first
before running off to some little-known agency who got lucky with one good client,
and that starts with recruiting. Bold has picked up another amazing contract from
none other than Travis Jackson, bringing two of Hollywood’s hottest stars under one
roof. I will be holding a press conference in about an hour to announce my ascension
into the CEO position, along with Bold’s acquisition of Travis Jackson, which means
that everyone in this room and in this building needs to be on their toes. I will
lay odds that we receive at least five phone calls from that list of talent looking
for new representation, thereby growing our reputation and expanding our business.”

Vinnie stands up. “This won’t be an easy road, and just like anything in this industry,
we have to work for what we want. I believe that Cameron has given us the tools we
need to make this happen and make it happen quickly. I’m very confident in the work
she’s done and will continue to do going forward. I think right now we need to give
her our support and begin what will be the beginning of a bigger and better Bold International.”
I look at Vinnie and realize that either he is really good at blowing smoke up the
board’s ass or he really believes what he’s just said, but either way, it works for
me.
 

“Let’s get to it,” Al Pierce says, and the room applauds.
 

“Well done, kiddo,” Vinnie says as he winks at me. Everyone files out and I plop down
in my chair at the head of the table. I take a few deep breaths and then Vinnie comes
back into the room. “I’m very proud of you.”
 

“Oh.” I jump. “I was scared shitless.”
 

“You didn’t show it. Never doubt what you’re capable of. Are you sure this is the
right time to step up?” he asks, but I can tell there is no malice in his voice, and
he looks at my stomach and then back to my eyes.

“Probably not, but if I’ve learned anything from this whole damn mess it’s that Bobby
laid the groundwork of a great business, a business he trusted me to run one day,
and I’d like to be able to pass that on to my child one day.”
 

“This company tore your father apart.”
 

“I understand that, and I won’t let that happen. I will not allow this business to
eat me alive, and I will be home every night for dinner, whether it is with Tristan
or my family. I will be there and I will be the best damn mother I’m capable of being.
This company has a strong foundation, and an even better structure. I have no doubt
that I can run this business without allowing it to eat me alive.”
 

“I have confidence that you can do that too, and I will do anything I can to help
you with that.” I stand and walk toward Vinnie.
 

“It won’t be easy and I’ll need your help.”
 

“You have it, one hundred percent.”

FORTY-TWO

I return to Tristan and my hotel room at the JW around five-thirty, and he is there
with a table full of food for dinner. I smile, and he hugs me, kisses me, and then
bends down to kiss my bump. “How’d it go?” he asks as he leads me over to the table.
He pulls my chair out for me and I sit.

“It went amazing.” I smile so huge, and Tristan’s smile mirrors my own. “I spoke to
Trinity and told her that what she and Bobby do is their business and that I don’t
want to know about it or hear about it. I also told her that what happens in that
office stays in that office and does not go back to him.”
 

His eyes widen fractionally. “How’d she take that?”
 

“She agreed, but then took it upon herself to inform me that Bobby has left the country.”
 

“Shit, Cams, I’m sorry.”
 

I put my hand up to stop him. “It’s all right. It is probably better this way anyway.
I don’t need his influence over the way I run my company, and I know he’d do anything
he could to keep up that pretense. So if he’s gone, then he’s gone.” He frowns at
me. “Really, I’m okay,” I remind him. “I spoke with Vinnie too.”
 

“Oh dear.”
 

“No, nothing like that. I actually apologized to him. We worked through it. We reached
a level beyond professional.” Tristan’s eyes grow concerned. “I think that if he’d
known about me sooner, things between Bobby and us may have been different, and I
think, along with the trickery, he holds that over his own head.” I take a sip of
the sparkling cider on the table. “He gave me a hug.” I watch his face. “He felt my
stomach and asked. He knows, but he’s the only one, and I’ve sworn him to secrecy.”