CHAPTER Fourteen:
5 years later
HAILEY POINT OF VIEW
“I don’t know what he’s up to?”
Hailey walked out of the audition fuming. Her fists were clenched, and her jaw was tight. Miles had played her for a fool, and she knew it.
The arrogant actor had only given her the lead role to torment her. She could see the malice in his eyes when he shoved her aside.
His parting words dripped with malicious sarcasm – “I know, you’re welcome.” That smug, entitled prick was up to no good.
She shoved through the crowd of disappointed actresses exiting the building, not caring who she knocked aside. Rage boiled inside her.
All she had wanted was a fair chance to prove her talents.
Anna had faith in her, had encouraged her relentlessly, while Miles judged her from his pedestaled perch.
Who was he to decide her worth as an actress?
An overpaid pretty boy who got roles handed to him.
The spring air that had seemed so refreshing that morning now felt oppressive.
All thanks to him!
Hailey yanked off her light jacket as she stomped toward her car. Fat raindrops began plopping onto the pavement around her, but she didn’t quicken her pace. Let the rain come. It matched her foul mood.
By the time she wrenched open her car door, the downpour had thoroughly soaked her thin blouse.
She didn’t care. Slamming the door shut, she gripped the steering wheel until her knuckles turned white.
She had half a mind to go confront that jumped-up Miles fellow. Show him he couldn’t waltz around ruining people’s dreams on a whim.
A harsh rap on the window made her jump. Anna stood outside, frowning in concern. Hailey rolled down the window a crack.
“You’re going to catch your death sitting out in this monsoon,” Anna shouted over the pounding rain. “What’s going on? I thought you’d be overjoyed to get the part!”
Hailey unlocked the door and Anna quickly climbed inside, shaking water from her hair.
“I got the role, but it was a setup,” Hailey growled. “That arrogant ass Miles only picked me so he could make me miserable.”
“Oh honey, I’m sure that’s not true.” Anna patted her arm. “Maybe he just saw your talent and potential.”
“You didn’t see the way he looked at me, Anna. Like he was a king passing judgement on a lowly peasant.” Hailey clenched her fists again, fighting back angry tears.
“He’s going to make my life hell on that set, I just know it. Probably have the whole crew mocking and mistreating me from day one.”
“Don’t go borrowing trouble,” Anna chided gently. “Give it a chance first before you jump to conclusions. If this Miles character does turn out to be a bully, then you can make a decision on how to handle it. But don’t throw away your big break before you even start filming.”
Hailey took a deep, shuddering breath and nodded. As usual, Anna’s calm wisdom soothed her frustration.
She would try to stay positive, go into this new role with an open mind. Maybe Miles was just having a bad day.
Maybe his gruff exterior hid a decent person underneath.
Yeah, and maybe pigs would learn to fly tomorrow.
Her phone buzzed with an incoming text.
It was from her new manager, the one assigned to her by the film studio now that she had a lead role. “Miles has requested your presence at a private audition this evening at 8pm. Be at this address.” It listed an unfamiliar address across town.
“What the hell?” Hailey exclaimed, showing the text to Anna. “You think this is another one of his mind games?”
“I don’t know, babe.” Anna frowned at the message. “But you have to go, don’t you? It’s probably just standard procedure for big roles.”
“With Miles, who knows what his agenda is.” Hailey tossed her phone onto the dash in disgust. “He’s probably going to have me reading lines while being pelted with rotten fruit or something.”
But despite her pessimism, she knew she had no choice but to attend this mysterious “private audition.” If she refused or made waves this early, Miles would likely have her fired and replaced before filming even began.
She was a complete unknown – he had all the power and leverage.
Gritting her teeth, she started the car and pulled away, leaving Anna standing in the downpour with a worried expression. “I’ll let you know if that pompous jerk tries anything shady,” she called out the window.
The address turned out to be a dingy, unmarked building in a bad part of town. Just Hailey’s luck – get your break and then get assaulted in a back alley for it. She checked twice that she had the right place, then cautiously made her way inside.
Her footsteps echoed in the dim, empty foyer.
A naked bulb flickered far overhead, casting sickly yellow light. “Hello?” Her voice seemed to get swallowed up by the stale air. “Is anyone here? I’m Hailey… for the audition.”
Heavy footsteps clumped across a tiled floor somewhere ahead. A hulking figure rounded the corner, a sour scowl on his craggy face.
“That’s far enough, girlie,” the big man rumbled in a thick Russian accent. “Wait here.”
He turned and lumbered back through a metal door, leaving Hailey to wait in trepidation.
What was this place?
It looked more like an abandoned warehouse than any audition venue. H
Her instincts screamed to flee, but she had to see this through.
Prove to Miles she wouldn’t be easily intimidated or chased off.
The metal door screeched open again and the hulking man reappeared, jerking his head for her to follow.
Against her better judgement, Hailey trailed him down a dank hallway that reeked of mold and cigarette smoke.
He ushered her into a stark room with bare concrete walls. A single folding chair and a camera mounted on a tripod stood in the center under a harsh light. Miles lounged in the chair, looking perfectly at ease in his expensive suit and opulent watch.
“Ahh, Miss Hailey. So good of you to come,” he purred in that voice like velvet and poison. “I do hope this venue meets your expectations for our… private audition.”
The muscle-bound man moved to stand beside the camera, glowering at Hailey. She refused to let Miles see her trepidation.
“I’m here, aren’t I?” she retorted, planting her feet. “So let’s get on with whatever twisted game you have planned.”
“Game?” Miles lifted one perfect eyebrow in feigned innocence. His full lips quirked in an infuriatingly smug smile. “Why, I simply wish to see your full range as an actress. Get a sense of your raw ability before we begin production.”
He waved a lazy hand toward the empty chair. “Have a seat, Miss Hailey. Let’s see if you can impress me as effortlessly as you seemed to at the earlier audition.”
Don’t let him rattle you, Hailey told herself sternly. She sat ramrod straight in the chair, hands gripping the armrests.
All around, the stark room seemed to press in on her. She wasn’t claustrophobic, but the dead air and glaring lights made her feel caged, trapped.
Miles leaned back with hooded eyes, casually examining her like a reptile watching a fly. “For this private reading, I’ll be playing the role of your co-star and director. A bit unorthodox, I’ll grant you, but I find it gives me unique insights.”
He picked up a script from beside his chair, licking his thumb to turn the pages. Hailey fought the urge to squirm under his intense gaze. Those dark, intelligent eyes seemed to bore into her soul.
“We’ll start with a simple romantic scene,” Miles murmured. “Nothing too taxing for an actress of your supposed talents.”
He cleared his throat and read in a low, sultry tone. “‘Oh Beatrice, my heart aches with desire for your radiant beauty. Your raven tresses and lithe form haunt my fevered dreams. I must possess you, make you mine forever.'”
Hailey blinked in surprise. A cheesy dialogue from a tawdry romance paperback, really?
She had expected something more cerebral from the acclaimed Miles Jordan. But she quickly composed herself.
An actress had to be ready for anything.
“‘Oh Ricardo,'” she breathed in a simpering falsetto. “‘Though father would rage against our forbidden love, I cannot deny the scorching fire you have kindled within me. Take me, make me yours before I am consumed by longing!'”
Miles let the script drop to his lap, holding up a hand. “No no, that won’t do at all, Miss Hailey. An actress of true passion doesn’t need written words to convey the deepest yearnings of the heart.”
With a smooth, almost feline grace, he rose from his chair and began circling Hailey in a slow, predatory loop. “You must embody every nuance, let those simmering desires radiate from your very being. Like this…”
He stopped directly behind her chair. Hot breath caressed the back of her neck as he purred in a low, seductive rasp. “I burn for you, my wanton angel. To taste the sweet nectar of your lips… to drink in your rapturous cries as I worship your sublime form…”
Hailey’s pulse quickened despite herself. Miles leaned down until his mouth nearly brushed her ear. “Every gorgeous inch of you acheing for my possession. Tell me you yearn to be mine, to surrender yourself unto sublime oblivion.”
His fingertips trailed lightly down the side of her neck, raising goosebumps.
Alarm began to prickle through the trance his velvet tones had lulled her into.
This had taken a seriously inappropriate turn.
Hailey jerked her chair sideways, putting space between them as she shot to her feet. “I don’t think this is necessary for an audition,” she snapped, proud her voice didn’t tremble. “My acting abilities don’t require… that.”
A knowing smirk played over Miles’ perfect lips. “Ahh, too intense for you? We’re merely actors plumbing the depths of human passion and desire. Surely you didn’t think this career was only about reciting stale lines from a page?”
He moved with unsettling grace to block her path to the door.
That hulking brute had drifted closer as well, hemming her in. Hailey fought the urge to panic.
Keep your head, she told herself. Don’t let them sense any fear.
“I appreciate your… unorthodox audition methods,” she replied in a tone of forced calm. “But I’m quite satisfied you have all the insight into my talents you require. We can wrap this up now.”
“So soon?” Miles tsked in mock disappointment. “And here I was just starting to glimpse your true potential simmering beneath that doe-eyed naivete.”
In a blink, he closed the gap between them. One hand snared her wrist in a crushing grip while the other gripped her chin, arching her face up to meet his hardened gaze.
“Don’t presume to tell me when I’m satisfied, little actress,” he growled in a tone of dark promise.
“We’re just getting started. And before I’m through, you’ll have peeled away every fragile layer of that innocent facade.”
He dragged her across the room toward the camera, his brute force strength allowing him to propel her effortlessly.
Fear finally took hold as Hailey realized the awful reality of her situation.
Shitt! This was no audition. Miles had lured her here for his own sadistic purposes.
And she was utterly at his mercy…