The Stars Trilogy (30 page)

Dare almost whistled. He’d only told her once about the terms of the agreement in the car awhile back. She scanned the pertinent documents for a few minutes and now she was reciting the contents like she drafted them. No wonder she had no problem enumerating all his movies. Her memory was uncanny.

“Oh, she also gets an extra 2 million dollars cash,” Celine added.

“That’s his straying fee,” Gabrielle pointed out.

“Oh? Can you prove it?” Celine countered.

“What?”

“That Mr. Montgomery strayed?”

Gabrielle gaped at her, as if she’d asked a totally absurd question. “He cheated on me many, many times!” she spat.

Celine was not fazed by the animosity. “Can you prove it?”

“Everybody in Hollywood knew! He was in the tabloids every issue, even as we speak!” Gabrielle fairly shouted.

Celine didn’t even blink. “Who in particular?”

Gabrielle couldn’t answer and turned to her lawyer. Levitt patted her hand in a pacifying manner.

“Miss Celine...” Levitt began.

But Celine gave him no chance to get into position. “My point is, you will have a hard time proving that Mr. Montgomery cheated on you, and most likely, you will fail. Who will testify? You think tabloid gossip is admissible evidence in court? There’s going to be an investigation and that’s a separate case that you will battle with him, and if you fail to prove that, you’ll be put in a bad light. The court will start thinking that you’re accusing Mr. Montgomery of cheating so you can cash in on the 2 million dollars extra fee. By the way,” she pointed at a folder on the table, “the original document here never mentioned ‘straying fee.’ It only says here, ‘gift of goodwill’.

Gabrielle and her lawyer were rendered speechless, their eyes mirroring their shock. Totally blind-sided.

Dare was having a hard on the size of the Beverly-Wilshire hotel from watching and listening to Celine. Goddamn, he could have saved hundreds of thousands from lawyer’s fees if she had come earlier in the proceedings. The smartass sexpot was a honey badger. Do not be fooled by the honey part. She was fearless and ruthless and she would eat Boyd and Levitt for breakfast anytime.

“This is totally preposterous! You’re trying to twist the facts!”

Gabrielle looked mottled like a chameleon now, a sure sign she was rattled in her greedy cage. Man, this is fun to watch, Dare thought.

“Facts have to come with solid evidences, Mrs. Montgomery.”

Gabrielle abruptly stood up, nearly knocking the Lalique centerpiece off of the table. “You bitch! I won’t have you interfering-!”

“Mr. Levitt, please, pacify your client,” Celine said and casually perused the document in front of her.

Levitt touched Gabrielle’s arm and coaxed her to sit down again. Fuming like an overheating engine headed for a bog down, Gabrielle dropped back on her chair.

“If I may proceed, Mr. Montgomery is willing to give Gabrielle the 2 million dollars as a gift.”

“Gift?! That’s bullshit! I am entitled to have that because he cheated on me! In fact, I deserve to get more than that as he cheated on me with a dozen whores!”

“How much did you earn during your marriage?”

Gabrielle was disoriented by Celine’s sudden question. “What...?”

“Did you work during your marriage? You were a model before you were married, right? Did you continue working as such after you got married?”

“What does it have to do with anything?”

“It is a legitimate question that any lawyer would ask you in a courtroom, Mrs. Montgomery,” Celine supplied coolly.

Gabrielle turned to her lawyer. Levitt nodded.

“I did some ad campaigns,” Gabrielle said grudgingly.

“For what brands?”

“Lancome and Chanel.”

Celine nodded. “I will presume that you earned quite a lot from those campaigns.”

“What is your point?”

“My point is you stopped working when you married him. You lived like a queen. You won’t deny that, would you?”

Gabrielle opened her mouth but Celine cut her. “Oh, it’s all been documented by his accountants. Would you want to go over the figures? I’m sure Counselor Boyd can provide you with one.”

“Go straight to the point!” Gabrielle hissed.

“I am. Listen carefully. You are one very, very extravagant wife, Mrs. Montgomery. In fact, it is a ground for divorce.”

The model’s eyes widened and she turned to her lawyer again, a really worried look on her face now.

Dare was mightily enjoying the spectacle. Gabby’s defense was crumbling like dust courtesy of this little one-man demolition team. Goddamn!
Go, Celine!
he was tempted to whoop.

“However, since he is a very generous and kind man, Mr. Montgomery here chose to indulge all your caprices,” Celine was saying.

Gabby lost it. “He can afford it!” she shouted.

“Oh, is that why you married him?”

“What…?! You’re putting words in my mouth!”

“I’m not. Your expenditures while married to my boss are well-documented facts. If we will calculate the figures in simple terms, being married to my boss is like landing a dozen major label campaigns doing nothing for two years but making use of his various country club memberships and almost unlimited credit lines in all those designer sources. That’s like earning 7 grand a day without lifting a finger for two years. After the divorce, you walk away with five million dollars in cash. That’s equivalent to two Victoria’s Secret contracts, plus a posh condo in an exclusive address and high-end cars. You have plenty left for charity, haven’t you?”

Gabrielle’s face drained of color now.

“You see, Mrs. Montgomery, all these documented facts are admissible as evidences in court.”

Celine let that hang, long enough for Gabby and Levitt to absorb its full implication. Dare was getting her drift, alright. Fucking brilliant maneuver.

“Miss…” Levitt tried to do damage control.

But Celine was in the driver’s seat now. “Of course, Mr. Montgomery will not go to that extent, you know, courtrooms are not happy places and he is too busy for courtroom appearances.” She speared Levitt with a stare worthy of a hang-man jury. “So, if we can come to a final agreement NOW…?”

Celine leaned back in her chair and waited.

“You are one cunning bitch!” Gabrielle spat, her voice full of venom.

Dare inwardly shuddered at the ugliness he was seeing in Gabrielle’s face.

“No, Mrs. Montgomery, just doing my job. So...shall we sign the final settlement now?” Celine turned to Boyd. “Counselor?”

Boyd pushed the document toward Levitt. Levitt looked at it with a resigned expression.

Gabrielle stood up again, knocking her chair to the carpeted floor in her fury. “Damn you, Dare! Our marriage was hell! You never loved me! You started cheating on me on the second week of our marriage! You humiliated me by openly parading your mistresses at awards nights and galas! You are the most heartless, ruthless, self-centered bastard I have ever known!”

Dare just looked at her calmly. “I also gave you a queen’s credit anywhere you wished to go to amuse yourself, including providing you with an elite bodyguard at your beck and call, Gabby. You particularly loved that perk.”

“What do you mean...?”

“The bodyguard. I know, Gabby.”

She paled even more. He hated to use this trump card on her. He was saving it as a last resort but she gave him no choice now. She was just one tenacious, avaricious, little piranha that wouldn’t let go in peace.

He went for the kill. “Now...did you ever pause to consider who was paying all your bills, Gabby? Including your bodyguard? He will surely talk for my benefit and he’s got some interesting videos of you two for some courtroom entertainment.”

Gabrielle’s face contorted in anguish. Her tears flowed. “You son of a bitch!”

“Let’s not resort to name-calling. Quit the melodrama and honor our agreement.”

“You pushed me to it! You left me and I had no one to turn to...” Her voice broke, totally losing steam until she dissolved into sobs. “I loved you, damn you!”

Fuck. He hoped this was the last time he would ever have to see her phony tears that were costing him a hundred grand a fucking drop. “No, Gabby. You loved the life that you envisioned with me. I’m sorry it didn’t turn out the way you wanted it to be.”

Levitt held Gabrielle’s hand again. “Please, sit down Gabby. I want to finish this now,” her lawyer spoke authoritatively.

She obeyed.

Yes, that’s right, listen to your lawyer, honey because I am inches from tearing you apart if you continue this bullshit.

“Mr. Montgomery,” Levitt began again. “Mrs. Montgomery will no longer contest the terms of the settlement. She will sign the agreement. But Gabby has a little request to make.”

“Request? I’m glad to hear it’s no longer a demand.”

Levitt cleared his throat with a cough. “If you will be benevolent enough, of course.”

“And what is this request?”

“Mrs. Montgomery wants to have a part in two of your next films.”

“Out of the question.”

“I want a career in movies. Why won’t you help me, Dare?” Gabrielle said in a wobbly voice.

“You can’t act shit,” he said bluntly.

“God, you’re so cruel!”

He lost it. He’d had enough. “No, Gabby. I’m actually being very generous and you have consumed all my patience. Tell you what, I will add another million. Sign the papers now and we won’t ever have to speak to each other again. That’s my last offer or we can scrap the agreement and I’ll see you in court. I will be the plaintiff and I swear, when I’m done with you, you will be left with nothing but the clothes on your back. Do I make myself clear? ”

“Dare...please!”

He slammed his hand on the table. “No!”

Celine put her hand on his thigh. “Mr. Montgomery agrees,” she declared.

He whipped his head toward her. She raised her brows, daring him to contradict what she said. Their eyes clashed heatedly. Her firm grip on his thigh was like a high-voltage current shooting straight to his groin, intensifying his hard-on.

He shut up.

“Mr. Montgomery is going to extend his generosity as a token of his sincere appreciation for the years he had spent with Gabrielle. He hopes that after their divorce, they will move on with their lives and wish each other luck as good friends. Gabrielle gets a role in Dare’s next film. Not two films. Just one. Do we have an agreement?”

Dare opened his mouth to protest but she squeezed his thigh again to silence him. His hard on was painful now.

“Who are you to speak in behalf of Dare? Are you his lawyer, too?” Gabrielle was clearly not happy with Celine’s interference even if it benefited her case.

“I’m her secretary and Mr. Montgomery doesn’t object to my statements. Right, Sir?”

Dare coughed.

Celine squeezed his thigh again. His eyes blazed at her. “This will cost you,” he whispered to her before saying out loud, “I have no objections. Done.”

She patted his thigh, a smug look on her face. “Okay, let us put that on record, counselors.”

Boyd looked unhappy. Now, why was that?

“Is this really what you want?” Boyd asked him.

Dare merely nodded.

Boyd addressed Gabrielle’s lawyer. “Let us iron the details then.”

Celine’s fingers were idly caressing his thigh now as she listened to Boyd and Levitt exchange legal jargon. Was she aware of it? It felt like she was petting his cock. And if she continued doing that…

Fuck.

He wanted to remove her hand from his thigh but he didn’t. It felt too good.

“Would that be all, Levitt?” Dare asked, in a hurry to break the meeting now.

“Yes. We are happy with the settlement, Mr. Montgomery. Right, Gabby?”

“I want to be in that movie that you will be directing, Dare, please?” Gabby persisted.

“No. Not in that one—”

But Celine overruled him. “Yes, that would be fine, Gabrielle. It’s going to be a great movie. It will be a good platform for you to launch your acting career.”

“Don’t patronize me, you bitch!”

Gabrielle walked out in a huff.

“I thought we’d have dinner to celebrate our amicable settlement, honey?” Dare called out to her.

“Fuck you!”

They heard the foyer door slam shut.

Levitt smiled at them apologetically. “Well then I will contact you, Clayton. We need to amend the agreement again. For the last time.”

“Yes, thank you, Slater.”

When Levitt had left, Dare went ballistic. He jumped from his chair, getting away from Celine’s paralyzing spell. Fuck, he felt like she’d steamrolled him in that last part. “What the hell was that?!”

“You wanted to get it over and done with. There you have it,” she replied, unfazed by his temper.

“A part in my movie?! Do you realize what that means?!”

“Yes. You will spend a few more months seeing her. But where’s the harm there?”

“Where’s the harm?! I didn’t ever want to see her after today and what did you do? Set me up on another lengthy date with that fucking barracuda!”

“I thought she was just an annoying piranha?”

“She managed to get a million dollars more and a part in my damn movie! That makes her a barracuda, thanks to you!”

She shrugged. “You asked me to negotiate for you. I closed it.”

“But not like that, dammit!”

“Well, then go ahead and retract what I said.” She snapped at him. “Clayton, please go after them.”

Boyd looked at him. “Should I...?”

He exhaled harshly. “No. You can go now, Boyd. Draw the papers. I want Gabrielle’s signature ASAP.”

“Count on it.”

“I want to be officially single at the end of the month or you’re fired, got that?”

Boyd swallowed. “Loud and clear.”

The lawyer left the suite.

Dare looked at his secretary and forgot what he was saying.

They were alone now.

“Do you make a habit of terrorizing everyone that works for you?”

Saucy mouth, I’m inches from feeding you with something to shut you up.
“Shut up.”

“Including me.” She went to recline on a cushioned divan.

“You’re not terrorized. You are the one terrorizing me.”

She giggled. “Am I?”