For better or for worse.
30
Lana
I can’t believe I’m here.
I’ve talked with Anders about whether I should show up at the convention or just skip the whole thing altogether, but he told me I should show up. And, as hard as it is for me, I know I did the right thing.
Like Anders told me, whoever publishes my book, it’ll still be my book. And I stand for each and every word I put down on the paper. I’ve worked many hours to make The Virgin Market a reality, and I’m not giving up on my dream just because the CEO of Bad Boy Publishing managed to cheat his way into a contract with me.
I’ll live to fight another day.
Right now, though, I’m standing to the side of the Bad Boy Publishing stage. They’ve set up a massive apparatus, and right now Grady and a few other people I don’t know are up on the stage, getting everything ready for the big reveal.
Everyone in the convention room has been talking about how this event is going to mark the return of Bad Boy Publishing to the big stage. I’m torn; in a way, I feel like I’ve betrayed Abby and Naughty Angel Publishing, even though I had nothing to do with all of this. On the other hand, I’d love to see my book become a success… But it just makes me feel so awful to think that might happen under the Bad Boy brand.
Ah, life was so much easier before all this.
“You okay?” Anders asks me, taking my hand in his and giving it a gentle squeeze.
“Yeah, I’m okay,” I tell him, looking into his eyes and managing what I hope to be a confident smile.
“It’ll be okay. I’m here, no matter what,” he says, his fingers tangled on mine. Watching his smile, and the way he’s holding my hand right now… Well, I can’t help but believe him.
“Alright, everyone!” A loud voice booms through the huge speakers mounted overhead, and the whole crowd goes silent. Every pair of eyeballs in the room turn toward Grady, now standing in the middle of the stage, a wide grin on his face and a mic in his hand. “Are you ready for this?”
“YEAH!” The crowd roars in a single voice, and I can tell that people really have big expectations for this launch.
“As the CEO of Bad Boy Publishing, it’s my immense pleasure to announce to you that we’re about to release a book that’ll change the romance industry for good. You’ve probably heard quite a few rumors about that, and let me assure you: it’s all true.”
People start talking in a hushed tone, but then Grady continues to speak and drowns out the voices from the crowd.
“Now, let me show you what I’m talking about,” he continues, walking toward the end of the stage. A red curtain that reaches for the ceiling hangs there, and Grady just goes for it and grabs it; with a harsh tug, he pulls on it and the whole thing just falls down, revealing a giant sized poster of the The Virgin Market cover.
My jaw just drops as I look at it.
My eyes dance over the purple font, the title The Virgin Market shining like bright neon. And on top of it, wrapped in dark shadows, there’s Logan; he’s sitting down with his naked chest, looking straight at the reader with a look that screams please, take your panties off. It’s a perfect cover, better than anything I imagined—the only detail I’d change would be the Bad Boy logo on the right corner of the cover.
“They really went all out on this one,” Anders says, and he has to lean into me and scream out the words. Right now, the whole crowd is chattering about the cover, and it sounds like a swarm of angry wasps. I let my gaze roam over the hundreds (or should I say thousands?) of people packed together, all of them staring up at the cover of a book I wrote, and I can’t help but feel a little excited. As much as this whole deal with Grady sucks, it’s still my book we’re talking about.
I’ve finally become a real writer, just like I always wanted. I just never thought it’d feel this bittersweet of an achievement.
“Now, I know you ladies want to see more … give it up for Logan!” Grady shouts into his mic, and that’s when I see Logan walking up the stairs on the other side of the stage. He’s wearing a button-up shirt and jeans but, as he makes his way toward the center of the stage, he gets rid of his shirt quickly enough; he throws his shirt toward the crowd, and I watch as an overly excited woman jumps up in the air to grab it.
Grabbing a chair, Logan takes it all the way to edge of the stage and then sits on it, making the same pose he’s doing on the The Virgin Market cover. God, he looks magnificent.
“And now,” Grady continues, doing his best to talk over the high-pitched voice of women going into hysterics as they stare at Logan. “A round of applause for our rising star, Lana Hartley.”
That’s my cue, huh? I guess it can’t be helped.
Taking a deep breath, I walk up to the stage and smile down at the crowd, suddenly feeling dizzy as I realize the amount of people crowded together right now. I can’t’ believe that so many people are here because they want to read my book. As much of a bastard as Grady might be, I gotta give it to him, he really went all out with promoting The Virgin Market.
“Smile, Lana, smile,” Grady whispers as he walks up to me, a fake exuberant smile on his face. “You might not like this, but it’s for the best. You’ll make lots of money with your little book, and we’ll all go home happy.”
“It isn’t about the money,” I whisper back at him through my gritted teeth, my whole body tensing up as I resist the urge to simply slap him.
“Oh, you’re right. It’s also about payback. More than the money, I wanted to steal you from Abby,” he tells me, and now his grin becomes genuine, except it's a devilish grin, one that could only show on a petty man’s face. A man like Grady.