Turning the wheel of his Selenite Gray Mercedes AMG GT with one hand, Chris Vaughn used the other to hit the button that released the gates to his sprawling L.A. house. As soon as his wheels hit the driveway, his stomach sank.
She was here, parked in his driveway, no doubt angry as heck because she had to wait for him. For a moment he considered hitting reverse and hightailing it out of here. But there was no point. She’d no doubt seen him, heard the whirring mechanism of his wrought iron gates. And he knew from experience that when she wanted something, Anya Sky didn’t stop until she got it.
When his expensive leather brogues hit the concrete of his driveway, she opened her own car door and climbed out. Her long, tan legs were the first thing he saw. Once upon a time he’d wanted nothing more than to have those wrapped around him constantly.
Now he just wanted them out of here.
“I’ve been calling you,” she said, not bothering with a greeting. This was where they were at. Where they’d been for the last two years. No niceties, no sweet words, just bitter accusations and counter arguments.
He’d paid a lot for her to leave, and it was worth every penny.
“I’ve been in meetings. I had my phone turned off,” he told her.
Her eyes scanned him, taking in the sleek tailored business suit he was wearing. The perfectly knotted tie. Truth be told, he hated wearing this kind of thing. Preferred nothing more than a pair of old, worn jeans and a t-shirt. But his meetings were about money and his job was to make his investors feel comfortable. If that meant wearing a suit, then he’d do it.
Anya waved her hand, as though his projects weren’t important. “I need to talk to you about Luna.”
As if she’d heard her name, the back door of Anya’s car opened, and their daughter jumped out, her face lighting up when she saw him.
“Daddy!” She ran toward him, her sneakers kicking up dust, and threw herself into his arms. He lifted her up, held her close, and swung her around. Then he dipped his face against her silky hair because nothing in the world smelled better than his kid.
The light of his goddamned life.
“Hey sweetheart.” He winked at her. “Did you grow again?”
“Since Saturday?” She frowned, as though trying to decide if that was possible.
“It must have been all that watermelon you ate. Gave you superpowers.”
Luna grinned, revealing the gap at the front of her mouth where one of her baby teeth had fallen out, not yet replaced by the adult one. “I love watermelon. Have you got any?”
“We’re not staying.” Anya lifted an eyebrow at their daughter. “Why don’t you get back in the car? Daddy and I need to talk.”
He gently put Luna down. “We’ll have watermelon next time. Did I tell you I know a guy who has a watermelon farm?”
Luna’s eyes widened. She got those from her mom. Pale blue and so expressive it felt like she was telling a story every time you looked at them. The rest of her was him, though. From the dark hair that reflected the sun, to the dimple in her cheek every time she smiled.
And he made sure she smiled a whole damn lot.
“Watermelons grow on a farm?” she whispered.
“Where else would they grow?” Anya sounded bored. She looked at the Cartier Tank on her wrist and sighed. “We need to get home, sweetie. Now jump in the car.”
“Can we go to the farm, Daddy?” Luna asked him, her voice full of hope.
“Sure we can. We’ll do it soon. Now do what Mommy says.” He ruffled her hair. “I’ll talk to you tonight, okay?”
“Okay.”
She turned and skipped back to the car, yanking the back door open in a way that made him wince. He knew exactly how much Anya’s car cost. After all, he’d paid for it. She climbed inside and grabbed her Nintendo Switch, then pulled the door closed.
“What do you want, Anya?” he asked, as soon as their daughter was out of earshot. Sure, she drove him crazy, but Luna didn’t need to know that.
“We need to talk about the summer.”
“We already talked about the summer. You want to take Luna to visit your parents in Europe. I agreed.”
She tipped her head, her eyes holding his. “There’s been a change of plan. I’ve been offered a role.”
He blinked. “Okay.” Maybe that would make things easier.
“I leave in a week. You’ll need to have Luna while I’m away.”
“What?” He frowned. “I just rearranged my filming schedule.” He wanted to get as much of the movie in the can before Luna came back to L.A., that way he’d be able to spend quality time with her. “I’m going to be on location, too.”
“But you’ll be in California, right?”
“Yeah.” And he’d also be working night and day. For the first time he’d taken on the role of producer, which meant troubleshooting anything and everything that happened on set. The days of sitting in his trailer between takes or playing poker with the crew were over.
He was going to be working twenty-four-seven. He’d designed it that way, figuring he’d miss his kid a little less if he was constantly busy. Anya had insisted that Luna needed to get to know her Hungarian heritage, something he was in complete agreement with.
And there was no way he could change the shooting schedule now. Too much money and too many people were involved. The dates were set, the crew was booked. Heck, he’d even rented a house overlooking the beach to stay in.
Or Neil had. His trusty PA always had those things covered.
“Well I can’t take her with me. I’ll be busy.” She shrugged. “I guess I could send her to Europe alone. My parents could meet her on the other side.”
He ran his hand over his closely cropped hair. He was still getting used to the buzzcut. He preferred to wear his dark hair longer, a little more floppy, but he was about to play the role of an ex-Navy Seal, and for that he needed the look.
There was no way he wanted his daughter traveling to Europe alone. And he had no time to accompany her. “I’ll keep her. Give me a day to sort things out.”
Anya beamed like she always did when she got her way. “I leave next week.”
“So do I.”
“Luna will be so excited. Baby?” she shouted out.
Luna opened the car door? “What?”
“You’re staying with Daddy for the summer.”
Luna blinked. “I am?”
“Yes. He’s taking you to the beach.”
Jesus H. Christ. She was making it sound like a vacation. Luna was probably imagining lazy days on the sand licking ice cream cones and kicking her feet in the foamy waves.
Not being stuck on a set twenty-four-seven while her dad ignored her.
“I love the beach!” Luna jumped with excitement. “Thank you, Daddy.”
He swallowed, because dammit he loved his daughter. And he hated disappointing her in anyway. “Any time, kiddo. We’ll have fun, you and I.”
From the corner of his eye he could see Anya smirking, and he couldn’t help but wonder if she’d done this just to make his life harder.
As soon as Chris opened the door to his sprawling house, he could hear music coming from the kitchen. He kicked his shoes off and threw his keys onto the polished table by the door, then walked down the marble-floored corridor to the sound of Jay Z telling him he had ninety-nine problems.
“I assume you know Anya was here,” Chris said dryly. Neil had a habit of choosing songs to fit the moment.
Neil looked up from his laptop. “Saw her on the surveillance camera.”
“Thanks for coming out to help me.” He couldn’t keep the sarcasm out of his voice.
“The time to help you was when you first met her. Which, if you recall, I did. I told you she was trouble. You should have listened to me.”
Neil was so much more than a PA. He led Chris’ security team, troubleshot any problems in his life or business, and on occasion – like now – liked to interfere in Chris’ personal life.
Not that he was wrong. Chris should have avoided Anya from the start. They’d met when he almost ran her over at the studio lot. Within a week she was mostly living at his house. Within a month she was pregnant – despite taking the pill and him using condoms – and within five years she was the goddamn bane of his existence.
The only good thing that came out of this situation was Luna. And for her, he was eternally grateful.
“She wants me to keep Luna this summer.”
“I heard that, too.” Neil said.
Of course he did. The surveillance cameras had ears as well as eyes.
Neil lifted a brow. “I’ve already called the nanny agency. They’re shortlisting candidates as we speak. And I took another look at the house details to make sure there’s nothing dangerous for kids. I also took a look at the shooting schedule, but there’s nothing we can move there. Not without it costing a lot of money.”
That wasn’t something Chris wanted to contemplate. He’d sunk an obscene amount of money into this. It had been his dream to produce a movie as well as act in it for as long as he could remember. This was his baby. He didn’t want to mess it up.
“This town we’re staying in. Angel Sands. It’s kid friendly, right?”
“It’s a beach town.” Neil gave him a ‘duh’ look. “Of course it is.”
“Let’s make sure we have the best security system anyway,” Chris suggested. “I want Luna to be safe. She won’t be able to come to the set every day, she’d get bored as hell.”
“Already on that, too.” Neil winked. “I got it covered. You concentrate on making the movie, and I’ll do the rest. Luna will have fun, I guarantee it.”
“Thanks, man. I owe you.”
“Yes you do.” Neil grinned. “Now, let’s talk about how smooth Anya’s skin looks. Do you think she’s had work done? I swear there used to be more wrinkles around her eyes.”
“I have no idea.” And he didn’t care. She wasn’t his problem anymore, except when it came to their daughter.
“Did you see that article in Page Six about her and that Russian Billionaire?” Neil asked. “Do you think he has anything to do with her sudden need to go away?”
“I don’t read that shit. And I don’t give a shit about any guy, as long as it doesn’t affect Luna.”
“You think she’ll use the old needle in the condom trick on him, too?”
Chris winced. Neil always walked the line between appropriate and completely fucking wrong. “Stop it.”
“Sorry.” Neil wrinkled his nose. “I’m just trying to bond with you over our mutual hatred of Anya Sky.”
“You ever thought it might be easier to bond over something less aggravating?” Chris grabbed a bottle of water from the refrigerator and popped the cap. “Like sports or something?”
“I don’t like sports.”
“You don’t like Anya either,” Chris pointed out, lifting the bottle to his mouth.
“Yeah, but she’s so much more entertaining than watching sports. Plus I have the added pleasure of being able to say I told you so after every conversation we have about her.”
“Remind me why I keep you around again?”
“Because your life would fall apart without me.” Neil looked smug. “And because next time you meet a woman who’s going to take you for a ride you’ll listen to me. Right?”
“Right.” Chris set his bottle down. “Like I’m going to listen to relationship advice from the guy who never gets past a first date. Now I’m heading for the gym, call me if you need me.”
He’d run ten miles and hit the weights, because he needed to do something other than think about how he was going to juggle his first production with the needs of his daughter. Or how pissed he was with his ex for landing him in this situation. She knew how important this production was for him. He’d been talking about it for years, even when they were in their good times.
And it was the one thing that kept him going during the bad. During the times when he behaved worse than he should have, when he partied too hard, drank too much, did all the things that put his name in the wrong places.
This movie was supposed to be his comeback. His redemption. His chance to show everyone that he was more than a handsome face and muscled body. He wanted to make a movie that meant something. That made people feel things.
He wasn’t about to let Anya mess that up for him.