Scarlett joined Sydney. “I’m coming to pick you guys up. Your mom is going to stay with your dad tonight but we’ll call him before I put you to bed. Be there soon. Love you.”
“Same here. We’re leaving the hospital now,” Sydney promised, ending the connection. “Are you sure you want to get Kyle and Cadence, Scarlett? They’re welcomed to come home with us.”
“I want to be with them,” Scarlett said. “I think they’ll do better if they sleep in their own beds.”
“If you need anything, call us,” Dash said.
Wynn went to stand by Scarlett. He put an arm around her shoulders. “I’ll be there, too.”
Her eyes met his. “Thank you.”
◆◆◆
Scarlett left the hospital waiting room with Wynn’s hand in the middle of her back, guiding her down the hallway and to the elevators. She’d never been a touchy-feely person, not really enjoying holding hands with someone or having an arm around her. The same could be said for her in bed. Once sex was done, she preferred her partner to go. If he stayed, she didn’t like him draped all over her. She wanted her space and to be left alone.
Wynn Gallagher was proving an exception to all of those rules.
She liked his palm resting on the small of her back. She enjoyed his fingers when they laced through hers. She imagined sleep would be impossible because if he stayed in her bed, she would never want to close her eyes.
Why was it so different with Wynn?
“The paparazzi will still be here. Prepare yourself,” Wynn warned.
For the first time, Scarlett reached for his hand as the elevator doors opened. “Then let’s run the gauntlet.”
They managed to weave through the crowd waiting outside the hospital without being stopped and made it to Wynn’s Range Rover without incident.
As he started the vehicle, Scarlett said, “You don’t have to stay the night.”
Determination filled his face. “I want to. I want to be there for you—and for Rhett and Cassie’s kids. Where are we headed?”
She gave him directions to the Monroe house and leaned back, closing her eyes a moment, preparing herself for what she needed to tell him.
“Wynn? I know we’re supposed to sign the contracts with Rylon tomorrow,” she began.
“That can wait.”
“No, it can’t. I don’t want the studio changing their mind, especially hearing about Rhett. The treatment is very detailed. Breck told me he’ll start tomorrow, picking up where Cassie left off. I know her well. She’ll need something to keep her busy while Rhett’s involved in rehab so she’ll be on top of things, trading scenes back and forth with Breck within a few days. I don’t want Rylon using what happened to Rhett as an excuse to wriggle out of their commitment.
“I can’t be there tomorrow, though. I need to be at the hospital.”
“As you should,” he agreed. “Send someone else from Lymon with me, then. If you want the docs signed, then we’ll get them signed.”
“I’ll text Mussfield’s attorney and have him forward them to me in case they made any changes. I don’t want you to sign if Rylon slipped something hinky in.”
“Hinky?” Wynn laughed. “That’s a new one for me.”
Scarlett already had her phone out. “Let me take care of everything.”
She texted the Rylon attorney first, asking him to send PDFs of the contracts to her so she could review them before tomorrow’s meeting. She called Erica, who sounded relieved to hear from her, and gave her instructions. Then she steeled herself and dialed Henry Lymon’s number. He answered his direct line on the third ring.
“Henry, it’s Scarlett. I need a huge favor from you.”
“I didn’t think you wanted anything from me.”
She didn’t want to be indebted to her enemy but family came first and Wynn needed the excellent representation Lymon would provide for this signing.
“I do. You’re the best attorney at the firm, other than your father, and this is important.” Briefly, she outlined what had been accomplished at today’s meeting between Wynn and the Rylon studio execs and how she’d drawn up new contracts that needed to be signed tomorrow.
Wynn pulled into a gas station. “Sorry,” he mouthed, pointing to his gas gauge. He cruised to a pump and got out of the car.
“How in the hell did you get Rylon to agree to all of this?” Henry asked, clearly shocked by her maneuvers.
“By pitching them an entirely new Carbon Man 4 movie, with a screenplay written by Cassie Corrigan and Breck O’Dell. They’d already worked up the treatment.”
“I guess it helps having your connections,” Henry said snidely.
Scarlett let the comment pass instead of calling him out because she needed him.
“Will you do it? Meet with Wynn and the Rylon people at ten tomorrow at their studio? I’ll read over the contracts and then forward them to you.”
Henry waited a long moment before replying, “I’ll do it on one condition.”
“Name it.”
“I want Wynn Gallagher as my client. Not yours. I will be his attorney of record.”
Leave it to Henry to try and turn a situation to his advantage, especially when it involved a client of the magnitude of Wynn. At most law firms, this kind of unethical conduct wouldn’t be tolerated. Entertainment law, though, was known for being dog-eat-dog in the legal world and attorneys within firms often undermined one another as they fought for control of lucrative or prestigious clients. The situation was magnified by the fact that Henry served as managing partner for Lymon McGraw. As the very person who was to supposed to prevent disruptive conflicts and maintain stability, he should be promoting harmony within the partners. His jealousy of her, though, and the perceived favoritism he thought she received from the old man, blinded him. Henry would do whatever it took to undermine her and make himself come out on top.
“No, Henry. This is just a one-off. I brought Wynn Gallagher into Lymon McGraw. He’s agreed to another Lymon attorney handling tomorrow’s signing but you know he can veto a permanent move. He’s touchy. Your father
