While he’s over at the bar refilling the glass, I ask the question that I’ve been dying to ask the whole time. “Speaking of her writing, she is really good. I’ve read things from your other clients that weren’t half as good that you sold. So why haven’t you gotten her something? From what she tells me she’s been working hard to improve, and from what I’ve seen, her writing deserves to be out there. Why have her ghostwriting for someone like me?”
Michael laughs, and the tone of that laugh makes my skin crawl. “She definitely deserves to be published.”
“Then why isn’t she?”
He smirks at me. “Because it’s more beneficial to have her eager and wanting to be published. Do you think she would have agreed to write for you if she had her own publishing schedule?”
I shake my head warily. “No, but that’s all right. I would have made things work.”
“Right,” Michael snorts. “After all the delays, I have total confidence in that.”
“You know what, Michael? You know what’s been going on in my life. It’s not easy. And after ten years of meeting deadlines, I think the world would be okay if I missed one. Lucky for you I have a vested interest in making this deadline. But I want to know the real reason you haven’t sent Erin’s book on sub.”
His eyes turn hard and angry. “Why are you so interested in this?”
“Because you took a chance on me when I was new to the industry, and we both know that my writing was not nearly as polished as hers is now.”
“Fine,” he sighs and sits at his desk heavily, taking a swig of his drink. “You want to know? I’m not convinced she’s dedicated.”
A creeping suspicion crawls into my mind, but I don’t want to believe it. He’s not actually saying that…is he? “What the hell does that mean?”
He smiles, and it’s the worst thing that I’ve ever seen. “Come on, man. You get it. I know you do, you horny old dog."
"Michael," I growl.
"Jesus. Don't get offended. I'm saying she hasn't asked me properly yet. Until she’s desperate enough to get on her knees and beg me to be published with those pretty lips around my cock or bent over my desk, then she’ll be ghost writing. Or re-writing. Whatever the fuck I tell her to do because she does what she’s told.”
Rage fills my chest so fast that it hurts. Because Erin does do what she’s told. But only when it’s because that’s what she wants to do. And her kneeling in submission is the most beautiful fucking thing I’ve ever seen.
But this—this is beyond disgusting. I don’t know when Michael changed and became a creep, but it’s disturbing. Even more disturbing is the thought that maybe he was always this way and I wasn’t paying enough attention to see it.
There’s nothing I can say. It’s only silence in the office, and finally Michael rolls his eyes. “What? It’s not like you didn’t think about fucking her teenage ass the moment you walked in the room. I saw you looking her up and down.”
“I would never hold someone’s dream or career opportunities hostage for sex,” I say quietly. “And I didn’t think that you were the kind of person that would do that either.”
He shrugs. “There are worse things. You’re right, she’s talented. But that’s not enough. You of all people know that this is all about who you know, and until she decides to know me, then she’ll stay where she is. She’s not quite desperate yet enough to offer, but she’ll get there.”
My stomach roils. He’s done this before. That’s clear. And not only that, but he’s making it seem like it’s their idea. I need to get the hell out of here.
Standing, I head for the door.
“Where the hell are you going?”
“Anywhere that’s not here.”
“We’re not finished talking.”
I turn with my hand on the doorknob. “Oh, I think that we are.” I make sure the door slams shut before he can say anything else.
My thoughts are spinning. Michael is a snake. I was either too self-absorbed to see it earlier or he hid it better, but I feel sick having let him so close to my career for so long. How many times has he used my name to woo female writers into being his client only to push them to the edge so they fuck him?
Fucking hell. The minute I turn in this book, he gets a shit ton of money. He’s already gotten a ton of money from the advance. And if the book goes through, he will be entitled to royalties from it forever. I don’t want him getting another cent from me.
I need to call my lawyer and see if he can find any loopholes. Or have them make sure that Michael never has direct contact with me ever again. Maybe there’s some kind of legal action that I can take to get him away from any of his female clients.