Happily Ever After: (A Cinder & Ella Novel) Read online

  I didn’t want to be a douche, but I was pissed at my dad. He’d basically exploited his connection with Ella to get in good with the New Gate people. I wasn’t surprised. My father is as Hollywood as a person can get. He’s always working every angle. But I was still pissed.

  “Oh, Brian.” Dad sighed playfully and then grinned at his company as if he considered me a silly little boy whose antics he found amusing. “Always so skeptical and reclusive. You really should loosen up a little. You’d get further in this business if you weren’t always so rigid.”

  I gave him my million-dollar fake smile. “It’s a cutthroat industry, Dad. We all know that. I just don’t appreciate being worked over by my own father, and I’m not about to let Ella get taken advantage of. I also value my privacy. What little I have left.”

  Dad backed off. For all that he was, he wasn’t an idiot, and he knew he was pushing my buttons. “All right, all right. You kids go do your thing.” He turned his smarmy smile on Ella and leaned in close to stage whisper in her ear. “You make sure to help him relax a bit during the movie, eh? He’s always so cranky.”

  Good grief. I hoped Ella didn’t see that for the sexual suggestion that it was.

  Ella kept her smile up like a pro. “Really? That’s odd. He’s never cranky with me.” She shrugged. “Must just be you.”

  I choked on a laugh. She’d just insulted him to his face but had delivered it with so much innocence he was forced to play along. I’d never been so proud of the woman in all my life.

  “Hmm.” Dad’s smile tightened. “Perhaps you’re right. But you know how fathers and sons can be.”

  “Of course.” She shot him a sweet smile and an innocent bat of her eyelashes. “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure he has a good time today. And we’ll be there for dinner. Promise.”

  Dad’s tension eased. “Great.” He gripped her hand and held up his phone when she tried to walk away. “How about a picture before you guys disappear? A picture with the mysterious Ella will give me all kinds of street cred with the younger crowd, which I could really use if I’m going to be directing a video game adaptation.” He laughed boisterously and winked at her. “Plus, I need proof for Brian’s mother that I’m being a good father and paying attention to my son and his new girlfriend.”

  “Dad.”

  “It’s true.” He shot me a pout. “She’s sent me a dozen warning texts this week about Christmas being the time for family and that I needed to put in an effort with the two of you.”

  I groaned. He probably wasn’t lying about that. “Fine. If it’ll make Mom happy.”

  Dad handed his phone to Maya, who was—no surprise—more than willing to take the picture that would get her client even more exposure. Then, he squished in close enough to Ella that I almost punched him and slid his arm low enough around her waist that her eyes bulged.

  “Dad,” I growled.

  The douche had the nerve to chuckle as he kissed her cheek and let her go. “Thank you, love. We’ll see you guys in there. I look forward to meeting your family, so make sure to introduce them at some point.”

  When I started dragging Ella away, she seemed more than ready to go. It wasn’t until we were sitting in the theater that she leaned over and whispered, “I think your dad grazed my butt on purpose when he put his arm around me.”

  And that was it. Things went red. I stood, with every intent to go kick my father’s sleazy ass, but Ella yanked me back down. “Chill. There’s no need to go all Druid Prince on him. Just, next time, you get to stand beside him for the pictures.”

  Whatever combination of curses I grumbled made Ella burst out laughing. I took a deep breath. If she was fine and laughing about it, then I didn’t need to go make a spectacle of myself by punching out my father in public. But I wanted to. “I’m sorry. There’s really no excuse for him.”

  “Hey, at least he seems to like me, right?”

  She was teasing, but that was not funny. She didn’t realize my dad would have no problems trying to get my girlfriends into bed if he thought he could manage it. She’d be no exception.

  I tipped my head back and groaned as I scrubbed my face with my hands. “Not funny, woman. Do me a favor, and keep your distance from him, if you can. Please? In fact, let’s keep him as far away from your family as possible, too. Especially your stepsisters. Your dad hates me enough as it is. He’d lose his shit if my father hit on the twins.”

  Ella sighed but smiled and leaned her head on my shoulder. I lifted the armrest between us, and she snuggled in close, instantly relaxing all of my muscles. I let out another long breath and leaned my head on top of hers.

  “What a week we’ve had, huh?” she asked. Her voice got softer, as if matching the sudden shift in mood.

  I squeezed her gently and kissed the top of her head. “I wish I could tell you it won’t always be like this, but my life is a three-ring circus, and you’ve just signed on to star as the main attraction.”

  “As long as they get someone awesome to play me in the movie,” she teased, surprising me with her light response to the situation. “Oh, and your dad is so not allowed to direct it. Sorry. Just, no.”

  “Deal. Thanks to your glowing recommendation, he’ll be too busy making Drive Hard anyway.”

  Ella laughed again, and this time I laughed with her.

  Watching the movie after having spent most of the last week with Brian made it a little hard to see Cinder up on the screen instead of Brian, and it was really weird to watch Juliette swoon over my boyfriend. It was still fun, though.

  I was surprisingly not jealous at all that someone in the audience hooted and hollered when Cinder took his shirt off or when I had to watch the kissing scenes between both Cinder and Ellamara and him and Ratana. Though, admittedly, the scenes with him and Kaylee Summers were harder to stomach than the other ones. But that was just because I hated her. Not because of Brian’s job.

  I was relieved to see that that part of his job wasn’t going to bother me. I’d known going in that this was all just acting, but I’d still wondered if it would upset me. It didn’t. It was impossible to be jealous when I knew how much Brian loved me. Knowing what he really thought about Kaylee helped, too. But, again, that could have just been my petty side speaking.

  Max had been true to his word, and the guest list was small. Though he’d bought out the whole 4:30 showing, only a third of the seats were filled. None of the other cast members were there—thank heavens Max had enough sense not to invite Kaylee—but a couple of the guests were very recognizable from other films. I was surprised to see Susanna Salazar, a very popular teen pop music star, there. I guessed her parents were friends with Max.

  After introducing herself to me and saying hi to Brian—whom she was obviously very familiar with already—she was surprisingly interested in talking to Juliette and Ana. When I asked Brian about it, he explained that it was hard for famous teens to meet other people their own age. Susanna was probably starved for attention from girls her own age who wouldn’t just fangirl on her. And thanks to Brian’s presence over the past week, the twins weren’t as affected by celebrities anymore. As soon as Susanna realized Ana and Juliette would be cool, she clung to them as if they were her new best friends.

  By some small miracle, Max and my family managed to meet without the world coming to an end. Oh, I was sure my father would have plenty to say about Max’s date once they got home, but Max managed not to hit on any of the Coleman women, and my father didn’t tell him I was too good for his son, so I considered it a win.

  Overall, things were great—until we all left the theater. Word had spread during the movie that Brian and I were here. We didn’t think anything of the completely packed complex—Christmas Day was always a big day for the movies, after all. And when the fans lined up in the lobby waiting to get into the next couple of showings started screaming and shouting at us, it seemed normal enough.

  Brian and I waved and said hello, smiled for a few pictures, and told them we hoped th
ey enjoyed the movie as we walked past them. That was no big deal. I could handle that. But as we made our way across the lobby, the theater manager stopped our whole party. “Forgive me, Mr. Oliver,” the man said to Max, forcing a nervous smile, “but word has gotten out somehow about your party being here. I’m afraid we’ve had to call in police for crowd control.”

  “Oh.” Max paused, as if surprised, and glanced outside the front doors, where a huge crowd had gathered. After taking in the situation, he smiled again and patted the guy’s shoulder. “Thank you for the heads-up. Most of us have parked with the valet. Will they still be able to bring our cars around?”

  The manager sagged in relief to see that Max wasn’t upset and blaming him for the leak to the press. “Oh, yes, of course,” he gushed. “You may have to wait a few minutes longer than normal, but the police will be able to get you safely out.”

  None of the unrecognizable people had anything to worry about and left after a few quick good-byes. The few other celebrities in the party waited inside with us after handing their valet slips to the manager, but they all seemed rather blasé about the chaos.

  “How come they aren’t upset?” I whispered to Brian.

  Brian certainly looked concerned, but when he glanced at the other famous people, he shrugged. “They probably expected it. With so many of us in one place, people were bound to notice. I’m the idiot for not realizing Dad would have invited other celebs. When he promised me a small, low-key guest list, I naively thought it would just be us and a few of his closest non-famous friends.”

  Brian shot an annoyed glare at his father, who was laughing with Susanna’s parents. And she looked thrilled to have the attention. She was grinning as she greeted fans in the lobby and posed for pictures while she waited for the valet to bring her car around.

  Cell phone flashes were going off like crazy in the crowded lobby, and outside the front doors to the theater, it looked like last week’s premiere all over again, minus the red carpet. My stomach churned. “Will we be safe?” I asked. I hated to sound worried. I wanted to be strong and prove to Brian that I could handle his world, but memories of being swarmed at FantasyCon and having to be carried to safety by Brian made my body shake with anxiety.

  Brian’s jaw clenched at my question. His brooding scowl turned impossibly darker. He was really not happy.

  I felt terrible. I knew Brian was only upset right now for my sake. He was used to this kind of thing. Without me, he’d probably be as blasé as the other celebrities, instead of seconds away from punching someone.

  “It’s a short walk from here to the valet stand, and the police are here. They’ll keep you safe,” he promised.

  My dad was hovering closely enough to overhear Brian’s promise. He looked as angry as Brian, only his anger was not directed at Max. “She had better be safe,” he grumbled.

  When Brian returned his glare, I gripped Brian’s arm to hold him back and keep him calm. Now was not the time for the two of them to butt heads again. “Brian! Dad! Both of you, calm down,” I hissed. “Fighting about it is not going to make things any better. Worry about it after we’re all home.”

  The warning seemed to put them both in check, and the tension eased up a little. Brian’s phone rang, and he glanced at the display as if he didn’t plan to answer it, but when he read the name on the screen, he frowned and put it to his head. “Hey Scotty, what’s up?”

  He ducked his head and plugged one ear so he could hear whatever his assistant was telling him. While they talked, I turned to my dad. He—along with the rest of my family—was standing there taking in the spectacle around us with a stunned expression. “Dad, I’m sorry. Max promised us low-key. We’re not sure how—”

  “Brian’s dad posted about it on Instagram,” Juliette said, holding out her phone. “It’s all over the Internet. Ana and I started getting texts from kids at school before the movie started, asking if we were with you guys.”

  “What?” Brian gasped, whirling toward Juliette with wide eyes.

  Juliette frowned at his incredulous expression and held out her phone for us to see. Sure enough, Max had posted the picture he’d taken before the movie with Brian and me on his Instagram feed. It wouldn’t have been a problem, except in the caption he mentioned the name of the theater we were at and the showtime of the movie. When Brian read that, he sucked in a sharp breath and started trembling with rage.

  “It’s okay, Brian.”

  “No, it’s not,” he growled. “It was bad enough that he ambushed you before the movie with his agent and those producers, but to pull this shit on us just to get more publicity? DAD!”

  Max shook the hand of another of his guests and then floated over to us, looking completely serene. Brian held up Juliette’s phone to Max and glared so hard his face turned bright red. “Are you kidding me with this?” he hissed.

  Max frowned. “What? I told you I was going to post the picture.”

  “I don’t care about the picture. You posted our location. You planned this all along.” He waved toward the mob outside. “This is the whole reason you even invited us today, isn’t it?”

  Max rolled his eyes. “Of course not. I invited you because you’re my son. And I didn’t plan this; don’t be so dramatic. I just wasn’t thinking when I posted the picture. I don’t have the same problem with fans that you do.”

  Brian scoffed.

  I didn’t believe Max, either.

  “It’s not that bad,” Max said, giving up his attempt at innocence after seeing our disbelief.

  I glanced outside at the crowd again. Susanna’s car had just pulled up to the valet, and when she and her parents left the theater, the roar of noise outside was so loud Ana and Juliette exchanged nervous glances and moved closer to Dad and Jennifer.

  Max winced at the noise and shook his head at Brian and me. “You’ll only be outside for a minute, and that’s totally worth what this is going to do for ticket sales. You should really stay for a little while and take advantage of this opportunity. You and Ella haven’t made a public appearance since the premiere. For the two of you to come surprise the fans on opening day is amazing publicity. The media will love it.”

  Brian shut his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. He let out a breath and shook his head as he tried to calm down. “You’re unbelievable, Dad. You know what? Forget dinner tonight. We’re not coming. I’m not, anyway. I suppose Ella can, if she wants, but I doubt she does after the way you’ve just spent the afternoon exploiting her for your own gain.”

  I shook my head. “Not really. My family wanted us to have dinner with them anyway.” I looked to my dad and Jennifer. “You guys don’t mind if we join you, right?”

  “Of course not,” Jennifer said.

  “What?” Max looked genuinely offended. “You guys don’t have to bail on me. Ella, honey, Brian’s just being overly sensitive. I swear I didn’t—”

  “The New Gate people, Dad?” Brian asked. “Seriously? You’re going to tell me you didn’t invite them today just because they wanted an in with Ella, and you wanted the Drive Hard deal?”

  Max groaned. “I didn’t mean any harm. I thought she’d be excited by their offer, and what else could I do? They were already in talks with Ridge Davies when I contacted them about the project.” He pointed his pout in my direction. “Ella, sweetheart, I’m sorry if that upset you. That wasn’t my intention. And I can’t thank you enough for that wonderful endorsement. I don’t think you realize how much pull you have in the industry now. I really wasn’t their first choice for the film. If I get the contract, it’ll be because of you.”

  “Glad I could help,” I said drily.

  I wasn’t as pissed as Brian was. From what Brian had told me about his father, I wasn’t all that surprised. But I was upset on Brian’s behalf. He was making a big deal out of it for my benefit, but I also knew it was bothering him a lot more than he would admit to anyone. I can’t imagine how it would feel to be used for my fame by my own parent.

&nb
sp; Ignoring my sarcasm, Max rolled his eyes at Brian again and held his elbow out in an offering for me to take. “Well, there’s no use crying over it. What’s done is done. You may as well go mingle with your fans while you wait for your ride.”

  When Brian’s whole body tensed again, I gripped his arm tighter and pulled him close to me. “Actually, we’ll wait here with my family. They aren’t used to this type of thing.”

  Max frowned, looking at my family as if just realizing they were still there. He immediately flipped into smarmy mode, but before he could say something to my father that would surely piss him off, Dad shook his head and said, “There’s no need to wait with us, Ella. Our cars are here, and your public is waiting. You and your boyfriend can go mingle with your fans.”

  I was so shocked—and hurt—by his disdain that I couldn’t hold back a snarky reply. It was a miracle I managed to not shout at him. “My boyfriend has a name,” I snapped, gritting my teeth. “And he had nothing to do with any of this. Nor did I. We only came to the theater today because you all wanted to see the movie, and we thought Brian’s father genuinely wanted his son’s company on Christmas. We didn’t mean to be such an inconvenience to you.” Glaring daggers at him, I ground my teeth and shook my head. “Maybe we’ll skip Christmas dinner with you guys, too. You’ve clearly had enough of us and our drama for one day.”

  I tried to give Brian a smirk. “Looks like we should have gone to see your mother in Wisconsin, after all.”

  His face softened at my joke. “I’m sure she’ll call us tomorrow to say I told you so.”

  The half smile he managed was just enough to make me relax. Sighing softly, I took a breath and spoke in a calm voice. “Dad, I’m really sorry about all of this. You guys all go ahead. You’re better off leaving separately anyway. You won’t be recognized that way, and no one will bother you.”

  “Actually,” Brian said, “Juliette and Anastasia should probably come with us.”

  When everyone gaped at Brian, waiting for an explanation, he grimaced. “My assistant called a few minutes ago. He saw the news and said people are talking about them almost as much as Ella.” He shrugged. “They were in Erik Clarke’s video, too, and I guess people are intrigued by the Cinderella’s stepsisters angle.”