Page 114 of Dance with Me
She moaned and clutched his shirt. “Don’t start shit you can’t finish.”
Dimitri glanced at the desk again. Fuck it.
“Get on the desk,” he said.
Her eyes lit up, and she obeyed, perching her ass on the edge.
He left her side only long enough to lock the door.
48
The look on Donna’s face made up for all the stress Natasha had endured over the past few weeks. The whites of her eyes were visible all around, and her lips parted when her jaw fell slack. She blinked hard and gave her head a little shake. “I’m sorry, what?”
Pressing her lips together to hold back a smile, Natasha repeated the words she’d been itching to say. “I quit.”
God, that felt so fucking good. It took all her control not to add “pendeja” to the end, but losing her temper might screw up Penelope’s plans for getting her out of her contract.
“No.” Donna scowled. “You can’tquit.”
Penelope cut in. “The way you’ve treated Natasha falls under harassment, and she’s the second client of mine you’ve harassed in the past few months. Don’t think I’ve forgotten what you did to Gina.” Penelope consulted her tablet. “In this case, we have threats, showing up at my client’s place of residence—”
“Hold on.” Donna leaned over her desk and held up a finger. “Technically, I encountered Natasha at a different cast member’s residence.” Her voice was forceful, but her eyes showed fear.
Penelope shook her head. “Doesn’t matter. Natasha was currently residing there. And this was after you’d first gone to her home address and didn’t find her there, which could constitute stalking.”
“Stalking?”Donna fell back in her chair. “I wasn’t stalking her. I’d heard she was injured.”
“There’s a thing called a phone. And when you didn’t find her, you then tracked her down. Suspicious. Were you working on your own or under orders from your higher ups?” Penelope sent Donna a bland smile. “Just want to see who will be involved in the lawsuit.”
Donna’s eyes went wide, then her brows snapped down. She met Natasha’s gaze with an angry glare. “This isn’t necessary. You want to date the hot judge? Fine. Just keep it quiet, and you can stay on the show.”
Natasha smiled. “I do want to date Dimitri, but I don’t want to hide it. And I don’t want to stay. Oh, and neither does he.”
Donna’s olive complexion paled. “You’re both quitting?”
Nodding, Natasha folded her hands in her lap. Check and mate. “Your behavior in this meeting will determine how Dimitri breaks the news to Muriel.”
Donna licked her lips, a sign of nerves. “Natasha, they’ll kill me if we lose Gina, you,andDimitri before the next season. We’re only a few weeks out, and Kevin—” She snapped her mouth shut.
Ignoring the comment about Kevin—she’d ask him about it later—Natasha leaned forward in her chair, pinning Donna with a hard look. “You want me to stay. Why? So you can sabotage my relationship with Dimitri by pairing me with Rocky Lim?”
The expression on Donna’s face said it all. Natasha sat back.
“Yeah, I heard about Rocky. You’re not as slick as you like to think.”
Penelope got to her feet and slipped her purse strap over her shoulder. “Well, I think we’re done here. Donna, you’ll accept Natasha’s resignation?”
Staring at her desk, Donna nodded. Penelope left the tiny office.
Natasha stood, then hesitated. Donna looked pitiful, but it was her own doing. She couldn’t resist a parting shot. “You don’t have to be as awful as you are.”
Donna didn’t move, but her gaze lifted to meet Natasha’s. “Actually, I do,” she said in a hollow voice. “Don’t you understand this industry at all?”
All too well. “Bye, Donna. It’s been real.” She turned to leave. She was halfway out the door when Donna spoke again.
“You could’ve won this season.”
Natasha turned back. “You can’t know that.”
