Dragonswan.doc by Unknown Read Free Book Online

of getting along with
    each other given the things they'd said behind each other's backs to Aidan. "I don't understand. Why
    would they do this?"
    Aidan led her away from the house, through the storm, until they were again inside his cabin. He went to
    the desk she'd seen just inside his living room. It was a tall, Colonial-style writing desk, complete with
    leaves and Chippendale trim.
    Without a word, he opened a drawer and pulled out a folded sheet of paper. His gaze was dark as he
    handed to her.
    Unfolding it, Leta glanced over the list of names. Some had marks through them while others were
    marked with stars. "What's this?"
    "Donnie's list. He'd gone through all my contacts and friends, systematically trying to befriend them. He
    kept telling me that I had to pay him whatever he wanted because if I didn't, he'd ruin me since all of my
    friends were now his. 'They'll believe me over you anytime,'" Aidan mocked in what must have been his
    brother's voice.
    Leta was aghast. "You've got to be kidding me."
    "Trust me, I'm not that creative. Everyone from my agent to my banker is on that list. The names with
    marks through them are the friends he couldn't convert with his lies."
    "What happened to them?"
    "Donnie and Heather ran them out of my life without my even knowing it. I was off on a trip making my
    last movie when he ousted my booking manager. Richard had been with me since the very beginning.
    Apparently something had happened between them and Donnie fired him and threw him out of my house
    and office. I didn't even find out about it until I'd gotten back weeks after the fact."
    "Did you call Richard?"
    "I started to when word got back to me of the lies he was then spouting about me to my so-called
    friends. It wasn't until later that I realized it was Ronald's girlfriend who, at Ronald's behest, was playing
    as everyone's friend, and she'd goaded Richard into it. She was moving between everyone, spreading
    crap just to watch all of us fight."
    "Why would she do that?"
    He sighed wearily. "I've asked myself that a thousand times over and I'm no closer to an answer now
    than I was when it began. I think that's why I always loved movies so much. In a movie, everything has to
    make sense. The characters always have to have motivation. Good, solid motivation for everything they
    do. They can't be a dickhead without reason. If someone turns on a character, they have to have a
    hardcore, believable reason for it. Unfortunately, in real life you don't. People turn on each other for
    anything from catching a constipated look on your face when you had gas and thinking it was directed at
    them, to not liking the brand of shoes you're wearing. People are sick."
    Leta glanced down at the list of names in her hand. She couldn't believe anyone would be so cold. So
    conniving. Surely there was more to it than what Aidan was telling her.
    Wasn't there?
    Surely he'd done something to deserve it. Yet as she used her powers to look over the situation, she
    realized that he hadn't. Unlike his brother and nephew, he'd been giving to a fault. Loving to a fault.
    Unfortunately, he'd given his love and trust to the wrong people.
    "The simplest reason," Aidan continued, "is my brother was jealous. He wanted to have my life and he
    did everything he could to take it. He got Heather on his side and into his bed. Then for a time he'd
    wooed my fans, even though he kept stirring them up and had them turning on each other more times than
    he didn't. For whatever reason, he thought he could use them to blackmail or steal my money from me.
    What he forgot was that I didn't get to where I am by being afraid to stand up for myself. More than that,
    he wasn't the first person to try and ruin me and I doubt he'll be the last. But I am still standing and it's
    going to take a lot more than his crap-ass lies to knock me down."
    Leta wanted to weep at the conviction she felt inside him. At the raw pain. She didn't know where it
    came from, but admiration