ANNA WISHED SHE WAS as good as John was at words—at anything, really. The only thing she’d been good at was telling people what to do on movie sets, and it wasn’t a talent that had a lot of applicability to interpersonal relationships or even functioning like a human.

John swore under his breath. He looked nervous. She wiped her eyes.

“Look,” John said. “I got something for you too.” He set the paper down and passed her a slim rectangular box, but for the life of her, she had no idea what it was.

She held it in her lap in the dim light of the movie theater. “Cool, thanks.”

John ran a hand through his hair. “It’s an external hard drive.”

“You got me a memory-storage thing?” Anna laughed, but she wasn’t even sure why. “I’m sure I can back up something—”

“It’s your movie.”

“What are you saying?” Anna stared at him, gripping the box. Her heart beat rapidly, and she couldn’t really comprehend, couldn’t force her brain to understand what he was saying. “Say it in words.”

“I made a deal, and I got your movie back from Remington. That’s all the footage.”

“You got me my movie,” Anna said, repeating his words, but still not quite believing. No one had ever done anything like that for her. She stared at the box in her lap, such a small thing that meant so much.

“To be clear, we are talking about the vampire movie we made in Rome.”

“No one has ever...”

“I got you the masters, so it hasn’t been edited, but maybe we can get money for post.”

“No one has done this for me. Ever.” Did he understand what this meant? She’d never felt so at home in the world as she did with John at this moment, sitting in this darkened theater. “I love every movie I make, even this one.”

John smiled his smile that was just for her. “I know.”

“I mean, I love this ridiculous movie.” She gripped the little box, as if it were a precious artifact. “We worked so hard on it, and I really like it, fake blood and all.”

John chuckled.

“That’s my secret,” Anna said, emotions she didn’t understand spilling out. “I even liked Last Night in Cincinnati and Here We Go!”

“I know, Anna.” John shrugged. “You only have one mode, and that’s all or nothing. I saw those other movies too. You’ve never made a bad movie in your life. You just aren’t always given much to work with. Sitting on your lap is the best vampire B-movie ever made, and I can’t wait to see it when it’s done.”

Her mind spun, trying to understand how he had done this, unraveling the complex deal between Tom, the studio, and Dan. “Are you good at blackmail too?”