Read Beck: Hollywood Hitman Online

Authors: Maggie Marr

Tags: #hollywood, #Organized Crime, #contemporary romance, #glamour, #hitman, #movie star, #Kidnapping, #hero

Beck: Hollywood Hitman (11 page)

BOOK: Beck: Hollywood Hitman
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He reached for his phone.

Fuck.

His relief operative was here. Had to be. What a clusterfuck. Of course the operative hadn’t been in Natalie’s room, but whoever Remi had sent would know, how could they not? Beck always met his relief downstairs and went over operations prior to hitting the sack for a solid eight.

“I have to go,” he whispered, and placed a kiss on Natalie’s forehead. She stirred but her eyes didn’t open.

Beck pulled on his jeans and T-shirt and slipped out of Natalie’s room. He’d done what he’d done. He wouldn’t hide what had happened, but he didn’t want to come clean to one of his fellow operatives. A conversation with Remi would be better than letting a rumor mill spin.

Down the upstairs hallway and stairs toward the front door. Jax walked through the foyer. Was this his first or second circle through the house?

“Hey,” Beck called. Jax glanced at him and raised a brow. “I thought Dex was my relief tonight.”

“You got me. Dex pulled an assignment.” Jax stood in the center of the foyer, his feet apart and his arms crossed. “Not such a brilliant plan to sleep with the client.”

Heat simmered through Beck’s gut, but no muscles moved in his face. He knew guys like Jax. Guys who were bad news, guys itching for a fight, guys who’d done time. He wouldn’t get pulled into Jax’s drama no matter what he said or what he thought he knew.

“You do your job and I’ll do mine.”

“No problem. But hey, maybe they trained you different in spook school. Me? I just got the hard-knocks common sense training.” Jax slid his gaze toward Beck as if daring him to get riled. He lifted a picture of Natalie from the center foyer table. Last year at the Oscars in an evening gown cut to the small of her back. A low wolf whistle over Jax’s lips. He glanced at Beck. “Guess she’s as good a reason as any to take a fall.”

“Nothing new to report. House was secure upon entry. I’ll be in my room for my eight.” Beck started to climb the stairs. He glanced over his shoulder. Jax wasn’t the type of guy he wanted knowing anything about his life.

“Last perimeter check, before my watch?” Jax called up the stairs.

Beck stopped. “Twenty-two hundred hours,” he said without flinching. Basically admitting that for the last two hours he’d been otherwise occupied.

“Just completed one now. Everything looks secure.”

Beck hesitated. “Thanks.” Jax pulled down the shades in the living room. Beck walked down the hallway. He stopped in front of Natalie’s door.

He could go in. He could sleep next to that warm, luscious body. Spend the night with Natalie wrapped in his arms. No. Not now, not tonight. He’d broken enough rules tonight to get his ass canned.

***

She was alone. She’d felt him leave her bed, kiss her, and then open the door. She wanted him back. She wanted his solid body beside her, his arms with their vise-like grip around her, his eyes that seemed to see right through her, staring at her.
Come back to me
, she wanted to yell through her closed bedroom door, but didn’t. She wanted Beck in her bed, holding her, safe and close to the wall of muscle that was his body. Safe. Alive. Cared for.

She’d asked enough of Beck tonight, perhaps too much. He held himself with an honor, a pride, a deep moral compass, and she’d caused him to sway from what he thought was right. His eyes, before she’d kissed him, before he’d carried her upstairs and made her his—she’d seen the conflict in his eyes when she’d asked him to take her to bed. She was too weak to pull away from him and he’d been swept up in the heat of their desires.

She wouldn’t again ask him to brush aside his responsibilities, to ignore his moral compass—she cared for him, wanted him because of both. She couldn’t do that to Beck. She’d learned show to be selfish from the best of them, hadn’t she? One look at Gary and Mona and you had to know that her family was one selfish crew.

Her phone buzzed. Beck? Maybe a good-night text? Or maybe him explaining why he couldn’t come back to her room? Hell, she’d take a smiley face emoji with kissy lips at this point.

She grabbed her phone from her nightstand.

Her heart jolted. She didn’t have to answer. Nothing required that she type out a reply . . . except a long-ago past that had lasted close to five years and been her first true love.

Why now? Almost like Rico
knew
through some sick sixth sense that she’d found a person in Beck that she could care for and—God willing—trust.

A desire to bolt from bed and rush into Beck’s room throbbed through Natalie. To show him the text and crawl into Beck’s arms. To have Beck and the rest of Estrella’s security team take care of the mess left over from her long-ago love affair with Rico. With Beck in her life, Natalie never had to deal with her past or face anything or anyone she didn’t want to again.

But Natalie wasn’t a coward. She’d made her own messes. She’d never been a helpless damsel in distress and she wouldn’t start now.

I need to see you.

Natalie stared at Rico’s words. Did she need to see him? Need wasn’t the right word . . .

When can we meet?

When could they meet? Anytime, really. She didn’t need permission from the Studio or Ari or even Beck to meet with Rico. She was a grown woman and this was her life.

But did she want to meet with Rico? She hadn’t wanted to see him when he’d called. She hadn’t wanted to see him going on two years . . . why? Maybe it was all the work in therapy, maybe it was growing up, maybe it was finally understanding that she’d been trying to fill a horrible hole that still existed in her soul and would always exist, with a really bad dude and some pretty bad behavior. The empty feeling was still there, but she was definitely trying—God, she was trying—to find more positive ways to fill the hole and quell the pain.

The cursor blinked on her phone. Deep breath. Yes or no . . .

Natalie typed out a reply.
Text me tomorrow.

A nonresponse response. Maybe she’d meet Rico. Maybe he simply needed closure like he’d said. Maybe she owed him that so he could move on with his life and recovery just as she’d moved on with hers.

Or maybe like everyone else who inhabited Natalie’s life, Rico wanted something from her.

The bedroom door opened. Natalie placed her phone on her bedside table. Her gaze swept to Beck. Like a warrior, strong, silent, and still, Beck stood in the doorway, his face shadowed.

“Come to bed,” Natalie said. “I want you with me.”

Without hesitation he moved to her and slid into her bed. Beck wrapped his arms around her, pulled her close, and made their two broken halves a whole.

 

Chapter Fourteen

 

The sun beat down on the black asphalt. Natalie had been on the soundstage for the last half hour with her director. They walked through the new set being built for the next
Shemax
film. She skirted behind Soundstage 12 with Beck beside her. She had fifteen minutes to get across the lot and to the Albright Productions bungalow. Sure, she could take a golf cart, but that felt lazy.

She grasped Beck’s fingertips and flashed him a smile. A sizzle of heat flew through her body with that tiny touch. Her smile grew. Damn, he simply made her happy. He was big and strong and honest and all the things she’d never before experienced with a man.

“Hey, Nat!” She turned to her left. A stocky guy in a polo shirt and khaki pants walked toward them.

“This guy gives me the creeps.”

Beck immediately looked toward the guy. “Who is he?”

“Producer. Couple small films. One just hit big and he got an overall deal on the lot. He just . . .” Natalie shook her head. “I don’t know what it is, he just makes me uncomfortable.”

“You can’t discount that feeling. That little voice. Your intuition. Those things prevent trouble before trouble happens.”

“God, total opposite of what I was taught as a kid. I was supposed to be super-nice and sweet to everyone no matter how uncomfortable they made me feel.” Natalie shivered.

Beck reached out and placed his hand on her arm. She lifted his sunglasses so she could see those gorgeous blue eyes that she felt so connected to. She dropped her voice. “I love that you hear what I’m telling you. That you actually listen to me.”

A soft smile rolled over Beck’s face. “It’s good to feel heard.”

“Hey, wow, so what’s going on here?”

Natalie spun toward the creepy guy who now stood too close to her. “Stephan, hey. This is Beck, my security.”

“Security? Whoa! Wow! Had no idea from the way you were giving him the eye-fuck—thought it was much more than just security.” Stephan licked his lips and Natalie crossed her arms over her chest in an attempt to force him to stop staring at her breasts.

“Did you just use the term eye-fuck in a sentence?”

“Did you want me to talk about another kind of fucking?” He moved toward Natalie and was way into her personal space.

“Dude, you are way too close—”

“I could get closer.” He nudged in and was now actually touching her.

“Sir, excuse me, Natalie would like for you to give her a little space—”

“Who the fuck are you?” Stephan whipped around and had his finger on Beck’s chest. “You’re the hired help, buddy.” His voice grew loud. People walking between sets turned toward them and paused. “Do you have any idea who I am?”

“Did you really just
say
that?” Natalie asked, and rolled her eyes toward the sky. “Stephan, I have to get to Albright Productions—

“Nat, babe—” He grabbed her arm.

“Let g—”

Before the words came from her lips, Beck had Stephan pressed against the soundstage wall with one of his arms pinned behind his back.

“The lady said to give her some space. You just grabbed her.”

“Dude, you are so fucked when you let go of me.”

“Really? Because I think when I tell the head of the studio that you’re manhandling his biggest star on his soon-to-be biggest film franchise that you, Stephan, will be the one who’s fucked.” Beck released Stephan, who immediately turned around and started backing away.

“Nat, your guy is a fucking guerilla . This isn’t over, okay?” Stephan winked at Natalie. “I know we’re still friends.”

A chill ran down her spine.

“But that guy?” Stephan pointed to Beck. “He’s absolutely got to go. You’ll hear from me and my people.” He grasped his collar and tugged. Stephan turned toward the administration building.

Yeah, she was pretty certain she would.

***

After her meeting at Albright Productions, they returned to the house, they both changed and headed out for a run. Beck’s late afternoon workout and run happened with Natalie now. A way for the two of them to escape the cameras in the house and spend time alone. Sure, there was always the possibility of a photographer at Runyon Canyon, but they kept a pretty good pace and tried to mix up their arrival times.

Natalie crested the hill, both of them panting, and stopped. She held her hands over her head and walked a tight circle. The sun set over the Pacific in the distance and the sky lit up pink and purple.

“Ran intel on that guy from today. Remi is on it.”

Natalie nodded. She was still catching her breath. Good. Beck wanted her in shape. Wanted her able to take care of herself.

“How long have we been together now?” she finally panted out.

“Together?” Beck asked.

“Sleeping together?”

“Three weeks and two days,” Beck said. “Why?”

“Think we could talk?”

Beck nodded. Shit. The last thing he really wanted to do was talk. Talking would eventually lead to Marisol, he was certain. Her death. His lack of memories. The fact that he hadn’t kept her safe.

“I . . .” Natalie looked out toward the horizon and the sunset and the bright colors in the sky. “I’m not very good at relationships. I don’t pick men well and I tend to get really serious really fast.”

Beck’s heart thumped in his chest, and not because of the exercise.

“I feel like this, between us, is different. That you’re different. You’re not my typical guy.”

Beck nodded.

“Beck, you’ve got to say something.”

Talking wasn’t his strength. Action was what he was good at. Taking care of people keeping them safe, his heart suddenly hurt . . . he hadn’t been very good at what he was supposed to be good at with Marisol.

“I know you can’t tell me about everything in your past.” Her eyes latched on to his “But can you tell me about Marisol?”

He stepped back, hands on hips. His brows furrowed above his eyes. “How do you know about—”

“You say her name in your sleep.”

His chest tightened. He shook his head and took a deep breath. Damn, that had to suck for Natalie. He sure as hell wouldn’t love it if she said Rico’s name over and over again while she slept.

Beck stared toward the ocean. To speak of Marisol, when he still didn’t know, still couldn’t remember . . . the details were absent from his mind and yet talking about her felt somehow like a betrayal.

“We . . . she was my best friend’s sister when I was growing up. One of the last places I called home. I mean, I grew up everywhere, right? But she and Andreas, they were like family.”

A glimmer of pain slid through Natalie’s gaze. “So . . . you two are serious?”

Beck shook his head. “No . . . yes . . . we were once upon a time.” He turned back to the horizon and then looked at Natalie. “Her brother got into some bad shit. I was sent to try and . . . try and figure out what he was doing and how he was doing it and Marisol and I . . . we reconnected and—”

“You fell in love.”

Had he been in love? Yeah . . . his heart hurt like he had. The anger raged like he had. The loss of her when he’d first woke up at MT-55 felt like he had.

“Yes,” Beck whispered. “We were in love.”

Natalie stood and kicked a rock over the edge of the trail. “I wish you would’ve told me you were involved . . . I thought you were different. I didn’t think you’d do that sort of thing, cheat on a woman you loved.”

“It’s not like that.”

“Oh, it’s not? You’re on assignment and you see the poor girl who is really hard up and comes on to you and you simply don’t tell her that you’re in love and involved with another woman?”

BOOK: Beck: Hollywood Hitman
13.05Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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