The Dirty Dozen: Damsel Edition

by Kay Maree

  “That’s your issue to deal with, not ours,” she smirked.

  What the fuck, was she serious.

  “I’m gonna kill her Kyle,” I voiced getting up out of my chair and leaving the room. I couldn’t be around this woman without wanting to throttle the shit out of her.

  “This is a multimillion-dollar film, any publicity is good publicity,” the woman shouted.

  “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll shut up,” I heard Kyle say right before her office door closed. The instant I heard the click I felt relief. It was like a wave washed over me and dragged it all away.

  “Can you believe the nerve of that woman?” I groaned.

  “That’s Marion for you, she’s been a bitch since forever.

  “It’s like she’s my mother. I rule you; you do not rule me bullshit,” I angrily voiced.

  “You need to calm yourself Callie,” Kyle chirped in. “The fact is, yes we’re duty bound by the contract but now it’s time to sit down and get Finn to come up with a good game plan. There is no doubt we’re attending this event but you’re not walking the red carpet alone. Finn can escort you as a date, undercover of course but no one will know.”

  I swallowed hard; the thought was, well it was kinda genius but also crazy scary. If Finn was with me and this crazy guy tried his shit, then I knew what would happen. We’d already talked about it and while I may have just nodded and allowed his shit, I couldn’t help but feel the pang of heartache. If Finn got shot, or worst killed because of me I’d never be able to deal.

  This event wasn’t his choice it wasn’t even mine but here I was, duty bound to follow movie executives, to conform to their rules, their orders and if I choose to refuse such commands, I paid the ultimate price. Fuck me, why did I get caught up in this shit? I wasn’t one for following rules, I had always been a head strong foolish woman from the moment I entered the glitz and glamour of Hollywood. However as I began to grow up and open my eyes, it started to dawn on me that I might not be a rule follower, I didn’t fit into any particular box but if I didn’t play the game… or pretend to be one of them then I would be executed and thrown out of this industry as quick as I was thrusted into it.

  “Every decision has been made for me. Sign this contract or go to this red-carpet event and smile, don’t eat that and exercise or you’ll get fat. Why should I do all of this for people only want me to look a certain way for them, if it benefits them. They don’t love me for me, they love the mouldered goof obedient woman who’s gonna make them rich cause their movie is a big time hit. I’m sorry Kyle but I am kinda over it and if it means throwing this life away then so be it.”

  “Won’t you miss it?” he asked.

  “Aspects of it, but if it means never having to deal with guy who apparently think it’s ok to purchase sexual robotic toys that have the exact appearance of me than I’d be happy,” I replied.

  “Alright then… this is it. The final red carpet you’ll ever walk.” He smiled. I didn’t think he liked the idea but the smile splitting his face told me something else.

  ***

  “Kyle mentioned you need me for red carpet, what’s going on?”

  “The movie executives wont let me get out of the contract I signed to do the red carpet events so I have no choice but to follow the rules set into place or they’ll throw lawsuits at me and tarnish not only my name but my good girl reputation. I explained to them what’s happening, but they don’t want a bar of it. They want me and they don’t care if sexbot psycho comes after me or not because any promotion is good promotion,” I spewed the whole mumble of crap racing through my head out in one weirdly crazy sentence but I could tell he got what I was saying.

  “What’s the plan?”

  “That’s why I need you, beside me on the red carpet. They don’t allow security details to follow me not when there is that many paparazzi there and they want their multimillions at the box office. So far, I’ve never had a movie that’s been a flop so I understand their point of view but I am not in the mood for this shit, I thought I was ok staying here tucked away in my own home but apparently taking to hiding is no longer an option. I am bound by duty,” I groaned.

  “So be it, I am but your humble servant,” he jokingly remarked.

  “This isn’t a date, you’re still on the job,” I grit out between a smile. I was trying so hard to not just lean over and lock lips with this guy. I’d already kissed this guy once in the heat of the moment and I knew that couldn’t happen again because it was so gonna lead to more. It was time to walk away from the conversation.

  “You will obey,” he called out.

  “You’d like that wouldn’t you. A submissive girl on your arm as you walk a red carpet?” I cheekily smirked.

  “You’re the damsel in distress,” he said.

  “Shut up,” I jokingly scolded.

  I would obey every command put before me, but it didn’t mean I would like the decision that was so graciously made without even a second thought as to my feelings. I’d obey for now, but this was it. The final red-carpet event….

  Chapter Thirteen

  Callie

  One Year Later

  “You’re looking beautiful tonight.”

  “Thank you,” I said with a soft giggle as I turned and sat down on the soft ottoman.

  “How is everything?” he asked.

  I laughed, “Oh, where to begin. As you know I had every intention on never returning to the big bright lights of Hollywood, but I realised that if I quit, I’d be letting so many people down. So, as you know I took the money from the film, the photo shoots etc and I started a film company, with better morals, equal pay and so on. It’s thriving and I’m loving it,” I voiced.

  “You look amazing, happy.”

  “I’m alright. I miss….” I trailed off.

  Where did I even begin to describe what I missed. Did any of it really matter if all I wanted was… well the one man I knew I could never have, him. How did he go from being my bodyguard to moving on so quickly once everything had been brought to light?

  I’d barely even had time to say a goodbye or a thank you for what he did before he was gone. The only reason I was seeing him now was because… well because I needed his help again.

  “Robbie, called said you needed me and here I am,” he smiled.

  Of course, Robbie called, he was my go-to for everything these days. Especially after everything with the deluded creep that had me fooled from the moment, I met him. Kyle, my supposed manager had been behind the whole thing. He wasn’t the crazy guy having sex with an artificial version of myself, but he was the mastermind behind it all. It turned out, he needed money to pay off gambling debts, he was blackmailing me, putting fear into me to keep this man from doing things. I thought the tapes of the sicko fucking the doll were online, so I paid people to track them down and remove them. Apparently, I paid his addiction.

  “I know you’re busy, so I won’t keep you long. First, thank you. You left before I could truly thank you and I know I’ve kept in touch etc but saying it in person makes it better for me anyway.”

  Finn was a blessing, not only was he an amazing guy but if it wasn’t for him, I’d have never discovered the man who’d almost taken my life and all because he envisioned some deluded idea that I’d pay off his debts but also allow him to continue to earn enough money to keep him in the gambling lifestyle. He used the label ‘manager’ for his own gain but when I began to question that shit, he flipped and tired to murder me hoping he could claim the life insurance.

  If Finn hadn’t discovered, Kyles plans I’d be dead. It was a shock; I had begun to think it was a cleaner or my pool boy but then things began to unravel, and even Finn noticed things. I guess it was a surprise to Finn as much as me. Maybe that’s why he moved on so quickly because Kyle and Finn knew each other, they’d been friends for a while, but I recalled Finn mentioning in his letters that Kyle was a troubled soul.

  It didn
’t matter anymore, what’s done was done and we were all moving forward which was why I needed Finn to help with something a little less dangerous than being the bodyguard. But first things first, I wanted a….

  “Do I not get a hug?” I asked.

  “Come here,” he replied, a little chuckle slipped out. Of course, he’d make me work for the hug. He never did anything the easy way. He’d worked for me for a few months and still I’d tried to charm him and while he dropped his guard just the once he’d never admit to it. The beautiful gold vibrator with the cuffs. I still had the note.

  Callie

  For your pleasure… & maybe mine

  Clearly, neither of us ever got pleasure out of it because I’d never used it. It still sat in my top bedside draw with the note. The thought made my lady junk ignite. I leaned into him and the feelings, the instant rush of euphoric sexual tension was there. It was like not a day had passed.

  “Alright sweetness what do you need?” he asked as he held me.

  I’d been toying with this idea or a long, long time. It wasn’t the only deciding factor to this huge question I was about to ask; other things had come into place and it was kinda a now or never type of time for this.

  “Do you remember the letter you sent me, the one where you said if I needed anything, anything to find you?” I queried. I wanted to pull back and look him in the eyes, but I couldn’t we’d not seen each other for a while, and I liked out closeness. However, this was the type of thing you asked while looking at the person because the instant the words left your mouth, the reaction on their face would decide it all.

  I pulled back and looked up into his eyes. Gee he was a talk gentle giant, well the gentle was debatable.

  “Ok, here goes nothing. I want a baby and I want you to be the father.”

  About the Author

  I’m a self-published Aussie author who is an avid reader and enjoys romance, fantasy, supernatural, and the occasional erotic novel, but I’m happy to read almost any genre. In fact, I love reading so much that after being a massive fan girl for years I finally took the plunge and put down the ideas I had running through my head onto paper.

  Of course, a monster was born and within 6 months of publishing my first novel Ace – Playtime Series Book 1, I jumped into publishing the first novel in my 8-part Amore Intimate Series and I haven’t stopped bring new stories to life.

  I’m a massive fan of traveling, hanging with family and friends, creative writing but seriously deep down I’ve discovered that online shopping is somewhat of a secret obsession of mine. Online shopping for almost anything from books to charms and anything that I feel inspires me.

  I’m an outgoing, fun, carefree person, who tends to allow my inner child to come and play more than I should, but in all honesty, I’m just a big clown ready for a lot of fun and games.

  Author Links

  Facebook:

  www.facebook.com/GemmaArlingtonAuthor

  Amazon:

  www.amazon.com/author/gemmaarlington

  Goodreads:

  www.goodreads.com/GemmaArlington

  Love & Friends

  THE DIRTY DOZEN – DAMSEL EDITION

  Lola Denvers

  LOVE & FRIENDS

  Copyright ©2020 by Lola Denvers

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed “Attention: Permissions Coordinator,” at the address below.

  Lola Denvers

  Publisher’s Note: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination. Locales and public names are sometimes used for atmospheric purposes. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, companies, events, institutions, or locales is completely coincidental.

  Love & Friends / Lola Denvers. –February, 2020- 1st ed.

  For my daughter Sarah…

  There will never be anyone who loves you the way I do. Xxx

  Chapter One

  JAKE

  “Long time no see, brother,” Simon grins, clapping his hand on my shoulder.

  Returning his grin with one of my own, I nod, “Yeah, it’s been a while.”

  “You back for good now?” He asks, pulling up the free barstool beside me, ordering himself a beer.

  That’s the sixty-four-thousand-dollar question now, isn’t it? And one I’m yet to have an answer to. I can hardly tell my best friend of fifteen years it all depends on his sister, can I? If Farrah can’t bear to look at me, if me being back makes her uncomfortable in any way, or if I see tears in her beautiful hazel eyes even once, I won’t stay. I can’t.

  Everything in me has been screaming at me for months to call Farrah. To find a way to make what I did right. Not only is Farrah is my best friend’s little sister, but she’s also the woman who stole my heart when she looked up at me with big green-brown eyes filled with sadness and pain fifteen years ago.

  “So I want to run something past you. Back before you left, did you see Farrah hanging out with any guys, or tell you she was dating anyone?” Simon asks gruffly.

  The thought of any man touching my girl, putting his hands or lips on any part of her sets my blood boiling. All-consuming anger clouds my vision for a moment as the red haze of rage dims everything but my well-honed killer instincts.

  “Hey, you all right?” My best friend hedges, narrowing his eyes at me in concern.

  “Yeah, sorry,” I reply, shaking off the urge to hunt Farrah down and demand she tell me who the motherfucker she allowed to touch her perfect body is.

  “So, did you see her with anyone?”

  “No,” I clip out. “Why are you asking? She okay?” I question, feeling my heart accelerate dangerously at the mere thought that Farrah might have been hurt while I was away.

  Simon lifts his beer to his mouth and downs half the contents of the glass in one long gulp. “Depends on how you look at it?” He answers cryptically. “If you ask her, she’s great. But if you’re asking me, then no, she’s not.”

  A little too quickly, I spit, “What’s happened? Did someone hurt her? Who was it?”

  Chuckling at what he thinks is an overreaction on my part, Simon snorts. “She’s not hurt, man, so calm the fuck down. You know I appreciate you helping me keep an eye on her when she was a kid, but I’ve got her now. You’ve got other shit to deal with anyway.”

  Little does Simon know; I’ve been keeping tabs on Farrah for years. Long after he told me not to worry about her anymore, I kept watching out for Farrah. But over time, the brief glimpses of her coming or going from work, and the occasional dinners the three of us had together weren’t enough. I needed more.

  My partner, Eli, is the only person who knows the full extent of my stalker tendencies when it comes to Farrah, and that’s only because he caught me checking the feeds to her apartment one day. That was about three months ago, just before we went out on Darkness Rising’s latest tour, and he hasn’t stopped giving me shit about it since.

  Yeah, you heard me. I installed cameras in Farrah’s apartment. In her car and at her office, as well. And I may or may not have put a GPS tracker in her cell phone, and tapped her landline too.

  In my defense, Farrah is so fucking beautiful that she attracts a lot of attention. Sometimes the wrong kind. I didn’t want to be on the road with the band and not be able to check on her if I got the feeling she was in danger. For my own peace of mind, I needed to have all access to Farrah all of the time. That or I couldn’t do my job.

  As it is, I barely sleep or eat, knowing that she may hate me for what I did. The vulnerability I saw in her eyes when she realized who
it was fucking her up against that wall almost gutted me on the spot. Her tears, though, those did break me.

  It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that there’s something is very fucking wrong when the woman you’re in love with tells you to forget her and then hightails it in the opposite direction. I was about to beg her to wait for me – to tell her that I had to fulfill this one last contract with Darkness Rising, but that I’d be coming home to her. If she’d have me, that is. However, Farrah doesn’t hang around to hear me out, and me, in my infinite wisdom, didn’t chase after her to make her.

  Finishing off my beer, I order another. “It might not be my place to look out for your sister anymore, but I care about her, so why don’t you tell me what’s going on?”

  The words taste like acid as I say them because nothing could be further from the truth. Farrah is absolutely my responsibility to love, care, and protect, she and Simon just don’t know that yet.

  Simon sighs, tilting his head to signal he’ll talk. But just when I thought we were getting somewhere, he goes and blows my motherfucking world apart with two life-altering words. “Farrah’s pregnant.”

  Chapter Two

  FARRAH

  “Stop staring. He’s going to come over here and then what will you do?” My best friend Sophie whisper yells.

  The bass pounding from the speakers reverberates over my skin like a caress. The alcohol I’ve consumed lowers my inhibitions and makes me consider doing things to him that I only dream about when I’m at home alone. I can feel his eyes roaming my body, the intensity in them melting away the last of my defenses, and it’s then that I realize I should never have come out tonight.

  Except I had to. Something inside told me I had to see him, that I had to witness him make the biggest mistake of his life so that I could go on with mine.