by Maggie Marr
“Man, stop. It hurts.”
“It’ll hurt worse if you don’t tell me what I need to know.”
Briggs walked from the back of the apartment, “She’s not here,” he said.
Rush stared into Trevor’s face and pressed his thumb against the dirtbag’s windpipe, cutting off his air. Trevor squirmed against the wall like a bug with a spear through its back. His face turned red, then his eyes bulged.
“I have your attention now?”
Trevor nodded. Fear grasped his face as his air ran out.
“You’ll answer my questions?”
Trevor’s arms flailed along the wall. He nodded.
Rush moved his thumb from Trevor’s windpipe. “Where is Nikki Solange?”
Chapter 45
Dirtbags Need to Die
Fear pulsed through Rush. Not fear about the dirtbag whose life he was about to end, but fear about what pieces of a woman he might find behind the locked door.
He eyed Briggs and nodded. Two men bent low spread out on either side of the dilapidated bungalow. Briggs maintained his position at the back door. They’d try for stealth and then move to force. Rush’s fingers wrapped around the metal knob and he pushed. Locked. The door was locked. According to Trevor there had been no one but Calvin and Nikki in the house when Trevor slipped out the back door with enough cash for a two-week high in his pocket.
“Roll,” Briggs whispered into the microphone on his collar.
The plan was simple and could easily fail, but if they could pull Calvin from Nikki they might get her out alive.
Rush circled down the alley and jumped into the Worldwide truck now marked with an On the Go delivery sticker and logo. He pulled to a stop in front of the house and jumped from the truck. He restrained his urge to rush up the walk and slam through the front door. Patience was key. Patience and timing would save Nikki. He carried a brown box and an electronic clipboard to the front door. He pressed the doorbell and waited. He pretended to search his clipboard, but his ears listened for footsteps.
Nothing.
Again Rush pressed the doorbell, two times, then a third. His presses grew insistent. He’d let the dirtbag inside know that someone needed him and wouldn’t go away easy. Rush was betting on the fact that Calvin wanted to be left alone with Nikki. He didn’t want to raise suspicions about the dirty little house sat back behind some trees. The ideal spot for the foul work Calvin intended to do inside.
Rush held his breath. Then… there it was. The sound of heavy footfalls toward the front of the house. Then a pause. Finally the creak of the front door.
Calvin stood behind the security screen. Mean eyes peered out, but he stretched a wolf’s grin across his face.
Rage flooded Rush. His jaw tensed. He lifted the box and forced his lips to curl into a delivery man’s smile.
“What can I do you for, sir?” Calvin asked. One empty hand hung at his side, the other braced the door, out of Rush’s eyesight.
“Delivery,” Rush said. His glance darted from Calvin to his digital reader.
“Can’t be right,” Calvin said. “Just moved in here, ain’t nobody I know got this address yet.” Calvin stepped back from the screen and turned to close the door.
“Got this address.” Rush furrowed his brow. “Looks like here maybe it’s been forwarded. Sent first to somewhere in Tennessee.”
Calvin stopped. He turned his head to Rush and pulled up one eyebrow.
“Where in Tennessee?” Calvin asked, pressed forward, not yet opening the screen, not yet showing Rush the other hand still hidden behind the door.
“Can’t quite make it out,” Rush said. He tilted the digital reader toward Calvin.
Calvin’s eyes slid from Rush to the machine, then back to Rush. His hand reached for the door. There was a click, and then the latch released. Calvin’s other hand came from behind the door as the screen opened.
Two empty hands and an open door.
Rush locked eyes with Calvin. A mean smile broke over Rush’s face, then he tackled the son of a bitch to the ground.
*
Glass broke. The back door exploded. Rush’s fist slammed into Calvin’s nose again and again and again until blood gushed from the pulp of Calvin’s face.
“We got him,” Briggs said.
Rush jumped up. He scanned the front room—no Nikki. He lunged toward the back of the house and shoved open the first bedroom door.
White-bright light blinded him. He hooded his eyes with his hand and peered into the room. Nikki lay pale and helpless, trussed to the bed. A red rose of blood blossomed on her shirt.
His heart split, a deep ache lodged behind his ribs. “I need cutters and an ambulance!" He pressed his fingers to Nikki's neck. A soft wheezing sound came from her lips, and her eyelids fluttered open.
“Rush,” she said. Her voice a soft whisper through cracked lips.
“Shh, baby,” he said. Rush pressed his hands to her body to determine where she bled.
“You’re here. You came to get me.”
His fingers came up slicked with red. He ripped off his shirt and pushed it hard against the wound in her side. She winced and a tiny moan escaped her lips.
His heart broke with the sound. Her eyes fluttered closed and Rush hung his head. Where was the fucking ambulance?
A siren wailed in the distance.
“Baby…” He pulled his lips together and fought a burn behind his eyes. “Nikki, baby, don’t leave me. Please, baby—”
“Rush,” she whispered, unable to open her eyes. “Stay with me, please. Stay.”
“Nikki, baby, I won’t ever let you out of my sight again.”
Chapter 46
Denouement
The breeze lifted Nikki's amber colored curls from her neck. She closed her eyes. She listened to the never-ending crush of waves upon the shore. The thought that the waves never ended, the sound never ended, somehow soothed her. She'd spent three months holed up and hiding out north of Los Angeles. No phone. No Internet. No TV. Aside from trips to visit her doctor or the courthouse she'd lived in seclusion.
“Nikki!” Rush called from the deck of the house, “Celeste is here.”
Well virtual seclusion. A smile curved over her lips at Rush's voice and the knowledge that Aunt Cici had just arrived to spoil her. Aunt Cici would fill Nikki in on all the Industry gossip everything that she was missing, but not yet longing for. Yet. Nikki could feel a restlessness stirring in her body. A desire to find another script. Make another film.
She inhaled a giant breath. She was lucky to be alive. She was lucky to have survived her childhood and to have found love. She was shockingly lucky in many many ways.
“You okay?” Rush asked. He'd walked down the stairs and across the expanse of beach to check on her. He was always checking on her. He reached for her hand and his gaze searched her face.
“I'm more than okay,” she said.
Rush returned her smile and pressed his arm around her waist. He was cautious, careful about the wound on her side that was still healing. A scar she would forever carry. A reminder of just how close she’d come to not having this life. This man. This very moment.
He'd saved her. He'd saved her in more ways than just finding her on that horrible day. He'd saved her by loving her and she'd saved herself too. She saved herself by finally loving herself and then loving Rush.
“Your aunt wants to see you.” Rush steered her away from the ocean and toward the house. “She has a carload of boxes and bags.”
Nikki shook her head, but her smile remained. Aunt Cici took particular pleasure in dressing her.
“She's also in the kitchen.”
“The kitchen?” Nikki asked.
Aunt Cici wasn't really a cook. In fact she was a little bit of a disaster when it came to preparing food.
“I already started dinner.” Nikki quickened her steps across the sand.
“Celeste said something about it needing more salt.” Rush cocked an eyebrow and his lips angled up into a wicked s
mile.
“She better stay away from my oven,” Nikki said. She'd accept Aunt Cici being a nosy-nelly. She'd even allow Aunt Cici to bring her outrageously expensive clothes and dress her like a doll. But she would not let her aunt ruin a good meal.
“Better get in there,” Rush said. His voice was teasing. “But first this.” He stopped at the bottom of the stairs and pulled Nikki to him. She pressed into his chest and looked up into his eyes. She would always love this spot, wrapped in Rush's arms.
His lips pressed to hers.
Heat spiraled up through her bare feet and pooled in her belly. The gentlest moan eased over her lips.
He pulled back and locked his onyx eyes onto her.
“Can't we make them leave?” Nikki asked. One kiss from Rush was never enough. She always wanted more.
“She invited others,” Rush said. “Christina and Bradford are on their way.”
Nikki sighed, but her smile remained. She loved her family and friends. Rush would still be here after they returned to LA.
“I love you,” Rush said. He pulled a curl that bounced around her face on the breeze and tucked it behind her ear.
“I know,” Nikki said. “And I love you too.”
Epilogue
“I Want to Thank the Academy…
…and especially my Aunt Cici because without her, there would be no Boundless Bound.” Nikki looked at her aunt, seated in the front row and wedged between Ted Robinoff and Jackson Nichols. Cici threw Nikki a giant kiss. Aunt Cici understood the feelings that throbbed through Nikki. She’d experienced the same wild ride only thirty minutes before.
“I have to thank Liam Wadsworth”—Nikki’s hand fell onto Liam’s arm—“my fellow producer, for giving me the script.” Nikki nodded to her left. “Lydia Albright for letting me produce with her. Jackson Nichols, Bradford Madison, the rest of the cast and crew. Mike Fox, Jessica Caulfield-Fox, and Christina Darmides who was my roommate while we filmed Boundless Bound.” Nikki nodded toward the audience where Christina sat beside Bradford. “Thank you to Ted Robinoff, and Worldwide Pictures for financing the film.”
Nikki took a deep breath. Blood buzzed through her, the lights, the cameras… She clutched the golden man closer to her body.
“I also have to thank Jeb Schmaltzer, who trusted a newbie from Tennessee with absolutely no credits to give him notes on his beloved script. Without Jeb, I wouldn’t have this.” Nikki held the award toward the ceiling of the Dolby Theatre. “This award is dedicated to you, Jeb Schmaltzer.”
Nikki bit down on her bottom lip to stop the quivering and to quell the tears that threatened to spill from her eyes. “I also need to thank my mama, who I know is here in spirit tonight.” Nikki ran a finger under each of her eyes.
“Finally…” Nikki looked out into the sea of celebrities at her feet. Her gaze locked with Rush’s and her heart burst wide. “Finally, I have to thank the love of my life, Rush Nelson. I wouldn’t be standing here without you, baby. We both know that. You saved me every which way, and I can’t count how many times. The love and gratitude I feel for you is never ending.”
Nikki’s heart swelled—so wide that the scar on her side throbbed. She didn’t care. This moment was worth the bad, the pain, the hours in the hospital, the moments of the second criminal trial… She would slog through every bit of the uphill battle again if she had to. She would endure the good, the bad, and the ugly to feel this moment, this success, this joyous celebration and love.
Nothing beat winning an Academy Award. Well, nothing but being in love with Rush.
“This is only our first production, baby,” Nikki yelled as she reached the award out toward Rush in the audience. A smile lit with fire radiated from his face. “We’ve got an even bigger production set to premiere soon.” Laughter barreled through the theater as Nikki looked down and cradled with her hands her ever-expanding belly.
Joy filled her with an effervescence that lifted her soul and radiated outward. She wouldn’t remember the words she said or how she said them, but she would always, for the rest of her life, remember this moment, this feeling, this accomplishment, and this honor. The honor of producing her first Hollywood Hit.
The End
Acknowledgements
I have so many people to thank. First, I must thank every fan of the Hollywood Girls Club Series. Your love for the books and the characters inspires me. I am so grateful for your support. Thank you to my agent, Kristin Nelson, who always believes in me even when I doubt myself. To everyone at Nelson Literary Agency, thank you. Thank you to Lori Bennett, the ever-patient and all-knowing digital-liaison guru. Kim Killion, thank you for the breathtaking cover—I am always in awe of your work. Thank you to my editor, Anne Victory; you make my words look good. Thank you to Mikhail Nayfeld, Markus Goerg, David Hillenbrand, and Robb Watts, my managers for TV and film. Thank you to Shan Ray, my TV and film agent.
I want to thank the Women’s Fiction Writers Association, RWA, and the Los Angeles Romance Association—these women keep me comforted and inspired.
Thank you to my producing partner, Peg Cafferty, who is understanding and patient when I need time to write.
I have to thank my ever-supportive family and friends. Without your never-ending love and support I could never have my career(s): Margaret Marr, Nancy Veskerna, Paula & David Glasscock, Nealie Harrison, Lauren Harrison, Gavin White, Mark Morgan, Peyton Morgan, Linda & Bill Henderson, Lindsy & Mark Henderson, Joyce & Tom Leahy, Garrett L. Marr, Janet L’Huillier, Gayle Leftwich, Eloise & Dixie Marr, Amy & Brent Zacky, Penney Finkelman-Cox, Melissa Clark, Megan Crane, Jane Porter, PEG and the entire PEG Family, E. Lockhart, Ally Carter, Alan Gratz, Lauren Myracle, Maryrose Woods, Tara Altabrando, Sarah Mylnowski, Jennifer Barnes, Sara Zarr, Molly Carle, Barbara Brumleve, Carolyn Jacobs, Leslie Ferguson, Wendy Woodmore, Debi Meuret, Mary Ann Cullen, and special thank you to Bob.
Finally—to my husband and my children—thank you for always believing in me and supporting me. You are the reason for it all.
About the Author
Maggie Marr is an attorney, author, and producer. She began her career in the entertainment industry pushing the mail cart but rose to the position of motion picture literary agent. She has written for TV, film, and celebrities. Maggie has been featured on KCRW's The Business and reviewed by Publishers Weekly, Kirkus, and Romantic Times. She lives in LA with her family.
Maggie is eternally grateful for the graciousness and support of her readers.
Please visit her Website at: http://www.maggiemarr.blogspot.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/maggiemarr
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Maggie-Marr-Books/168071873226783?ref=ts
If you liked Hollywood Hit, read on for an excerpt from Maggie’s upcoming New Adult contemporary romance, Hard Glamour!
Also by Maggie Marr
The Hollywood Girls Club Series
Hollywood Girls Club
Secrets of the Hollywood Girls Club
Hollywood Hit
Hollywood Girls Club the Series
Can’t Buy Me Love
Courting Trouble
Coming in 2014: The Glamour Series
Hard Glamour
Broken Glamour
Fast Glamour
Easy Glamour
HOLLYWOOD HIT
Maggie Marr
Copyright © 2013
All Rights Reserved.
AGENCY INFORMATION
NLA Digital Liaison Platform LLC
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Writers spend years laboring over a single book. Please respect their work by buying their books from legitimate sources. The scanning, uploading and distribution of this book via the Internet or any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase
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A New Adult contemporary romance
coming January 2014 from Maggie Marr
Hard Glamour
Hard Glamour
Chapter One
Lane
I wasn’t supposed to be in Los Angeles. I wasn’t supposed to drive halfway across the country for a job in entertainment and live in a city where I knew absolutely no one. This wasn’t supposed to be my summer. No. I was supposed to take the summer corporate job in Kansas City. A summer job that would pay enough for my tuition and books for the next year, a job that nearly guaranteed me a permanent gig when I graduated college. A job I should have been thankful to get, a job that any responsible, Midwestern girl from Brokes-ville, with no backup plan, would get down on her knees and thank the good Lord above for providing.
I didn’t take that summer job. In fact, I’d burned a gargantuan bridge by declining, but getting into my Jeep and driving to an adventure was the first time I’d felt alive in months. The first time I didn’t feel numb. I pressed the accelerator down and whipped around a curve on Oak Canyon Road. The guy at the front desk of my motel told me I’d get a great view of the city if I wound up this road. I hit the brakes and made a quick right onto a turn-out. I jumped from my black Jeep and felt the familiar crunch of gravel under my boots. A breeze whipped my hair and I pulled a caramel-colored strand behind my ear. I settled my hands on my hips and looked at this giant monster of a city. LA Out there... way out there, but not too far, where the sky merged with the sea was the Pacific. I was a landlocked girl from the middle of the country and this was a helluva sight.