by Maggie Marr
Beck didn’t move. He didn’t chase her. He didn’t shift a muscle. The two of them apart was better. Safer. Emotional involvement hindered his ability to protect Natalie. On the ride from Greystone, hadn’t Remi said just exactly that? What were his words . . . “compromised as an agent”? Beck’s emotional closeness compromised his logic and skills.
Natalie ascended the stairs. Beck couldn’t rip his eyes from her body.
Jax walked up to him. “Nice job, cowboy. See, you pissed off the little lady. Not sure she’s really mad, though, more hurt. Could win an Academy Award if a director managed to capture that rage onscreen.”
“Fuck off, Jax.”
“Right. Like your romance is my problem.” Jax ambled toward the front door.
“They like snitches in prison?” Beck tossed angry words at Jax. He itched to release his anger.
Jax turned back to Beck with a slow and determined motion. “What the hell you talking about?”
“Estrella and Remi, and that perimeter check I was late on.”
“That could have cost us her life.” Jax nodded to Natalie disappearing down the upstairs hallways.
Beck’s hands curled. “Fuck that. You had to tell them I was an hour late on the handoff.”
“First, I don’t cover for other people’s fuckups, but second and most importantly, I’m not some whiny bitch of a tattletale.” Jax covered the distance between them and they stood toe-to-toe in the foyer. “Better check your source, cowboy, because I didn’t tell them shit.”
Jax was a liar as well as a snitch? Better to know the type of guy he worked with now. “Right. If not you”—Beck poked his pointer finger into Jax’s chest—“then who?”
“I don’t know.” A smug smile crossed Jax face and he shook his head. “Maybe you’ve got even more to worry about than all that shit you can’t remember from Argentina.”
Beck moved closer, the leash on his rage strained. “What the hell do you know about my last mission?” The words came out low on a breath of anger.
“More than you do, cowboy. Seems everyone knows more than you do.”
Pain slid through Beck’s temple. Fuck. Argentina. What the hell had happened in Argentina? And why couldn’t he pull those memories into his mind?
Jax’s brow furrowed. His gaze scanned Beck’s face. “Seems like you got even fewer friends than you thought.” Jax tilted his chin and his eyes took on a deadly stare. “Now, if you want to keep that finger, I’d ask you to remove it from my chest.”
***
“What the hell happened in Argentina?”
A look flashed from Hudson to Remi as Hudson pulled open the driver’s side door of the black Greystone SUV.
“Good luck with that,” Hudson mumbled to Remi, and climbed into the vehicle and started the rig.
Remi’s hard gaze remained on the SUV as Hudson pulled down the drive. Finally he turned to Beck. “You think now is the time to get into questions about Argentina?”
“Everyone at Greystone knows more about my last mission than I do. So yeah, I think it’s a good time.”
Remi stepped closer. “You’ve violated Greystone protocol fifty ways to Sunday with your involvement with Natalie. Do you understand? You are compromised. You are emotional and if I had my way you’d be off this case.” Remi started up the stairs to the front door.
“But you didn’t get your way on this one, did you?” Beck called. Fuck it, what did he have to lose? Absolutely nothing. His head hurt and his brain seemed unable to remember any details about his mission and Marisol’s death. He needed answers and dammit he was going to get them. “Estrella’s the one calling the shots. Maybe I ask her about Argentina? Maybe I’ll get further by going to Estrella.”
“Ha!” Remi threw back his head and laughed. A giant smile covered his face. “If you think anything happens at Greystone without Estrella knowing and pulling the strings, then you are one big fool and that whack to your head on your last mission caused more damage than memory loss.”
Remi stepped back down the front steps toward him. He glanced around and locked his gaze on Beck. “There’s a reason she put you on this case and it’s not just because of your experience or your kill record or the fact that before your last mission you were cold like ice.”
“Cold like ice,” Beck mumbled. His fists curled and he shut his eyes. “Marisol.” His heart cracked. “You put me on this case because of what went down between me and Marisol.”
“We put you on this case because of who you pissed off while you were in Argentina because of what went down with Marisol.” Remi’s voice grew soft. “You were put on that case to draw someone out from the darkness, and from what I’m seeing and hearing, that is absolutely happening.”
Beck’s gut clenched. He squinted. “Marisol was involved with Palook?”
“Her brother was involved with Palook.” Remi shook his head. “And from the intel I’ve received, what happened that night and what Palook had planned for her—”
“Are you fucking kidding?”
“I wish I were.”
“I was on a government mission about arms smuggling and terrorists.”
“Right.” Remi nodded. “We all have official statements that we use to fill out forms. Did any of your missions ever put you in play for only one reason?” He lifted his eyebrow. “Come on, you’re smarter than that. You were in Argentina with Andreas for a multitude of reasons.”
“This is . . .” Beck squinted and scrubbed his hand through his hair. “This is fucked up.”
“Most of life is fucked up. I’d think with your background you’d have that little nugget of information sorted out by now.”
“I fucking can’t remember all the details . . . what happened, how everything went down.”
“And you might never.” Remi turned toward the front stairs leading to the house. “You and Marisol’s brother are the only two who came out alive.” He looked over his shoulder. “If it helps, what happened in Argentina could save a lot of lives. Maybe even the life of the person you’re in love with right now.”
Beck’s hands fisted at his sides. Cold solace for a man who lived on details, but these were the only answers Beck had for now.
Chapter Twenty
“Ari, I want the Greystone guys out of my house.” Natalie turned away from the windows in Ari’s office overlooking Century City. Her agent was particularly keyed up today. A big day for big deals.
“Ha! And I’d like to own Google. Neither is happening.”
Natalie crossed her arms. Beck was on the other side of Ari’s office door, relegated to standing in the outer area where Ari’s three assistants worked.
“Nat, I just made you a shockingly wealthy woman. How can you be irritated?” Ari vibrated with excitement.
“You made me rich?” Again, not even her agent acknowledged that it was her hard work, her talent, her that caused the tracking for Shemax to be off the charts, which caused the studio’s desire to now close a deal for two sequels.
“Well, it’s your talent on screen,” Ari admitted, as though an afterthought. “But my deal points are stellar and so are the escalators. My God, Nat, if two and three do half as well as one is expected to do, you and your kids and even your grandkids won’t ever have to work again.”
Big sigh. Money. She had loads and loads of money. Money that made up for all the dollars her parents had squandered on big houses, fancy cars, furs, foreign travels, and her dad’s addiction to Vegas. Money was awesome, but she was still completely alone.
“Babe, those guys you want out of your house are keeping you safe. Worldwide wants them there because the studio is into you for eight figures for the next three years. Big investment. Huge! No way they let whatever whackadoo is out there trying to get close near you. The Greystone Agency is the best, everyone knows that.”
“It’s my house and my life.”
“Right, and you’re meant to go into production right after the premiere and roll through not one, but two films wit
h a total budget of 450 million. No can do, princess. They’re not calling off the watchdogs until you’ve shot those films. Just settle in and enjoy the big bucks you’re pulling down.” Ari reached for his Bluetooth and placed it behind his ear. “You’re finally getting everything you ever wanted.”
Her gut churned. Was she getting all she wanted? After this deal, her house was paid for, she was currently the star of what was presumably going to be the biggest movie of the summer, and she had money in the bank. Yeah, so aside from some crazy cult leader wanting to torture her, and her non-relationship with her family, and her heart being absolutely shattered by the man she’d fallen for . . . yeah, everything was A-okay.
“Money isn’t everything,” Natalie sighed.
“Wow, not sure I’d ever hear you utter those words. You feeling okay?”
“No, I mean . . . not really. Yeah, I hated it when Daddy blew through all my money but . . . God, Ari, what the hell? How am I having this career and feeling so alone?”
Ari spun his chair from his desk and faced her. His gaze locked to hers. Could he say something, anything, that didn’t sound agenty or money-hungry or smarmy and about the movie business?
“Babe, it’s lonely at the top.” A giant smile spread over his face. “But now you’ve got enough dough to buy friends.”
Nope, Ari couldn’t do it. He was good at what he was good at, which was being an agent. Buy friends? Who wanted to be surrounded by people who only wanted to be around you for a good time?
“Why don’t you and Stacia go shopping?”
“Because Stacia has a job and there’s only so many times you can go to Rodeo Drive.” Natalie dropped to the couch and sighed. She needed a hobby. Something in her life that made sense. A person she trusted and loved, and who loved her.
She glanced toward the closed door. She needed Beck.
But he sure as hell didn’t seem to need her.
“I have some other news.” Natalie’s gaze flashed to Ari. His smile was replaced with a thin-lipped look. “Your dad called me yesterday.”
A giant lump snowballed in her throat.
“Jerry wants premiere tickets and an invite. Plus your new cell number. Says you owe him that much.”
“More like he owes me a couple million bucks.” Natalie took a long breath. Guilt crested in her chest. Why did she always feel like she owed her father and her mother even after the two of them had done so many wrong things to her?
“Yes or no to premiere tix?”
God, she didn’t want him there, didn’t want the possibility of running into him and whatever new bimbette arm candy he brought, but if she said no and he really wanted to attend, he’d simply crash the premiere and cause a horrible scene. At least if she gave him tickets and he misbehaved she could have him escorted away quietly.
“Send him two tickets.”
Ari typed on his keyboard. “He’s back in L.A., by the way.”
Like she wanted to know. She preferred when his whereabouts were unknown. Vegas was really as close to Los Angeles as she wanted her dad.
“He’s working some angle with a YouTube star.”
“Isn’t Daddy always working some angle?” She tossed her hair over her shoulder. “Mom is going too. Is there a way to keep this entire shit show contained? Is it you or Boom Boom or—”
“Say no more, babe. I’m on it. We’ll totally take care of the family dynamic at the premiere. I’ll assign some baby agents to Mama and Papa Warner. Keep them apart and peaceful. Make them feel important all while minimizing your exposure.”
“Thank you.” What would life be like if her brother were still alive? Would her family still have devolved into this crazy fractured mess if he hadn’t died? Would they all be spending holidays and premieres together, smiling for the cameras? Or would her father still be a money-grubbing gambling addict and her mother a spendaholic? Would she have careened into the abyss of sex and drugs with Rico? Who knew?
“Okay, babe. We’re locked for the next two films. Sent you three more scripts to read. Offers on all three. Read. Start working your way through the scripts, okay? Let me know what you like.”
Ari’s phone beeped. She was one of his biggest clients and even she only got so much of his time. He ran an agency, and there were other stars, producers, directors, studio execs, and a million other people who wanted a piece of him or one of his clients. Ari pressed his Bluetooth.
“Yo, Lydia! How the hell is New Zealand?” Ari chortled into the phone. He pressed the mute button and glanced toward Natalie. “Nat, I’ll see you at the premiere,” he whispered, smiled, then pressed the mute button again. “Right, right? What the hell? Zymar is swimming with sharks? Sounds like when you two are in L.A.”
Natalie looked toward the ceiling. Fatigue rolled through her body. Once these next two films were finished, she was taking a break. A long, exotic vacation to a faraway place without cell service or Wi-Fi. Who would she take? Stacia?
She wanted to take Beck, but he wanted nothing to do with her other than what he needed to do for his job. Natalie opened Ari’s office door. Beck turned his head. His stony-faced gaze belied nothing of their attraction to each other, all those nights she’d spent in his arms, all the times he’d whispered her name. Instead he wore a cool and professional gaze. He waited for her orders. A tiny glimmer passed in his eyes, but not enough. She needed more . . . God, why wouldn’t he give her more? Protection? Her heart hardened. Fine, if he didn’t love her enough to be with her, then she’d make damn sure he didn’t believe he had any effect on her either.
***
Natalie didn’t speak to him anymore, except to tell him where they were going. Her eyes still held pain and hope and anger and desire, but her tone and her words held no emotion, only facts. She sat beside him in the car and kept her head turned away from him. She stared out the passenger window as Los Angeles flew by. He turned onto Natalie’s driveway and pulled toward the house.
The car phone rang, and he answered. “This is Beck.”
“Remi here. Take Natalie directly to Greystone.”
“Got it.” No reason to ask why. He pulled to a stop on the driveway and started to put the car in reverse when Natalie opened the passenger door and was up the walk.
“Fuck,” Beck said.
“What is it?”
“She’s already on her way into the house.”
***
Paint dripped down the living room walls. Sanguine-colored words as though splashed across the white wall by a hose filled with blood. Words. Words that were hard to read. Bitch. Whore. Cunt. Kill. Die. Strung together in threats to Natalie. She stood in the center of the living room, her gaze locked to the giant white wall now splatter-filled with hate.
“Why?” She turned to Remi and Jax. “Who did this?”
“That’s what we’re trying to determine.” Remi’s tone was calm and cool like always, but there was a tenseness that wove over his features and the muscle in his jaw tightened. “The house has been cleared, but we need the premises. You’re going to Greystone.”
“How the hell did this happen?” Natalie’s bottom lip quivered. Anger mixed with her fear and vibrated off her. “You guys are supposed to be the best in the fucking business. Who did this to my house? Who got into my house? How did they even get into my house and how long were they in here, how—”
“These are answers to questions we’re working on now. But at this moment, Beck is taking you to Greystone.” Remi nodded toward Beck, who reached out and put his hand on Natalie’s elbow.
Heat shot through his arm hard and fast, an electric current. He hadn’t touched Natalie in nearly a week and his body craved her. He craved the feel of her skin, the scent of her, the nearness of her flesh, the taste of her lips.
“Find out who did this,” Natalie said, and while her tone was hard, a wide-eyed vulnerability mixed with fear slid through her gaze.
Beck slowly pulled her toward the door. Away from the hate and the threats. She stopped, tur
ned her head, and took another look at those furious words on the wall in her home.
She pressed her teeth into her bottom lips and fought back the tide of emotion that roared through her like a tsunami. The fear grew as they walked toward the door.
“Come on,” Beck said. “You’ll be safe with me.”
Chapter Twenty-one
Greystone was a fortress. Natalie walked through the gargantuan home knowing that she was completely safe in this building but also knowing she absolutely didn’t want to stay here. Cold. The entire place, with its marble floors and stone walls, had a sharp-edged absence of warmth. This wasn’t a home, this was a mission, a business, an agency dedicated to pursuing bad people. And while Natalie could appreciate Greystone’s mission and today, after seeing the hate on her living room wall, was thankful that Estrella had dedicated her life and her home to protecting people, she couldn’t imagine calling this fortress home.
“Estrella lives here?” Natalie whispered as Beck led her up the staircase and down the upstairs hallway.
“She works here and she stays here most of the time.” He opened the door to the suite.
The bright apartment within the giant cold mansion nearly caused Natalie to forget the mausoleum of a building that housed these warm, light-bathed rooms.
“This is beautiful.”
“It is,” Beck said, surprise in his voice.
“You’ve never seen this before?”
Beck shook his head. The fact that she was Beck’s first assigned client for the Greystone Agency often fell from Natalie’s mind. She walked to the windows and pulled back the gauzy white curtains. “Her gardens are amazing.”
“She seems to think of every detail.”
“Do you live here too?”
“I have a suite downstairs. Not nearly as swank as this, but it’s more than adequate for my needs.”