Page 6 of The Devil of Hollywood

“I told you it was fine. Just… hard, but… fuck.” She let out a deep breath. “It’s hard to read because of what happened to me, but… there’s no going back. I can’t stop now. I know this is dark, but I just have to make sure. Slade’s not the bad guy, right?”

I smiled, leading us towards the luxury SUV as we left the plane. The sun was beating against my skin, and I wished I would have changed from my dark business clothes to something cooler. A dress. I should have just worn a damn sundress. But there was a possibility I’d run into someone from Dodge Corp, and I couldn’t risk seeing them dressed down. A shark wouldn’t do that. Not until the deal was secured.

“Slade is a good guy. Oh yeah, he’s really good. At everything.”

Penny squealed, and I laughed hard as she clung to the book. Had I ever seen her so excited and happy? There were the nightmares. The crying episodes. Disassociation and depression. But she was getting better. She tried to be strong, but there was no mistaking the horror she’d gone through when the masked man killed her parents and held her captive for almost four months. Mask. He’d always worn a mask. It’s why they could never positively identify him. He could have been anyone.

“Next stop, the hotel. Then, we can eat. I’m starving.” I glanced back at Elliot, watching as he scanned the tarmac. Even with the sunglasses covering his dark eyes, I knew he was taking in everything around us. “Hungry?”

“You know I am.” He gave a quick smile, not even looking my way as he continued his assessment. The dark suit he wore was uniform. It was typical, no matter where or what we were doing. And not by my orders, by my parents. Elliot had been my bodyguard since after Drayton. I’d spent my entire adult life having the older man follow me. But he wasn’t technically old. He was fifty-two now, compared to my twenty-nine. The brown hair he once had was more salt than pepper, and his body was in immaculate shape. Elliot was right at six feet, and his face had softened over the last decade. Where he used to never smile, we’d grown on each other. I even flirted with the idea of trying to seduce him once. It was a stupid idea, but loneliness and too many romances took their toll. Not that it would have ever come to anything even if we wanted. My parents had already given me a list of men I could marry. And I was engaged now and on a deadline, even if I was pushing it to the very last days. I just couldn’t stomach marrying a man I didn’t love. And I didn’t love Bastian Allard, who happened to be the man I was marrying. He was French nobility and a ladies’ man. Kind but cocky. He was everything I didn’t want, but his prestige benefitted my line, and he’d leave me alone outside of heirs. We’d been in agreement about that.

A man standing outside the back passenger door opened it as we approached. I knew the drill. Elliot passed, leaning in to check the interior before nodding and allowing us in. The cool air brushed my skin as I slid inside, and Penny followed. We weren’t even settled before she opened the book and began reading again. Elliot slid in the front seat, glancing back. When the SUV took off, I tried to relax. To forget the memories I’d stirred from the same book that rested not a foot away. I couldn’t. It was a blessing and a curse. Slade was the ghost of the old Drayton, and the only remaining evidence I had of a love dead and gone. A love killed by lies. Drugs. A web of manipulation… that my mother was responsible for.

Drayton

“Oh, yes. We shouldn’t. We—Mmm. Please. Wait.” More moans. “You won’t tell anyone about our secret? Oh, God. Oh—” The blonde’s hand flattened on her chest, moving towards her breast. “A little lower.”

“No. Absolutely not. Stop.” My hand shot up. “Are you fucking with me right now? This is your audition? This is how you want Violet portrayed?”

“Well… I mean, the script⁠—”

My hand pulsed, cutting her off. “You’re an actress, Belinda. According to your paycheck, supposedly a good one. If you were looking to transition into porn, you should have just said so. I know the best guy in town.”

“Fuck you, Mr. Sinn. I bet you do know him. I bet you’re both great friends.”

“As a matter of fact.” I laughed.

“I’m no fucking porn star. You told my agent I needed to pack the heat. It doesn’t get hotter than Violet’s first sexual experience. So, maybe I overplayed the part. Fine. But don’t you fucking insinuate that I’m a bad actress. I’m good at what I do. I’m damn good.”

“Oh, you definitely are, but there’s only one way you’re walking out of here as Violet Robbins. That shit you just showed me isn’t it.”

Her lip peeled back in anger. For seconds, she studied my face. When I stayed silent, she grabbed the bottom of her dress, pulling it up midthigh.

“What the fuck are you doing?”

“You said⁠—”

“Don’t put words in my mouth. If I wanted your pussy, you’d know it. I don’t.”

“Then, what? This is my part. I’m not leaving here until you see that. Let me act out another scene. I want to try again.”

“I don’t need to see anymore. I’ve watched you for a while. I called no one else in to audition but you. You’re nervous and you’re overthinking. But you’re good at what you do, even if you still need work. And I’m not going to sugarcoat it. You need a fuckload of work, Belinda.”

“You really don’t hold back. This never gets easier. I haven’t seen you in three years, but you haven’t changed a bit.”

“And I never will. I pushed you then. I’ll push you even harder now. Especially since I think you’re “it”.”

“Wait. It?” She was starting to shake. “Explain.”

“You’ve leveled up… which means you’ll be seeing a lot more of me.”

‘So, I got the part?” Excitement. “You mean⁠—”

My head shook. “You think this is good news. Think again. What I have in mind is bigger than playing Violet. Think: Charlotte Wyce. Ethan O’Brien. I can make you their costars. I can put your name right up there with theirs. I can give you the world, but that comes at a cost. It makes you mine. I own you, and you won’t like that. My word is law. If you disobey…”

The threat was clear as it hung between us. It was no secret how deep and dark the deals in Hollywood could go, and Belinda knew I was at the root of all of them. If she was ever going to make it big, it would be because of me.

“I won’t. I’ll do whatever you want.”