He’d lost his virginity at thirteen to a sixteen-year-old who “wanted to show her appreciation for his work.” Since then, he never felt the need to visit the same bed twice.
Anne put her money on love. Was it love? How could it be love in such a short time? They’d only truly been together for a fortnight. Love needed work to grow and blossom, it couldn’t be as effortless as this.
Even his manager placed a bet on Andrew. He didn’t mind the fact that his friends were placing bets on him insomuch as it was harmless fun. What bothered him was the way his friends thought of him.
John’s guess was that the sex must be phenomenal to keep Andrew coming back for more. He’d even begged Andrew for details. He wasn’t sure why, but Andrew felt the need to keep the details to himself. By keeping silent, he only fanned the flame of curiosity further. At first, John was confident that once Andrew had gotten what he wanted to from Marissa he would leave her as well.
John was angry with Andrew because of this. He liked Marissa and enjoyed her presence in their group. “It’s one thing to carry on with one-night stands, there are no expectations involved there. But this is different, Andrew. You’re leading Marissa on. I hope you at least know what you’re doing.”
He had no idea what he was doing. Had he been leading Marissa on? He didn’t think so. Rather, he wondered if in fact she was the one leading him on. She hadn’t even uttered the possibility of staying with him instead of returning to Boston.
In fact, they didn’t have the chance to speak about what would happen when she left, he’d been so preoccupied with trying to convince her to stay. He hadn’t even given her a chance to explain herself and the reasons for her decision. His arrogance got the better of him, and he assumed she would choose him right away. But when he tried to bring the subject up, she would walk away. Walk away? That wasn’t the reaction he expected. It only got worse as the end of the week drew nearer. She began to tear up, not wanting to disappoint him, and he would drop the subject. He couldn’t stand to see any woman cry. Would they keep in contact? Probably not…
Andrew drifted asleep when the doorbell rang. His eyes flew toward the clock. He’d been lying there for five hours. Marissa and Jocelyn were in the air. Whoever was at the door could sod off.
The incessant buzzing continued, so he dragged himself out of bed and stumbled downstairs.
Ready to lay into whoever was bothering him, he cracked the door open. Marissa stood there. For a moment he thought she’d changed her mind and chose him over her husband. There was doubt in his heart that she’d leave him once she returned home.
It wasn’t until he took in the sight of her red-rimmed eyes and a hideous split on her lip, that he knew something was wrong. Of course something was wrong. She left hours ago, yet she stood in his doorway now. Jocelyn was next to her.
He opened the door wide for them to enter. “What the bloody hell?”
Marissa refused to make eye contact, but instead ran into his arms and collapsed. He held her weight against his chest making shushing noises like one would do for an inconsolable infant.
Jocelyn moved around them almost mechanical, and sank into the sofa. Aside from the vacant stare in her eyes, she seemed outwardly unharmed.
“I’m sorry, Andrew, we didn’t know what else to do,” Jocelyn finally spoke. “Marissa was holding our place in the security line. I was only in the bathroom for a minute, but when I came out, he was there. I panicked. I couldn’t face him, God I’m so sorry.”
“I don’t understand. What happened?” His head was spinning faster than a carousel ride. “Let me have a look at your lip, love.” He guided the women into the well-lit kitchen to examine Marissa’s lip. It was swollen, and a thin line of dried blood lingered around a nasty cut.
“He wanted her, it was always her.”
“It was Raymond.” Marissa spoke up and everything clicked into place.
Andrew wet a dishcloth and dabbed at the cut on her lip while Jocelyn filled him in on the details.
“He looked right past me when he saw Marissa. She’s a spitfire though. He should have remembered that. I heard everything, how he’d never stopped loving her and seeing her now felt like no time had passed. She didn’t miss a beat when she told him she wished an eternity would pass before she ever had to see him again, and then said he got fat. That’s when he grabbed her arm and started yelling. Instead of shrinking away or crying out, she spit right in his face. ‘How do you like it?’ she said, the look on his face when she spit in it was priceless.” Jocelyn laughed and it sent a chill down Andrew’s spine.
“Well, he spits when he yells. It’s disgusting.” Marissa mumbled through the cloth.
“Yeah, well that’s when he slapped you, isn’t it?” Jocelyn’s voice rang out a little harsh. “It was hard, too. The sound of it echoed through the corridor, but she surprised him. I’ve never seen anyone stand up to him. Hell, I don’t think anyone ever has. She stomped his toe with those heels and kneed him right in the jewels, Andrew. I did nothing but stare, and when security arrived, we ran.”
Yes, spitfire was certainly an accurate description to use on Marissa. His heart ached at the thought of someone harming her. If only he were there, she would have been safe. He should have insisted on taking them to the airport.
“Thank God you were in the bathroom, Joce.” Marissa snuggled into Andrew’s chest for comfort.
“And if I had never come here, he would have never found you, or hurt you. It’s all my fault,” Jocelyn wailed from the living room.
“Stop it, ladies! It’s no one’s fault,” Andrew shouted.
“We couldn’t risk getting on the plane and having him follow us back to Boston. I’m sorry, Andrew. We’ll be out of your hair soon. I’ll book us new flights out of that smaller airport in Burbank,” Marissa mumbled.
Her comment cut like glass in his throat. “You’re both welcome to stay here as long as you need.” Really, he wanted more alone-time with Marissa, but not under these circumstances. “You’re going to be all right.”
“I know. I just need to rest, I’m exhausted.”
“Of course you are, love.” Andrew laid a gentle kiss on her brow and kneaded the muscles in her shoulders. He helped her upstairs and into the shower before going to check on Jocelyn. She was resting on the couch. They were stupid to think Raymond wouldn’t eventually figure out Marissa helped Jocelyn leave the state. Now he was after Marissa.
This wasn’t something Andrew could abide. For now, he would take care of this Raymond Stallings once and for all. He made a few phone calls while the girls slept to inquire as to where he could find Raymond. Without Marissa there to make any formal complaint, the airport had released him. Security insisted he vacate the premises, which he had done, so no further action was taken. They didn’t even record his name for the altercation. The private investigator had to pull security footage.
The telephone rang at six a.m. Andrew rolled over with a grumble and tried to hit the snooze button, but the ringing didn’t stop. His eyes flew open as the memory of the previous day unfolded.
Before the ringing could wake the girls, he picked up the phone and crept into the bathroom.
“I found him, Mr. Reed,” the private investigator informed him. “I’m sending the hotel address and photos to your email right now.”
As much as his heart shouted at him to lay back down next to Marissa, he knew what he was about to do was necessary to keep her safe. If he left now, he could be back before the girls woke. He slipped on a pair of jeans and gave Marissa a kiss on the forehead, letting his lips linger on her skin, he whispered, “I love you.” The words came out much easier than he would have ever imagined.
She let out a tiny sigh of contentment but didn’t wake.
****
Andrew sat waiting in his hidden car for the wife-beater to show up. It had taken Raymond two weeks for him to track down his wife. It only took Andrew a few hours to track Raymond. Two could play detective.
The state of disrepair in the hotel booked under Raymond’s name scared Andrew. Everything he was told about this man, his political connections and old family money, should have kept him far away from a place like this. A two-story building, seventeen rooms on each floor, with flaking blue external paint stared back at Andrew. When he knocked on the room Raymond was staying at, no one answered, so he pulled his muscle car behind a grouping of lilac bushes to wait.
Only someone who wished to hide his actions would stay here. He would make sure this pond scum never terrorized Marissa or Jocelyn again. The thought of Marissa coming home to him with a cut on her full lip, that pouty delicate lip he enjoyed nibbling many times, made his blood boil. This man used enough force behind his swing to break open her skin. In return, Andrew planned to break this guy’s neck.
He snorted. To think that a few weeks earlier he was happily bed-hopping. Now he was stalking a pedophile and abuser, with thoughts of revenge and justice on the forefront of his mind. The sun rose over jagged mountains in the distance, throwing them into a harsh red glow. Andrew pulled a pair of Ray Bans out of the small glove box and leaned back, making himself comfortable.
“I’ve got all the time in the world,” he mumbled to himself, not meaning it. Hopefully Raymond wouldn’t test his forbearance much longer.
How quickly things changed, he chuckled to himself. When he first inquired about Marissa to the director, he’d thought of her as just another potential conquest. When he arrived at the hotel, he’d gotten an erection. That only intensified when she opened the door in that poor excuse for a towel. The smell of her clean body, coconut he remembered, made him want to take her that instant. In his mind, she would be an easy lay.
Would it have been as he envisioned, she would have dropped her towel, accidentally of course, and blushed as she bit that perfect lower lip in embarrassment. Instead, the reality was he may have frightened her by showing up.
His shattered confidence made him quickly divert to jokes. She got dressed and insisted on talking to him. He hadn’t expected to hear she was married, nor the ease he felt around her. Of course there was a throbbing sexual tension, but strangely enough, he’d actually enjoyed her conversation. He had to know more, and thus, began his first ever love affair.
What was he doing sitting here? He could call the PI and get him back on the case while he spent time with Marissa. The sun was now high in the sky indicating mid-day was rapidly approaching. His stomach growled. He hadn’t eaten since breakfast the day before.
Truth be told, he’d forgotten about the basic need for sustenance. The constant ache in his chest from the knowledge Marissa was leaving him kept hunger out of the forefront of his mind. Now his body was noisily letting him know this neglect wasn’t tolerable. He would soon have to leave his post for a fast food run. Where was this bastard? He’d made good time to the dilapidated hotel in the ghetto of Compton and had been sitting in his car staring at a red hotel door since before dawn. The clerk at the front desk assured him that Raymond hadn’t checked out of his room yet.
His fingers grazed over the touch screen on his phone. Before his mind registered what he was doing, he dialed Marissa. “Andrew,” she answered, sounding relieved. He would always love the way she said his name. “Hey, where are you?”
“I…” What could he tell her, that he left her side to hunt down Raymond and intended to exact revenge for her? Of course he couldn’t tell her that. It would upset her. “I had some things to do at my agent’s office this morning. I’m sorry I didn’t wake you before I left.” There was a male voice in the background. “What are you doing?”
“You don’t have any food in your house, so I went for a walk to pick up some lunch.”
“Did you find the key I left for you then?” His stomach protested again.
“You left a key for me? I left Jocelyn there. I hope you don’t mind.”
“Indeed,” and surprisingly, the thought of giving her a key to his flat thrilled him. The idea that she could come and go as she pleased in his life made him smile, even if he had false hope that she would keep it. “And no, I don’t mind.”
“Are you going to be done any time soon? Should I bring a sandwich back for you?”
“No, I’m afraid not, please don’t wait around for me. You should call Anne and tell her to take you shopping. I’m sure you ladies need a few things to wear since your luggage is probably in Boston by now.” Not that he minded the sight of Marissa walking around in his button-down shirt that she commandeered from him. She might not feel so comfortable walking outside in it though.
“That sounds like a good idea. Until tonight then?” she asked.
“Tonight,” he said. As he spoke, he regretted missing a whole day with her. Was this really the best plan to wait for a man outside of his hotel room? Why was he wasting his precious last days with Marissa sitting in a parking lot, hours away from her?
The memory of her swollen lip and puffy eyes reminded him exactly what he was doing there. He would never see her in danger again. If they had been any place but a busy, public airport when the confrontation happened, it could have ended very differently. He couldn’t afford to think about those possibilities.
He hit the End button and stared down at the screen, memorizing how her name looked on his caller ID until the screen faded to black.
The mention of lunch made his stomach grumble again. He turned the key and brought all two hundred and ninety horses roaring to life.
Andrew returned to his hidden parking spot across from the dingy hotel and ravenously consumed two steak and cheese sandwiches. He folded his fingers behind his head and stretched out to get as comfortable as the legroom in his classic Firebird would allow. There was no way he’d give up. This would end today. He heaved a sigh and checked the time again. This man was really testing his patience. He had much better things to do, Marissa for example.
Frustrated, he sat up and looked around. Maybe that wanker had come back in the ten minutes it took him to acquire food. There was a pay phone in the parking lot across the street, he could call and see if anyone has been in or out.
The front desk clerk picked up the phone. He could see her clearly through the window from across the street. “Yo, I’m lookin’ for my cousin. He’s staying in room 12, you know if he’s been in or out today?” In an attempt to disguise his voice, he spoke with an all American accent and threw in all the slang he’d learned in America.
“I um…Have you tried his room?” she responded.
“Of course I...” He caught himself, he was about to break back into his English accent. “Yeah. He’s not picking up, I just want to know if he’s been back there today.”
“Um, what room did you say?” She sounded slightly annoyed by having to do actual work.
“Twelve.”
“Well, I mean, no one has been in and out of this place all day.”
Of course no one would come here during the day. This tiny rundown hotel wasn’t the sort of place you would stay if you were vacationing in Los Angeles. It received more the pay-by-the-hour-arrive-at-midnight sort of clientele.
“But I do see he has paid for two more…” she hesitated. “Days?”
Andrew smiled, proud of himself. “Thanks lady.” He hung up.
Sherlock Holmes step aside, there was a new sleuth detective in town and his name was Dr. Reed. Andrew puffed up his chest and slowly walked back to his car, eyeing the vehicles as they drove by, everyone a suspect, everything a clue.
The muscles in Andrew’s forearms ached. He’d sat with his hands balled into fists for too long waiting for Raymond to come back. Anticipating a fight was worse than taking actual punches.
Chapter Twenty-One
The adrenalin that coursed through his veins had nowhere to escape, knowing what was to come. He flexed his fingers to soothe them. Where is that bloody bastard? Now he was really trying Andrew’s patience.
A couple got out of a small white sedan, the man was wearing a baseball cap and lea
ther jacket, typical for anyone looking to disguise themselves at this place. But the woman, that beautiful face and large scared eyes did not belong to a prostitute. He blinked twice, unsure that his eyes weren’t betraying him. Could he really be seeing what he though? Why was she willingly going with him?
“Marissa?” he blurted.
Raymond shoved her shoulder hard. Marissa tripped up the stairs.
“You bastard,” Andrew seethed and took off across the parking lot, his long legs helping him cover ground quickly.
Raymond grabbed Marissa by the hair and pulled her down the hall. Andrew’s fierce gaze was locked on them so tightly that if a fly crossed paths with them he’d have seen it. Two stairs at a time and it would only take five steps to reach the top of the landing.
“Calm down. Please Raymond, let go.” Andrew heard her desperate pleading right before Raymond shoved her into the room.
A feminine shriek cut through Andrew like a knife.
“Where is my child?” Raymond demanded and stepped into the room.
“Are you delusional? There never was—”
Raymond slammed the door and cut off her response.
Bile rose in Andrew’s throat. What in the bloody hell was going on? Marissa failed to mention she had kids.
He hadn’t thought through a plan of attack though beforehand, and now he stood in front of the door. The last time he’d been in an actual fist-throwing altercation was in secondary school. What was that, ten years ago?
How should he approach this situation? Knocking seemed silly. Should he attempt to kick down the door? He scanned the entrance, thinking.
Inside, the argument continued, Raymond’s speech was stuttered as he yelled. “—and now you’ve taken my wife, it’s time you paid the piper. I want my child and my wife back, or I’ll tell everyone about the baby, and your slutty little affair with that fucking movie star. Your husband might be interested in both.”
Forever in Hollywood Page 19
