Page 57 of His Girl Hollywood
“You’re not coming?”
Don looked pained. “I can’t.”
Arlene tried to suppress her hurt. “When I said, ‘Take me home,’ I thought you knew I meant…”
Don leaned down so his head was inside the cab door. “I did. Believe me, doll, there’s nothing I’d rather do right now. Let me show you how much.”
He held himself steady with one hand and cupped her cheek with his other, bending forward to kiss her like his life depended on it. His hand slid under her jaw, and he turned her mouth so he could use it as he saw fit, sucking at her bottom lip before grazing her with tongue and teeth. She reached out and caressed his jaw, holding him close as he explored her mouth, kissing her harder than he ever had before.
She bit at his lip and he answered her with a bite back, deepening the kiss further. His hand at the back of her head held her firm, as if he were stealing her soul with his ministrations. It was a bruising kiss, one that would’ve left her weak at the knees if she’d been standing up. She couldn’t suppress a small moan of pleasure,and seized by desire, she reached for his lapels and began to pull him into the car. The taxi driver coughed, and it broke the spell as Don ended the kiss and pressed his forehead to hers.
“Consider that my IOU,” he murmured before kissing the tip of her nose, straightening his jacket, and closing the door. Still in a daze, she heard him knock the side of the cab, signaling to the driver that he could leave.
At this time of night, it was a quick drive from Santa Monica to her bungalow, but she would scarcely have noticed the time passing anyway. She leaned back against the bench seat and brushed her fingers to her lips, the ghost of Don’s touch still haunting her. She wanted to know where he’d learned to kiss like that. Or maybe she didn’t. He had his secrets. So did she. Including whatever this was between them. Perhaps Don Lamont’s secrets weren’t so bad then—so long as she was one of them.
Chapter 22
Another cab came for Don almost as soon as Arlene’s pulled away. It took all of his resolve not to tell the driver to follow her. All he wanted was to strip her bare in the moonlight that would be streaming in through her bedroom window and ravish her. Spend the night showing her how much he wanted her. But again, Frankie Martino had found a way to muck things up for him. To leave him no choice but to disappoint Lena.
But it wasn’t just about him and Lena. Eddie had no idea how much trouble they could be in. To be safe, they should move hotels. Stay under an assumed name. Frankie could still find him at the studio, but he had protection there. They wouldn’t try anything right under the nose of Harry Evets, surely?
“The Hollywood Starlight Inn on Vine. There’s a Hamilton in it for you if you hurry.” Don didn’t really have money to be throwing away, but this was urgent. The driver took the promise of an enormous tip seriously, speeding off through the night and gunning the car through every yellow light they happened upon. Don had to hold on to the bench to avoid sliding around the back seat.
When they arrived at the hotel, it looked quiet. Seedy as ever, but quiet. Don breathed a sigh of relief, hoping that was a good sign. He threw a stack of bills at the driver, not even bothering to count it, and sprinted for the front door. But he paused when henoticed two men in gray suits, snoozing in the chairs near the stairs. The hotel clerk was there, nursing a cup of coffee. They probably wouldn’t try anything in front of him. But this hotel wasn’t exactly a popular haunt for snappy dressers in fedoras. No, they had to be some of Frankie’s guys. He crept around to the back alley and found Eddie’s window on the second floor. Luck was with him; it was to the right of the fire escape.
Don yanked down the ladder and began climbing while it was still shrieking its way to the ground, the sound of metal against metal echoing down the alley. He winced and kept climbing. There wasn’t any time to lose. He hadn’t climbed a fire escape in nearly seven years, and here he was doing it twice in less than twenty-four hours. At least the first time, it had been intentional.
Once he got to the landing on the second floor, he leaned over and knocked at the window. He pressed his face against the glass, but he couldn’t see anything inside. It was completely dark. He knocked harder. “Eddie. Eddie, wake up, we got a problem.”
The window ricocheted upward, opening with a heaving force. “Eddie, put some clothes on. We gotta go.” But an arm as thick as a ham extended from the window and wrapped its hairy knuckles around Don’s bicep. Don didn’t recognize the hand, but he had a sinking feeling he knew who it worked for.
Frankie Martino stuck his head out the window. “Going so soon?”
“Frankie, I…didn’t expect to see you here.”
Frankie smirked. “I’ll bet you didn’t. But seeing as you’re here now, I’d say it’s only polite we have a little nightcap.”
Don could see now that the hairy hand was connected to one of the ugliest men he’d ever seen, a lug of a guy with a nose that had been broken at least three times and the cauliflower ears of a washed-up prizefighter.
“You know, I’d love to, but I’m trying to cut back…stay in shape for the pic—” Don didn’t get the last word out before the thug hauled him in through the window with shocking force. Trying to find his bearings, Don searched frantically around the room for Eddie. But everywhere he looked, all he could see were the menacing grimaces of Frankie’s henchmen.
Frankie laughed, and the cold, eerie sound filled Don with a bottomless dread. “If you’re looking for Mr. Rosso, I’m afraid he’s otherwise engaged.”
Don saw red and lunged for Frankie, but a pair of goons, including Mr. Hairy Knuckles, immediately grabbed his arms, restraining him.
“Tsk, tsk, is that any way to greet your manager? After everything I’ve done for you?”
Don growled. “My manager. That’s right. Not Eddie’s. Where is he? He’s not part of this.”
Frankie smiled, a threat of malice in the curve of his mouth. “Don’t worry, we didn’t hurt him. In fact, I would say Mr. Rosso is rather enjoying his evening. We sent a dame to distract him. Had a hunch you might come to him first if you realized the jig was up. And I knew you would get wise sooner than later ’cause Eleanor Lester can’t keep her stupid mouth shut.”
Don exhaled. He had a sneaking suspicion that leggy blond that had drawn Eddie’s attention away from Eleanor was not some random dame. But at least Eddie was safe. He had to hand it to Frankie. The man knew a mark when he saw one. Eddie would lose his head over anything with a comely pair of legs. It was a surefire way to keep him out of their hair for the evening. Maybe even into the next morning.
He wrestled against the big lug holding his arms behind his back, but it was futile. It was best to play dumb. “The jig? I don’tunderstand. Why are you here, cornering me in the middle of the night? You know how to reach me if you need me. I’ve been phoning you with updates. Is that not enough? I’m busy making the picture. Besides, it’s you who’s been too busy to take my calls lately.”
Frankie rolled his eyes. “I haven’t been taking calls because I’ve been busy traveling across the country to deal with some faulty merchandise.” He gave Don a pointed look that made it sickeningly clear that he was the merchandise in question.
Don continued to squirm, twisting his head to try to get a good look at the fella who had his arms pinned behind his back. “Would you let me go?”