Hollywood Hero: A Sexy Billionaire Romance (The Director's Assistant Book 4) Read online

  “That’s not fair! That’s not what you agreed!”

  “No, actually, what I said was that I wouldn’t show the photos to your mother. I fully intend to live up to that part of my agreement. She never has to know about your naked photoshoot.”

  My eyes went wide. “You bastard.”

  “Josephine.” McNamara took another draw on his cigar, then exhaled a mouthful of smoke slowly in my direction. “Let’s face it. Those pictures are far too good to give to you. You’d just destroy them. But don’t worry, I’m a man of my word—they’ll stay safe in my… personal collection.”

  My skin was crawling. I swallowed back bile. “What about the videos then? I want those, too.”

  Now McNamara openly laughed. “Oh, I don’t think so.”

  “What? What do you mean, you don’t think so?” I said, desperation in my voice.

  “I’ll still be releasing them to the media. That scandal should effectively shut down any future attempts Archer makes on Janus.”

  “No!” I jumped to my feet. “You can’t do this!”

  “Josephine, you’re extremely… talented. Do you really want to deprive the world of the opportunity to see you work?”

  “You promised to hand them over!”

  “Well, if it makes you feel any better, you can have the originals. But keep in mind, I’ve made copies.” He laughed harshly, a blue cloud of smoke issuing from his mouth. “A little trick I picked up from our friend, Archer.”

  It was too much to believe, yet there it was. He looked completely serious. I slumped back down into my chair. “You mean to tell me that even though you blackmailed me into delivering the audio tape to you—even though you fixed my debt so I couldn’t pay it, threatened to release nude photos and then illegally recorded sex tapes of me without consent or permission, that you’re going to just take the audio tape and release the videos anyway?”

  “That’s the long and the short of it, yes,” McNamara agreed.

  I sat up straighter, a smile spreading over my face. That was all I’d needed to hear.

  Chapter 5

  “Christian,” I said.

  He stepped up beside me. “Yes?”

  “I’m sorry I called you those names before.”

  McNamara burst into fit of surprised coughing. I ignored him.

  “Seriously,” I said. “I mean, you’ve done some bad stuff, but you’re actually a nice guy.”

  “That’s okay. I did kind of deserve it.”

  “Well… yes. But still, it wasn’t very nice of me.”

  “What the hell is going on here?” McNamara exploded. “I tell you I’m keeping the videos, and you just start apologizing to Captain Wimpy in the corner?”

  I turned back to face blue smoke and bright red face. “Well, I’ve got everything I wanted from you, I guess.”

  “I don’t think so,” McNamara spluttered. “I’ve got the tape, and the videos too. I hold all the cards—the only thing you’re holding are your hands up in supplication.”

  “Don’t forget Christian’s debt, too,” I said. “You’ve also got that.”

  McNamara stilled. “What do you mean?”

  “Well it makes sense, doesn’t it? You got me to work for you through blackmail. Why wouldn’t you do the same with him?”

  He looked from myself to Christian and then back to me suspiciously. “You’re right, of course. We do own a sizable amount of debt on Christian.” He jabbed a cigar at Christian viciously. “And you’d better not forget it, either. What is it your father has again? I keep forgetting. Those drugs keeping him alive don’t come cheap.”

  Christian reached into his pocket, fiddling with something, then pulling it out. It was his phone. “I’ve never forgotten,” he said, eye on the phone as he typed something in. “Not the way you’ve treated me, or the way you’ve treated my father—cutting him off each time I tried to walk away.”

  His hand went to my shoulder and squeezed it, gently, once he was done. “When Josie and Archer caught me in that studio, I thought… well, doing something anonymously is one thing, but being found out is another. I… I wasn’t in a good state, after I got away. I’d gone as far as buying a rope, and writing a note.”

  Then a smile crossed his face. The first genuine happy emotion I’d seen in him since we arrived. “Then Josie sent me a text—she still had my number. And she… well, she gave me a chance at redemption.” He looked at me gratefully. “I can still remember that text—in fact, I have it right here: ‘There are three things in life that are important—love, family and a clear conscience. I know Janus is holding something over you. Let’s work together to fix it,” he said, reading off the screen.

  “It was something my mother said,” I said softly.

  He gave my shoulder another squeeze. “She’s a smart woman.” Then he looked at McNamara again. “It was funny. I had the love of my father, and working for you I had the second point too—but I realized with Janus I’d never had the third. That’s when I replied to her text, and we came up with a plan.”

  “What plan?” asked McNamara, suspiciously.

  “This plan,” said Christian, holding up his smartphone, then pulling out the small microphone that had previously plugged into it, still in his pocket. “I’ve just recorded every single word you said.”

  The silence in the room stretched for several long moments. It grew so quiet that I thought I could make out the distant sounds of traffic, way down below, and a helicopter thumping across the sky somewhere above.

  Then McNamara burst out laughing. “Oh, that’s good. Real good. You had me worried there for a moment.” He looked very pointedly at Christian. “Do you want your father to die? Is that it?”

  I answered before Christian could reply. “You’re not the only game in town, McNamara. The first thing Archer did when we heard from Christian was offer to cover his father’s bills. He can afford it easily, you know—you don’t have leverage over Christian anymore.”

  “You two think you’re very clever, don’t you?” McNamara said, scowling. He stubbed out his cigar. I got the distinct impression he was imagining the ashtray was my face. “But you forget you’re just two people. Janus is global. You’ll never be free of us.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Give me a break. With the recording we’ve just taken, we’ve got everything we need to take you down. And then some.”

  He smiled tightly. “Yes. About that.” He reached under his desk to press a button, and a moment later two burly security guards barreled into the room. One of them seized me, hauling me roughly from the chair. The other seized Christian. I didn’t struggle as he twisted my arms behind my back.

  McNamara pushed his chair out and walked slowly round from behind his desk. He stopped directly in front of us. In the silence that followed as he clipped and then lit a fresh cigar, I could hear that helicopter from before, getting closer. He smirked. “It seems to me, that you’ve forgotten exactly where you are, Josephine.”

  He sucked on the cigar until the end was glowing, then blew the smoke directly in my face. I struggled not to cough. “You’re in my house, and here, we play by my rules.” He nodded at the security guard holding Christian, who wrenched the phone from his hand and smashed it to the floor. It ground into several pieces under the guard’s steel heel.

  “There, you little brats,” McNamara said, his voice triumphant. “Now you’ve got nothing.”

  Christian and I looked at each other… then burst out laughing.

  “Get with the 21st century, dude!” Christian said, still chuckling. “The audio I took was a digital file. I emailed it out of here three minutes ago!”

  McNamara’s face froze mid-gloat. Then it slowly fell. The look was priceless. “What?” he whispered.

  “Seriously. It’s already with Archer. Face it, the game’s up.”

  McNamara’s face glowered. “You play a very dangerous game here boy. Do you know who you’re talking to?”

  “I know very well,” Christian said in
a tight voice.

  “Then you also know what I’m capable of.” He gestured to one of the guards, and for the first time I realized they were carrying guns on their hips. The guard pulled one from its holster and handed it to him.

  McNamara cocked it, and then pointed it straight at me. “Get that audio back, now.”

  Christian looked at me, worried. I shook my head. “Don’t do it Christian. This doesn’t change anything.”

  “But Josie…”

  “No. We don’t give in to his demands, ever again. He’s just digging himself in deeper.”

  “Don’t listen to her,” McNamara growled. He thrust the muzzle of the gun into my forehead and leaned close. “Your precious Archer won’t be able to save you when you’re dead.”

  I raised my eyebrows. “What, are you going to kill me to get your way?”

  He leaned in even closer, till our faces were almost touching. His breath was rancid. “It wouldn’t be the first time Janus has done it,” he said. “Though it would be a first for me; usually I just tell other people to make it happen.”

  “Archer would never let you get away with it.”

  “Oh yes, the famous Archer,” McNamara sneered. “And just where is your precious boyfriend right now?”

  The noise from the helicopter now was so loud that I could feel the vibrations through the floor. I smiled. “Don’t worry, he’ll be here any moment.”

  McNamara noticed the noise of the helicopter for the first time. He turned to the window in annoyance. “What is that blasted thing!”

  I answered for him as a dark shape appeared before the window, hovering right outside. “That, you creep, is you getting exactly what you deserve.”

  A spotlight flicked on. A figure in full SWAT gear leaned out of the chopper with a megaphone. “This is the FBI. Put the gun down, and your hands on your head.”

  Chapter 6

  McNamara lifted his hands to shield his eyes. “What the hell?” He reached for the intercom on his desk. “Security? Security?”

  His request was met with static.

  “I repeat, this is the FBI,” said the voice through the megaphone. “Have your guards stand down, and put your hands up.”

  “Like fuck I will,” he muttered. Then he sprang for the door.

  He was halfway across the room when the doors to his office burst open in a shower of timber. A dozen men in black SWAT attire burst into the room. They arrayed in a semicircle before the door as McNamara skidded to a halt, the cigar falling slowly from his open mouth. The man in the lead, dressed in flak vest and dark goggles, removed his helmet.

  It was Archer. “I hear you were looking for me.”

  McNamara stepped back, eyes wide. “What? Me? No… I-”

  Archer grinned, his dimple flashing, as he reached up to tap an earpiece. “I’ve been listening in the entire time—Christian had more than one listening device on him.” Then he turned to me. “Are you okay?”

  I rubbed my wrists. The guards had released us the moment the room had been stormed. I wanted to run to Archer, to throw my arms around him in his sexy SWAT suit, but now wasn’t the time. Instead, I just nodded.

  “Good,” he said. Then he turned back to McNamara. “You’re lucky I’m letting you keep your tongue after the way you talked to her.” He eyed the surrounding SWAT team. “For once, it seems having the FBI here is working in your favor. After I showed them your audio tape and told them about your blackmail attempt, they agreed to put me on the team, but I don’t think they’d take very kindly to me causing grievous bodily harm before we could get you to the courts.”

  “Go fuck yourself,” McNamara spat. “You and your little whore.”

  Archer’s face darkened. He took a step forward. “On second thoughts, maybe I don’t care what they do to me.” He took another step. “Maybe I want to end up in the same cell as you.”

  McNamara took another half step back. “You wouldn’t dare.”

  Archer stepped forward again, slinging his gun behind his back. He cracked his knuckles. “You’d be surprised what I’d dare to do when you mess with the gal I love.” McNamara’s face was quickly losing its color.

  Archer stopped in front of him. “You know what’s funny? If you had never tried to blackmail Josie, life would have been so much simpler for you. Janus has money, your reputation would have suffered from that audio tape, but you would probably have escaped jail time.”

  His heel found the still glowing cigar McNamara had dropped and ground it into expensive carpet. “But now? With what we’ve just got on tape? You’re going to jail for a very, very long time.”

  “I should have shot that bitch while I had the chance,” McNamara spat.

  Archer suddenly went very still. His fist clenched. Then he turned to talk directly to the SWAT team behind him. “Gentlemen. 10 million dollars to the FBI Widows Fund if you’ll look the other way for… oh, about 15 seconds.” He didn’t wait for a response. Instead he spun to punch McNamara with the weight of his entire body behind him. The other man staggered back, eyes rolling up, and then folded to the floor.

  Archer looked to the fallen man dismissively. “I did warn you.” Then he crossed the room to where I stood, pulling me to him for a long, passionate kiss.

  Chapter 7

  Later that night, after the police station, the paper work and a celebratory dinner, we unwound on the balcony of Archer’s apartment. I’d told Mom everything over dinner. It had been harder even than standing up to McNamara—Archer had held my hand the entire time.

  Tears had filled her eyes when I’d told her about the photos. “Josie, sweetheart…”

  “I’m sorry, Mom. I’m sorry if you’re ashamed of me.”

  She’d looked at me in shock. “Ashamed? Sweetheart, I’m nothing but proud of you. Who cares about a couple of photos? I did worse with your father when we were younger.” Then she soured. “That pig of a man though! He’s no better than that Volder-whatsit fellow in Harry Potter. I swear that movie would have been better as a musical.” She’d sat back then, as if that was that, and spent the rest of the night gazing moon eyed at Archer; hanging on his every word.

  We sent her home in a limo, which thrilled Mom to pieces—though I did warn Archer that he was starting to spoil her. Pretty soon she’d be demanding to go to premiers and rub elbows with her favorite stars.

  That had made me chuckle. I could imagine her swanning down the red carpet, dressed up to the nines. The best part was knowing that even if she did demand such treatment, Archer would give it to her. He’d already written a check to pay off the house, and Mom’s medical bills.

  I snuggled closer to Archer as he popped a bottle of champagne on his apartment balcony, watching with a happy heart as the cork sailed off into the darkness.

  “To us,” he said simply, pouring out two glasses.

  I shook my head. “To you. Without you, none of this would have ever happened.” I took a sip of my champagne, then looked at him from under lowered eyes. “You know, you looked kind of sexy in that SWAT suit earlier.”

  “Really?”

  I put the glass down. My hands trailed over his rock hard stomach. “Uh huh. In fact, more than just kinda. I’d go as far as to say smoking, actually.”

  Archer raised an eyebrow. “When you talk like that, you make me want to buy a flak jacket of my own.”

  “Ooh. Could you?”

  Archer leaned down to kiss me. “For you, anything.”

  This man. This man who was all I had ever wanted. I’d betrayed his trust, and he’d forgiven me. I’d asked for his trust, and he’d believed in me. He’d handed over that tape without hesitation. He’d remained loyal even when I’d pushed him away. He was the kindest, gentlest man I knew, yet when McNamara had threatened me, he’d been ferocious.

  “Archer?” I asked softly.

  “Yes?”

  “Make love to me.”

  When I’d first met Archer, I’d thought he was out to save the world. I knew differently now. T
he thing that he had saved was me.

  Archer gathered me in strong arms, carrying me across the balcony threshold and into the bedroom. He laid me down gently upon silk sheets. Our mouths met in a long, luxurious kiss. My arms tightened around his neck, holding him close. I never wanted to let him go.

  His hands were on my back. They found the zipper of my dress, easing it down slowly. I could feel each sensual pop of the zip’s teeth as they released in a downward line, opening my body to him.

  The trail of fire his hands left as they touched the newly exposed skin left me with shivers. I held the back of his head close to me, enjoying his fingers on my flesh. His lips nuzzled my neck.

  How had I become so lucky? I’d found a man who kindled a passion I’d never known existed. By setting me free, he’d bought my body and soul.

  His hands spread over my back, pushing my dress forward and over my shoulders. I slipped my arms from it, letting it fall between us. We kissed as he unhooked my bra, drawing a groan from the back of my throat as my breasts were freed to his touch.

  His mouth kept exploring; kissing along my chest, over my shoulders—drawing goosebumps where-ever his lips touched. When I couldn’t take it anymore, I began to work on undressing him. I unbuttoned his shirt first, exposing his smooth, muscled chest. Each gorgeous bulge of his pectorals ended in nipples which I kissed before moving on.

  I pulled the shirt from the waistband of his pants, next, and now I could see hard abdominals too. They were sculpted like a swimmers’; cords of muscle in a dual line that made my mouth salivate and sparked a heat between my legs I couldn’t wait to satisfy. My fingers worked quickly at his belt.

  He pushed me, gently, onto the bed. “Eager,” he whispered, laughing.

  I stretched out on my back, Archer lowering himself over me. I pulled him down, arms around his neck, and told him what I thought of that statement with a deep, searching kiss. I needed him to know what he did to me, how good he made me feel.