Starlet: A Dark Retelling - Cora Kenborn Page 0,18
right above your shower.” His free hand pats the knife stashed in his pocket. “My guess is if I let myself into your landlord’s apartment, I’d find a whole wet and wild file he’s jerked his dick raw to for months now.”
That’s it.
At least if I took Reggie up on his offer, I’d get fucked for money, but this is too much. I can feel it bubbling up inside me like an overfilled pot. Now my hands are shaking, and I can barely see straight as I fly toward the couch and swipe the camera out of his hands.
“Motherfucker!” I stomp toward the door.
Dominic leaps to his feet and falls in behind me. “Where are you going?”
“Where do you think? To kick this guy’s ass so hard he chokes on his own balls.”
He grabs my arm before I can open the door. “Easy, Rocky. Not only is that the wrong thing to do, it’s kind of anatomically impossible.”
I gape at him. “You want me to just sit back and take it?”
“No, I want you to hit him where it hurts.”
“I’m trying,” I hiss, grinding my teeth. “But you won’t get out of my way.”
He shakes his head. “I meant his spank bank collection. Pain heals, cupcake, but tits are forever. Besides, if you think this guy doesn’t have five extra copies duped on a flash drive somewhere, you’re naïve as hell.”
“So, what do you suggest I do?”
“Let me handle it.” A smirk tugs at his lips. It’s that smirk that makes me step back. My stomach twists, a warning flashing through the static in my head.
Predator.
Clearing my throat, I cross my arms over my chest. “And I’m supposed to just trust you? The guy who broke into my apartment and color coded my underwear.”
“You know, I’m all for attitude, but you might want to dial yours back a little.”
I scowl. “Oh, trust me. You haven’t heard attitude, yet.”
He lets out a small laugh, his anger gone. Just like that. Which is more rattling than if he’d shoved me against the wall again. “Oh, trust me, I have. A full two minutes and thirty-nine seconds of it.”
Chapter Nine
Angel
I freeze, my gaze dropping to my feet. “You remember me.”
His eyebrows shoot up. “You mean Jade Saxton? Well, let’s just say it’s hard to forget someone who can fit that many ‘fuck yous’ into one voice mail. Now, Angel Smith on the other hand? No. At least, not at first. However, your friend was pretty quick in jogging my memory.”
Fucking Violet.
“How…?”
He scratches the stubble on his chin and shrugs. “She ninjaed around the side of the building and overheard us talking.”
I’m going to kill her when she comes home. I bitched for two hours about Dominic McCallum and his fucking alley proposition, and she didn’t say shit.
“She had no right to do that.”
“She cares about you.”
“Yeah, she cares so much she handed me on a silver platter to the man responsible for this.” Flinging my arms out, I motion around the apartment. To the ugly, vomit colored couch. To the brown, water-stained walls. To the cracked baseboards and hideous peeling linoleum floors. “Take a good look, McCallum. I hope it was worth it.”
Dominic opens his mouth, and for a split second I think he’s going to apologize. But then he shuts it. “I didn’t know you were her. If I had—”
“You would’ve what? Not run the story? Not used me as a sacrificial lamb to stick it to the man?” I’m goading him, but I don’t care.
“The man?” He laughs, repeating the words slowly. “Do you even know what you signed on for?”
“Yeah, the role of a lifetime.”
“Try a low-budget film where the only action scenes being filmed were in Paulo Bellini’s trailer.”
His words catch me off guard, and all the pain and shame come rushing back in a cloud of raw hurt. Cursing, I pull my hand back and swing, only for it to come to a dead stop. Dominic’s fingers are wrapped around my wrist, and when I look up, I’m met with a calculated stare.
“I don’t mince words, Miss Smith.” His callous tone mirrors the cold expression on his face. “The truth may hurt, but distorted reality does a lot more damage.” He nods at the camera still clenched in my other hand. “Believe what you want, but I did you a favor.”
“A favor?” Jerking my arm out of his grasp, I turn away, my teeth grinding together as I close my eyes and count slowly in my head.