For the Love of His Life (31 page)

Danny opened the door of his car and guided her into sitting down in it before he slammed the door.

“Nah. I’ll drop you off then come back and look for him. I’ll tell him where you are and bring him home, okay?”

She sighed heavily. “I guess so. This has turned more and more unpleasant as the night wore on. He promised not to leave me alone in a room full of strangers, but he did. He’s going to have some serious explaining to do when he gets home.”

The drive was almost too quick, as Danny wove in and out of traffic, with Veronica holding onto the hand grips in panic as he almost collided repeatedly with other vehicles.

Finally they pulled into the driveway of Raul’s mansion. Danny stopped the car and turned expectantly to Veronica.

“You have a key to get in, right?”

She nodded. “Yes. He gave me one in case we got separated. I wonder how he knew that might happen?”

Danny casually draped his arm around the back of the seat, to touch Veronica’s hair gently.

“Well, he knew he could count on his crew to take good care of you. See me and Raul are tight…really tight. We share everything. So how about I go with you into the house and keep you company until he gets back?”

She turned to glare at him. “What the fuck are you talking about? This is Raul’s house! I’m his woman!”

“Well I don’t expect to fuck you on
his
bed. We can use one of the guest beds. That way when he gets home you can join him in his room where the sheets won’t be all messed up…”

He leaned forward and tried to kiss her. She turned her head.

“No! That’s not going to happen! Thanks for the ride back, but you can leave now.”

“I’m not going anywhere, babe, until I get what I want.”

He began to hold her down, as she struggled against him. The console in the middle of the car gave her an advantage, but he had both of her hands held tightly in one of his, as he used the other hand to tear the slit in her dress up higher, then he leaned forward to smell her.

“You’ve got one hot pussy there, bitch. It must really be something to get Big Rod so excited. Let me have a taste…”

Veronica waited until he lowered his head, then she brought her knee up sharply, slamming it into his face.

“Ow! What the fuck’s with you? I told you Raul and I share our bitches!”

“I don’t get shared. And fuck you, Danny. You’re an asshole.”

She pulled the knob up on the door and jumped out while he was examining his face in the rear-view mirror.

“I gotta nose bleed and I’m gonna have a black eye, you cunt!”

Veronica pulled her shoes off and ran up onto the porch, then jabbed the key into the lock. She pushed the door open, fell through it, then locked it behind her. She leaned her back against it, trembling and panting from her anger and delayed fear from what had just happened. She listened carefully, expecting to hear footsteps and pounding at the door. Instead, she heard the tires squealing on the driveway as the car was driven away quickly. She was left by herself, with only silence to keep her company.

Fine! What a disaster this night has turned into! I’m giving you until the morning to show up, Raul. If you don’t, I’m calling a cab and flying back home. You really blew it this time, señor.

She trudged slowly up the stairs to the master bedroom, and took a very long, hot shower to clean the memories of being touched by that creep off of her skin. She crawled into bed and lay awake for a long time, occasionally sending another text, or trying to call Raul again, only to get the voice mail each time. Eventually she fell asleep and dreamed of being chased by Hollywood monsters threatening her with their enormous erections.

* * * *

Raul had no idea where he was or what was going on. He had another drink in his hand and he was being toasted again. People were calling his name and cheering every time he did another line of coke. He was getting hugged by everyone and the women groped him whenever they got close enough to touch him. He was too wasted to get hard, but that didn’t stop anyone from fondling him through his pants. He even felt himself being groped a few times when he was being hugged by men, but he didn’t care. He was the hero everyone loved and he was on top of the world!

He turned when the cheering started again, with another name being called out. “Kelly…Kelly…Kelly!” His co-star smiled at everyone around her while she was hugged and kissed by all, as if she belonged to them now that they had elected her the biggest star of them all.

When she got close to him, she studied his face and shook her head disapprovingly. “Holy shit, are you wasted! What’s with that, Raul? And where’s Veronica?”

He tried to understand her words, but his brain was too cloudy for them to make sense. He smiled inanely. “What? Who?”

People started encouraging them to kiss. “Re-enact that scene from the movie for us! You can keep your clothes on this time.”

“No! They should both be naked so we can watch!”

“Live porn! Raul and Kelly!”

Kelly shook her head. “I was told to stay away from this party…now I see why. But I was also told at the last place I was at that you were here. I figured it couldn’t be that bad if you’re here. Come on, big guy. I’m taking you home with me.”

She began to pull him up and out of the chair he’d become a part of, with his drink in one hand, and a rolled up bill in the other. She took both of them out of his hands and pulled him up. He stepped forward and into her arms. The crowd cheered lustily. “Fuck show! Fuck show!”

He leaned forward as if to kiss her and she turned her head. “Not now, Romeo. I like privacy when I get naked…unless there’s a movie crew filming.”

“I gotta camera on my phone!” Someone yelled and she stuck out her tongue at him.

“Oh yeah, phone,” said Joey as he reached into his pocket. He handed a phone to Kelly.

“What’s this?”

“It’s Raul’s phone. He kept dropping it, so I put it into my pocket so he wouldn’t lose it. He’s my homeboy. I always take good care of him.”

She glanced at it then glared at him. “I’ll bet. And he wouldn’t know about any calls or texts either, since you turned it off, huh? Some friend you are!”

He got in front of her menacingly. “What did you say, bitch?”

She put her fingers into her mouth and let out a piercing whistle. Instantly, two huge men muscled their way across the room to stand on either side of her.

“Who are they?” Joey asked belligerently.

“My bodyguards, I never leave home without them. A girl just can’t be too careful. You never know when some dickhead is going to try to intimidate you with his size…which you guys always think is huge,” she snickered. “Mine are bigger. Boys, can you give me a hand with my co-star? He’s had a bit too much celebrating tonight. I’m taking him home with me.”

She ignored the hooting and hollering that went on from behind them, with people offering them money for the video of what was going to happen once she got Raul home. They made their way slowly out the door, because Raul had all but passed out and the big men had to walk on either side of him, carrying him outside. He protested weakly, but they kept him moving.

Once they were all in the limo, Kelly leaned over to tap Raul’s face. “I’m taking you back to my place, honey. I don’t know where you live and it’s late. I was hoping to get laid to celebrate my Oscar, but the offers I was getting were way too skeezy to accept. I’m not into
ménage a
three or more, nor do I do orgies. So I’m gonna take you home and call it a night.”

Raul opened his eyes and she was shocked at the empty look in them. “Sure, I’ll take care of you tonight, shweetie…” His eyes rolled back in his head and he passed out.

The two body guards grinned.

“Yeah, he’ll take care of you alright.”

“Not!”

Kelly nodded, “See how bad drugs are for you? That’s why I’ve been clean since high school. I used to run with a wild crowd, but I’d never have won my
golden boy named Oscar
if I was still a druggie.”

Once they got to her house, the body guards carried the unconscious Raul upstairs and deposited him into one of the guest rooms. She told them to go on home and lock the front door behind them. They glanced knowingly at each other, before turning and closing the door behind them.

Raul had been roused by being unceremoniously dumped into the center of the bed. He opened his eyes and slurred out some words.

“Hey, shweeetie…we finally gonna get it on for real?”

Kelly shook her head.

“Not tonight, big guy. Not that you’re not hot, because you really are. The more I’ve gotten to know you, the sexier you seem. But tonight you are a waste of skin. You’re just lucky I got there before you got taken home by some bimbo with a video camera set-up.”

She walked over to the door and glared at him. “The bathroom’s through that doorway there. Sleep it off. I’ll see you in the morning.”

She opened the door and went through it, then pulled it closed behind her. There was the decisive sharp sound of the door being locked and Raul was left alone. He took a deep breath, looked around for something to drink, then closed his eyes and was out cold.

Kelly took his phone downstairs into her kitchen and turned it on. Instantly it beeped to indicate the numerous voice mails and texts that had been unnoticed. She sighed heavily.

“Raul, you are in some deep shit now. She may never forgive you for this one!”

She made herself a cup of tea and sat looking at the phone while she stirred honey into her tea.

“I’ll just send her a quick text, letting her know you’re here. That way she won’t worry. She’ll still be pissed as all hell, but that’s your problem, not mine.”

She sent a text to Veronica:
Found him wasted at a party. Took him home and locked him in a guest room. He’s passed out. Kelly.

* * * *

Veronica had just fallen asleep, so she didn’t get the text until the morning. By then the pictures of Kelly and Raul leaving the raucous party were all over the celebrity pages on the internet and TV shows. Veronica read the text, showered, dressed and called a cab to take her to the airport. She didn’t stop moving until she was home in her own house. She wrapped herself in her comforter, curled up into a ball on her bed and cried herself to sleep.

Chapter Twenty-Two

When Jared saw who was calling him, he considered refusing the call. He sighed with resignation and picked it up anyway.

“Yeah? What do you want?”

“I’m sorry. I’ve been saying that to everyone and I’ll keep saying it until I can apologize to Nica. She won’t take my calls…”

“Can’t say as how I blame her. You were an asshole, leaving her at a party, then all of your exploits were detailed and sold to the vultures.”

Raul sighed heavily. “I don’t remember much of anything after I did the first few lines. I didn’t participate in the four-way with the porn queen because I was too incapacitated to even get up from my chair at that point. That coke was the purest shit I’ve ever snorted. Really dangerous stuff. I’m reasonably sure that I didn’t have sex with anyone, because I wasn’t capable of getting hard while I was numb all over. I couldn’t even change my facial expression because my face was so fried.”

“Son of a bitch,” Jared began, “Just when everyone was starting to believe in you too…”

“That’s why I’m calling. I have to redeem myself with her. I have to get her to listen to me.”

“You seem to spend a lot of time apologizing to her…”

“That last time it wasn’t my fault. It was yours.”

“Touché. Okay, but the biker babe? And this time?”

“I’m an asshole. I know it. Everyone knows it. But with her in my life I have a chance to be more. I just need a chance to talk to her.”

“So, what do you want from me?”

“Realistically, how many shows do I have to do to avoid a breach of contract?”

“What do you mean?”

“Just what I said. How many talk shows do I have to go on, so the studio doesn’t sue me?”

“I’m not sure. You’ve already been doing everything they asked.”

“Can you check for me? Because, as soon as I can, I’m flying out of here. I’ve already called my agent and told him I’m moving out. I’ve contacted a real estate agent and tomorrow I’ll sign the contract to put my house up for sale. I’ve checked out some places up by Grand Marais. I’m going to follow her up there and beg her to listen to me. Maybe she’ll believe me if I’ve made a clean break…if I have no house here to come back to. I don’t want to live without her and I’m not giving her up.”

Jared was silent for so long Raul was beginning to get antsy. Finally he sighed. “Okay, I’ll make some inquiries and get back to you later today. How are you going to convince her?”

“I don’t know yet.”

“Later, dude.”

Raul sat and looked at the phone for a minute before he turned back to his computer to get back to checking on available real estate in Grand Marais. He hadn’t moved an hour later, when Jared called him back.