LIKED - A Dark Romance Novel (Story of Dangerous Obsession and Lust) Read Free

flashes from cameras
kept washing the color out of the world. Don held her arm at the elbow and
said, “We need to go in. Come on.”
     
    She looked toward Don and back into the crowd in the stands across the
street. The hat was lost like magic and she started to wonder if she had seen
it at all. Gia turned and they swept inside.
     
    They circled the room making nice with invited guests with money to
invest and Don moved to the center with Gia as they waited for everyone to
gather and the catering staff to pass out the flutes of Champaign.
     
    Gia whispered, “Will I take your name?”
     
    “Whatever you want,” he whispered back as he took two glasses from the
tray and handed Gia one. “You might want to keep Gia Sorah at this point now
that you are getting real attention and notice.”
     
    She smiled. “Sure, as a screen name, but legally, I mean.”
     
    “You want to be Gia Blackheart?” He smiled and looked away. “That’s not a
bad screen name either. We could be a Hollywood, Horrorwood, power couple,
huh?”
     
    “Would I not be Gina Blanchard in real life though? Like on a marriage
license?”
     
    Don frowned. “You can be whoever you want, but I’m not using that name
anywhere.”
     
    Her real name, her Kentucky name as Don Blackheart aka Donald Blanchard
called it, was Gina Sullivan. Sometimes she looked at her Hollywood name on
posters, on boxes, or online and wondered if her real name wasn’t the better
name in many different ways. She thought about outlines of buildings and bells.
     
    Don rang one of his skull rings against his glass and everyone drifted to
silence.
     
    Ding Dong, the career is dead, she thought.
     
    He looked good in his grey tuxedo with tails. He was smiling in a way
that could have been happiness or anger, but since he was a center of
attention, she assumed he was happy.
     
    He gave his speech about the movie and then announced that he and Gia
were engaged. The crowd made the noise of surprise and clapped. The flash from
cameras increased exponentially and they kissed on cue just like he had
directed.
     
    She graciously took everyone’s congratulations on the way into the screening.
Gia fought the temptation to ask each of them if they had been paid yet. The
movie got laughs and gasps at all the right places. Gia cringed at her own
dialogue. She was going to get blasted by critics. She could feel it. Love
Splatter would have been a better title, she thought again.
     
    They took more questions and congrats afterward and returned to the limo.
A few of the dates of the important men were stumbling on their heels with the
drunk walk of baby giraffes. Don gave them dirty looks as photographers took
their pictures like he was surprised they were acting like that.
     
    The couple gave one more wave and smile before disappearing inside the
limo.
     
    “You want to go back to my place?” he asked.
     
    He was already scrolling for another number.
     
    “I’ll need to go back to my apartment to pick up some things.”
     
    He shook his head. “Just order what you need after we get back.”
     
    She frowned. “What happened to whatever I wanted?”
     
    She expected him to relent, but he said, “Just do what I said. I need to
return these calls.”
     
    She pulled his phone hand down away from his ear. “I’m not sitting around
your place in this uncomfortable dress all night while you talk on the phone.”
     
    He shook her hand off and said, “Stop it. This is important.”
     
    “Just take me back to my place. All the way back. Not to an abandoned
parking lot for me to wait on a stranger.”
     
    “Fine. Tell the driver. I need to take this call.”
     
    “You still need to pay me for the movie,” she said.
     
    He froze. “Wow. Is that what this is about?”
     
    “It’s about giving me more than a brush off between phone calls, Donald
Branchard.”
     
    He grimaced as if she had blown the onion smell into his face. “I’ll take
you home, we’ll talk