Beck: Hollywood Hitman Read Online Free Page B

distance. “Yeah, I’m ready.”
    His stomach tightened. On most missions he was sent in to kill people, but on this one he was meant to make certain Natalie Warner wasn’t killed
    “Estrella wants to see you before you deploy.”
    An unsettled feeling burst through Beck. Had she watched him since he arrived? Assessed him? Made certain that her decision to offer him a job was the right decision?
    “When?”
    “Follow me.”
    Beck’s stomach flipped. Now he’d meet the one and only Estrella Leone. The rumors that swirled around this woman. She’d been CIA or NSA or some other super-secret operative when she’d been a socialite and a star. Her past—either with the prince or on her own—was what got her kidnapped. The details were unknown except at the highest levels.
    They climbed the staircase and instead of turning left to the long hallway, which had a dozen doors on either side, they turned right. Remi pressed his finger to the pad on the wall and leaned forward, a scan of his eye, and the door clicked open.
    Another home within a home. Down the long corridor filled with sunlight toward a door at the end of the hall.
    “Does she . . . did she . . .” The words he needed weren’t coming.
    “She rarely receives visitors, but she always has time for her agents. She’s aware of your service record and your background.” Remi turned to the door and then turned back. His eyes held a sadness. His lips thinned. “She’s permanently scarred from the trauma, so don’t be surprised.”
    Beck’s chest tightened. One of the most beautiful women in the world . . . Estrella hadn’t been seen in public for over a decade.
    Remi pushed open the door but remained in the hall. “Don’t worry about Pearl. She won’t kill you, unless you get too close.”
    “Pearl?”
    “Estrella’s shepherd.”
    Beck nodded and swallowed. For fuck’s sake, he’d infiltrated terrorist cells and been less on edge. Why was he nervous about meeting a former actress and socialite?
    Because if the rumors were true, Estrella Leone was much more than just an actress and a socialite. She was the linchpin in numerous foreign operations known and unknown.
    The heels of Beck’s shoes sounded hard on the caramel-colored-wood floors. The room was flooded with sunlight. Cathedral ceilings and long windows cast patterns on the wide-planked floor. At the end of the room was a desk, facing away from the door and out the window. Gorgeous black hair, long and luxurious, that Beck remembered from the fashion magazines his sister always had around the house when they were growing up. Hadn’t every girl wanted to be Estrella Leone?
    “Beck, come in, please.” She tilted her head to the side. The dog beside Estrella sat up at attention and turned her amber eyes on Beck.
    He paused.
    Dog? That wasn’t a fucking dog, that was a wolf. Giant and white-furred, the beast sat at Estrella’s knee, her hand on its head.
    “Don’t mind Pearl; she’s harmless.”
    Right, the way a loaded Glock in the hands of a Seal was harmless.
    Beck moved to the edge of the carpet and assumed the position. Her profile was just as he remembered. She sat in a way that was very similar to the photo that had been on the cover of Time magazine when they named her Person of the Year. That was before . . . just before . . . Estrella Leone had disappeared.
    Estrella remained in her chair but swiveled. The right side of her face, still in profile, in front of him, with her luminous blue eyes and the honey-colored skin and not a line of age.
    How old was Estrella? Not more than forty . . . couldn’t be. Hadn’t she been only twenty-something, nearly thirty, when the worldwide hunt for her began? A hunt that captured the minds and hearts of an entire world.
    She wore sky blue, a shirt, light and flowing, that came to her wrists. Her lips curled up into a smile. “I can’t tell you how pleased I am you’ve accepted this assignment.” She tilted her head toward him. “Natalie