Hollywood Wives - the New Generation (7 page)

Michael re-entered the room, immediately noticing that with her
silky hair framing her oval-shaped face she was even more stunning.
'Sorry about that,' he said briskly. 'Been out all morning, couldn't
take a break.' He settled behind his desk. 'Well, uh, Miss Roman.'

'Call me Lissa,' she said, suddenly feeling unbearably tense.

He caught her vibes and sympathized. 'This is an awkward situation,
huh?'

'Yes, it is,' she agreed. 'I had to get the proof, right?'

'That's the smart way of looking at it,' he said, craving a
cigarette, but determined not to light up in front of her. 'Now,' he
said, getting down to business, 'I'm not gonna bore you with details,
so how about I play you one of the tapes?'

'What tapes?' she said quickly.

'I tapped into your husband's cellphone. It's the quickest way of
catching someone. So what you're about to hear is a conversation he had
yesterday.'

'I see,' she said, resigning herself to the worst.

'Want me to wait outside while you listen?'

'You've already heard it, haven't you?' she said, making an effort
to stay in control. It was bad enough doing this, but she had no
intention of turning into the poor little wronged woman - not her image
at all.

'Uh… yes,' Michael said. He'd listened to all the tapes and they
were pretty raunchy. The tape he was about to play for her was one of
the milder ones.

'Then there's no reason we shouldn't listen together,' she said
coolly. 'It'll be our entertainment for the afternoon. Big movie star
listening to her husband cheat, because that's what I'm about to hear,
isn't it?'

'Hey,' he shrugged. 'You wanted the information.'

'Hey,' she said, shrugging back, 'guess I've got it.'

'Don't be mad at
me!'
he said, reaching for the cassette
on
his desk. 'I'm the bearer, not the doer.'

'I'm not mad,' she said resignedly. 'Merely disappointed.'

'I can understand that,' he said, getting up and heading for the
tape player.

'So, Michael,' she said, making conversation, 'Quincy mentioned
you're from New York.'

'New York born,' he replied, 'although my grandparents were
Sicilian. Moved out here six years ago, hooked up with Quincy an' never
regretted it.'

'Quincy's a nice man.'

'The best.'

'Do you like living in L.A.?'

'It's different. Yeah, I like it,' he said, slipping the cassette
into the machine. 'The weather. The easy lifestyle.'

'Is that your little girl?' she asked, pointing to the picture on
his desk.

'Uh… no,' he said, hesitating for a moment, his black eyes clouding
over. 'That's Bella, my niece.'

'She's a beauty.'

'
I
think so,' he said,
pressing play. 'Okay, Lissa, here we go.'

She waited. And then she heard them, Gregg - putting on his
so-called sexy voice - and a breathy-sounding female.

gregg:
Hello, baby
.

girl:
I missed you after you left last night
. (A dirty
giggle.)
You're the best sex I ever had
.

gregg:
C'mon, you're only saying that to get me hard again. And
believe me, it doesn't take much.

girl:
You're
the
best lover in the world
. (A
languid pause.)
And… you have
the
most beautiful cock
.

gregg:
That's something my wife never tells me
.

girl:
That's 'cause she never sees it
. (This time a
knowing giggle.)
Right, honeybunch
?

gregg:
Listen, uh… I'll try and get there by eight. I'm telling
Lissa I'm working late again.

girl:
Does she honestly buy that tired old excuse
?

gregg:
She buys anything I sell her
.

girl:
How dumb
.

gregg:
That's my wife. She's too busy being famous to notice
anything.

They both laughed.

'Okay, enough!' Lissa said abruptly, her cheeks flushed with anger.
'I don't need to hear any more.' She was furious and embarrassed. Why
did this always happen to her? What had she done to deserve it?

Michael clicked the machine off. 'Some men never learn,' he said
ruefully. 'This one must be a real loser.'

'Some women never learn either,' she said sadly. 'Gregg's my fourth
husband. All four of them cheated on me. How's that for a track
record?' Now, why was she telling a total stranger her business? God!
She was pathetic.

Michael shrugged. 'It's a question of finding the right person. When
you do, you'll know.'

'How?' she asked wryly.

'The trick is never to settle for second best - or so I've heard.'

She gazed at him intently, wondering what was going through his
head. 'Is that what you imagine
I
did?'

'I hardly know you, Lissa,' he said slowly, trying not to stare into
her diamond blue eyes, 'so I can't answer that question.'

'How many times have
you
been married?' she asked, certain
that his track record wasn't so great either.

'Once,' he said grimly. 'That was enough.'

'Sounds ominous.'

'No reason to get married unless you want kids. You got any?'

'A daughter,' she answered restlessly. 'Had her when I was twenty -
that's too young to be a mom. Makes me feel ancient now.'

'You? Ancient?' he said, raising his eyebrows in surprise. 'You're
one of the most beautiful women in the world.'

Christ
! he thought.
I sound like afreakin' fan. I'd
better get it together here
.

'Now you're embarrassing me,' she murmured.

Their eyes met for a few seconds. It was an intimate look for two
people who hardly knew each other.

Abruptly Michael broke the look and got up from behind his desk. 'Do
you want copies of the tapes?' he asked. 'We usually store the
originals in the safe, but I made copies in case you need them.'

'I have to figure out how to handle this,' she said, trying to sound
like she knew what she was doing. 'I'd better speak to my lawyer.'

'That's a plan,' he said, handing her several cassettes.

She reached for her purse and stood up. 'Uh… Michael,' she said
hesitantly.

'Yes?'

'Who's the woman on the tape?'

He took a moment before answering, then he said, 'A salesgirl at
Barneys.'

'Oh,' she said, wishing she hadn't asked. Damn Gregg. The fact that
she was Lissa Roman obviously didn't do it for him. He had to turn to a
salesgirl at
Barneys
to get the sex he was denying her,
because the truth was they hadn't slept together in over a month.

Well, screw him, he wasn't getting one red cent of her hard-earned
money. She'd fight him all the way if he tried to overturn the
pre-nuptial.

Unexpected tears filled her eyes and she hurriedly put on her shades.

'Is your husband leaving town any time soon?' Michael asked,
pretending not to notice she was close to tears.

'Why?' she asked, regaining her composure.

He felt sorry for her and protective all at the same time. She might
be an enormous star, but she was still a woman in pain, and he had an
insane desire to put his arms around her and hold her close. 'Well,' he
said, 'if he's out of town, or even gone for the day, I can arrange to
have all his possessions packed up and the locks on your house changed.
That way, when he comes home, there'll be a lawyer's letter waiting
outside the door asking where he'd like his stuff delivered, and you
don't have to see him. It's a done deal.'

'Can
you
organize it for me?' she asked hopefully.

'If you tell me when he'll be away.'

'He's supposed to be recording with a new producer all day Friday.'

'That's two days down the line. You certain you can hold it together
until then?'

'I'm an actress,' she said confidently. 'Gregg will never suspect a
thing.'

'I'm not so sure,' Michael said. 'Living in the same house,
pretending nothing's going on, it won't be easy.'

'Don't worry about it.'

'I
am
worried,' he said, frowning. 'What if you can't hold
back and get into a fight?'

'I won't do that,' she promised.

'Has he ever been violent towards you?'

'No,' she lied, conveniently forgetting two extremely disturbing
incidents she preferred to block out.

'If you say so,' Michael said reluctantly.

'I do.'

'Okay. I'll take care of everything.'

'Thanks,' she murmured.

'All you have to do is call me when he leaves the house on Friday.'

'That's it?'

'We'll make it smooth and easy.'

'You're very nice, Michael.'

His look was direct and disconcerting. 'That's because I'm dealing
with a very nice lady.'

Nicci's wedding plans were progressing well, which was good news
because Evan was coming home soon, and she couldn't wait to see him.

She had finally got everything together, with a great deal of help
from the woman at the venue who'd been most obliging when she'd given
her Evan's mother's list. And since Saffron was in charge of the
bridesmaids' dresses, all she had left to do was find a dress for
herself. Lissa had suggested that she fly to New York and order
something expensive from Vera Wang. Instead, she explored Robertson,
discovering a shop next to the Ivy where she came across the romantic
gown of her dreams. Ivory satin with floating panels of chiffon - so
beautiful she was certain Evan would love it.

Today, she decided, she was going to do something she'd been putting
off for weeks, and that was phone her father. She'd called Lissa and
tried to talk to her about it, but all her mom had said was a
noncommittal, 'It's your call.'

'Do you
mind
if Antonio comes?' she'd asked.

'Why would I mind?' Lissa had answered, cool as ever.

'Are you
sure
?' she'd persisted.

'Of course I'm sure.'

She'd never got her mom to say much about Antonio, he was more or
less a closed subject, and whenever she brought him up, Lissa went onto
something else. Oh, well… maybe one of these days she'd get her to open
up about him.

She flitted around the house, making sure all was in order for
Evan's return. He was extremely anal about his house. It was stark
white and modern, with minimal furniture, and several highly expensive
pieces of art hanging on the walls. Nicci figured that once they were
married she'd change everything and make it more homey and comfortable.

Finally, with nothing left to do, she picked up the phone and called
Antonio.

Fortunately he answered the phone himself, because she'd been
dreading talking to her stern grandmother. 'Antonio!' she exclaimed.
'Guess who?'

There was a short silence before he spoke. 'As if I can't guess,' he
said at last. 'Two years and no word, now my Nicci calls. This
stubbornness you inherited from me.'

'You always like to take credit for everything,' she teased,
delighted to hear his voice.

'Not always.'

'How come
you
haven't called
me
?' she demanded.
'Doesn't that make
you
the stubborn one?'

'We're
both
stubborn,' he admitted. 'However, I am pleased
to speak to you, my
carino
?'

'Really?' she asked, feeling like a little kid again.

'Of course. How are you?'

She hesitated a moment before blurting out, 'I'm… uh… getting
married.'

'You are doing
what
?'

'Getting married,' she repeated, wondering what he'd say.

'You're too young,' he said sternly.

'I'm almost twenty,' she countered.

'That's too young.'

'Look at you and Mommy.'

'Yes, look at us,' he said drily.

'Anyway,' she added quickly, 'I'm marrying this like really cool guy
in five weeks, and I'd love you to come to my wedding and give me away.'

There was another short silence. 'I must tell you something,'
Antonio said, clearing his throat.

'What?' she asked impatiently.

'I am getting married myself.'

'Adela is letting
you
get married again?' she said
disbelievingly. 'No way.'

'Adela is happy for me,' he said, quite affronted. 'And my desire is
that you will be too.'

'When are you doing this?'

'Next week.'

'Oh, that's great, isn't it?' she said, trying not to sound whiny.
'At least I call and invite
you
. You weren't even going to
tell
me
?'

'Eventually.'

What kind of father was he? It suddenly occurred to her that she was
stuck with parents who basically didn't give a crap about anyone except
themselves. 'Who are you marrying?' she demanded. At least she was
entitled to know that.

'A wonderful woman,' he answered smoothly.

'Woman?' she said, needling him, because since Antonio always
referred to women as girls, this one must be older. 'Hmm,' she
continued. 'That sounds suspicious. Is she older than you?'

'Well…' he said, hesitating for a moment, '… just a trifle.'

Nicci jumped on that one. 'How
much
older?'

'Merely a few years.'

'How many?' Nicci persisted.

'Fifteen.'

'
Fifteen
? she exclaimed. 'Holy shit! That means when you're
fifty she'll be like
sixty-five
!' A beat, because she knew
her father only too well. And then a sly - 'She must be mega rich.'

'That's not the reason we marry,' he said, offended.

Sure
, Nicci thought. Then she sighed and said, 'I guess
that means you can't make it to
my
wedding.'

'I will be there.'

'Promise?'

'E-mail me the details. I would not miss giving my one and only
beautiful daughter away'