The Complete Groupie Trilogy (40 page)

As much as I wanted to guard my heart, it sounded so earnest and promising I decided to trust him just one more time.

So by almost midnight I was crouched in the bathroom of Vanni’s cabin, waiting to hear the knock on his door. I peeked out of the crack in the door of the darkened room, and Vanni and I shared a wordless glance when it finally came.

I watched him stand and walk over to the door, and she entered in an unseasonable overcoat.

“Hi Talia,” he greeted as he let her in.

She floated into the cabin with a smile on her face. I could tell immediately this was everything she had dreamed about, and now she was with him just like she thought he wanted. Immediately my stomach sank and I knew this was a bad idea. We were so playing with fire.

Once he shut the door and turned back to her she went right into his arms. “Oh Giovanni, I’ve been dreaming of this moment for so long.”

He held her back by the arms. “I invited you here because I think we need to talk.”

She shook her head. “We’ve been talking. It’s time for us to do what we know dest
iny has intended for us to do.”

She slipped off her coat to reveal she was completely naked underneath.

“Talia, no,” he started but she was in his arms in a flash.

“I can’t wait to have your baby,” she cried as she almost literally tried to climb his body to kiss him.

“Talia! No!” he repeated and held her off by her arms.

Her brow knit in confusion. “What do you mean, no? We’ve been talking about this for months. I’m free now, we can make this happe
n. Just like your song for me.”

I could see that Vanni was clearly unprepared for this encounter. He looked troubled, embarrassed for her and very confused. “Talia, we haven’t spoken in months. And we’ve never talked about a baby.”

She just laughed. “Of course we did, silly. You talk to me through your songs. I know I’m the one you’ve been waiting for.”

“Those songs were not written for you,” he tried to reason. “I’m in love with someone else. Those were for her.”

She just shook her head. “If you mean Kat, you don’t have to keep up that charade with me. I know you don’t love her. You’re just trying to keep all your groupies from thinking they can be with you. I don’t blame you. Not after Tawnie.”

That hit him where it hurt, and I almost immediately wanted to rush out of my hiding spot to help him. “Talia,” he started again, “I don’t date fans.”

“Of course not,” she agreed. “But I’m not a fan. We’ve been together almost every night for months. We meet on a spiritual plane.” She tried to get closer. “You love me.”

“No, Talia, I don’t.”

She just laughed at the serious expression. “You don’t have to pretend anymore,” she said as she tried to disentangle herself from his iron grip. “We can be together. We can make love. We can make a baby. We don’t ever have to be apart again.”

“Talia, you’re married,” he tried to reason.

“I told you. I’m free now. Free to be yours. In every way. Just like you wanted.”

She broke loose from his grip and then latched onto his body with such force they toppled onto his bed. I knew the more he struggled to get away there was more opportunity for her to turn it into a situation where she could claim he victimized her, so I had no choice.

I emerged from the bathroom. “Talia! Let him go!”

She broke apart when she heard my voice, but clutched him tighter possessively when she realized who I was. “What a
re you doing here?” she hissed.

“She’s here because I wante
d her here,” Vanni said softly.

This broke through her foggy, delusional brain. “What? Her? Why?”

“Because I love her,” he said.

Great
, I thought. I’ve been waiting for him to declare this love for me and who does he choose to confide in? A naked psychopath.

“Her?” she screeched. She gave me that disdainful up-and-down look. “How could you love a fat cow like that? You told me you loved me.”

He shook his head as he used her shock to pull away from her. He came to stand near me, almost using his body as a shield between us. “I never told you that, Talia. You’re a sick woman. You’ve been imagining this relationship. It doesn’t exist.”

She softened as she scooted out of the bed and tried to approach him. “Of course it does. I’m the one you dreamed about, remember?”

He shook his head and he held out a hand to stop her. “I’ve never talked to you except at fan events. We went out to dinner once and you talked about your husband. Remember? We are not now, nor have we ever, been intimate or romantic.”

“You kissed me,” she persisted.

“On the cheek. For a photo. Remember? It was in Salt Lake City. Try to remember, Talia.”

“But I love you!” she cried out desperately.

“I’m sorry, Talia. But I don’t love you. I never did. And I never will.”

The storm of emotion clouded her face, twisting her face into a snarl. “You lying, cheating, son of a bitch!” she screamed as she started to wail o
n him with tiny clenched fists.

I moved around him to get in the middle of them, which turned her wrath on me. Her punches landed on my head, in my face and in my chest, and Vanni tried his best to pull us apart. The door of the cabin opened and security guards descended on us, pulling Talia back and loc
king her hands behind her back.

“You stupid cunt!” she screamed at me. “You don’t deserve him. You’ll never have him! I’ll never let you have him!”

Vanni took me into his arms and led me from the room and away from the scene. Just outside the room we spoke with the director of security, who explained how she would be detained until we made port the next morning. I shivered in the crook of Vanni’s arm, and dabbed away the blood from my nose and lip. I couldn’t even hear any words in particular; it was all a low, buzzing sound in my ears.

“Are you all right, miss?” the director asked and I think I nodded, but if I didn’t have Vanni to hold onto I would have like
ly crumbled right to the floor.

Vanni took control of the situation, told him that we were going to my cabin and could be reached ther
e with any further information.

We didn’t talk at all until we closed the door to my cabin, in which I nea
rly swooned right to the floor.

I’d never been involved in such a confrontation, faced with so much hatred. I didn’t know how to process it all. This was so far from normal I felt like I’d been deposited on another planet entirely.

So Vanni just rocked me in his arms and kissed the top of my head. Over and over again he kept saying, “I’m sorry.”

He pulled me down onto the sofa in my cabin, holding me across his lap. I realized he too was trembling and how awful the whol
e thing must have been for him.

“Oh Vanni,” I said as I cupped his face. “I’m so sorry I didn’t believe you. I knew something was wrong with her.”

“I should have listened,” he said as his dark eyes met mine. “Do you believe me now?” he asked quietly and I nodded. “About everything?” he persisted and I nodded again. He caressed my face with his palm. “Andy,” he breathed softly before his mouth descended on mine.

My arms wrapped around his neck and I pulled him closer. After all this time and after all we had been through I didn’t know if I could get close enough. I responded hungrily to his deep, probing kiss. My heart felt like it might possibly burst with the joy I felt to be in his arms and know bey
ond all doubt that he loved me.

I wound my fingers in his hair, and I tugged possessively on the silken strands. He groaned into my mouth and kissed me harder. His hand slid up my leg to cup my hip in his large palm, and he squeezed firmly, as if staking his claim on the curves he had always made such a point to savor. I turned more into his embrace, my full breasts pressed against that massive wall of his chest.

He guided my legs to straddle his lap as he kissed me harder, with more urgency. Both hands rested on my waist as I pressed my body against him, exploring the deep recesses of his mouth with my tongue.

I needed him so badly it felt like I might
wither and die if he let me go.

His hands slid underneath my top and up my back, and then easily unlatched my bra. Without even bothering to raise my shirt he cupped each generous breast in his hands. My head tipped back as he moved those magic fingers across each hardened peak, and with a moan of frustration I ripped away my shirt and flung it off into a corner somewhere.

His warm mouth replaced his fingertips, and his tongue teasingly tormented me until I was writhing on top of him, my hands in his hair, burying his face in my breast. He took playful nips out of my skin with his teeth, which made me crazier for him.

Effortlessly he lifted me up and planted me on the sofa as he slid off into the floor. With one thumb he unfastened the top button on my jeans, and then I watched as he pulled
the zipper down with his teeth.

His eyes bore into mine as he looped two fingers into my jeans and slid them down my body. I was trembling from anticipation before he buried his face between legs, so much so I shuddered violently with the force of a climax
that had been so long overdue.

He mercilessly teased me through to another one, and then another, until I was begging for him in a hoarse whisper that sounded more like a squeak. It was all I could manage.

I watched as he rose up, discarding his shirt as he did so. My breath caught when he unfastened his own jeans, and revealed the hardened contours of his body. I opened myself up for him and he easily fit in between my legs. When he entered me it felt like the first time all over again. He opened me up like a virgin and the pure joy of feeling him complete that hollow left by his absence nearly made me tear up with joy.

I couldn’t think beyond the hands, his mouth, his body, and that was all it took to make me dissolve into a puddle underneath him. He didn’t hold back either. He drove our lovemaking with a commanding force that left no room for anything – or anyone – else. If there had been any question before where and to whom I belonged, it was driven away with each powerful stroke and the authority with which he growled my name.

I was delirious by the time he climaxed. He was so overcome himself that he trembled in my arms for long moments afterwards, trying to catch his breath. He said nothing as he stroked my face with his fingertip. He tenderly touched the cut on my lip, and my tender nose that was still bloodied by Talia’s fist, and the sore puffiness around my eye that seemingly got worse by the minute.

He started to say something but I knew it would be another apology. I put my finger on his lips. I didn’t want to talk about it. In fact, I didn’t want to talk at all. I just wanted to enjoy this bubble where he was mine, I was his, and the world outside did not exist. So I reached for another kiss, still hungry for more of him.

Effortlessly he lifted me up and carried me to the bed, and this time our union was slower and more deliberate. We took the time to touch every square inch of skin, first with our fingertips, then with teasing tongues. I tortured him relentlessly until he was a quivering mass under my mouth and fingers, and he clutched a handful of my hair as he begged me for sweet release.

He was crazed by the time I finally straddled his hips. His fingers dug into the soft cushion of my ass as I gyrated slowly on top of him.

This was my time. I was going to enjoy it.

“
If only for a moment, girl
,” I could almost hear him sing in my ear.

It was our moment. It was our night.

By the time the ship docked in Cozumel I was nestled in his arms while he slept. I had been awake for about an hour, lulled by the sound of his heart beat strong and steady under my ear. His hand rested on my bare back and my leg crossed over his. I traced light figure eights along his chest. It was a luxury to touch him after so many months apart. It was so hard-won, but yet it still didn’t feel like it was my victory to enjoy.

I thought about Talia, and how sick she had been. She hated me because I had what she had somehow convinced herself belonged to her. Though my face was sore and surely wore the evidence of her assault, I felt truly sorry for her.

I knew what it was like to want him and not be able to have him, especially when he willingly gave himself to someone else. It wasn’t a fun place to be. I couldn’t imagine that kind of conflict on top of mental illness.

Then I would think about Kat. Was she on a flight to L.A. suffering from a painful broken leg while I was here cuddling with her man? She thought I was her friend; she had no idea that I’d even had a history with Vanni, much less still loved him as much –
if not more – than I ever did.

Vanni wasn’t the only liar in her life.

And then there was Graham. I’d have to look into his face today while my body wore the imprint of my stolen night with Vanni. I’d have to see that same longing in his face I knew was on mine whenever I was unable to be with the one I loved. Again I was reminded he didn’t do one thing to earn that pain except fall in love with the wrong person.