The Complete Groupie Trilogy (66 page)

She murmured as she slowly awakened. Her eyes filled with joy as they focused on his face. With a gentle smile she reached up to caress his check. He turned toward her hand and kissed the sensitive palm before he reached down to toy with those full, tempting lips. She pushed aside the covers to pull him toward her. They fit together, head to toe. He slid a knee between her thighs. She parted open for him willingly.

As hard and ready as he was he took the time to savor her body and prepare her for him. His hands were masterful and they knew just where to touch. He was deliberate and playful as he planted kisses along her neck and across her chest. He captured one nipple in his mouth as he lifted one of her legs in the crook of his elbow, opening her wider so he could finally bury himself deep within her.

She cried out as he filled her, which made him even harder for her. She fit around him in a tight sheath made precisely for the rigid contours of his body, which made him murmur promises and declarations of love he normally would never dare. Within her arms he was as high as he could possibly be. And he never wanted to be sober again.

He was a slave to her demands as she urged him on. He flipped over onto his back, straddling her across his body, buried deep inside her to the point her head tipped back in unrestrained ecstasy. He loved to watch her writhe on top of him, her body undulating with the pleasure he knew she could ne
ver find but at his fingertips.

She looked like a goddess with full breasts that swayed hypnotically above him. He grabbed her hips with hungry hands as he guided her movements atop his body. It was so sexy that he came first this time, just seconds before she quivered and lost
herself in spasms of pleasure.

She collapsed on top of him where she lay catching her breath. He stroked her back as he kissed her hair. “Happy birt
hday, beautiful,” he whispered.

She smiled at him. “Best birthday ever,” she whispered before another slow, open-mouthed kiss.

He wrapped his arms around her waist. “And it’s just starting,” he said with an evil grin. She could feel his body jump within her.

They took their time as they rediscovered each other. They were in no hurry to face the real world. Instead they ordered room service, where Vanni got creative with the fruit tray once it arrived. He trailed a juicy strawberry along the curves of her body, following the trail with the strong tip of his tongue as he
turned her into a sexy sundae.

He wanted to order champagne for their celebration but she told him no, then proceeded to use the chocolate sauce and honey in ways that made him forget all about the bubbly.

They cleaned up in a shared bubble bath, where they frolicked until it grew tepid. They took turns drying each other off but it ignited their passion once again and they ended up tangled once more on the dampened sheets of the rumpled bed.

They may have been content to stay there all day but the persistent buzzing of his cell phone could no longer be denied. He cuddled Andy in the crook of his arm as he answered. “Yeah, Holly. What’s up?”

Andy toyed with the hairs smattered along his muscular chest as she waited for the call to end. But from the way he tensed she knew that something was wrong.

“No, I told you that was not necessary. Everything is under control.”

Andy leaned back to look up into his face. He gave her a roll of the eye and shook his head. “But you didn’t need to come to New York,” he said. Andy sat up a bit as she waited. “No, not today. Today I’m booked.” He paused. “You know, interviews and what not. I have the interview with my dad tonight at six o’clock.” Another pause. “No, I’m having dinner with some old friends. I’d love to invite you, Holly, but it’s going to be kind of intimate.”

She watched as his face soured. “No, you don’t need to worry about that. Trust me, I’m fine. No alcohol. No prostitutes.” He smiled at Andy. “It’s actually been a great trip. A real homecoming that was long overdue.”

She snuggled back into the crook of his arm and waited for him to finish. “Yeah, I’ll see you soon. Maybe tomorrow. Bye, Holly.”

He disconnected the call. “She’s in New York. I told her that I was fine but I guess she’s worried.”

Andy opened her mouth to say something but then her cell phone rang. It was Holly. It was Vanni’s turn to wait while Andy made her way through the conversation. “I can appreciate you’d be worried, Holly, but I’m sure he’s fine. Otherwise we’d hear about it.” A pause. “At some point we just have to trust him.” She ran a finger along his naked thigh. “He’s a big boy,” she added with a teasing smile Vanni’s direction.

With yet another evil grin he eased her back against the bed and kissed a path down across each breast and over the swell of her belly. She tried not to gasp as his head disappeared between her thighs. “I’d love to help you, Holly, but I’m in Tennessee. I’m sure he’s fine.” Her eyes closed as he did sweet things to her nether regions. “Trust
him,” she finally said as her free hand clutched a handful of his hair. “He knows what he’s doing. I gotta go, Holly. Grandma’s calling me.”

She didn’t even wait for a goodbye before she disconnected the call and threw her phone on the floor. “You’re evil,” she breathed as her hips gyra
ted around his talented tongue.

He crawled his way up her body. “But you love me,” he said with that insufferable smirk that melted away all her defenses.

“Forever,” she instantly assured. The strength of her promise didn’t even surprise her. She’d love Giovanni Carnevale until she drew her last breath. Of that, she had no doubt. She pulled him down for another kiss.

Vanni had wanted to take her for a picnic in the park to celebrate her birthday. He remembered how she had always wanted to be on his arm in the open, and could think of no greater gift.

However it was Andy who shied away from the public scrutiny of being seen together. As much as she wanted to be with him, fully and really with him, she knew that their relationship was tenuous at best. There were still so many hurdles in their way.

So Vanni did what any rock star of his magnitude would do: he had the concierge buy them some disguises. She got a long black wig and he got a baseball cap that barely concealed his flowing locks. The hotel provided them a picnic basket and they walked arm in arm through the park to the boathouse.

She giggled as he rowed them out into the middle of the lake. Under their coats and cheap costumes she felt like they were playing a couple of parts in a movie. She called him Fred and he called her Lucy, and they fed each other finger foods like cheese and fruit under a gray sky.

He made her laugh even more as he pulled out a ukulele and sang silly, old fashioned love songs. By the time they rowed for shore Andy was pleased they took the chance to go out into the world for what she knew would be the most unique birthday celebrations in her lifetime.

She wanted to go with Vanni to the studio for moral support, but Holly finally convinced him to allow her to come along. He figured if she could see he was sober and everything was fine then she’d leave him alone the rest of the trip – or possibly go back to L.A. entirely.

So Andy waited at the hotel while Holly met with Vanni in the lobby of the studio. Her ever present smile widened when she saw him. She looked so relieved that he was not only sober but looked happier than she remembered him being. “New York is good for you,” she said as he lifted her up in a friendly hug.

“It’s home,” he said with a smile.

“And things with your dad? Are they okay?”

He shrugged. As hurt as he’d been the last two days with Andy had done so much to heal his spirit. “We’re on our way to okay,” he said, and for the first time he truly believed it.

Now that he and Andy were together, he believed there was nothing life could throw
at him that he couldn’t handle.

He even managed to hug Angelo for the cameras and recite many of the things Andy had helped him realize about his dad over the past day. He understood he had an illness, and he truly felt at the time he was doing the right thing by removing himself from their lives given the state he was in. They talked about how he gone from being homeless and even in jail to being a model employee for the market where he worked, as well as a tireless volunteer
for those with substance abuse.

By the time the interview wrapped even Vanni believed the sunny happy feel good story they sold. Though he was itching to get back to Andy, he allowed Holly to talk them all into going out for a late dinner at
a popular all night diner.

He watched as Holly immediately bonded with Angelo. He knew it had to be hard for her to see this relationship turn out so well when her relationship with her father hadn’t. Every time she looked up at Angelo she looked like an orphaned puppy hoping to find her way home. Vanni felt that instant urge to protect her, so he indulged the hour they spent chatting together.

In the end he was glad to have had that time with his dad, looking at him through her eyes.

He finally excused himself to make a call, leaving Holly and Angelo together briefly. Angelo gave her a warm, grateful smile. “I’m so happy that my Giovanni has got so many good friends looking out for him. He’s a good man. I can see why so many love him.”

She gave him a big smile in return. “Oh? Who else have you met?”

“I’ve only met the one staying with him in his suite. Andy, I believe her name was.”

Holly’s smile faded. “Are you sure that was her name?” she asked.

He nodded. “It’s hard to forget a woman named Andy,” he said with a chuckle.
“Even for an old man like me.”

She smiled again, only this
time with much greater effort.

Vanni approached the table. “Hey, listen. I have to get going. I’ve got an early interview tomorrow morning. I’ve taken care of the bill. You guys can stay as long as you like.”

Angelo scooted around the side of the booth and stood to hug his son. “Thank you, Giovanni,” he said softly. “For everything.”

Vanni just nodded and waved goodbye to Holly on his way toward the door.

He still felt really good about things as he opened up the door to his suite where his lovely lady waited. She was working on her novel when he came up behind her. The minute he touched her, the writing was forgotten.

Life was so much more exciting when she was in Vanni’s arms.

He picked her up and carried her to their bed. They only had ten minutes left of her birthday. He was going to make every minute count.

Chapter Seventeen

October 23, 2010. Los Angeles.

Andy

The previous days had floated by like a dream. As always when she and Vanni finally got together, any months apart vanished like wisps of smoke. They knew each other well, yet somehow always found ways to discover something new. Theirs was an exciting love affair, one Andy was so happy to have salvaged after such a rotten year.

It seemed as though nothing could break them apart. Somehow, some way, they always
found a way back to each other.

She watched the country speed under her from the window by her first class seat on an airplane bound for Los Angeles. Though she knew their relationship would have to be kept undercover for many more months, and their hours apart may outnumber those spent in each other’s arms, she felt confident that they had fina
lly passed their greatest test.

She didn’t even bother wearing any kind of disguise as she boarded the plane at JFK straight to Los Angeles.

After their magical time together she felt they were, for lack of a better term, bullet proof.

Which may have been why the flurry of cameras exploding in her face as she went to retrieve her baggage from the carousel at LAX took her by complete surprise. “Comment for PING, Miss Foster?” “How was New York?” “See much of Giovanni Carnevale?” “Does Graham Baxter know how you spent your birthday?”

Each question hit her like a blast to the chest. She held up her arms like a shield as she grabbed her bag and scurried from the terminal, with all the paparazzi press in tow. She ran down a cab and paid extra for him to take the scenic route back to her hotel. When she finally made her way back to her suite, she went immediately to her computer to get the scoop on how she and Vanni had been scooped.

In the very first search results she found links back to photos taken in New York. There were endless images, photos of her checking out, her in the window of her hotel, her and Vanni in a boat in Central Park, holding hands as they left the hotel, cuddling as they arrived.

Even in their cheap disguises it was clear to see who they really were when PING provided irrefutable proof they were both staying in the hotel by tracking down their credit card charges.

The gossip mill speculated that she was cheating on Graham and he was cheating on Holly of all people. Though they had been seen together quite a bit, Andy had no idea that the press had made them an “item,” one that helped polish his tarnished image.

And now he was screwing the boss’s squeeze in NYC like the scum of the earth he really was. PING made it clear there was no love lost and they obviously relished trying to take him down.