The Complete Groupie Trilogy (74 page)

Everyone in the room knew he referred to Andy when he spoke. She closed her eyes and shook her head and tried to
pretend she was anywhere else.

Vanni saw her distress. “So sanctimonious,” he sneered at Graham. “You think you haven’t hurt her just as much? Haven’t pulled her in five directions just as much? Why did she come back this time? Pneumonia, was it? I have to say I don’t quite go to the lengths you do but I am in awe of your finesse.”

Graham’s jaw clenched as he stared at Vanni. “And how long did it take you to get over her?” he wanted to know. “Was Holly in your bed that weekend? Or that night?”

“Stop it!”

All the men turned to where Andy cried out, holding her hands to her ears. Tears flowed down her face as she openly wept from how they were tearing her apart. Their triangle had become a noose around her neck. Graham was right. She was a moth dying to get too close to the flame.

In that instant she hoped she’d burn up and not have to deal with one more minut
e of this impossible situation.

She took one step toward the door before she fell in a dead faint right in the middle of the wrecked studio.

Chapter Twenty-Three

December 22, 2010. New York.

Holly

Holly paced back and forth in the expensive hotel in the heart of Manhattan. She couldn’t yet afford this on her own but Leo was glad to pull some strings for her the minute that she called him.

That was right after she got the text from her contact at PING to let her know he had trailed Andy just like she had requested, and the lead was hot. Vanni was caught canoodling with his ex on the eve of his wedding right in the church he was due to be married. It was Hollywood Gossip Gold. She begged him not to post the photos but she learned too late her partners in crime were only loyal to a point.

When it came to making money off of the carcass of Giovanni Carnevale, she had only been another link in the chain. There was much more money to be made from the scandal, something she had foolishly believed he’d be smart enough to avoid when he knew PING tailed him relentlessly all over the city.

She hurled a glass across the room and against the other wall, where it shattered. How had everything gone so wrong? She almost had it perfect this time. She thought she had played it so smart. When she heard about everything that had happened in Philadelphia she had been quick to get in touch with her good pal Leo Newman, someone she already knew was on the DIB crew. She wanted to find out what she needed to do to get close to a lonely, vulnerable star with a lot of money and no real sense with what to do with it.

Obviously he let groupies close. He was the perfect target.

The more she researched him the more she knew just how to bend him to her will. She dyed her hair, bought some bright contacts and rehearsed the story she’d tell him that would endear her to him as more than just a little gopher in a studio. He wanted someone wholesome, so she played the Midwest card. He didn’t want a groupie, so she turned him down flat the minute he tried to make a move. She played the victim to the hilt, knowing how it tugged at his heartstrings with guilt and regret for all the mistakes he was making.

Leo gleefully gave her all the information she needed. He knew if she could get in there it would finally break Vanni away from Graham and he would start his own label – with Leo at the helm of course.

It was the big break for everyone. All she had to do was play it cool and slip in under the radar when no one was looking. They’d push the drama, keeping things antagonistic between Graham and Vanni, and provide Vanni with enough distraction that he’d never even know he’d let some weasels right into the chicken coop.

The last five years had prepared her for this moment. She had played this game before with others before him, all in various stages of success and vulnerability. Eventually she realized that the old tricks work best. All she had to do was get pregnant and they would all live on easy street while he toiled overtime to take care of the baby mama. She didn’t care about Vanni… he was a weak piece of shit. But she cared very much about becoming Holly Carnevale, the sainted wife and mother of his children.

She’d grace every magazine, walk every red carpet, tape every interview looking fabulous and wealthy, while she kept her ne’er do well husband in line. If he fucked up anyway? Then she’d take him for every penny he had.

But the fucker couldn’t even wait until they were married to cheat.

And with someone like Andy Foster. Holly’s face screwed up into a snarl just to think about her. She was dull, drab, fat and ugly… yet she had two of the most powerful men in rock music battling over her like she was Helen of Troy. Holly never understood it.

She thought about that just the night before when she and Vanni had made love. He twirled her around like a doll, surely grateful that he no longer had to do the heavy lifting with a size sixteen cow. They were athletic in their pursuits and he never made her feel like he was missing out on anything, in fact he acted more like they were the perfect fit.

Then, hours later, he was kissing that cunt right in the church he was supposed to swear before God he was her man till death do they part.

If either of them thought she was going to fade quietly into the background and let them
be together they were mistaken.

The only reason she left was he needed a scare. He needed to know she could leave at any moment and take the thing he wanted most with her when she went. She had already zoned in on his weakn
ess: abandonment.

She’d give him a few days to mull it over. Then she’d show up again and make him pay dearly for humiliating her while he ran in guilty circles trying to make it up to her.

Julian came out of the bathroom dressed in a towel. “So. Any word from Leo?”

She shook her head and checked her phone again. There were dozens of missed calls and texts from Vanni, but
Leo hadn’t contacted them yet.

He was supposed to let them know when she could go back, when Vanni had reached the very limits of desperation and was willing to agree to anything – inclu
ding marriage without a prenup.

Julian walked over to where she sat, stood behind her and rubbed her shoulders. “It’ll be okay, Hol,” he said. “We’re too close to give up now.”

She grabbed his hand. He was right. They were.

“In the meantime,” he said with a lascivious grin as he dropped his towel, “let me take your mind off your troubles. ‘Sis,’” he added sarcastically as he pulled her to the bed.

“Stop it,” she said, but allowed him to pull her down towards him. “You know we can’t do anything until after I get pregnant.”

“Come on,” he whispered as he nuzzled her neck. “Like that idiot would know to get a paternity test anyway. He hasn’t bothered to find out you’ve been married before, and he never even asked to see the pregnancy test like the last guy. This douche is, in a word, clueless,” he added as he grabbed her breast in one hand.

“Julian,” she said as she tried to scoot away. “I said no.”

She left him on the bed and walked over to the window. “I wish Leo would hurry up and call. I need to go back. The more time we give him the more he could panic and find out everything. About us. About our past.”

Julian covered with the towel. “Trust Leo. He knows what he’s doing.”

“Then why isn’t he calling?” she s
napped.

The question was answered by a knock at the door. Holly ran to check out the peephole, grateful to see the other member of their little gang on the other side. When she swung open the door she caught sight of the bruises and cuts on his face. “What the hell happened?”

Leo brushed passed her. “What does it look like? I got into it with Vanni. He’s out of his mind looking for you,” he said.

She smiled as she sashayed over to one of the chairs opposite the bed. “Good.”

“Don’t get too cocky,” he warned. “Graham showed up and kicked me out of the studio.” He delivered the news like it was the worst possible thing that could have happened. And really, it kind of was. It was one thing to pull something over on a recovering alcoholic with a shit self-esteem and penchant for self-destruction. Graham wasn’t the president of a multi-billion dollar company by some accident. If anyone could blow their carefully plotted scam all to hell, it’d be him. “What the hell is wrong with you? Why did you invite them?”

“Because she needed to see Vanni was out of reach,” Holly responded. “And he needed to see her with Graham. It was the only way to break the bond for good. When he’s torn up over Andy I can get him to do anything I want him to.”

“Yeah,” Leo said as he cupped his aching head. “That plan worked out perfectly. I’m out and they’re together. You fucked up, Holly. You never knew when to quit while you’re ahead.”

“Shut up, Leo,” she snapped. “If anyone fucked up it was you. You were supposed to make sure he’d never go back to that fat whore.”

He shrugged. “What can I say? Love isn’t just blind, it’s stupid too.”

Julian reclined against the pillows of the bed. It was much more relaxed than how he felt now that Leo had arrived and delivered the bad news. “If Graham kicked you out then he must be onto us.”

Leo shrugged again. “He was throwing around some hefty criminal charges when I was being dragged from the studio. Even though we did everything we could to ensure he’d be glad to get rid of Vanni, maybe Graham really is looking out for the best interest of one of his biggest acts.”

They quietly considered the very real possibili
ty they had all been uncovered.

They had carefully crafted this confidence trick to take down the most successful rock star in America the minute he sho
wed a few cracks in the veneer.

Now they’d all be lucky they didn’t go to jail for fraud, especially since Holly hadn’t been able to
get pregnant like they planned.

Plan B involved getting him to the altar anyway and then faking a miscarriage if she couldn’t get pregnant from the sexual marathon she’d made sure they had gone on since Vanni popped the question.

“Hormones,” she had said as an excuse. “And at least we know I can’t get pregnant!”

At the time he had certainly enjoyed consequence-free sex, especially with the sexual enhancement pills she had been slipping him since Thanksgiving. But who knew if anything had “taken” yet. According to her calendar she was still in the ovulation phase of her cycle, they wouldn’t know anything until mid-January at the earliest.

Without a pregnancy there would be no Plan C.

“So do I go back?” Holly wanted to know.

“If Graham does know what’s going on you’re likely going to have to produce a positive test in order to get him down the aisle now.”

“Maybe, maybe not,” she hedged. She’d managed to fool Vanni into thinking there was a baby without a positive test. “He said he loved me,” she finally offered, in a small voice. “Maybe I could use that.”

Leo just laughed. “Honey, did you see the photo from the church? That man doesn’t love anyone but her – God only knows why. Just wait it out. I’ll keep an ear open. If they don’t figure things out, and Vanni wants to go forward with a wedding, then you go back in a position of power, not weakness. Then you get married like you planned, and we go from there. We get our record company, Julian gets his band and you keep him happy fucking his brains out until you have a household of kids. And if he gets out of line,” Leo said as he took a flask from his jacket, “we always know how to get him back under control.” He took a long swig.

If Vanni hadn’t come at him swinging he could have had this whole thing taken care of by now. He could have gotten him drunk and Holly would have come to his rescue again.

But that lovesick asshole threw a wrench in all their plans. Again.

One thing was for sure. If they ever wanted to take down Giovanni Carneval
e, they had to get rid of Andy.

Once and for all.

Chapter Twenty-Four

December 22, 2010. New York.

Andy

When Andy’s eyes opened she was starkly reminded of waking up in another hospital room in Philadelphia mere months before. Had it really been six months? She felt
like she had aged twenty years.

She glanced over at the IV where it dripped down in a clear bag full of all the necessary nutrients she knew she’d been missing since she got that nagging stomach flu a month ago. She’d never been able to recover, but she knew that was mostly because she hadn’t wanted to.

Now that Vanni was truly gone from her life nothing would be the same. The sun wouldn’t burn the same yellow; the sky wouldn’t shine the same blue. Music and colors were muted as she forfeited joy for obligation.

After she destroyed Graham the way she did she knew she didn’t deserve joy. She hadn’t gone to New York to hurt him, but her intentions were for naught when she came back home and saw him clinging to a life that, for him, was as dull and lifeless to him as a Vanni-less existence was to her.