The Complete Groupie Trilogy (79 page)

Her chin trembled slightly as she tipped her head defiantly. “Fine. Then I quit.”

He laughed as he rose painstakingly from his chair and walked the three feet that separated them. He took her hands in his. “You can’t,” he said softly as he looked into her eyes. “Because you’re just like me. White horse and all.” He pulled her into hug, which confused her even more. “Face it, Mags,” he said, using his affectionate nickname for his favorite nurse. “You can’t deny someone who needs you anymore than I can.”

Her throat constricted as she closed her eyes. It wasn’t a declaration of love by any stretch, but she knew Graham had spoken nothing but truth. She could never leave someone who needed her… especially when she needed him just as much. “I just don’t want to see you hurt again,” she whispered.

He chuckled softly as he turned back toward his chair. “Look at it this way. Whatever breaks, you can fix. You’re my miracle worker, Maggie Fowler.” He gave her a wink. “Don’t you ever forget it.”

He grabbed his snack and wheeled from the room.

She said not another word about it, even after Andy called back a bit later that afternoon. From what she could ascertain from Graham’s end of the conversation, Maggie deduced a package had been left on their doorstep and Andy had been unwilling to open it. It turned out to be a care package from a groupie trying to get closer to the playboy rock star, filled with baked goodies and near pornographic photos, along with some questionable underwear. Fairly tame, considering how much crazy they’d faced already, but still obviously disconcerting that people without any real concept of boundaries could find
their way right to their door.

Graham reminded her that this was the life of a rock star, and sometimes these were the complications that entailed. He didn’t offer an alternative, he knew better than that by now. Instead he reiterated he’d be there for her if she ever needed an ear, and ended the call mercifully before she could change her mind once again which man was the better fit.

Maggie breathed a sigh of relief as she retired to her room. She tried not to entertain any fantasies that he’d show up in the door way, finally sure which woman was the better fit for him.

CHAPTER THREE

Hollywood, California

February 1, 2011

The wail of an ambulance screaming down the boulevard penetrated the paper thin walls of the no-name motel where Holly and Julian Neal lay in wait, hatching the next step in their con game. Actually Julian lay in bed, watching TV, while Holly slumped next to the toilet, puking her guts up.

She could only hope that this pregnancy would stick so that she could marry Vanni and be saved from a roach trap of a motel and an ex-husband she could never quite ditch.

She struggled to her feet, washed out her mouth and stumbled toward the sagging bed. She curled up in a miserable little ball. “Julian, go get me a soda,” she whimpered.

“I used the last of our money to buy you the donuts you wanted. Remember?”

She nudged him with her foot. “Then find a way to get me something. I’m sick.”

“Leo will be here any minute. He’s going to float us a loan.”

“I don’t want to see anyone,” she whined. “Go wait for him outside.”

“It’s cold and it’s raining. I’m not waiting outside.” He punctuated his declaration by lighting up a cigarette.

She gagged. “I told you not to smoke around me or the baby,” she cried, before she scooted off the bed and headed toward the bathroom. She just barely made it before acidic bile burned her throat and nose as she vomited on an empty stomach.

He took a long, defiant drag before he snubbed out the cigarette in an ashtray. “I can’t wait till she’s Vanni’s pro
blem and not mine,” he mumbled.

A knock at the door drug him out of the bed. It was Leo, who brushed past him after dropping a paper bag in his arms. It was full of cheap food they could prepare in the rundown motel room. Leo had paid a little extra so
they could have a mini fridge and microwave. Since they were living on his dime he didn’t want to have to pay a fast food bill every time they got hungry.

He shoved a wad of bills into Julian’s hands. “Make it last this time, huh?” he growled as he plopped into one of the chairs next to a shabby little table and lamp. “I’m not made out of money, for crissakes. Not anymore,” he added for emphasis. He was still bitter that Holly’s misstep in New York, putting that cow Andy in Vanni’s path, had shot all their plans straight to hell. Now thanks to that asshole Graham, he was blacklisted in every l
egitimate music studio in town.

He wound up working sound for a couple of pornos just to pay the bills, not to mention paying for Holly and Julian to get back out to L.A. Now that she really was pregnant, they had a shot again manipulating that empty-headed greaseball into setting them all up for the rest of their lives.

If he could pay for a whore to live like a head of lettuce in a swanky hospital for the rest of her life, he could give Leo, Julian and Holly the lives they had been denied. At least Leo and Julian were willing to work for their share by making that prima donna even more famous than he deserved.

He waved away the residue smoke from Julian’s cigarette. “What the hell is wrong with you?” Leo snapped. “Don’t you know that kid is your golden ticket? Keep Holly healthy till she gets that ring on her finger.”

Julian shrugged as he flopped back on the bed. He rifled through the bag, pulling out bags of chips. “Yeah, like this is on her prenatal diet plan.”

“It’s food and it’s cheap,” Leo retorted. “It’s also a hell of a lot more than you’re doing for her.”

Julian glared at him. “You know damn well I could support her if I could get work. You’re the one who told me to lay low.”

Leo leaned forward. “Until Holly can ease thing over with her sweet little pregnant mama routine, we all have to lay low.”

“And when is that?”

Leo leaned back in the chair again. “Soon. Sources tell me that Yael is frustrated with the stalemate in the band. For whatever reason Vanni doesn’t want to get back out on the road, so he’s taking a break from everything. He probably fell into that fat whore’s cooch and hasn’t been able to climb back out again.” He chuckled at his own joke. “As soon as he knows about the little bun in Holly’s oven, he’ll get back out on the road and do what people pay him to do – just like the dancing monkey he is.”

“He’s never going to leave that whore,” Holly mumbled as she staggered out of the bathroom, weak and pale. Thanks to her severe nausea, she’d lost about eight pounds from her already slender frame. Leo was worried if they didn’t do something soon, she’d keel over from malnutrition and all their plans would be destroyed. He pulled a plastic container of juice from the bag and handed it to her as she slumped into the other chair. “Until we get rid of her, he’ll never come back to me.”

“Don’t you worry about that,” Leo told her. “I’ve already planted some seeds to drive her right out of Vanni’s house and back to Graham’s.”

“What do you mean?”

“Think about it. She nearly got blown to pieces by one of his crazy fans. If she thinks someone is stalking him again, she’ll bail just like last time. Then Vanni will be all heartbroken and ripe for you to swoop in and give him the white picket fence. You’ll own him. And we all get our lives back.”

She groaned and dropped her head onto her hand. As miserable as she felt she couldn’t muster the strength to carry out any complicated con games. It was taking every bit of strength she had to protect that baby, which, at this point, was their only ace in the hole.

“I’ve already sent a little care package to their house,” Leo informed them. “Waited until Vanni left and she was all by herself, locked up in her ivory tower. Nothing too scary, just a hand-delivered box with no postage, just enough to make her nervous, but not enough to draw any real heat. Just like clockwork she called Graham, who sent his security guy to protect her highness from having to see what was in an unmarked package on their doorstep. Keep her nice and paranoid so that she has to depend on the people around him more and more… which will hit Vanni right in the ego. They’ll implode. It’s a perfect plan.”

Holly shoved the bottle of juice away, barely touched. “Better make it fast,” she muttered as she rushed to the bathroom.

Leo sighed as he stood. They all realized that in the shape Holly was in, her pregnancy could turn into a ticking bomb. It wasn’t the first pregnancy she’d had; it wouldn’t be the first she’d lost. He glared at Julian, who had checked out of their conversation to watch an old rerun on TV. “Take care of her, man,” Leo instructed. He towered over the younger, smaller man ominously. “Like your life depends on it.”

He slammed out of the room, and Julian re-lit his cigarette.

CHAPTER FOUR

Redondo Beach, California

February 6, 2011

Andy watched Vanni slip into a nice dress shirt and tuck it into his slacks. It was formal attire for her bad boy rock god, but the legal system typically preferred more traditional dress. She pulled the sheets around her naked form, their bed still warm from their early morning tussle. “I wish I could go with you,” she said again, and he gave her a loving smile. She was his to protect now… especially from the mistakes he’d made.

“We talked about this, babe,” he said. “You know PING is going to be all over this. You haven’t stayed invisible all this time to be splashed on the front page of a tabloid. Once we get this behind us, then we can be free to tell the world that we’re in love.”

He bent down to kiss her again… and again… and again. He couldn’t believe that after all the time they’d spent in their safe little cocoon he still couldn’t get enough. This was entirely new territory for this reformed womanizer. He could lay with her for hours and still find something new to discover, whether they were talking or saying nothing at all.

It was what he always thought a honeymoon would be like had he ever found the one woman he’d want to marry. Now he knew with all certainty that woman was Andy. She filled his soul. If he had his way they’d elope in Vegas on Valentine’s Day, give the press their heyday to gossip about it for a week, and then they could get on with the business of living their lives.

First, however, he needed to figure out what he was going to do about this situation with Baylee Wilke. A settlement was the quickest solution, but the question remained what number would satisfy her bloodthirsty family.

He arrived at his lawyer’s office just a little after ten that morning. He wore his hair pulled back in a neat ponytail and looked as respectable as he was going to look for the occasion. He wore a jacket that was well-tailored to fit his form, but was not ostentatious. He wore no jewelry except for a plain, gold watch, and finished off his transformation with necessary dark glasses to
salvage some of his anonymity.

It was a lost cause; PING was ready to strike the minute the car arrived at the house that morning. They trailed him all the way to the high rise downtown, located co
nveniently near the courthouse.

Ivy Cunningham greeted him in the plush lobby of her firm’s offices. She was tall and thin, with dark hair as long as his. She had likewise tied in a neat ponytail that she knotted at the nape of her neck, which made her look professional and youthful all at the same time. Her features were striking, with high cheekbones that hinted at a Native American heritage, and dark eyes that didn’t appear to miss any detail.

“Mr. Carnevale,” she said with a smile and an outstretched hand.

“Vanni,” he corrected. She was going to be his ally in one of the biggest battles of his life; they might as
well be on a first name basis.

He followed her into a large office overlooking Pershing Square. The office itself was sparsely decorated, mostly with books and plants, with a few personal photos along the shelves. It was warm without being intimidating, and this somehow inspired confidence on Vanni’s part. It gave him the impression she was simple and direct, and yet still successful and competent. “It’s very nice to meet you,” she said as she took a seat behind a large desk, “although I certainly wish the circumstances were different.”

He nodded as he sat across from her in a plush chair. “Likewise,” he agreed.

“I’ve spoken with the Wilkes’ attorney and we both believe that it can be settled quickly and quietly with cooperation on both parts. But I’m afraid it will come at significant cost to you, especially with what they’re asking.”

He gulped. “Which is?”

“Five million,” she stated simply as she linked her fingers on her desk. “Since Baylee is so young and will likely need significant medical care for the rest of her life, they want to be sure that her needs are covered.”

His mouth fell open. “That’s a bit much, don’t you think?”

“Apparently they want some money to meet their own needs as well. They like the doctors here in Los Angeles, and they like the facility itself. In order to care for her properly, they would need to relocate from Florida to California, and this poses significant financial hardship on the family.”

“So I pay it and they go away.”