The Complete Groupie Trilogy (83 page)

This wasn’t just some guy sharing her bed. This was the love of her life, her unexpected soul mate.

Her fiancé
, she thought to herself. Giovanni Carnevale was her fiancé! The world wanted him… but he wanted
her
.

He unzipped her jeans and slid them over her full hips as he trailed tiny, hot kisses along her satiny flesh. He paused as he reached her rounded stomach, where he gently kissed the solid, little ball hidden there. He was in awe of the miracle growing inside her body, but more importantly he was in awe of the miracle of her. He lightly traced the curve of her tummy.

A smile spread across her face as she ran her fingers through his hair. He had been so attentive, so loving – so eager to share this amazing journey with her. It was such a far cry from their pregnancy scare in San Francisco. He had certainly grown over the years. It amazed her to think that she might have been the reason why.

And now he had promised her forever. He wasn’t walking away, like in her nightmares. He was warm and real and wonderful in her arms. It made her hunger for him not just in body, but deep in her soul. Just as she reached for him, she felt a slight but distinct fluttering in her tummy. She held her breath for a moment, trying to figure out what it could have been, and then she felt it again.

She gasped as she sat up, which got his attention. “What’s the matter?” he asked with concern.

There were tears in her eyes as she shook her head. “I think… I think I felt the baby.”

His eyes widened as he touched her stomach. He couldn’t feel anything. He bent closer and whispered, “Are you in there, my little baby Bean?” against her skin.

There, very slightly, almost imperceptibly, she felt it again. She was crying and laughing all at the same time. “Did you feel it?”

He gave her a sweet smile. He had read anything he could get his hands on to know what to expect while she was pregnant. He knew it was still too soon for that. “No. But I feel you,” he said as he climbed back up her body to kiss her deeply on the mouth. “I love you, Andy,” he said, hoping one day he’d say it enough to make up for all the times he had withheld it like some selfish, entitled asshole.

“I love y
ou, Vanni,” she whispered back.

His heart melted every time she said his name. His mouth devoured hers while his fingers danced over her quivering flesh. He took his time loving her, giving her a Valentine’s Day to remember always.

When they finally come together, it wasn’t answering a physical need. It was making an unspoken promise. The ring she now wore weighed deliciously against her finger, a sacred covenant far too long in the making.

That night she had no nightmares at all.

They returned to his brownstone the following day and were at L.A.X by that evening. They didn’t bother to hide the ring, or their embrace, as they faced the onslaught of PING reporters that slithered around the airport, waiting for the next celebrity arrival to exploit.

“Vanni! Over here! Vanni!”

Neither Vanni nor Andy said anything as they bore through the small crush of pushy photographers.

“Did you have a good Valenti
ne’s Day?” they wanted to know.

Vanni sent one of them a stern glance. “Yes, we did. Especially since you guys weren’t there.”

By the time they reached the hired car to return them home, they were both agitated from the intrusion. He wanted to say he was sorry; he wanted to promise it would get better, but the fact of the matter was this was their life, for better or worse.

As his wife, there would be a lot more interest in her now, especially with the baby coming. They had managed to hide the OB/GYN appointments so far, but the growing bump in her belly would soon tell its own tale, especially now that she was unwilling to stay cooped up in their beach house for the rest of her pregnancy.

They still had five months to go. She’d go stir crazy if she had to wait that long to return to the land of the living.

The next day they made a conference call to Graham, to suggest they find a place for her in the production of
Fierce
. Graham, who recovered quickly from the shock of seeing her, was all for the idea. He called Shannon, and made an appointment with Andy for the following day to come into his office and meet with his co-producer for the show.

Andy was happier than Vanni had ever seen her when she puttered around the kitchen, preparin
g dinner for them that evening.

“So when do we break the news?” he wanted to know. He had hoped that PING would have made a big deal about the big bauble on her finger, breaking the news for them, but they seemed to have missed it in all the hullabaloo at the airport. He was ready to tell the world that he was going to marry this woman and they were going to have a baby soon.

She had hidden in the shadows long enough.

Andy gave him a big smile. “I’ve been thinking about it,” she said. “How about when you do press for
Fierce
next week?”

He liked the sound of that, but he was curious why she still wanted to wait. He asked her as much, and his stomach fell a little when she said, “I’d like to tell Graham in person, privately, before we make a public announcement.”

She didn’t like how his face fell. She had hoped after all the time they had spent together, especially their romantic and memorable Valentine’s Day, that he’d be over his insecurities as far as Graham was concerned. She put a lid on the simmering sauce pan and walked over to where he sat on a bar stool at the counter. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. “Only because it’s the right thing to do,” she tried to reason.

He circled her waist with his arms. “Can we tell him together?”

She sighed. “I think it might be best if I tell him alone.”

His grip tightened, but then he mirrored her sigh. If they were going to be married, he’d have to trust her. Now was as good a time as any.

But just in case he spent the entire night in perfect fiancé mode, making sure that she knew without any doubt what kind of man she had at home so she’d never be tempted to leave him again. He did the dishes, he massaged her feet, they shared a bath – and he made love to her until she could do nothing but scream his name as she rode higher on wave after wave of pleasure.

She was his, and he emblazoned his mark on her in every loving way possible.

The next day she arrived in L.A. a little earlier than scheduled. She had hoped to see Graham privately first. Maybe if he knew about the marriage and the pregnancy he wouldn’t want to work with her on this new production.

She was a nervous wreck by the time he opened the door for her. He was standing on his own two feet as he greeted her, which made her tear up with joy. “Oh, Graham,” she breathed as she walked into his open embrace. They didn’t speak for a moment, both choked up by the magnitude of the moment. Finally he broke apart and led her into the office.

“You look amazing, Andy,” he said, and he genuinely meant it. Her face was fuller, rosier and she wore the happy look of a woman well loved. He felt a tug at his gut that she had never looked this way when she was with him, which renewed his commitment to keep his residual longing for her to himself. It was baggage she no longer needed to carry.

“Look at you,” she said as she watched him walk – slowly but steadily – back to his desk, using only a cane. It was only ten steps, but it was ten more than she thought he’d be making a year ago. She sat in the chair opposite his desk. “I can’t believe how far you’ve come.”

He chuckled. “Thank Maggie. She’s the one that made it happen.”

Andy shook her head. “You made it happen, Graham. It just proves again how amazing you are.” He didn’t say anything for an awkward moment. Finally she cleared her throat. “Thanks for agreeing to see me before the meeting with Shann
on,” she said.

He just smiled. “I’m always happy to see you,” he said. “You didn’t need an excuse to come by.”

It was such a Graham thing to say. “I know. It’s just been… awkward.”

He nodded. Their relationsh
ip had always been complicated.

She took a deep breath. “I have something to tell you. Something I think you should know before we attempt to revive any kind of working relationship, or even any real friendship.”

He sat back in his chair. “I’m always going to be your friend, Andy. Despite everything that has happened, I hope you know that.”

“I do,” she said. “But like I said, things are a bit awkward. I know that … there were feelings…”

He wanted to correct her and say, “Are feelings,” but he got the sense that would only distress her further. He simply said, “No matter what it is, I have faith we can handle it.”

She nodded. Her eyes met his. “I’m going to marry Vanni,” she said quietly.

It was as if a gunshot had reverberated throughout the quiet office. His jaw clenched, but he recovered quickly with a forced smile. “Congratulations,” he managed.

“There’s more,” she added, looking up at him like a naughty child facing a disappointed parent. “I’m pregnant.”

That news seemed to rock him more than the engagement. He couldn’t say anything for a moment as he stared at her in disbelief. It had only been a few months, he thought. She had been sleeping in his bed, lying in his arms, only three short months before.

Now she was pregnant and marrying another man?

It didn’t seem possible.

“When?” he asked.

“July,” she answered.

His blown mind quickly did the calculations. She was four months pregnant, which meant she was pregnant the last time they were together… when they had made love… when he had hoped beyond hope they had conceived a child –
their
child.

“Congratulations,” he managed again, only this time with considerably more difficulty. “I know it was what you wanted,” he added.
What I wanted
, he thought to himself as he swallowed the bitter, bitter pill.

She remembered that last night together, when he had whispered that he wanted to give her a baby, and she cried in his arms for those things she thought she could never have. Looking back it seemed so cruel, to use him as some consolation prize because Vanni wasn’t available. He had deserved better than that. “Graham, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know at the time. I swear. I didn’t know until I passed out in New York in December.”

It was yet another blow. She had known when he set her free in December, and had opted not to tell him. He wondered how much Vanni had influenced that decision.

He glanced down at the flashy ring on her hand, which was in her lap by her growing belly. He didn’t know why he hadn’t noticed either before. “I’m happy for you,” he said as sincerely as he could muster. “I hope that Vanni can give you the life and happiness you deserve.”

It was a double-edged sentiment, heavily laced with his doubts on the matter. She just smiled. “He already has,” she assured him, but her words only seemed to inflict more harm. “If this makes things too awkward between us, I understand.”

He shook his head to cut her off. “Don’t be silly, Andy. I made peace with your decision in December. There are no strings attached to my friendship, nor any other relationship we have in the future. I really think you’ll be an asset for
Fierce
.” He smiled and was all business the rest of their meeting. He introduced her to Shannon, a fellow writer excited to include her on their team, especially since they had so much in common. With Andy’s music background with Dreaming in Blue, she was a perfect fit to their collaborative production team.

They spent the rest of the afternoon fine-tuning the creative details on the competition. It was dark before she returned home. Vanni had prepared a candlelight dinner for his workin’ woman, and they spent their evening sharing their excitement over the upcoming project.

Most of all they couldn’t wait until the following week, when they could finally tell the world they were together.

And then, just like every other time in their relationship they dared believe they were bulletproof – karma kicked them both in the ass on the morning news.

PING hadn’t given a rat’s ass about Andy’s two-karat bauble because they had a much juicier story to uncover. They had discovered a pregnant, destitute Holly holed up in a seedy Hollywood motel, carelessly discarded and virtually ignored by the deadbeat father of her child while he shacked up with another woman, spending his 10-million dollar payday on exorbitant trips to New York instead.

It was all over the news from the time they woke up. When they dared to open their front door to drive to her OB/GYN appointment, the paparazzi was all over their lawn waiting to hear what they had to say on the matter.

“What are you going to do about Holly?”

“Is that why you didn’t marry her in December?”

“Following your father’s footsteps, Vanni?”

They slammed back into the house and stared at each other in disbelief.

It had happened again.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Redondo Beach, California

February 17, 2011