The Complete Groupie Trilogy (88 page)

Then, when he got out of the tub and found Andy on his couch, the congenial mood evaporated. She disappeared from sight and he spent the day moping in his room.

And now Maggie wanted to leave.

He couldn’t believe it… but he didn’t know how to argue with her to make her stay. She was right; she was there to do a job. Maybe it was inappropriate for her to stay in his house now that he no longer needed constant supervision.

Maybe she had needs just like he had needs.

He had never quite considered that before.

His eyes traveled all across her face. She was lovely, but in a more subtle way. Her beauty radiated from the inside, and was so understated that anyone on the street might pass her by and never notice the kind of warrior spirit and generous, devoted nature she had.

But she was a woman, and a woman needed to be loved, appreciated… valued. She had traded in romance for duty after her husband died, but clearly she was feeling the void that he had left.

In that moment Graham wanted to take her into his arms and hold her like a woman should be held, but he knew it was extraordinarily inappropriate. All he could say was, “I’m sorry.”

She bit her lip as she nodded. The limits on their relationship hadn’t changed. She had just let her dopey, sappy, romantic daydreams about something she couldn’t have run a little too wild.

She’d broken her own rules. She’d stayed too long. She’d gotten too close.

“So am I,” she said softly before she turned around and headed to her room to pack.

There were tears in her eyes as she did so, hoping beyond hope that he’d show up at her door and beg her to stay… that he’d take her into his arms and tell her what a fool he had been for not recognizing what he had in her. In her fantasies he’d come to his senses, stop chasing after an immature girl, and turn finally to the woman who was willing, and ready, to give him her world.

But each moment passed like the one before it. The clock in the hallway echoed loudly, breaking the empty silence like symbols clashing, bringing home the sad realization that Graham didn’t call her bluff.

She gathered her suitcase, stuffed down her tears, and called for a cab.

When she reemerged she found him sitting on the sofa in the living room, nursing a drink. He looked somewhat surprised that she was choosing the late hour to leave. He couldn’t have known one more night separated by a wall would have been the end of her. She had to leave – now – before she lost her nerve.

He struggled to his feet. “Maggie, you don’t have to leave now.”

She nodded. “Yes, I do.”

He walked to where she stood. “But you have no place to go,” he pointed out. Then he added, “Do you?” as if he had never considered it before.

She smiled. “I’ll be fine, Graham. I’m thirty-six years old. I’m a big girl. I think I’ll be okay on my own.”

He was still confused by her about-face. But she was determined, and he knew already how strong her will could be when she was determined. He sig
hed and reached for his pocket.

“Graham, I have enough money,” she started but he shook his head.

“It’s not money.” He produced a key. “I want you to take one of the cars. You still work for me, right? Consider it a company car. I need to know that you can drive to the office and to the studio and to the house whenever you want.”

A car. She wanted his heart, and he offered her a car. She sighed as she stared at the key in his hand. If she had any sense at all, she’d quit that instant. But then she looked into his face, and those beautiful eyes that were so kind and so hopeful. Even though he couldn’t say the words, she knew he still needed her. And God forgive her, she couldn’t turn him down. She took the key and nodded. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Same therapy schedule,” she instructed, all business… the hard-ass Mags he loved best.

He gave her a lopsided grin. “It’s a date,” he teased, but the words seem to pain her further. She turned on her heel and headed for the garage.

After she was gone he looked around his empty house. He finished off his drink and headed to bed, to dream about Andy and a baby boy who looked just like him.

CHAPTER NINE

Redondo Beach, California

February 21, 2011

Andy was awake before the alarm sounded that Monday morning at seven o’clock. She glanced over at Vanni, who still slept soundly with his arm around her, cuddling her close. Their weekend had been rough, with his going to see Holly and ensure that she was getting the proper care and that the baby was okay. He had wanted to move her closer to Redondo Beach, but Andy put her foot down. If he was insistent upon having two separate families then by God they were going to stay separate. Andy didn’t trust Holly as far as she could throw her, there would be no congenial “sister-wives” relationship between them. Andy would never punish a baby for the sins of the mother, and she was trying her best to make peace with the idea that her child would have a sibling that did not come from her, but the less she had to do with Holly, the better.

The whole thing had put a wedge between her and Vanni. She had grilled him about specifics with the hospital visits to the point where he grew snippy. This situation was hard on him, too; it didn’t make things any easier for anyone for her to ask questions that would ultimately pain her. He really rather preferred that everything that happened with Holly be a totally separate thing that never touched Andy. And for the first time it wasn’t even because he was trying to juggle both women. He may not have told Holly about the engagement, but he made it clear that he was going to stay with Andy. She had screamed at him to the point where security removed him temporarily from the room. He was waiting just outside when Julian showed up, which made things even more awkward. Julian played the “protective older brother” well, right up to the point he told Vanni if he ever did anything to hurt Holly or the baby he’d hunt him down and tear out his heart.

“You seem to forget that you have a rap sheet as long as your arm,” Vanni told him softly. He didn’t cotton to being treated like the bad guy in a si
tuation they knowingly created.

“Just don’t you forget it,” was Julian’s warning before he disappeared into the hospital room. An hour later he exited, and told Vanni – who still waited – that Holly had calmed down and decided
he could go back into the room.

But she reiterated that she wanted it all, otherwise there was no point.

He gestured around the room. “This is the point, Holly,” he had told her. “You needed me to help you save our baby. Look at how you live. You’re holed up in a roach motel, eating crap, sick as a dog to the point you ended up in a hospital. Are you really willing to risk our baby over where I happen to live?”

Her chin quivered as her eyes welled up with tears. She wore no makeup and her hair, now washed and combed straight, hung in a half-dyed curtain towards her tiny shoulders. She looked like a child in the hospital bed, and – despite it all – looked genuinely concerned for the health of her baby. She cuddled her stomach constantly as
if already holding him or her in her arms. Finally she shook her head. “Of course not,” she said softly. “I’m just scared, Vanni. Scared you’ll cast me aside for someone else. You weren’t thinking about me or the baby you thought I carried when you kissed Andy in that church. You were being selfish. How am I supposed to trust you now?”

“The same way I’m supposed to trust you,” he said pointedly.  “This isn’t about you and me anymore.”

She nodded without looking at him, and then curled up on her side. “I’m tired, Vanni,” she said. Now that she wasn’t vomiting every few hours, she had finally been able to get some sleep. “But don’t leave until I go to sleep,” she pleaded with the wide-eyed innocence of a child. She was scared, she was virtually alone… and she needed him. He suspected that would always be the case. He sighed as he sat in the chair next to the bed.

He had to reconcile the fact that she was going to be as dependent upon him as any baby would be; both financially and emotionally. She wasn’t like Andy. Andy had already set up a trust fund for the baby, she had taken out life insurance – she was even going to go back to work. She ate right, she slept and took care of herself, she had been stepping up as a mother ever since she found out she was pregnant. She would never play the victim just so he would take care of her, or force hi
s hand so he could never leave.

Most of all she wouldn’t lie to him. Usually she did the exact opposite – she always told him the truth whether he wanted to hear it or not. Mostly not. She was a partner in life, not a dependent. It took him a long time to give her his trust but now that he had, there was no going back. He’d never swap Andy for Holly. The only reason he had ever slept with her in the first place was because he thought Andy had chosen Graham. He couldn’t have what he wanted so he opted for the consolation prize.

Little did he know it would come back, repeatedly, to bite him in the ass.

But now that he had Andy, he was determined to keep her. Though she wanted details for some masochistic reason he couldn’t fathom, he decided to give her cursory information to ensure they still were able to talk about it, without hurting her any more than he had to.

He’d hurt her enough over the last four years.

He didn’t seem to realize that his withholding any information whatsoever did exactly what he was trying to avoid doing. She wanted to be assured that he wasn’t falling for Holly’s old tricks. Andy didn’t buy the poor little damsel in distress routine. She believed everything Holly did was carefully calculated. She had one purpose: to nab a famous baby daddy. Now that she was finally pregnant, there was no way she’d ever let him go.

And Vanni was driven by guilt just enough for it to work.

That was why Andy woke up early that Monday morning. This was the week he would tell the press about their upcoming engagement and their own baby. This would make her feel like they had made a solid commitment, one that he’d never been able to make before. He had made it to Lourdes, he had made it to Kat… he had even made it to Holly.

It was Andy’s turn. And she couldn’t wait.

Sure, it would make things more complicated. And sure, it would paint a huge target on her back for all those fans who believed Vanni belonged only to them. The presents still showed up on the door, and got increasingly more graphic and obscene. It was scary, especially after looking down the barrel of Talia’s gun. But they would do what they had to in order to keep their family safe.

She was already looking into new homes, primarily in gated, exclusive communities. As much as Vanni had loved their little beach house, it wasn’t equipped for a newborn. There was only the one loft bedroom, and the security in the neighborhood was lax enough that PING could follow his every move. Andy wanted something large enough they could grow into it, with a studio for him and an office for her, along with a nursery for the baby and maybe even a big back yard for a dog someday.

It was crazy to think of planning a white-picket-fence future with a husband who was a superstar, but the weight of the heavy ring on her left hand was all the
permission she needed to do so.

She watched it sparkle in the sunlight as her hand slid across the solid muscles of his back. He moaned a little in his sleep as he turned to face her. Their normal loving routine had been curtailed by the Holly development, and suddenly Andy missed her man. She snuggled close and kissed his satiny skin as her fingers traveled over h
is back and down over his hips.

His dark eyes opened and focused on her face. He always loved waking up to Andy. It was as if dreams lost their luster when he could wake up to this woman day after day. He had everything he wanted. No words were needed as he reached over to kiss her.

She pulled him down on top of her. Where her hunger came from, she wasn’t sure. But nothing could satisfy her except for Vanni in her arms. She wrapped her arms and legs around him as she brazenly explored his mouth with her tongue. Each kiss led to another until everything that had kept them apart all weekend evaporated in an instant. Night clothes were discarded quickly and neither said anything as they meshed body and spirit. It was quick and explosive, and much better than any annoying alarm clock.

He collapsed to her side, sweaty and out of breath. He wore that lovable smirk on his face as he turned to her. “Mornin’.”

She giggled and snuggled up into the crook of his arm. He pulled her into a tight, possessive embrace. It had only been a weekend, but God, he had missed her.

She hadn’t gone anywhere in body, but she had definitely kept her heart under glass. He hated that. He never w
anted to go back to that again.

“Looks like you woke up our little Bean,” she said.

“She’s kicking?” he wanted to know.

She nodded with a serene smile, and then lay back on her back. He found the pooch on her stomach with ease – that little bundle that grew more prominent by the week. His large hand cupped her abdomen and he waited.

“I don’t feel anything,” he whispered.

She grabbed his hand and pressed it down far firmer than he would have dared. Before he could ask her if that would hurt her, he felt the slightest flutter under her skin. Tears sprang in his widened eyes as they met Andy’s. “Oh my God,” he said.