The Complete Groupie Trilogy (94 page)

The first priority she had after their offer on the house had been accepted was to schedule an ultrasound to determine the sex of their baby. If Vanni had his way the entire nursery would be painted pink by the time they moved in, with dozens of frilly little dresses and stuffed animals and dolls to welcome their little bean come July.

Now that she was twenty weeks along, they could take tests to be better prepared for whichever color the nursery would need to be painted.

They arrived early and were ushered into the tiny room, where Andy bared her growing tummy for the ultrasound tech. She applied the clear, cold liquid on Andy’s tummy before using the wand to transfer the images from inside her womb to the monitor. Tears sprang into Andy’s eyes as she realized what had started as a blip on the screen was now filling out into the shape of a baby. Vanni held her hand and kissed it repeatedly during the procedure, as the tech told them what they were seeing on the screen. Everything looked good, which was the best news of all.

“And the sex?” Andy asked.

“Let’s see here,” the tech said as she moved the wand around on her stomach. Andy held her breath while Vanni whispered in her ear, “It’s a girl. I bet you ten thousand dollars.”

The tech laughed as she pinpointed the spot on the screen she was searching for. “Seems like father knows best.” She turned to Andy. “You’re having a girl.”

Vanni beamed with tears of his own welling in his eyes as he looked down at Andy. “Told you so,” he said as he bent t
o kiss her softly.

After they left the doctor’s office, they headed straight to a shopping center to buy their little girl’s first gender-specific outfits. Vanni surprised her by taking her to a shop where they could build her a stuffed animal in honor of the momentous day.

Duty called them back to the studio, where they stayed late to make up for their long lunch. And Andy was tired by the time she headed for his office that night, preparing to go home. They could stop off for dinner and start thinking seriously about names. It sounded like the best way to top off their day.

Vanni was putting his things together to prepare to leave, including some audition tapes he hadn’t quite gotten to. She couldn’t help pouting. “You’re working at home?”

“Sorry, babe,” he said as he hoisted the pack over his shoulder. “I’m going to be late coming in tomorrow morning. It has to be done.”

Her stomach twisted in a knot. “And why’s that?”

“Holly called me. They’re releasing her tomorrow. I’m going to pick her up and take her to a nicer hotel until we can find her an apartment.”

She didn’t care much for the “we” he had included. “Send Kelly,” she said. “Why does it have to be you?”

He sighed. He was too tired to have this fight again. “Because it does,” he said quietly as he approached. “Let’s go home.”

They picked up some take-out on their way home, where he spent most of the night going through the tapes. The following week they would begin taping the show, and he had to catch up with all the audition tapes to make his choice of which contestants he’d put through. She admired his commitment, but it left her puttering around the bedroom while she stayed out of his way.

She researched baby names online to keep herself occupied without going crazy, knowing he’d be spending the next day with Holly.

She didn’t trust that girl as far as she could throw her. It was like she instinctively knew whenever they had a good day and she’d swoop right in to stake her claim just to knock Andy off center. For every step forward they took, she was right there to pull him back.

Andy was disgusted as she closed her laptop and put it to the side. She relaxed in a warm bath for a while, and then took some time painting her nails and spreading lotion over her growing tummy. She read for a while and then finally fell asleep, hours before Vanni himself came to bed.

He was gone by the time she got up the next day. Kelly arrived to drive her to the studios, but work
was the last thing on her mind.

It had also been the last thing on Vanni’s mind hours before he climbed wearily into bed with Andy at three o’clock that morning. Once he made his way through the audition tapes he had brought home, he, too, hit the Internet. At first he looked at hotels where he could take Holly the following day, but ultimately he found a two-bedroom corporate apartment in downtown L.A. that came furnished and – best of all – was in a security building. He could rent it on a short-term basis, and he decided he’d feel much better knowing that Holly was in a secure, more home-like atmosphere than some hotel.

Maybe she’d feel better about their separate living arrangements if she knew that he was trying to find something that met her long-term needs, rather than just a hole-in-the-wall hotel room. He even thought ahead to give Julian his own room, so she would know he wasn’t drawing any lines in the sand over what had happened in the past.

Vanni was at the building by eight o’clock, and everything was ready for her to arrive by the time he drove to the hospital at noon. He’d even gone to the store and bought a refrigerator full of healthy foods that would nourish her and the baby.

Most importantly he set up a crib in her bedroom – to remind her why it was so important to take care of herself.

She was overcome when she walked through the door. It was a luxury building with all the amenities, and much nicer than any other place she’d ever lived apart from Vanni’s penthouse in Manhattan. “This is too much,” she told him as she cradled her baby bump. “I thought you were taking me to a hotel.”

“I thought about it,” he said as he set the suitcase on the floor. “But this seemed more practical. It was a place you could get into right away, it comes already furnished with everything you need. The building is safe, with no access for the paparazzi. It’ll help you lay low for a while so that you can get healthy.”

She nodded as she sat in one of the accent chairs. She was still painfully thin, but looked much healthier than when he’d first found her in Hollywood. He pointed to the kitchen, where a bowl was stacked full of colorful fresh fruit and vegetables. “You have everything you need. I already shopped for you. I’ll start interviewing assistants this week so that you can have someone take care of all your errands, that way you don’t have to face the press.”

“You mean so you don’t have to answer for your baby mama in the press.”

He sighed. He was dog-tired and he didn’t want to have another fight with the other woman in his life. “Yeah, that too. Okay? I don’t want all my mistakes trotted across every tabloid cover from here to Florida. Sue me. But you’ll have to get in line. Half of my money belongs to a comatose hooker from Hollywood.”

Her voice was quiet. “Is that all I’ll ever be to you, Vanni? A mistake?”

Yes
, he wanted to answer. But he said nothing. He placed the bag from the hospital with her vitamins and supplements on the counter in the kitchen. When he turned back toward the living room, Holly stood looking out at the view. Her apartment was on the twelfth floor, with a scenic view all the way to the Hollywood Hills. It was way more expensive than a hotel, but he hoped that it was nice enough to keep her happy – especially since she was the one who was going to be in hiding for the near future. He had avoided any questions about her in the press. As far as he was concerned, it was nobody’s business that he was having two babies from two different mothers.

He’d figure it out in the future. Right now his priority was keeping her safe and healthy.

In the meantime it was as luxurious a prison as any. Much better than a bug-infested rat-trap in Hollywood, which was where she’d been hiding previously.

“I have to get to the studio,” he said. “Are you going to be okay?”

She nodded. “Julian will be home soon,” she said. “And I guess I can call the doorman if there’s an emergency.”

His jaw clenched. “You can call me, too, Holly,” he said. “And you should.” He watched her sway on her feet. As if on second thought, he picked up her suitcase and took it into her bedroom. She followed behind him obediently. “You should rest,” he told her when he turned around and faced her where she stood leaning against the doorframe, staring wistfully at the crib.

She finally, and silently, walked over to the bed. He turned down the covers and helped her into bed. “Thank you, Vanni,” she said softly as he pulled the blanket over her legs. Her eyes met his. “For everything.”

He nodded. “Do you need anything?”

She opened her mouth to say something, but then seemed to think better of it. She shook her head.

He left her only momentarily to grab a bottle of juice from the kitchen, which he brought to her along with a small plate of crackers and peanut butter. “Keep up your strength,” he advised. “I’ll call you later.”

She nodded again as she snuggled against the fluffy pillows propped up against the headboard. He gave her a smile, which she returned. Almost on impulse she reached for his hand, and he allowed her to guide it to her tummy. She was so thin the baby bump was more prominent at 13 weeks than Andy’s had been, but as his hand closed over that firm bump he realized that no matter how complicated the entire process would be – this baby was just as important as his daughter with Andy. They were his children, and they – more so than anyone else in the world – deserved his best.

It was time to man-up and make it work.

Toward that end he called Yael as he drove to the studio. “Vacation’s over,” he told him. “We’re getting the band back together.” He paused only for a split second before he added, “With Julian.”

CHAPTER TWELVE

Burbank, California

March 10, 2011

Vanni was still trying to figure out how he was going to tell Andy about the new development with the band when he pulled into the studio lot. He was trying so hard to carve their happily ever after out of the shithole he’d created with Holly, and no one was more aware of how impossible it would be to keep the balance between them than Vanni himself. But what choice did he have? He couldn’t leave Holly to flounder in squalor until they got some little piece of paper that made him legally liable for her child. A child’s life was on the line; this was not the time to squabble over specifics. That time would come sooner than they all thought as week chased after week in both Andy’s and Holly’s pregnancies.

But it really didn’t matter. Holding out any hope that Holly was lying seemed a complete waste of time to Vanni, who was certain that the DNA test would prove his obligation toward Holly and her baby. He’d fucked up so much of his life; this was just the price he knew someday he’d have to pay. He didn’t deserve a happy ending… but Andy did.

And so did his children.

So he’d take the lumps. He had earned them ten times over. He just needed to figure out how he could shield Andy from paying any further price for loving him. She’d been through enough. She deserved to be happy with their new home, the upcoming arrival of their daughter – and ultimately their wedding.

He decided the first order of business was not to hide behind Andy when it came to facing Graham. Vanni was no fool. He knew Graham still loved her. And likely he would do anything she asked to keep her happy, even when he didn’t agree with her choices.

After all, he’d let her go in December, knowing she’d be with another man.

A lesser man
, Vanni reminded himself.

But it was a dick move to hide behind her and use her as a shield in his career. He was still in charge of his own destiny, and he could assert direction over his career. Graham was getting a sweet deal out of the
Fierce
production; he could suck it up and allow Julian a gig in the band.

Maybe Vanni could even convince him how much easier that would make things for Andy. If Julian was the substitute provider and caretaker for Holly’s child, maybe she wouldn’t feel so insecure she’d have to come between Andy and Vanni, trying once again to steal him away.

He was her brother, after all. Holly had to trust Julian. She had become fiercely protective of her baby; if she trusted Julian to be around their baby, then Vanni felt he could extend that same trust to playing guitar for his band. They could have a cordial working relationship, and Graham could handle all the legalese that would protect Vanni’s – and Graham’s – interests.

So it was Graham he decided to tell the news to first. It just seemed more practical. And he felt sure he could convince Graham that Andy didn’t need to be bothered with these minor details that would only serve to distress her.

Graham was in his office on the lot, which was common now that production had started for the taped segments of the show due to be broadcast in May. He worked closely with Shannon on all the details of the show. The two were often seen tooling around the lot in their golf cart, with Maggie many times sitting dutifully behind, just close enough to be there if he needed her.

Vanni knocke
d on the partially opened door.

“Come in.”

He pushed open the door. Maggie poured Graham a cup of coffee where he sat at his desk, but said nothing as she glanced up to see who had entered. “Hey, Graham.”

Graham didn’t look especially excited to see the younger man. They had developed a cordial working relationship, but every time he looked at him he saw a thief… someone who had stolen Graham’s very future away from him. Vanni had never rubbed any of it in Graham’s face, but the swagger that made him a superstar was ingrained in every pore of his body.