The Complete Groupie Trilogy (16 page)

He looked immediately concerned. “Against you?”

I shook my head. “No, nothing like that.”

“Against Giovanni?” he asked.

I said nothing.

He sighed. “My advice is to get a lawyer involved to look over the contract. Find any weak spots, then renegotiate. Giovanni has more power than he thinks right now but it’s in Jasper’s best interest to make him feel that he doesn’t. From what I understand there’s been a huge media push and I don’t see someone like Jasper Carrington walking away from that kind of investment over a grudge. More realistically it’s probably just a huge game of chicken. Sounds like he’s bullying you because he’s in a tight spot. But there’s nothing he can do that can’t be undone, not with the talent of the band.”

I nodded. He rose and came over to sit next to me on the couch, and took one of my hands in his. “I’m actually more worried about you than Giovanni.”

I pulled back. “I’m fine.”

“You’re in deeper than you know,” he said. “Be careful how much of your life you invest in this stuff. It’s not worth it.” Then, softer but more emphatic, “He’s not worth it.”

“You don’t know him,” I offered weakly.

“How can you be sure you do?”

My eyes dropped from his. That, my friends, was the $64,000 question.

He brushed my hair out of my face. Softly he said, “Andy…
” but my phone interrupted him.

It was Vanni. “
Where are you? We need to talk
.”

The apology I had for Graham died on my lips when I caught the look on his face. I remembered it well from the night Lourdes called Vanni when we were together, alone, in a hotel room. “I have to go,” I said as I stood. Then, impulsively, I hugged him. He had helped me, even though he really didn’t get anything out of the deal. “Thank you, Graham.”

He held me just a beat longer than necessary. I heard him call after me as I sprinted for the door, “Anytime.” I knew he meant it and it was oddly comforting.

Nearly fifteen minutes later I opened my own hotel door to
Vanni, who carried a suitcase.

I said nothing as I stood back and let him in. Maybe I was crazy but it felt like the only decision I could make when he pulled me into his arms
and held me for a long moment.

“She’s pregnant,” he said softly into my ear, and I immediately stiffened. “It’s not mine,” he instantly clarified. “But they want me to say that it is, or at least not say that it isn’t.” He let me go and walked over to collapse onto the bed. “I finally put my foot down. I don’t care if it costs my career. I’m not going to create some lie around a kid’s life just so a rich guy can keep away from an expensive divorce.”

“How long has this been going on?”

“Before I came along,” he admitted. “He saw us together at his Labor Day party and thought two birds, one stone.”

“And Athena doesn’t know?”

His face crumpled in disgust. “That’s the stupid thing. She’s known all along. How do you think she convinced him to let her come out here?”

“So why can’t he have Lourdes in New York, and let Athena start over here?”

“Because she’s not just his wife, she’s his biggest talent. If she finds out there’s a kid she can bring him down just to watch him burn. And she’s got the star power to do it. Why do you think he’s freaking out so badly that Graham is here? He’s done everything he can to
keep her away from the shows.”

He pulled me onto his lap and buried his face in my hair. “It’s all such a mess. I just wanted to make music. I didn’t want all the rest of this. It’s like I’m no longer me.” His eyes met mine. “Except when I’m with you.”

My gaze rested on that full, sensual mouth just inches away from my own. If I kiss him now, I’m a goner and I know it. “Vanni…”

He groaned and his hand snaked up my back and into my hair. “Say it again,” he begged in a whisper, and before I could reconsider
my lips were crushed under his.

Perhaps it was the length of time I waited for this moment without even realizing consciously that was what I was doing – or perhaps it was the fact that he was one of the best kissers I’d ever known in life or in fantasy – either way any and all resistance evaporated. I melted against him like butter as he slid
me easily back against the bed.

I could have counted to ten, thought of puppies and kittens or grandmas knitting goofy old sweaters, but the raw truth was I never wanted a man as much as I wanted Giovanni Carnevale. And he was on top of me, kissing me deep, exploring my mouth with his demanding tongue and the curves of my body with his strong fingers. My hormones delivered my willpower a KO punch and all my remaining inhibitions flew right out the window. My hands tore open his shirt so that he was bare chested over me, while his hair hung in sheets around his face as he looked down at me with those endless brown eyes, still lined with heavy eyeli
ner from his show.

He slipped my shirt off my body while I fiddled with the fasteners on my jeans. With one finger he released the fastener on my bra and it slid easily from my shoulders, exposing me once more to his wandering fingers and inquisitive tongue. I lifted my ass so that he could slide down my underwear, until I was bold and naked underneath him.

He groaned as he folded me into his arms for another scorching kiss, and my legs automatically wrapped around him to pull him closer to me.

His hand disappeared between our bodies and he touched me where I ached to be touched. I called his name and he responded with the urgency of his fingers, the frenzy of his desire to bring me infinite pleasure.

I was trembling against him, incoherent to his teasing, rocketing off into space under nothing more than his hands.

It just made me ache for more. “Vanni,” I said softly, “Please…”

“Say it,” he begged. “Tell me.”

“I want you,” I whispered. “I need you… please...”

He shuddered against me and I felt him strain against his leather pants. He lifted up to unfasten them, and then he peeled them from his muscular legs. Seeing his body reach for me was almost more than I could take, but he inched off the bed. My inquisitive look was met by his smirk as he pulled his phone out of his pocket and dramatically he powered it off.

I giggled in spite of myself, and watched as he reached into his bag and pulled out a condom. He got back on the bed and kneeled in between my legs to tear open the package with his teeth and make a pretty sexy spectacle of sliding it on. Perhaps it was the specimen himself, as his dark skin shimmered against my paler skin, and the dark hair on his chest trailed a promise all
the way down between his legs.

He eased himself back on top of me, cupping my face in his hands. “Are you sure?” he asked one last time.

“I’ve never wanted anything more,” I whispered.

With that he gently pushed himself inside of me and sank himself so deeply I didn’t k
now where he ended and I began.

His eyes never left mine as he started to move in slow strokes to savor every luscious inch. My legs wrapped around him and urged him on, and he bent to kiss me deep as his body obeyed my unspoken demands. I wanted to see him as crazed for me as I had been for him, so my kisses grew more demanding, my caresses more brazen. “Andy,” he gasped as he felt me take
him in deeper with each thrust.

“Say it again,” I said softly.

“Andy,” he repeated, over and over as our lovemaking grew more urgent until it sent us both out of control. My fingernails pierced his back as felt myself explode around his hard body, and when I screamed his name it sent him over the edge.

He was breathless when he collapsed on top of me. After a moment he whispered, “Evil, evil woman for making me wait for that.”

I giggled as I cuddled closer to him, feeling that everything that had been between us was now gone.

By the time morning came we had only dozed in between countless orgasms. We teased and pleasured each other in various ways, and I knew after I had explored his body at length with my own fingers, tongue and mouth that the first time wouldn’t be the last. He was putty in my hands, and he showed his gratitude in kind.

We shared a whirlpool bath and ordered room service, exhausted after our night of passion but excited about what the day may bring to release him from the crazy soap opera that had become his life.

He pulled me into his arms after we had finished breakfast in bed, and planted a kiss onto my nose. “Thank you for one of the best nights of my life,” he said. “No matter what happens today I want you to know that being with you kept me sane when the whole world was falling apart.”

I brushed his hair out of his face, and finally voiced something that had so far been left unsaid between us. “Hopefully it doesn’t have to end.”

He bent to kiss me, soft and sweet, then rested his forehead on mine. “I don’t have anything to give you, Andy. Other than this. Please say it’s enough.”

“You’re enough,” I assured him. “I just don’t want to be a number.”

He shook his head and traced my jaw with his finger. “You blew them all away.” Another kiss. Longer. Deeper. “But for now,” he whispered against my lips, “let’s take it slow. Keep it between us. Enjoy what we have without involving anything complicated.” He looked deep into my eyes. “Can you handle that?”

“I don’t want the fame,” I told him. “I just want you.”

He happily complied, and we didn’t leave the hotel room for another hour.

I floated on air the rest of the morning. Every move I made I could feel Vanni’s imprint from our passionate night. I wasn’t a virgin before Vanni, but I felt like I had never truly made love until he was the one to touch me.

He sent me texts when we were apart, and even when we were together, for all the things we couldn’t show or say in public. He referenced what we had already shared, and what he promised we would share that night. It was electronic foreplay that had me counting the
hours until we could be alone.

I was nervous going to see the show that night, afraid that Jasper or Lourdes would be there, trying to force his hand to announce that he was about to be a father. The balcony was empty, not even Graham had come to the show. That made me somewhat sad, but the minute my guys took the stage I forgot about anyone or anything else.

The music had special meaning to me now, and I was especially enthusiastic.

I slipped away early to set up the fan meet and greet in one of the meeting rooms. The caterer had already set up refreshments, and I simply oversaw the merch display and made sure that the guys had plenty of things to autograph for their new fans.

By the time the band made it down to the meeting room, it had already filled with about twenty people to get some one-on-one face time with their new favorite musicians. Vanni winked at me as he passed behind me to take his seat at the long table, and the line of admirers began.

I soon realized the table wasn’t necessarily the best idea for Vanni, who wanted to hug and take pictures with each fan that came up to gush over how wonderful he was. So while the rest of the band was content to sign merchandise and pose for the occasional photo, it was clear that Vanni was the fan favorite for how much he was willing to extend himself to his adoring public.

These fans consisted mostly of females, who ran the gamut from teenager to middle-aged. The minute he leveled those lethal bedroom eyes on their hopeful faces, I could see them devolve into squealing, giggling groupies.

He flirted, he teased, and by the end of the line each girl from the first to the last felt like they were taking a little piece of Giovanni Carnevale with them when they left. The band left after the fans, while I stayed behind to make sure all the merchandise was packed up and
ready to ship back to New York.

It was almost midnight when I cleared out of the room, leaving only the cleaning staff behind. My phone buzzed in my hand and I
looked down with a giddy smile.

“Waiting.”

There was a smile on my face as I practically ran to the elevator.

Las Vegas – July 2008

Talia

I had never won anything before, and to be honest I’m not sure why I tried to call into a radio station for tickets to a concert anyway. Though I lived in Las Vegas I never really had the stamina for shows. Most were overpriced, and my husband Ben convinced me it was much wiser to invest our money than blow it on a couple of hours of entertainment. We also didn’t gamble. Neither of us were the type to throw our hard-earned money into a machine where what took hours and days and months to make was gone in a matter of minutes.

If Ben’s business hadn’t transferred him from Indiana to Nevada five years ago, we probably wouldn’t have even come here for a visit.

We weren’t showy people who needed or wanted to spend a lot to have fun, and as such had amassed enough money that I could stay home. My only real job was to try and get pregnant so that we could finally begin our family together.

The doctor said it might have been stress that prevented me from conceiving, but I wanted to blame the litany of pills he tried to keep me on for things like anxiety and depression. One day, I thought to myself, I would try it my way and see how it went.