Divas (58 page)

‘Ooh, very butch.’ Patricia managed to smile, her Adam’s apple bobbing over the neckline of her sweater. ‘I see why Johnny’s so afraid of you—’

‘You heard him!’ Lola cut in sharply. ‘He told you to go. Now do it, before I call a cop and have you arrested for pimping.’

‘
You little bitch!
’ Patricia, out of control with frustration now, raised her hand and dived towards Lola, aiming a slap at her with the considerable weight of her body behind
it.

Lola saw the blow coming towards her, but she was paralysed, not knowing whether she should duck or jump back, sure that her worn-out reflexes would make the wrong decision. As she hesitated, a
split-second before Patricia’s palm slapped across her face, a big male hand, glinting lightly with a sprinkling of golden hairs, smashed onto Patricia’s wrist and grappled her arm
behind her back, twisting her around.

‘You stay away from her too, ’ Niels said between clenched teeth. ‘Or I won’t be responsible for my actions.’

He threw Patricia away from Lola so hard that Patricia staggered a few steps across the marble paving, nearly stumbling into a pillar.

‘And don’t even
think
about suing me, ’ he finished, so menacingly that Patricia’s shoulders sagged in defeat.‘Or I’ll have you deported so fast
you’ll be on a plane back to the UK tonight, in handcuffs.’

‘Or we could send her to jail here, before we deport her, ’ drawled Ranieri, stepping up to flank Niels. ‘Won’t be hard to find that hotel suite you were talking about.
And I bet there’s enough marching powder in there to send you away for a nice long stretch. You been to jail in America, Patricia? It ain’t so much fun.’

‘Fuck you all!’ Patricia hissed over her shoulder as she walked away. ‘Fuck you and the fucking horses you rode in on!

‘If I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard that . . .’ Ranieri said lightly.

‘Jean-Marc! You were
wonderful!
’ David sighed, cuddling up to his boyfriend.

Frank stepped up to Jean-Marc’s side, throwing one meaty arm over his shoulders.

‘Well done, buddy, ’ he said.

‘I feel so dizzy—’ Jean-Marc said, still looking white as a sheet. ‘That was so scary, I can’t believe I managed to do that—’

‘We’re gonna get you straight home to Cascabel, ’ Frank promised. He looked over at Niels. ‘Plane refuelled and everything, Mr van der Veer?’

Niels nodded.

‘OK then, say your goodbyes, ’ Frank instructed Jean-Marc. ‘Boy, are you gonna crash on the flight back!’

As Lola hugged Jean-Marc tightly, his body already felt limp as a rag doll, drained from the effort it had taken to say ‘No’ to Patricia for the first time in his life.

‘I love you, Lo, ’ he murmured in her ear.

‘I love you too, Jean-Marc. Be well, ’ she said, swallowing hard, as he was hugged by Suzanne, then India, and finally fell into David’s arms.

‘Time to break it up, ’ Frank said, and Jean-Marc and David reluctantly detached themselves.

Jean-Marc turned to face his brother.

‘Thank you, Niels, ’ he said. ‘For trusting me. For looking after me. For being my big brother.’

The hard lines of Niels’s face softened as he looked down at Jean-Marc.

‘I’ll always take care of you, Jean, ’ he promised.

‘No, as soon as I get all better, I’ll start taking care of
you
, ’ Jean-Marc insisted. ‘It’s about time.’

He reached up to whisper something in Niels’s ear, resting one hand on his brother’s wide shoulder. As Jean-Marc pulled away, Lola saw with astonishment that Niels’s face was
bright red.

‘You know I’m right!’ Jean-Marc said, with a trace of his old jauntiness, as he looked over at Frank, standing right next to him. ‘Time to go, ’ he said. ‘I
know. I love you all!’

And he made a grand exit down the flight of marble steps, Frank fielding off the reporters and photographers while Jean-Marc blew kisses at them right till the minute their limo pulled away.

Suzanne took a deep breath.

‘Niels, I can’t thank you enough for what you’ve done for my daughter!’ she said gratefully. ‘Without you finding Mr Ranieri and working out poor Ben’s
password, I’m sure Lola would be in prison by now. It’s so kind of you to have helped out. Especially since you only know Lola as darling Jean-Marc’s, um, ex-fiancée . . .
well, best friend now, I suppose . . .’

‘
Definitely
best friend, ’ David chimed in, smiling at Lola.

‘So why don’t we grab Lola’s marvellous legal team and all go back to the Plaza and celebrate!’ Suzanne suggested.

‘I have other plans, I’m afraid, ’ Niels said rather curtly.

‘Oh, but that’s impossible!’ Suzanne cried, all the beauty and charm that had got her cast as the Sunsilk girl very much to the fore. ‘You can’t just sweep in here
and save Lola from prison and leave again without so much as letting us raise a glass to how wonderful you’ve been!’

‘Yes, you have to come, ’ India chimed in, staring up at Niels worshipfully. ‘I mean, it wouldn’t be the same without you!’

Niels shook his head emphatically, like a lion impatiently dismissing some gadflies buzzing round him. His silver stare was fixed on Lola’s diminutive, black-clad figure, her smooth golden
head, sparks of gold in the sunlight from the yellow diamond earrings glittering in her ears as she looked back at him, her dark eyes wide, her lips slightly parted.

‘I’ve got another plane waiting at Teterboro, scheduled to take off in about an hour and a half, ’ he said gruffly to her. ‘I’ve hired a private island, in
Thailand. Very quiet, very luxurious.’ He cleared his throat noisily. ‘I thought you might want to come with me – get away from everything – just sunbathe and get some
massages and swim in the ocean—’

‘You’re asking
Lola?’
Suzanne exclaimed, completely bewildered. ‘But you don’t even
know
her!’ She looked at her daughter. ‘
Do
you?’

Not really,
Lola thought.
He’s never asked me one thing about myself. All he does is shout at me before we have meaningless animal sex.

Niels had folded his arms across his chest, staring straight at her. The breeze caught the stray lock of his hair, blowing it across his frowning forehead. The marble pillar behind him
couldn’t have looked more solid and unyielding than he did, his shoulders set, his legs braced as he waited for Lola’s answer.

She didn’t say a word: she just started running towards him. He unfolded his arms wide and scooped her off the ground just as she reached him, tossing her high in the air so she squealed
in delight and shock before he caught her, settling her high on his chest, her head nuzzled into his shoulder.

‘I’ll bring her back in a few weeks, ’ he said over his shoulder. ‘Oh, and, um – nice to meet you, Mrs Fitzgerald.’

‘It seemed rude to say no after you saved me from prison . . . A fate worse than death!’ Lola said breathlessly into his ear as he carried her down the stairs.

‘It was purely selfish, ’ Niels said carelessly. ‘It would be a waste to send a girl as pretty as you to jail for the rest of her life.’

‘Oh, Niels, admit it. You wanted to fuck me again, ’ Lola said, throwing caution to the winds.

She looked up at him.

‘You’ve gone red!’ she crowed happily.

‘I’ll make you pay for that—’ Niels said malevolently, as a myriad camera flashes and TV lights hit them both full in their blushing faces, the paparazzi literally
screaming in ecstasy at the sight of Lola Fitzgerald, society It girl, only just absolved of the murder of her father, swept off her feet by the fantastically sexy brother of her
ex-fiancé.

‘
Lola! Niels! Are you guys a couple now? Please, say
something
!’
yodelled a reporter for E! News, hyperventilating so much with excitement that she was reaching for her
inhaler even as she yelled the question.

‘Miss Fitzgerald is much too busy to talk. And so am I, ’ Niels said, reaching one big hand up Lola’s back, to her head, and pulling it up so that he could reach her mouth with
his own.

When he came up for air, Lola was too dizzy to do anything but cling to him, her head buried in the silk and wool fabric of his suit, as he ducked down to place her inside the stretch limo,
sliding in after her. The door closed, and the car took off, leaving the journalists running behind, still screeching questions.

‘
Well!
’ Suzanne said, staring in amazement as Niels’s limo pulled away. ‘I suppose it’s always true that a mother’s the last to know about what’s
going on in her daughter’s love life, but
still
—’

She looked at India and Evie.

‘Did
anyone
have any idea that this was going on?’ she asked.

India and Evie shook their heads.

‘Well, that’s a relief, ’ Suzanne commented. ‘I mean, at least I’m not the only one to be completely in the dark.’

‘Oh Suzanne,
please
, ’ David said. ‘Lola used to blush bright red every time Jean-Marc mentioned Niels’s name. You never picked up on that?

Suzanne shook her head.

‘Jean and I had our suspicions all along, ’ David said smugly.

‘I must be a terrible mother, ’ Suzanne sighed.

‘He’s so gorgeous, ’ India sighed. ‘Lola’s really, really lucky . . .’

Evie and David nodded fervently in agreement.

‘And Jean-Marc did amazingly, ’ India added to David. ‘You must be really proud of him.’

‘I know, ’ David said, patting her hand. ‘I miss him so, but he was wonderful today. And he’ll be back here before I know it.’

He kissed Evie on the cheek.

‘You were a good friend to Lola, ’ he said. ‘We’re all so grateful. And you know she meant it. She’ll take care of you too. You’ve got your penthouse back,
honey. And a glittering career ahead of you. I see real diamonds in your act now, not Swarovski.
Very
exciting!’

Evie smiled at him. ‘I can’t wait to be famous, ’ she confided.

‘
We
can’t wait for you to be famous!’ David said happily. ‘How I’m going to boast when you’re the most famous burlesque star in the world!’

‘Evie?’ Suzanne said to her.‘Would you like to join us for our celebration?’

Evie smiled back at her.

‘Thanks, Suzanne. That’s really sweet of you. Maybe I’ll come along later.’

Suzanne, Ranieri, David and India descended the courthouse steps to collect Lola’s legal team. And then it was just Evie and Lawrence, standing on the marble terrace, blue sky and sunlight
behind the heavy marble pillars, a fresh wind from the Hudson river lifting Evie’s hair, Lawrence’s clear grey eyes looking directly into Evie’s.

Below them, halfway down the wide staircase, Joshua Greene had finished his press conference and Simon Poluck was taking his place in front of the massed bank of microphones, ready to give a
statement of triumph on Lola’s behalf: the journalists were a mob of baying excitement, determined to get the full scoop on what was by far the most exciting celebrity gossip of the year, if
not the decade. Disinherited heiress accused of murder! Attacks pole-dancing mermaid onstage at burlesque club! Her ex-fiancé overdoses with a transvestite, comes out as gay and goes back
into rehab! Her stepmother caught on film committing the murder! And
then
, the heiress runs off with her ex’s brother, an international tycoon!

No wonder grown men and women were shoving microphones at Simon Poluck and pleading, with tears in their eyes, for the full story.

‘Evie—’

‘Lawrence—’

They both started at the same time, and then broke off, laughing nervously.

Evie looked up at Lawrence, her heart in her eyes.

‘I’ve been spending so much time trying to find a way to say this, ’ Lawrence said, ‘and then I realised the simplest way is always the best. You must know I’m in
love with you.’

‘
Lawrence!
’ Evie squealed, sounding exactly like the kind of fluffy, silly girl she had always despised.

Colour touched Lawrence’s high pale cheekbones.

‘You must have known, Evie, ’

‘You never
said
it!’

‘I knew you wouldn’t want to hear it, ’ he said soberly. ‘You weren’t exactly in the right place for a declaration of love.’ He swallowed. ‘I’m
not even sure you’re in the right place now.’

The next second, he found himself staggering back as Evie jumped up and threw herself onto him, her legs wrapping round his waist, her arms round his neck, kissing him with abandon.

‘I
am
! I’m
exactly
in the right place!’ she cried happily. ‘I am, Lawrence! I love you too!’

Lawrence’s mouth on hers, Lawrence’s strong lean body holding her so easily, was like rain in the desert. Evie hadn’t realised how much she’d missed him till this moment.
She could have screamed from sheer relief; it was as if, ever since breaking up with Lawrence, she’d been holding her breath, and now she could finally let it out.

‘I never want to leave you again, ’ she said, locking her calves round his waist so tightly he’d have needed a pry bar to get her off him. ‘I never want to be sleeping
downstairs and know you’re up there with that stupid bitch crushing on you and being snotty to me – God, I hated her so bad!’

‘Evie—’

‘Fuck it, Lawrence, you’re moving out of that shithole
tomorrow,
we’ll be back in my lovely penthouse and live there together and train together and it’ll be just
the most amazing life
ever
, I’m so fucking happy—’

‘
Evie.
’

Lawrence’s tone, quiet, controlled, yet carrying absolute authority, cut through Evie’s joyous babble like a warm Sabatier knife through butter. She stopped dead, her eyes widening
nervously, pulling back so she could see his face.

‘What?’ Her heart was pounding; she was freaking out.

‘There’s something very important I need to get straight, ’ Lawrence said.

‘The apartment? You don’t want to live there because of Benny?’ Evie said in panic, realising how much Lawrence meant to her. ‘OK! OK, if that’s what it takes!
I’ll sell it!’

God, I love that apartment so much, I’ll hate to leave it!
she thought miserably.
But Lawrence is worth it – Lawrence is worth more than an apartment,
goddamnit—