Groupie/Rock Star Bundle (50 page)

Gwen nodded. “That’s what we were going to
suggest. I’ll write up some copy and have it to your office by the
end of the day.”

“Good. I’ll set up a meeting with the guys
tomorrow and we’ll go over it and get back to you.”

Just the thought of having a set time she would
see Vanni was enough to make the cheesecake in Andy’s tummy rebel.
She was so nervous she had Graham’s assistant make the calls for
her just so she wouldn’t have to face his hanging up on
her.

The next day she had to dry the excess sweet
from her trembling hands on her pantsuit as she waited for the band
to arrive. Yael was first, punctual as always. He gave her a
powerful hug that indicated far more than he could have ever
articulated. He usually saved that kind of communication for the
guitar. Felix strolled in, laid back as ever, grateful to be back
in his home state with all his favorite places and things to pass
the time. He swooped her up in a bear hug that reassured her just
how much the other accepted her and welcomed her.

It was Vanni’s reaction she dreaded, and he had
picked this particular moment to make her wait for it. He was about
a half hour late and reeked of booze when he lumbered into the
office.

The minute their eyes met Andy felt electricity
shoot to her toes. Just one look in those dark and hooded brown
eyes rendered her mute. They didn’t speak, they didn’t hug. They
just stood there for a long minute staring at one
another.

Finally Vanni’s eyes traipsed over her
professional outfit, one more fitting an executive than a writer or
P.R. lackey. “Looking good, boss,” he sneered before he flopped
into one of the leather chairs. “Why the official
pow-wow?”

She cleared her throat as she went to sit
behind Graham’s desk. It was territorial but she couldn’t help it.
She needed the gesture of strength to get over what Vanni’s eyes
had done to her resolve. “We’re wondering what the plan for
Dreaming in Blue is now that Iain has officially left the
band.”

“We get a new Iain,” Vanni remarked as he swung
his leg up on the arm of the chair. His pants were so tight she
could see every bulge and muscle in the lower half of his body. He
had a triumphant little smirk on his face as he watched her wrench
her eyes away.

“It’s not that easy to replace a band mate, is
it?” she asked as she looked at Yael and Felix for
support.

“He’s a bassist,” Vanni answered for them with
a shrug. “Leo’s already on it. Says he knows a guy who does studio
work. He’ll learn the songs and record the next album with us,
meanwhile you guys get to do what we pay you for and make it all
look like the best thing that has ever happened to us.”

Andy stared at Vanni. Who was this asshole? She
wanted to ask him that but decided against it. There would be other
times.

Unfortunately.

“Fine. What’s his name?”

Vanni remained openly hostile. “How should I
know? Ask Leo, it’s his contact.”

“Fine,” Andy repeated again through clenched
teeth. “And what shall we say about Iain’s departure?”

Vanni broke out an expensive flask. “Tell ‘em
it takes a stupid rat to jump a perfectly fine ship,” he retorted
before taking a long drink as he stared at her
defiantly.

She looked at Yael and Felix, neither of whom
seemed particularly keen to jump into the conversation. She could
tell by the way they clenched their jaws and averted their eyes
they had become used to this douche bag version of Vanni, and she
could easily see both of them forming their own exit strategy
because of it.

She didn’t know how she was going to keep this
band together. Maybe she’d make an appointment with Leo to see if
she could enlist his help at least.

“As… poetic… as that is, I think we’re going to
go another way,” she said as she picked up the press kits Gwen had
prepared and walked around the desk to pass them out. “Iain wanted
to take time off to spend some time with his new family in his
homeland. He wishes his brothers in the band nothing but success,”
she recited as she finally stopped in front of Vanni and held out
the papers.

He glared up at her. He was so angry it seemed
to seep from his pores. She fought the urge to step back a bit. “If
you already knew how you wanted to handle it, why ask?” he wanted
to know.

Andy put her hands on her hips as she stared
down at him. “Because we wanted to know if you had a better idea.
But it’s clear you don’t.”

He rose slowly from the chair and towered over
her where she stood. She held her ground, although with his new
hobby she had no idea what to expect from a very drunk, very angry
Vanni. She felt somewhat secure knowing Yael and Felix were nearby
if the situation escalated, which – with the venomous look in
Vanni’s eyes – it definitely could.

“My career’s in your hands,” he sneered as he
stood just mere inches from her. “I guess I have to trust you,
don’t I?”

“You don’t have to,” she said as she tipped her
chin. “But I hope you do. I mean you no harm, Vanni.”

His face contorted as a wave of emotions
crashed over him. He swiveled on his heel and stalked from the
office, slamming the door behind him. She jumped in spite of
herself.

Andy let out the breath she didn’t even know
she was holding. She glanced back at the other guys. “Oh my God,”
was all she could manage to say.

Felix stood to give her a supportive hug. “Now
you see why Iain needed to bail.”

She nodded. This was not the same man. For any
of them. “How long can I expect you guys to stay?” she asked
finally.

Felix shrugged. “I don’t know, Andy. This
environment is toxic. It makes people toxic too. I can’t give you
an expiration date. I just know when that time comes to go, I’m
sure it’ll be sudden and definite.”

Yael nodded as he stood too. “This is my band,”
he told her. “I started it, I want to finish it. But Vanni’s made
it clear we can be replaced.”

She grabbed his hand. “No, you can’t.” She
pulled him in for a group hug.

She was contemplative as she drove home that
night. She couldn’t get that look in Vanni’s eyes out of her head.
Was it wounded? Was it angry? It seemed like another person
entirely.

This wasn’t the man she had held in her arms
mere months before. Gone was the playful smirk. It had been
replaced by an angry and entitled sneer. His ego was accelerating
at the same pace as his skyrocketing star power. It really did seem
like he thought everyone was replaceable.

She shrugged off her jacket as she walked in
the front door and threw it down on a chair just inside the living
room. She unbuttoned the restrictive dress shirt and pulled it away
to expose her camisole underneath. It was way too hot to be wearing
layers, but as an unintentional businesswoman she had little
choices until she returned to the sanctity of her new, albeit
temporary, home. Perhaps she’d eat on the patio, she thought to
herself. She was getting in a little later than usual but no doubt
the staff would have left something for her to eat for dinner
before they left for the night.

The minute she entered the kitchen she had to
stifle a scream. Vanni loomed in the stark white room larger than
life, with his wild dark hair and even darker, ominous eyes. “What
are you doing here?” she demanded as she pulled her blouse closed.
“This is Graham’s house.”

He tipped some expensive scotch into a crystal
tumbler before he rounded the counter and approached her. “Au
contraire. This is your house. You live here now.” He stopped
within breath of where she stood. “And if you don’t mind me saying,
you’ve done pretty well for yourself.”

She took a deep breath. She wasn’t ready for
this familiar fight. “Vanni, don’t.”

His face twitched slightly when she said his
name, as if she had stabbed him right in the heart. He lifted her
hair from her shoulder and smoothed it behind. His voice was quiet
and controlled. “Don’t what? Don’t congratulate you? Isn’t that
what friends do?”

“I’m not having this conversation with you,”
she said as she turned and marched from the kitchen. His aura
threatened to overtake her with nothing more than a casual touch or
softly spoken word. She had to get away from him before it closed
around her like the web that it was. “You found your way in. Find
your way out.”

Instead he followed her into the living room.
“Come on, Andy. This is what you chose. Own it, for God’s sake. A
big, sprawling mansion on the beach. A full staff. A cushy job.
Tell me. What kind of car are you driving?”

Andy spun around to face him, full of her own
anger. “You think this is fun for me? You think this is what I
want? You have no idea what I’ve been through the last two
months!”

He tossed the glass on the marble floor before
grabbing her by the arm. “And you don’t know what I’ve been through
the last few months,” he yelled back.

She tried to wrench her arm away but he held
fast. “Oh yes, I do. I’ve been watching courtesy of the Internet.
I’ve watched every botched interview. I’ve watched every blown
lyric. I saw you nearly fall off the stage and bust your ass in
Berlin. Most of all I’ve watched you act like an entitled brat for
the whole damn world to see. Meanwhile there’s a man in
Philadelphia who can’t even lift his leg without help. He can’t
wiggle his toe. He can’t stand or walk or do a thousand things you
take for granted every single day.”

“It’s always about Graham, isn’t it?” Vanni
sneered.

“It is now,” she agreed. “Because it has to be.
What happened to him was a horrible accident. What you’re doing to
yourself is purposeful and self-destructive. He doesn’t have his
legs…”

“But he has you!” Vanni exploded before he
grabbed Andy up to him in an angry embrace. He molded every soft
curve to the rigid lines of his body. When his mouth came down on
hers it was an angry, desperate kiss that demanded her total
submission.

And God help her, it was all she could
render.

His fingers dug into her soft skin as he
clutched her tighter, almost as if he’d die if he let go. He moaned
against her mouth before he demanded, “Say my name…”

She resisted for the slightest moment. When he
repeated the command she complied in a whisper, which was enough
for him to drag her down to the floor as he fell to his knees.
“Tell me it was a mistake,” he begged as his hands tore away her
blouse from her shoulders. “Tell me you want me.”

His desperation was palpable, reminding Andy
where they were and how they got there. She looked him straight in
the eye and did what she always did. She told him the truth. “I
want you,” she repeated. “I’ve always wanted you.” She pulled away.
“But it wasn’t a mistake. And one day you’ll see that.”

His face screwed in an angry, frustrated snarl.
He thrust her away from him and rolled to the floor, laying on his
back with his hands covering his eyes. He lay like that, his chest
heaving as he caught his breath, for long moments. She sat back on
her heels and waited. “What the hell are you doing to me, Andy?” he
finally moaned.

Her heart went out to him. Gently she reached
over to touch his arm. “What are you doing to yourself?”

He turned to look into her eyes, with such a
face of a wounded little boy she immediately wanted to open her
arms and cuddle away all his pain.

But he was closing off… she could see it happen
as he shrugged off her hand and rose to his feet. He surveyed the
damage of the broken glass scattered across the floor. “Sorry about
the mess,” he said woodenly. “Call my accountant. They’ll cover the
damages.”

Andy got the feeling that was a very familiar
refrain from him these days. She jumped to her feet as he crossed
toward the door. “You can’t drive, Vanni,” she told him. “You’re
drunk.”

He spun back to look at her. “What are you
going to do?” he asked her softly as his eyes threatened to swallow
her whole. “Let me stay here for the night?”

The thought sent fire throughout her body. She
had imagined nothing but falling back into his arms. But this was
Graham’s house. She could never do that to him, not after all he
had been through. “I can call you a cab,” she offered.

He chuckled humorlessly. “A cab? But the night
is still young.” He pulled out his phone and swiped through his
contact list. He seemed to forget her presence as he connected with
his contact. “Yeah. Pick me up, man. Let’s get lit.” There was a
pause as he glanced over to her tussled hair that swept across her
face. “At the boss’s house,” he answered before he ran a finger
across her cheek. “Renegotiating.”

Her jaw clenched as he gave the person on the
other end of the call the address before he disconnected. “Vanni,”
she tried to reach him once more but he was already pushing her
away.

He glanced over her flushed face and full,
tantalizing curves. “Don’t worry, Andy. I won’t be bothering you
again.”

On his way toward the door he grabbed a
decanter of liquor before stumbling outside.

Chapter Five

August 15, 2010. Los Angeles.