Lovers & Players (23 page)

Across the room Brad nudged Tina. ‘Who’s the babe?’ he asked.

‘Stop looking!’ Tina said crossly, slapping his wrist. ‘You have a pregnant
wife
! Keep your lecherous eyes to yourself.’

‘It’s the Italian supermodel, Gianna,’ Nigel said, totally in awe. ‘She’s in town to appear in our new ad campaign.’

‘Never mind the girl,’ Yolanda said, fanning herself with a napkin. ‘Feast your eyes on the hottie she’s with. Now
he
can join me in my bed
anytime
.’

‘
Very
sexy,’ murmured Marcello, causing Nigel to fix him with a jealous glare.

‘He looks sort of familiar,’ Tina said, peering across the room. ‘Wasn’t he—’

‘I think
he
’s a model too,’ Nigel said, always a fount of information. ‘I’m sure I’ve seen his picture in Italian
Vogue
.’

‘I wonder what they’re doing
here?
’ Tina said.

‘Perhaps they’re friends of Max’s,’ Nigel suggested.

While everyone stared, Max stood up and went over to greet his brother and girlfriend.

‘Max,’ Jett said, loosening his collar. ‘Meet Gianna. Gianna, this is my big brother, Max.’

Before Max could say a word, Gianna flung her arms round him, kissing him on both cheeks. ‘Soon you be married,’ she gushed. ‘
Molto bene. Salutations
.’

‘Thank you,’ Max said, taking a step back, her rich, musky perfume overwhelming him.

‘Where is your bride? I must say
ciao
,’ Gianna said, the ivory and silver bracelets jangling half-way up her tanned bare arms.

‘Here she comes now,’ Max said, relieved to see Amy approaching.

Gianna turned around, so did Jett.

And there she was. Amy. Cool and pretty. Walking towards them. A smile on her face until she spotted Jett standing with the beautiful woman from outside his apartment.

Her smile froze. What was going on? Why were they here? Had Max found out and was this his revenge?

Oh, God! She wished she could close her eyes, open them, and find this was all an out-of-control nightmare.

But she couldn’t. This was real, and she was totally helpless.

‘Sweetheart,’ Max said, seemingly unperturbed. ‘This is my brother Jett, and his girlfriend Gianna. Jett, say hello to Amy, my fiancée.’

Amy felt faint. Was this some kind of sick joke? His brother. Max’s
brother
.

No. It wasn’t possible.

And how could he be called Jett? His name was Scott or Sonny or Simon. S. Lucas, that was who he was.

This couldn’t be happening!

Before she could think straight, the woman was enveloping her in a hug, offering congratulations in a mixture of broken English and fluent Italian.

Then it was Jett’s turn. She could read the shock in his eyes. Obviously this was a surprise to him also.

He proffered his hand, acting as if they’d never met–which, of course, was the only sane way to play it.

She took his hand, shook it, and a jolt of pure electricity coursed through her body.

‘You Americans!’ Gianna exclaimed, with a husky laugh. ‘So
uptight
. Kiss the girl,
carino
. Soon she will be part of your family.’

Stunned, Jett withdrew his hand, and at that exact moment Lulu raced over, throwing herself into his arms. ‘Lulu’s uncle,’ she chanted. ‘Uncle! Uncle!
Uncle
!’

He swung the little girl round, grateful for the diversion because he, too, was in deep shock.

‘So
dolce
!’ Gianna said, smiling agreeably at Max. ‘Is yours?’

‘Yes, she’s mine,’ he answered proudly. ‘My little Lulu.’

‘You are
very
lucky man,’ Gianna said, and turned to include Amy. ‘You will find much
amore
and happiness together.’

What is she–a witch?
Amy thought.
A witch with the best body I’ve ever seen.

I hate her.

No, I don’t. It’s not her fault. She probably has no clue that her boyfriend is a cheat.

‘Let’s all sit down,’ Max suggested. ‘I can see your mother is getting agitated.’

Lulu was still clinging to Jett. He carried the little girl to the table. ‘Me sit next to
you
,’ Lulu said, fluttering her long eyelashes at him.

‘Sure, honey,’ he said, shooting a covert glance at Amy, who looked even more lovely than he remembered. That gorgeous face. Those wide, innocent eyes. Her silky hair and glowing skin.

I’m in love
, he thought.
I’m in love with my brother’s fiancée. And what the hell am I supposed to do about that?

B
y the time Chris arrived at the rehearsal dinner things were in full swing. Harold was in the middle of making a heartfelt speech about his step-daughter, of whom he was very fond, while the main course of steak and lobster had just been served.

‘Over here,’ Max called out, waving him to the table.

Chris slid quietly into the seat between Nancy’s best friend–a true Tom Wolfe type social X-ray, and Gianna, who turned to him with an animated expression and exclaimed in a loud whisper, ‘I
love
your brother. You and I be
bene bene
friends,
capisce?
’

So this was the fabulous Gianna, she of the famous blow-jobs and proud Lamborghini owner. ‘Sure,’ Chris said, thinking that Jett was one lucky baby brother.

On the way in from the airport he’d called Jonathan and told him everything was taken care of. ‘It’ll cost you seventy-five grand and he’ll sign a non-disclosure contract, which is being couriered to him now.’

‘You’re the best!’ Jonathan had exclaimed, sounding suitably grateful. ‘Anything I can do for you, Chris, anything at all, never hesitate to ask.’

Harold finished his speech to much applause. Max immediately leaned across the table and introduced Chris to Amy. Chris was impressed: it seemed that both of his brothers had done well for themselves in the girlfriend department.

‘I gotta hit the head,’ Jett said, standing up. ‘Come with, Chris.’

‘That’s okay, I don’t—’

‘I
need
to talk to you,’ Jett said, throwing him a meaningful look.

‘Sure,’ Chris said, pushing his chair away from the table. ‘What’s up?’ he asked, as they headed for the men’s room.

‘What’s up?’ Jett repeated, groping for a cigarette in his jacket pocket. ‘What’s freaking
up
? That girl in there, that gorgeous incredible girl—’

‘Gianna?’ Chris interrupted.

‘No, not freaking Gianna,’ Jett snapped, confused and frustrated. ‘Amy, Max’s fiancée.’

‘What about her?’ Chris asked, wondering what he was missing.

‘She’s
my
girl,
the
girl,’ Jett said, his hand shaking slightly as he lit his cigarette. ‘The one I’ve been trying to find.’

‘You’re
not
telling me—’

‘Yeah,’ Jett said grimly. ‘That’s
exactly
what I’m telling you.’

‘Jesus
Christ
!’ Chris exclaimed. ‘You
screwed
Max’s fiancée?
She
’s the one?’

‘What the
fuck
am I gonna do?’ Jett demanded, exhaling smoke.

Chris had no idea what Jett expected him to say. ‘Are you
sure
it’s her?’ he asked.

‘C’
mon
, Chris,’ Jett said, shooting his brother a dirty look. ‘I’m not crazy.
Of course
it’s her.’

‘Has she said anything to you?’

‘How can she? She’s sitting right next to Max and she’s surrounded by her family.’

‘Jeez–do you think she
knew
you were Max’s brother when she went home with you?’

‘No way. I mean, why the hell would she sleep with her fiancé’s brother? What kind of a fucked-up deal is
that
?’

‘Here’s my question. Why would she sleep with
anyone
when she’s about to get married?’

‘Yeah,’ Jett said, ‘that’s exactly what I keep asking myself.’

‘There’s no way you can tell him,’ Chris said, imagining the consequences of Max finding out. ‘Don’t even consider it.’

‘Like I’d do that.’

‘Here’s what you’ve got to do. Suck it up, forget it ever happened. Move on.’

‘Easy for you to say,’ Jett said miserably. ‘Only it
did
happen, and she’s not a girl I can forget.’

‘Then, little bro’, you’d better start trying. And my suggestion is that you do
not
mention this to anyone else. Keep it between us and we’ll figure something out.’

‘I need a drink,’ Jett muttered.

‘No,’ Chris said, knowing how impossible it would be if Jett were to get drunk. ‘That’s exactly what you
don’t
need.’

‘I can handle it.’

‘Getting shit-faced is a dumb move, Jett.’

‘So
what?
You think I can go back in there stone-cold sober?’

‘If you plan on making it through the night–yes.’

‘You’re a big fucking help,’ Jett muttered.

‘Just watching out for you, surfer kid.’

‘Yeah,’ Jett said wryly. ‘I guess you’re getting good at that.’

Back at the party they were showing a slide show of Amy and Max’s childhood photos. There was Amy aged two, naked and curly-haired, lying on a fur rug–Max aged four, all dressed up in a grown up suit, solemnly saluting–Amy, five and adorable–Max, ten and stern–Amy at her junior prom–Max at his. And so on…

Amy could barely concentrate, her mind was racing in a hundred different directions. She kept glancing at Max, making sure he hadn’t set this up to punish and humiliate her.

No. It was just one of those things. An error of judgement.
Her
error.

Gianna was busy charming everyone, speaking non-stop to anyone who would listen. She’d already bonded with Grandma Poppy, who pronounced her an absolute delight.

Finally Chris and Jett returned to the table.

Amy wondered if Jett had confided in his brother. Had he revealed the horrible truth? And would his next move be to tell Max?

Oh, God! Maybe
she
should get to Max before
he
did and confess everything.

For a fleeting second her eyes met Jett’s. Quickly she looked away. What must he think of her?

As soon as she felt she could, she made a mad dash across the room to Tina’s table, ready to divulge everything to her best friend, and beg for her counsel, because there was no way she could handle this by herself. Her stomach was churning, she felt totally shaky–what was she going to
do?

When she reached Tina’s table some sort of commotion was taking place.

‘Thank
God
!’ Brad exclaimed, grabbing her by the shoulders. ‘For Crissakes, Tina’s gone into labour!’

‘
What?
’ Amy cried out.

And from there it was all one big blur as Amy elected to go with Tina and Brad to the hospital.

As soon as Nancy found out, she was livid. ‘You cannot leave your own rehearsal dinner,’ she fumed. ‘I will not allow it.’

‘Sorry,’ Amy yelled, as she assisted Tina past the main table. ‘This is my best friend and she needs me.’

‘Go!’ Max said encouragingly. ‘I know how important this is to you, sweetie. Take the car–my driver’s downstairs.’

Oh, great! Now he was being understanding and selfless. She wished he would scream and act like a man betrayed. She deserved it. Only he couldn’t do that, could he?
Because he didn’t know
.

She caught another brief glimpse of Jett. He was staring at her. She pretended not to notice.

‘Stop!’ Tina yelled, as they reached the door. ‘I think my waters are breaking.’

‘Oh, my God!’ exclaimed Brad, starting to panic. ‘You can’t give birth to our baby here!’

‘I’ll have our baby wherever I damn well please!’ shouted Tina. ‘Go find the car, you idiot. Don’t you understand?
WE’RE HAVING A BABY
!’

So that was it. There one minute. Gone the next. And he hadn’t even had a chance to say a word to her.

Amy Scott-Simon.

He knew her name.

A rich girl, so her mother’s best friend–a skeleton on stick legs in an Oscar de la Renta fancy suit–had informed him. ‘When Grandma goes, the will bypasses Nancy and Amy inherits everything,’ the woman had confided in a stage-whisper. ‘We’re all so happy that Max is obviously not a fortune-hunter. They make a delightful couple, don’t you agree?’

No. He didn’t agree. Max was too old for her. And who gave a fast crap if she had money or not?

He’d fallen for a girl. A girl without a name or pedigree. An incredible girl with soft golden hair, an amazing body and the face of an angel. And there was nothing he could do about it except sit back and watch.

Max was beaming, even though Amy had run off with her pregnant friend–which proved she was a loyal and decent person. Birth of best friend’s baby before rehearsal dinner. Good for her.

Amy Scott-Simon.

Even her name had a ring to it.

Gianna was swigging champagne like it was going out of style. She enjoyed being the centre of attention. Max was obviously enjoying her, too, as she laughed and flirted with him. Jett was well aware that it was just Gianna’s affectionate Italian way–she was a very touchy-feely person, who got her kicks telling men how handsome and virile they were, making them feel good about themselves. And if they fell in love with her, all the better.

Lulu had decided he was her favourite uncle and kept crawling onto his knee and locking her arms round his neck. He didn’t object–she was so cute.

‘Can Lulu come live with you?’ she asked, all bright eyes and puffy lips.

‘No, baby, you have a daddy and a mommy,’ he said, somewhat distracted. ‘You’re very happy at home.’

‘Not happy,’ she said, vigorously shaking her head.

‘Huh?’ he said vaguely.

‘My mommy’s divorcing my daddy ’cause
he
doesn’t like her,’ Lulu said, blinking several times. ‘That makes Lulu sad.’

‘Hey, sugar cake, I’m sure it’s not as simple as that.’

‘Tis,’ Lulu said stubbornly. ‘Daddy likes stupid Amy.’

‘Don’t say that about Amy.’

‘Why?’ she asked, pulling a face. ‘Mommy says it.’

‘’Cause it’s not true. Amy’s a great girl.’

‘No,’ Lulu cried. ‘Amy stupid! Stupid!
Stupid!
’

The skeleton decided to find out more about Jett. ‘And what do
you
do?’ she asked, tapping talon-like fingernails on the table. ‘Are you in the same business as your brother?’

‘No, I’m uh…’ He knew that once he said he was a male model she would dismiss him on the spot. ‘I…I kinda work in fashion.’

‘How
divine
,’ she gushed. ‘Valentino is a dear friend. I adore his clothes, don’t you?’

It was obvious that now she assumed he was gay.

He wondered if he could sneak a drink without Chris noticing. Then the voice of his sponsor in Italy came back to haunt him.
Remember, booze doesn’t solve anything. It only makes things worse
.

‘Chris,’ he said, touching his brother’s shoulder, ‘I gotta get out of here. I can’t take much more of this.’

‘Don’t blame you,’ Chris responded.

‘Uh…before I go, I wanted to thank you.’

‘For what?’

‘I talked to Edie earlier. She let it slip that it was
you
who sponsored my trip to Italy and got me out of the crap-hole I was in. I always thought it was Sam. You did me a big favour, ’cause I don’t know how many more ledges I would’ve stood on, thinking, Hey, wouldn’t it be fun to fly. You saved me finding out.’

‘No need to thank me,’ Chris said, slightly embarrassed. ‘You’re my kid brother. We share a father, bad as he might be.’

‘Yeah.’ Jett laughed ruefully. ‘We grew up with the same beatings and the same favourite rants–“You’re useless, you’re ugly, you’re dumb, you’ll never amount to anything.” ’

‘I remember all of them,’ Chris said. ‘It’s amazing we survived.’

‘Well, we did, so fuck him.’

‘Now I’m wondering what the old bastard’s going to say in the morning.’

‘Who gives a shit?’ Jett said. ‘At least we got to hang out this weekend.’

‘Makes this trip worth it for me,’ Chris agreed. ‘And tomorrow I’ll tell you about my problems.’

‘You got problems too?’

‘Major.’

‘Wanna share?’

‘You sure?’

‘Go ahead,’ Jett said, thinking they couldn’t be any worse than his.

‘Well…I have one famous client who thinks the public is about to discover he’s gay, another client who’s all set to marry some low-down wife-beater–and, here’s the
real
kicker, I lost my house.’

‘What do you mean, you
lost
your house?’

‘You were right about the storms in L.A. People are getting killed, mudslides, floods, it’s a real mess.’

‘You
lost
your fucking house, and you’re only telling me now?’

‘Nothing you could do.’

‘Except be there for you.’

‘And you are.’

‘No, I’m not. I’m busy bitching about
my
life, while you lost your house. I’m sorry, man, I really am.’

‘Yeah,’ Chris said ruefully. ‘I’m kinda sorry myself. But, hey, keeps you grounded.’

‘You
sure
there’s nothing I can do?’

‘We should get together for an early breakfast before we meet Red tomorrow.’

‘I’m there,’ Jett said. ‘Your hotel?’

Chris nodded. ‘And for now, what can I say? We’ll talk about everything in the morning.’

‘Thanks, bro’,’ Jett said, leaning over to tap Gianna on her shoulder. ‘We’re outta here.’

‘Why we leave?’ she asked, turning to him with a disappointed expression. Attention was like an aphrodisiac to the Italian supermodel, and tonight she was basking in it.

‘Cause it’s late, an’ you’re on a different time zone.”

‘No,
carino
, we stay,’ she said firmly. ‘Your brother, he need us. We cannot desert him.’

Oh, yeah–this was all he needed, the bonding of Gianna and Max. One big happy family.
Great!