The Complete Groupie Trilogy Read online

  He tried two at first, but after twenty minutes he reached for more with trembling fingers. He knew he had to get it together. He had called this meeting to assert his authority over his band. He couldn’t let Graham see him weakened or compromised.

  Within an hour he was on his way downtown. He felt pretty high and as such pretty confident to face off with his old boss. There were some major changes coming in the band and Vanni wasn’t going to be deterred from making these changes. Graham may have taken his Andy, but he wasn’t going to mess with the music.

  It was all Vanni had left.

  He met Leo and Julian in the lobby. His intoxication was unmistakable. Leo took him by the arm and pulled him aside. “Dude, this is business. You gotta play this straight.”

  Vanni smiled. “Don’t worry, Leo. I got it all under control.”

  Leo was not convinced. “I think you better let me do the talking,” he advised.

  Vanni’s face clouded over with a primal anger. “This is my band,” he told him. “I always do the talking. You got that?”

  Leo’s jaw clenched but he nodded. He motioned for Julian to follow them to the elevator and up to the top floor.

  Vanni was even more agitated when Graham’s secretary made them wait just outside the office. He considered it a dick move just to prove Graham was still the boss. His mind toiled as he rehearsed what he was going to say to assert his own dominance over his career.

  He hadn’t felt the need to do that since Jasper. He remembered how he shook in his shoes when he stood up to Jasper Carrington, one of the most powerful men in entertainment. He was still wet behind the ears back then, and in the worst possible position of being at the mercy of an unscrupulous contract.

  Things were a lot different now. He was Giovanni Carnevale, world renowned rock star. He sold out arenas all over the world. He had women who practically threw themselves at his feet. He could get into any club, date any celebrity and sell any product. His face sold magazines. His voice sold CDs and digital downloads. His invitations to perform ran the gamut of talk shows to talent shows. He had even been asked to judge aspiring singers.

  He was now the expert on what made someone a star.

  They had even put together a DVD package of their first tour with Baxter’s label which had topped all best-selling charts online and in retail shops everywhere.

  He was “It,” and he wasn’t going to let some slave-driving record producer make him feel like some flunky.

  He had just gotten angry enough to finally face off with Graham when they were called back into the office. He was nearly rooted to the floor in shock to see Andy sitting there at Graham’s large desk instead.

  Though she had the benefit of surprise on her side, she seemed just as shaken to see him… especially in the shape he was in. She had heard from Gwen that the new rehearsals were going well and he was even making slow progress on his sobriety. That was clearly not the case at that moment.

  She motioned for the men to sit in the chairs across from the desk. “Leo,” she tipped her head his direction and he said nothing as he made an imperceptible nod in reply. Julian reached across to shake her hand before he took his seat.

  Vanni sat last and didn’t speak or touch her at all, though he had been the one to request the meeting in the first place.

  She cleared her throat. “Thank you for coming,” she offered as she reached for the portfolio Gwen had prepared on Julian. “It’s nice to meet you Julian,” she said with a forced smile. Like the guys in the band, to her he represented a scrub that didn’t fit with the DIB family she had grown to love. It was going to take some getting used to in order finally accept him as one of her own.

  He gave her a charming smile. “Likewise. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

  Andy’s eyes shot to Vanni, who stared daggers right into her soul. He seemed so angry. Still so angry. Her lips trembled as she tried to return Julian’s smile. “As you know Gwen has drawn up a bio for you to introduce you to the fans. I understand you’ll be taking over the bass?”

  “Rhythm guitar,” Leo answered as he, too, glared her direction. He didn’t much appreciate having to answer to some fan who had slept her way to the top of the ladder. She didn’t get there because she’d worked her ass off lugging equipment and chasing temperamental musicians all over the country. She was there because she had a pussy, and nothing pissed Leo off more.

  Andy’s eyebrow rose. She didn’t know which confused her more: the information itself or the clear antagonism coming off of the two men before her in waves. “Rhythm guitar?”

  Vanni glared at Leo. “Yes,” he answered before Leo could. “We decided that bass was a waste of his talent. Besides, it fits with our new musical direction.”

  Andy took a deep breath. This was why she didn’t want to be there. She was not equipped to deal with all these curve balls they seemed determine to throw her direction. She linked her fingers and tried to keep her cool. “And what direction is that?”

  “More metal. Alternative rock with a heavier edge. No more ballads or mushy love crap,” he said with a pointed glare. “We’re going to bring back the music we grew up on.” He glanced over to Leo with a nod. The older man produced a laptop from his bag. He cued up the video of some of the recent jam sessions. The band had taken on a metal song from the 80s that was indeed raw and edgier. But it was the ferocity in how Vanni sang the lyrics, of taking a desired woman away from her man, which made Andy’s stomach drop. His eyes pierced into the camera as he made his intent quite clear. He wanted something and he didn’t really care that it belonged to someone else. He performed shirtless and with an unapologetic sexual magnetism that ceased asking for a woman’s love. His primal lust sought complete domination. The effect it had on her was undeniable. Leo barely contained his smile as he put away the laptop.

  “That is different,” she stiffly responded. “Aren’t you taking a risk from turning away from the songs that made you a star? Won’t your groupies be disappointed?”

  His eyebrow arched. Evilly he shot back, “I don’t know. Are you?”

  She swallowed hard. It always came back to that. “Fine,” she relented before reluctantly accepting the CD from Leo. Vanni was determined to make a statement with the song he chose to pass along to Graham, which made her even angrier at him. “I’ll be sure to let Graham know.”

  “Pillow talk?” he wanted to know.

  She glared at him. How dare he do this to her in a business meeting? Was he really this far gone? She produced a folder from the desk.

  “I think you’ll find the new contract with Julian is pretty straight forward,” she said as she sidestepped his question, sliding the paperwork across the desk as she gave him a pointed glare.

  He grabbed it but didn’t even open the folder. “I’m sure,” he sneered. “But you’ll forgive me if I don’t sign this before I have it looked over by my attorney.”

  Cool as ice she replied, “He already has a copy.”

  “Fine,” he snapped.

  “Fine,” she repeated. She got up and walked around the desk to bring this meeting from hell to a close. “Thank you gentlemen for stopping by.”

  Leo got up and Julian followed, but Vanni sat right where he was. He glanced at the other two men. “I’ll see you at the studio. There are a few things I need to discuss with Miss Foster,” he concluded as he turned his angry stare back at her.

  Leo looked at her and then back at him. She was the reason he was speeding down a runaway track? He didn’t get it. And he didn’t like it. “Don’t get yourself worked up, man. We have too much work to do.” He sent Andy a dismissive glance and stalked from the room.

  Julian took her hand again with another friendly shake. “It was nice to meet you, Andy,” he said. “Give Graham my best. I truly admire what he’s accomplished with the label.”

  She nodded and tried to smile but her heart was thundering against her chest. She didn’t want to be alone with Vanni, not after last time. “I will,” she said
. “Thanks for coming in.”

  He shut the door after him and only then did she turn to Vanni. He made no move to rise from his seat, but with those lethal eyes he didn’t really have to. She felt powerless under the weight of his stare so she walked back around the desk to sit before her knees buckled entirely.

  “What the fuck was this?” he demanded. “I come here to talk to the president of my label and I now go through you?”

  She shrugged. “Apparently.”

  “What makes you qualified to even be in that chair?”

  “Nothing at all,” she agreed. “I’m just a representative of Graham’s. He’s the one who still calls the shots and signs the contracts and handles your career.”

  “So why isn’t he here?” Vanni wanted to know.

  “You’d have to ask him,” she answered. “Maybe he just wants to punish me too.”

  His eyes clouded. “You think that’s what I’m doing?”

  “Yes,” she answered honestly. “I think that’s what you’ve been doing ever since you left Philadelphia.”

  “Someone thinks a little highly of herself,” he sneered hatefully. “I’m pissed to be talking to some kind of administrative assistant when I should be talking to the president of a fucking company. You ran a fan club, that’s it. I have a right to be angry.”

  “Oh yes,” she agreed. “You’re entitled. But that’s the problem, isn’t it, Vanni? You’re getting a little too much out of being entitled.”

  “I’m not the one acting like I own a goddamn company,” he reminded. “So what’s the deal, Andy? He catered to my career to steal my girl and now that is done he’s got better things to do?”

  Her eyes narrowed. “Yes. He has better things to do. He has to learn how to walk again.”

  He chuckled as he shook his head. It always came back to Saint Graham and his selfless, noble sacrifice.

  “And for the record I was never ‘your girl.’ That was Lourdes. Then Kat. But never me. I was your shameful little booty call you enjoyed on the sly, but never had the balls enough to tell the world you loved.”

  Rage surged through his body. He glanced at the charm bracelet she still wore. “You were more my girl than anybody and you know it,” he said in a low, dark voice. “I mean, we can test it if you want. All it takes is one kiss. One touch. I’m under your skin like a bad tattoo, lady. I have been since the first time I took you in my arms to dance. You’re still mine no matter whose bed you share.”

  Her heart dropped. He couldn’t do this to her again. She didn’t have the strength to take it. “I never said otherwise,” she pointed out. “You’re the one who left me, remember?”

  Her admission raced over his senses like wildfire. He had chased every demon out of every bottle because he needed her to tell him she was still his.

  But there was still a huge wall in their way.

  “And you’re the one who sent me away when I came back,” he said. “So where does that leave us?”

  “I don’t know,” she admitted. She had entertained the idea she could resume a relationship with him once they returned to Los Angeles, but that was before Graham’s emotions bottomed out. To make love to Vanni, which every cell in her body cried out to do, would feel like the ultimate betrayal.

  “Just tell me the truth,” he said softly. “Do you still love me?”

  Her eyes misted over with tears she didn’t know she had left to shed. “Yes,” she said so faintly he could barely hear it.

  She toppled headlong into those sultry brown eyes she had never been able to resist. She knew she was powerless to anything he would say or do as he finally rose from the seat and rounded the desk. He knew it too because he felt just as spellbound. He had chased her ghost around in his head so much that being near her filled his senses to complete overload. He pulled her to him with one hand. His mouth descended on hers with all the longing he had been so unable to satisfy. She responded in kind, clutching to him with the same level of need.

  He was her drug. He always had been. And until that very moment neither of them realized that she was his as well. He couldn’t get enough. He could never get enough. His tongue drove between her parted lips as he took command once more of what he knew was his. She didn’t – couldn’t – fight him. She just held on for dear life so she wouldn’t melt completely to the floor.

  For just a moment neither of them thought of anything or anyone else. They meshed together like they always had done. His hands ran all over her familiar body as he clutched onto her like a life raft.

  “God, how I want you,” he whispered against her lips. She groaned as her hands wound in his hair. They were words she had longed to hear ever since he left her bereft in a Philadelphia hotel room.

  He lifted her up and planted her on the desk. With one hand he pulled her top open and slid his fingers inside her blouse to dance upon her cool skin. Her longing for him was so exquisite she thought she would split right in two. She called his name unconsciously, which drove him to toss everything from the desk onto the floor and lay her down against the finished wood.

  His hand disappeared between them to release the button on his jeans that had suddenly become very restrictive from his need. “Tell me you love me,” he begged as he slipped between her legs under her skirt.

  “I love you,” she muttered in an incoherent whisper.

  “Tell me you don’t love him,” he persisted as he reached for her underwear to rip the final barrier between them away.

  It was tantamount to a splash of cold water. It always came back to Graham. He had to beat Graham. He had to win. And here they were about to make love on top of Graham’s desk while Graham lay helpless in a bed across town.

  He fumbled to enter her, still lost in a fog of chemical intoxication and lust. “Tell me,” he pleaded.

  She tried to scoot away but his weight held her fast. She used her hands to push him away as she tried to shove him from between her thighs. “Vanni, no!”

  He stumbled backward, confused and frustrated. She covered herself up and wouldn’t look him in the eye.

  “You do love him,” he finally said. “Don’t you?” She didn’t answer. “Don’t you!”

  Her tearful eyes met his. How could she explain it? How could he ever understand? It was so complicated and he was determined to make it even more so by pressuring her like this. She did love Graham. Not in the same explosive way she loved Vanni, but enough to change her whole world upside down to just be with him and help him heal.

  It was as though two men hung off a cliff and she had to choose which one to save. The only difference was if she let Vanni go he had a whole world to catch him.

  She was Graham’s only real shot. She knew that now.

  Finally, softly, she said, “Yes.”

  It was one small word but it exploded in the room like a clap of thunder. The tear that ran down Vanni’s face nearly brought her to her knees. She reached for him but he turned away. He dressed quickly and quietly and staggered across the room as mortally wounded as she had ever seen him.

  He slammed the door behind him and staggered down to the elevator. His mind was scrambled. His heart was decimated. In the last two years he had repeatedly thrown Graham in her face to test her, to hurt her, to punish her, because deep down he had feared that Graham could give her the world she deserved.

  And he could not.

  Now he knew that she had figured that out for herself. As desperate as she was for him, as much as she longed for his touch, her heart was now beyond his reach.

  She was in love with another man.

  He had never allowed that to happen before. He had always chosen those who preferred to give their bodies away but not their hearts. Then he met some normal girl from Tennessee, whose fire, sass and determination had turned his head and made him long for something more than just the party girls he routinely courted. He had always wanted the romance and the sex but never the love. As a result he ended up with a collection of hearts he never wanted, hearts he
could carelessly discard when things got too complicated. It was a modern world and these were modern relationships based on heat and need and nothing more.

  Until Andy that had been enough – a perfect relationship loophole.

  Finally he found the one heart in the whole world he wanted – needed – to hold in his hand, and it had been denied him.

  He knew it was karma coming to kick his ass.

  He spun out of the parking garage in the new expensive sports car he had awarded himself during his trip to Europe. He had visited the factory while in Italy and ordered it to be shipped to his home, but this was the first time he had actually let it out of the stables so it could run.

  He didn’t even bother with a seatbelt as he sped through the streets of downtown L.A. Within a handful of turns he was prowling the streets of Hollywood. He passed the stripper clubs and the lingerie shops in a town built for sex. There was only one way he could fix his current problem… he needed to find someone quick to get Andy out of his head.

  One day he hoped it would serve to get her out of his blood as well, but one need was way more pressing at that moment.

  He scoured the crowded boulevard until he saw someone who was the complete opposite of Andy. She was skinny and tall, with platinum hair and dangerously high heels. He sidled up to the corner.

  She turned when she heard the engine rev. With a grin she knelt down to the window. “Nice car,” she said.

  “Wanna go for a ride?” he offered.

  “Sure,” she said as she opened the door and climbed in. He peeled away from the curb and headed west.

  “Where are we going?” she asked.

  “Somewhere private,” he answered with a knowing wink.

  “So what do you want?” she asked.

  He reached for his wallet and pulled out a handful of hundred dollar bills. “Whatever that will give me,” he said.

  She tucked them away, payment in advance. “It’ll get you pretty much whatever you want. You’re the boss, sugar.”

  He liked the sound of that. He turned up the radio and unfastened his jeans.