Lovers & Players (11 page)

‘S
pill,’ Tina said, linking her arm companionably through Amy’s as they headed down the street on their way to Serendipity.

‘What?’ Amy answered, filled with guilt, yet still strangely elated.

‘Spill,’ Tina repeated. ‘Take pity on this poor pregnant,
fat
woman and tell me everything.’

‘You do know that you’re a very bad influence?’ Amy grumbled.

‘Me?’ Tina said innocently.

‘Yes, you.’ Amy sighed.

‘Which means you did the deed!’

‘I did not!’

‘Oh, yes, you did,’ Tina exclaimed triumphantly. ‘It’s written all over your face.’

‘Don’t
say
that.’ Amy groaned, fervently wishing last night had never happened.

‘Why? It’s not a
bad
thing,’ Tina said matter-of-factly. ‘It’s your last chance and you grabbed it. Therefore, as your best friend and adviser, I’m proud of you.’

‘You are?’ Amy said unsurely, as they entered Serendipity and were ushered to a table upstairs.

‘Yes,’ Tina said firmly, accepting a menu from a friendly waiter, who then took their drinks order. As soon as he left, she leaned across the table, obviously determined to find out everything. ‘Intimate details, please,’ she said. ‘I have to live vicariously now.’

Amy glanced around the half-filled restaurant. ‘I don’t know what you’re carrying on about,’ she said vaguely.

‘Oh, please!’ Tina said, adding in her best persuasive voice, ‘You have to talk about it, otherwise you’ll bottle everything up and that won’t do you any good at all.’

‘You think?’ Amy said, refusing to meet Tina’s penetrating stare.

‘Yes, I think,’ Tina said insistently. ‘Which means you’d better tell me everything.’

Amy began to weaken. Even though it was her big secret, she had this insane urge to talk about him–the stranger, Mr S. Lucas, apartment 10A. His image kept running through her head. His face–so handsome–the lock of blondish hair that fell across his forehead, his mouth, his blue eyes, his hands, his…everything.

‘I–I really don’t understand how it happened,’ she said hesitantly. ‘I guess I must’ve had too much to drink. I…I was thinking about what you said and—’

‘And he was
sooo
hot that you couldn’t help yourself,’ Tina offered, finishing Amy’s sentence for her. ‘You reached that intoxicating moment of no return and went for it. Would I be on the right path here?’

‘That’s
exactly
what happened,’ Amy said breathlessly. ‘It was almost like an out-of-body experience. I couldn’t seem to say no.’

‘And you didn’t want to.’

‘No,’ she admitted. ‘I didn’t.’

‘Was it great?’ Tina asked, eyes gleaming.

‘Huh?’ Amy said, nibbling on a breadstick, although she wasn’t hungry. In fact, the thought of food made her stomach turn.

‘Oh, nice!’ Tina exclaimed, watching her. ‘Stuff your face and leave me hanging.’

‘What?’

‘I repeat,’ Tina said, ‘and I’m speaking very slowly, was it great?’

‘I can’t talk about it anymore. I mean, what if Max finds out?’ Amy muttered, swallowing hard, and almost choking on the breadstick.

‘There’s no way he’ll find out,’ Tina assured her.

‘He might,’ Amy said, thinking of the consequences if he did.

‘Not unless you’re foolish enough to tell him,’ Tina said, handing her a glass of water.

‘I would
never
do that.’

‘Well,’ Tina said, ‘I hope you used a condom.’

Now panic joined her feelings of guilt. Who the hell was thinking condoms when they were so caught up in the passion of the moment?
He
certainly wasn’t, and neither was she.

‘Of course,’ she lied, ashamed of her behaviour, and yet, in spite of everything,
still
suffused with the warm glow that refused to go away.

‘Smart girl,’ Tina said, followed by a loud ‘Ouch!’

‘What’s the matter?’

‘This baby boy has some kick!’ Tina grumbled, clutching her stomach. ‘I’m telling you, this little tyke is destined to be the greatest football-player in the world, or some kind of insane wife-beater!’

Later in the day Max called again. Amy was instantly on guard. Had he found out somehow? It wasn’t like Max to call her more than once a day.

‘I’m taking Lulu for tea at the Peninsula,’ he said. ‘I’d like you to meet us.’

‘Today?’ she said hesitantly.

‘Yes, today.’

‘Well…’ she said, stalling for time, ‘I
am
working.’

‘For now you’re working. Soon you’ll be giving it all up, so what does it matter if you leave early?’

Was Max under the mistaken impression that as soon as they were married she was quitting her job? No way.

‘Look,’ he continued, ‘I’ve had a lousy day, and I need to be surrounded by the women I love.’

Major guilt trip. He wouldn’t love her so much if he knew what she’d done last night.

‘I…um…I’m supposed to be going over to my mother’s. Big meeting with the wedding planner.’

‘That’s later, isn’t it?’

‘Uh, yes.’

‘Four o’clock. The Peninsula. Oh, and see if you can pick up some of that Hello Kitty stuff for Lulu.’

Just what she needed–Max and his precocious five-year-old. Lulu had a habit of regarding her with baby pursed lips and accusing eyes. Obviously Mariska had taught her daughter exactly how to behave when faced with the enemy–and there was no doubt about it: in Lulu’s mind she
was
the enemy, the nasty lady who’d stolen daddy away from her mommy.

Staring blankly at her computer screen, Amy thought about googling S. Lucas. What
was
her mystery man’s first name? Steven? Simon? Was
he
thinking about
her
?

Damn! There was absolutely no way she could get him off her mind.

And yet she had to. It was imperative that she stop thinking about him. After all, she would never see him again.

She was marrying Max Diamond, and that was that. Case closed.

I
n spite of the fact that his brother was so dismissive of his big new love, Jett still decided to tag along and meet Birdy Marvel. After all, she was famous–so why not?

The pop princess greeted them in her penthouse suite wearing frayed Daisy Dukes, silver roller-blades, and a skimpy T-shirt emblazoned with the slogan
KISS MY ASSETS
. She was surrounded by her entourage, a colourful group of twenty-somethings who attended to her hair, make-up and outfits, and laughed at her jokes.
Baby sycophants
, Chris thought, as he introduced her to Jett.

Birdy took one look and liked what she saw. ‘Where you bin hidin’
him?
’ she demanded, sucking a purple frozen popsicle.

‘Italy. I live in Milan,’ Jett said, noticing that she had a bad case of acne on her pointed chin, but she was cute, all the same.

‘Cool,’ Birdy said, suggestively licking her popsicle. ‘One of these days I wanna take a trip to Venice. Hear it’s dope.’

‘Jett just stopped by to say hello,’ Chris said. ‘So now that he has, he’s leaving. That’ll give you a chance to tell me what’s on your mind.’

‘He can stay if he wants,’ Birdy offered, casually flopping into a chair and throwing her legs over the side. ‘’S long as he doesn’t report to the tabloids.’

‘Thanks for the offer, but I gotta split,’ Jett said. ‘It was great meeting you.’

‘Likewise,’ Birdy said, suddenly all coy and proper as Jett headed for the door. ‘He’s
hot
,’ she announced, to his retreating back.

‘Superhot,’ agreed her stylist, a short plump girl dressed from head to toe in red leather, with matching red hair and thick black eyebrows, one of which was pierced with a tiny silver dove.

‘Okay, get lost,’ Birdy said, waving her entourage out of the room. ‘I gotta talk private stuff with my sexy lawyer.’

Obediently they trooped out.

‘Where’s Rocky?’ Chris asked.

‘With his grandma,’ she answered, purple ice dripping onto her fingers.

‘Rocky has a grandma?’ Chris said, raising his eyebrows.

‘She’s eighty an’ still rides a hog,’ Birdy replied, licking her sticky fingers one by one.

‘That must be quite a sight,’ Chris said drily.

‘You’re not into Rocky, are you?’ Birdy said, squinting at Chris through ever so slightly bloodshot blue eyes.

‘As long as
you
like him, that’s all that matters, isn’t it?’

‘Yup.’

‘And you
do
still like him?’

‘’Course,’ she said, sucking her popsicle down to the stick, then tossing the stick onto the floor.

‘So what is it you want to talk privately about?’

‘Stuff,’ she said vaguely.

‘Go ahead.’

‘I’m pregnant, an’ I wanna marry Rocky,’ she blurted excitedly.

‘Whaaat?’

‘Like, I wanna do it this weekend so, Chris, you’d better arrange it.’

‘
Me?
’ he said, shocked.

‘You’re my lawyer, you take care of
everything
.’

‘I’m a lawyer, not a Justice of the Peace.’

‘Whatever,’ she said, waving her hands in the air. ‘I pay you to get things done, so do it.’

Age had not improved Ms Birdy Marvel’s manners, and if he wasn’t getting a fat percentage of her income he would tell her exactly where she could stuff her imperious orders. But right now he could not afford to lose any clients, so he nodded, as if he was considering her options.

‘You’ll need a pre-nuptial,’ he said, taking out his Palm to make some notes. ‘And Rocky’s lawyer will have to check it out before he signs, so we’re definitely not talking this weekend.’

‘Why not?’ she whined.

‘I just told you why not.’

‘Who cares about a stupid pre-nup thingummy?’ she said, getting up and extracting a can of Red Bull from the mini-bar.

‘
You
do.’

‘Rocky warned me you’d be all pissy about it,’ she said, pulling a face. ‘So we worked something out.’

‘What did you work out?’ Chris asked, keeping his temper in check.

‘Well…since
I
’m the one with all the loot, we thought it only fair that Rocky gets something if our marriage doesn’t last, which of course it, like,
will
, ’cause we’re, like,
full on
in love. So you gotta draw up some kinda paper that pays him a million bucks a year if I don’t stay married to him for five years.’

Bingo! Birdy never disappointed. ‘You’re kidding, right?’ He sighed.

‘No,’ she said, swigging Red Bull from the can.

‘You must be. Either that or you’re certifiable.’

‘S’cuse me?’ she said, widening her eyes.

‘You’re talking like a crazy girl. Surely you remember
why
you wanted the emancipation? We worked hard to see that you gained control of your money, and that’s the way it should stay.’

‘I get it, Chris,’ she said earnestly. ‘Only here’s the thing, Rocky’s so totally
awesome
.’

‘
How
long have you known him?’

‘A coupla months,’ she said, smiling dreamily.

‘It’s all fun now, but when you’re in a relationship, things change.’

‘Not with me an’ Rocky.’

‘I’m not saying you shouldn’t promise him
anything
. I can draw you up a document that’ll serve
both
of you and if Rocky doesn’t accept it, then you shouldn’t marry him.’

‘Oh, Chris,’ she responded, pouting, ‘you can be such a downer.’

‘I’m merely protecting you, Birdy,’ he said sternly. ‘Do you understand that if you guaranteed him a million per year for five years, and he left you after four and a half, the guy would walk away with five million of your hard-earned money? Do you
really
understand that?’

‘Don’t sweat it, Chris. Rocky and I will be together for, like,
fifty
years.’

‘Then there’s no problem, is there?’

‘I guess not,’ she said unsurely. ‘So can I get married this weekend?’

‘It’s not going to fly,’ he said, his mind racing. ‘New York marriage laws are different from California.’

‘Why?’

‘They just are.’

‘Man, I really wanna do this,’ she said, starting to sulk.

‘Have you considered Vegas?’ he said, formulating a plan.

‘I
looove
Vegas,’ she cooed, her face lighting up. ‘Vegas is hot!’

‘Good. Because if you do it in Vegas,’ he said, still thinking fast, ‘I can get you the presidential suite at the Magiriano, a big reception, and numerous other perks. Also, I’ll make a deal to sell exclusive wedding pictures to
People
or
Us
, or one of the tabloids, then you can give half of that money to Rocky, and if
that
doesn’t keep him happy—’

‘Oh, wow!’ she said, clapping her hands. ‘Can we do it
next
weekend?’

‘It might be possible,’ he said, thinking this would definitely get him off the hook with Roth Giagante, and that was a major plus, because if Birdy got married at Roth’s hotel it would mean millions of dollars’ worth of free publicity for the Magiriano, and there was no way Roth would object to
that
.

‘You’re the man, Chris,’ Birdy squealed, jumping up and throwing her arms round him. ‘We’re such an awesome team. I’m totally psyched you’re my lawyer.’

‘So am I. But remember, I’m the one who thinks for you and all
you
have to do is perform.’ She nodded enthusiastically. ‘Now, about this pregnancy thing,’ he continued. ‘Are you
sure?
’

‘Not exactly,’ she answered vaguely. ‘I’m late but, y’ know, whenever I’m on the road I’m always late.’

‘You are?’

‘Rocky says it would be like totally
amazing
if we had a baby.’

Of course Rocky would say that: Rocky was out to secure his position with one of the biggest earners in show business.

‘Has he got kids with anyone else?’ Chris asked, deciding he’d better do some heavy detective work before this joke of a relationship went any further.

‘Man!’ Birdy yelled excitedly. ‘I
swear
you’re a freakin’ psychic! How’dja
know?
’

‘A wild guess,’ he answered calmly. ‘How many?’

‘One little boy. But, y’ know, I totally get off on kids, so I’ll take care of it too.’

‘You will, huh?’

‘Course.’

‘Pay all its bills? Pay for Rocky’s ex-girlfriend?’

‘Wife,’ she corrected, draining the can of Red Bull and tossing the empty can onto the floor.

‘Wife?’ Chris said, raising his eyebrows.

‘
Ex
-wife,’ she said casually, like it was a minor detail.

‘You’ve seen the divorce papers?’

‘No, but—’

‘Get them, Birdy. I can’t arrange anything before I see them.’

‘Oh, Chris,’ she pouted like a little girl, ‘now you’re spoiling everything.’

‘No, Birdy,’ he answered sternly. ‘I’m simply making sure nobody hurts you, and don’t you forget it.’

And that’s why they pay me the big bucks
, he thought, with a certain amount of satisfaction.
For saving their asses, not to mention their money
.

What could he do to shut Vladimir Bushkin up once and for all? Max knew he had a major problem on his hands, and money wasn’t about to solve it. Of course, he could hand over more cash, but it was a given that Vladimir would soon be back for more.

Or he could threaten deportation, and in return Vladimir would sell his dirty little story to the tabloids.

Or he could
what
? What the fuck
could
he do? This wasn’t some Hollywood movie where he could take a hit out on the blackmailing Russian low-life. Those things didn’t happen in real life.

Or did they?

Of course they did. It was naïve to think otherwise.

What would Red Diamond do? Big Red, as he’d been called by his cronies and hangers-on. Big Red, would think nothing of crushing Vladimir like a bug.

Max remembered fragments of conversations he’d heard while he was growing up about how Red had dealt with anyone who got in his way. Apparently he’d left a trail of shattered lives and broken men in his wake, and never given it a second thought.

Yes, Red Diamond would know how to deal with a roach like Vladimir Bushkin, no doubt about that.

But Max was at a loss. Even if he considered putting a hit out on the blackmailing Russian, how would he go about it?

Listen to yourself
, he thought.
Thinking about arranging for someone to be killed. This is pure insanity
.

It was all Mariska’s fault, the duplicitous, scheming
bitch
! Mariska. Mother of his child. And shouldn’t he be getting a DNA test to make sure he
was
Lulu’s father, although he loved the little girl. If it turned out she wasn’t his, he would be devastated.

And yet he had his future to think about, and his future was Amy, the lovely Amy. If she knew about this sordid mess with Vladimir and Mariska she would be disgusted. He hadn’t even told her about his problems with the banks, and he should, because at any moment the news was going to break and it would be all over the financial pages. He had his enemies too, and they would like nothing better than to see him fail. He was, after all, Red Diamond’s son.

He glanced at his watch and realized it was almost time to collect Lulu and take her for tea.

The thought of seeing Mariska filled him with a deep-seated loathing. He wanted to shake the truth out of her, which wouldn’t do any good because even if he confronted her with Vladimir’s story she was bound to lie. It was her way.

Then it occurred to him that perhaps
she
was the one who should deal with Vladimir. After all, she had just as much to lose if the story came out. She would be exposed and humiliated: her social life in New York would be over, and that was all Mariska had ever cared about–her damn social position.

Yes, this might be the answer.

He’d told the Russian to come back next week. ‘I’ll have the cash for you,’ he’d promised. ‘Do
not
do anything foolish.’

Which left him a short time to think about how he was going to handle the situation.

It would have been a lot easier if he hadn’t had a bachelor party to attend, a crucial meeting with the Japanese bankers who were flying in to see him, and an upcoming wedding.

But things were never easy. That was one of the few lessons he’d learned from Red.

Jett left Birdy Marvel’s hotel and immediately got on his cell, trying Beverly’s number again. This time she picked up. ‘Where have you been?’ he said accusingly. ‘I left messages this morning.’

‘
You
disappeared last night, and where have
I
been?’ Beverly said. ‘You’re somethin’, Jett.’

‘Hey, listen, Bev, I need a favour.’

‘Then quit with the pissy attitude.’

‘The girl I left with last night, who is she?’

‘I didn’t see you with a girl.’

‘Yes, you did, you saw me talking to her, then we were dancing and I left with her. Now I need to know who she is.’

‘Uh…excuse me,’ Beverly said. ‘
You
left with a girl, and
I
’m supposed to find out who she is? Ever heard of exchanging names? It helps, y’ know.’

‘Hey, just be happy that I’m back, sober, an’
maybe
–just maybe–in love.’