Lovers & Players (46 page)

‘Something bad.’

‘How bad?’

‘It’s better you don’t know.’

Suddenly she felt sick. Her mother’s words came drifting back into her head:
Max is not a victim, Amy. His wife has been brutally murdered, and the suspicion lies on him.

‘What’s going on, Max?’ she asked, pulling her robe tightly round her.

‘I told you,’ he said, sitting on the edge of the bed. ‘It’s better you don’t know.’

‘If you want me to say you were here, I have to know what I’m shielding you from.’

‘Jesus
Christ
!’ he said furiously, standing up again. ‘Why can’t you do as I say for once?’

She’d never seen this side of him before, this angry person she barely recognized.

‘Does–does this have something to do with Mariska’s murder?’ she asked tentatively.

‘
Fuck!
’ he exclaimed, walking over and banging his fist against the wall. ‘Fuck! Fuck!
FUCK
!’

‘I don’t understand what’s going on,’ she said, moving across the room to get away from him. ‘But whatever it is, I think you’d better go.’

‘I come to you for help, and you’re sending me away?’ he said incredulously. ‘This is
goddamn
serious, Amy. You’d better do as I tell you.’

He began to move towards her. She backed away.

‘What’s the
matter
with you?’ he demanded. ‘I ask you to do one simple thing, and you
can’t.
I’m your future
husband,
for Crissake. We’re getting
married.
’

His words filled her with dread. She’d thought she was in love with Max, but it dawned on her that she never had been. He’d represented safety, and now he didn’t. Then she realized that she would
never
have slept with another man if she’d really been in love with him. Too much to drink or not, it simply wasn’t possible.

All she wanted at this moment was to get him out of her apartment.

‘Are you just going to stand there and say nothing?’ he yelled. ‘Jesus
Christ,
Amy. I thought I could depend on you.’

‘If you tell me what’s going on, then maybe I can help,’ she said, her voice sounding higher than usual. ‘However, if you don’t…’ Her words trailed off as she remembered that Jett was on his way over, and if Max
didn’t
know about them, the timing of his finding out couldn’t have been worse.

‘Forget it,’ Max snapped. ‘I’m out of here. You’re not the girl I thought you were, Amy. You’re not someone I can trust.’ With that he stormed his way to the front door.

She stayed in her bedroom, rooted to the spot, allowing him to go. Something very bad had happened for Max to be acting like this. Something very,
very
bad.

And then the thought popped into her head–was
Max
responsible for Mariska’s murder? Had
he
killed her? Shuddering with a sudden icy fear, she ran into the hall and locked the front door behind him.

Muttering to himself, Max made it downstairs. He was furious with Amy. This was the first time he’d ever asked her for anything, and it floored him that she couldn’t manage to come through.

The problem was she was too young to understand what was going on. She wasn’t a woman, she was a girl. A very lovely and innocent girl, but maybe thinking they could make a marriage work was a mistake. She wasn’t that great with Lulu, and Lulu needed a mother–now more than ever.

The image of Irena sitting in her chair with a bullet-hole through her forehead flashed through his mind. Who had killed her? And why?

Christ! What was happening? Why did everything seem to be spiralling out of control? He had to get a grip, decide what to do.

Stepping out of the elevator, he came face to face with Jett. ‘What the hell are
you
doing here?’ he said, frowning.

‘Okay, okay,’ Jett began, speaking fast. ‘I need to explain that it wasn’t anyone’s fault. It was one of those crazy things that just kinda happened. We didn’t plan it, I can promise you that. I had no idea who she was–and she certainly had no clue I was your brother. It was kinda…fate.’

Max stared at his younger half-brother, the ‘fuck-up’ as Red always referred to him. Was he missing something? Earlier, when he’d hammered on Amy’s door, she’d thought it was Jett. Now
why
would she think Jett was at her door in the middle of the night?

It didn’t make sense…or did it?

And then her words came back to him–
I–I don’t know what to say…it wasn’t planned…It just happened.

Almost the same words as Jett had used. And Amy wasn’t herself, she was nervous and jumpy, almost
guilty
.

Of
what?

‘Tell me about the crazy thing that
just happened?
’ Max demanded, a helpless anger coursing through him, for he knew he was not going to like what he heard.

‘You can’t take it out on Amy,’ Jett said earnestly. ‘You gotta understand that it wasn’t her fault. She’d had too much to drink and, like I said, it was just one of those crazy things—’

Max got it. Without thinking, he hauled back and slammed his fist into Jett’s chin. Hard. ‘You son-of-a-bitch!’ he screamed. ‘You fucking
son-of-a-bitch
!’

Jett swayed on his feet. ‘I’m telling you–you gotta understand,’ he yelled. ‘I love her, an’ she feels the same way about me. There’s
nothing
you can do.’

‘Nothing, huh?’ Max screamed, all the anger and frustration of the past few days reaching boiling point. ‘You fucking asshole
loser.
’

‘You’re just like Red,’ Jett managed, rubbing his chin. ‘Same lousy attitude. Same freakin’ words.’

‘Don’t
ever
compare me to him.’

‘Jeez, Max, I feel sorry for you, ’cause you
are
like him. Why doncha admit it? You’re two of a kind.’

Max experienced a cold knot of fear and anger in the pit of his stomach. He was losing everything–including his fucking mind. But he was not about to lose his identity. He would
never
be the man his father was.
Never.

Without saying another word he hurried from the building, got into his car and drove home.

After a few tense minutes of deliberation and a stiff drink, he called his lawyer, then Chris, and finally Detective Rodriguez.

The truth was, he had nothing left to lose.

E
arly on Thursday morning, Liberty and Damon sat together at the caterer’s table on the beach eating breakfast. It was the last day of her photo shoot, and even though it had only been three days, she already knew how much she was going to miss everyone. Being fussed over was quite addictive, and having Damon in L.A. was the cream in her coffee–not only was he capable of giving her a future career, but she found him to be incredibly sexy, interesting and generous.

She’d never felt this way about a man before. Just being with him was a total trip, and it had nothing to do with the way everyone treated him like a star with all the trimmings–the limos, clubs and expensive restaurants. To her he was Damon. Just a guy. And she’d fallen big-time.

‘Last night I was thinking about Cabo and, yeah–I was about to say yes,’ she said, sipping a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice.

‘Keep talkin’.’

‘Then my mom called, and here’s the
real
reason I can’t go.’

‘Spill.’

‘She needs to tell me something, and according to her it’s about my dad and it’s important.’

‘
How
important?’

‘I don’t know until I get back to New York.’

‘And two days is gonna make a difference?’ he said, leaning in and giving her one of his intense looks.

She was silent for a moment. Then she said, ‘You can’t understand. It’s too personal.’

‘Try me.’

‘Y’see,
I
only have my mom, never had a dad, and it was only a few days ago she told me who he was. Now she’s ready to change her story, so
that
’s why I have to get back. I need to find out who I am.’

‘You’re
you,
’ Damon said quietly. ‘You always gotta remember that.’

‘I knew you wouldn’t understand.’

‘You’re wrong, baby,’ he said, looking into her eyes. ‘I understand big-time.’

‘You’re always—’

‘Quit givin’ me that
always
shit like I don’t get it,’ he interrupted, narrowing his eyes. ‘You wanna hear ’bout me? I’ll tell you. My grandma raised me an’ my brother in the projects. We didn’t have
nothin
’ ’cept her love an’ encouragement. That woman worked two jobs to keep us goin’. She was
never
too busy to teach me that if I
wanted
somethin’–really wanted it–then I’d better shift my lazy ass an’
make
it happen. An’ that’s exactly what I did.’

‘I didn’t know that,’ Liberty said.

‘No reason you should. That’s private shit I keep to myself. Nobody’s business ’cept mine.’

‘Where’s your grandma now?’

‘Livin’ in a fancy house I bought her in Brooklyn with my brother, his wife an’ their three kids,’ he said. ‘I give that lady anythin’ she damn well wants. She worked her ass off for me an’ my little bro’ an’ she deserves the world.’

‘How about your parents? Are
they
around?’

‘Never met either of ’em. Don’t even know if they’re still alive. Don’t even give a crap.’

‘Why?’ she asked curiously.

‘Mom was a crackhead, my old man a dealer,’ he said flatly. ‘A coupla drugged-out freaks. They left us on our own till Grandma came an’ took us in. If it wasn’t for her we’d’ve been pushed into the welfare system.’

‘I’m sorry,’ she said softly. ‘It must’ve been tough for you.’

‘Hey,’ he said, shrugging, ‘you go with the breaks. My belief is you give props to the person who raised you, can’t be worryin’ ’bout no one else. My grandma is the best woman in the world.’

Before she could say anything, Quinn came over to inform her it was time to get to the make-up trailer. Reluctantly she got up to leave.

‘So, don’t go backin’ away from Cabo,’ Damon said, standing up. ‘It’s somethin’ we’ll both get off on. You can figure out your family shit when we get back.’

‘You think?’

‘I
know
, baby. I
know
.’

‘Sure you do,’ she said, smiling at his supreme confidence. ‘You seem to know everything.’

‘Ain’t
that
the truth,’ he said, grinning.

‘Mr Big Ego,’ she murmured.

‘An’ doncha forget it.’

‘I’ll try not to,’ she teased.

‘See ya later, LL,’ he said, and began strolling off down the beach.

‘
Shame
he’s straight,’ Quinn murmured. ‘Such a
diabolical
waste!’

‘I’m sure his wife doesn’t think so,’ she said tartly. ‘He’s married, y’ know.’

‘My! My!’ Quinn dead-panned. ‘I’d
never
have guessed.’

She watched Damon as he headed towards the hotel. He was everything she’d ever wanted in a man…and yet he was a
married
man, and she’d never been into sharing.

‘Come along, dear,’ Quinn said crisply. ‘Time to stop lusting and come beautify.’

‘I’m not lusting,’ she objected, although she knew perfectly well that she was.

‘You could’ve fooled me.’

Sitting in the make-up chair, she still couldn’t stop thinking about him. Now that he’d revealed a small part of his personal story, she was anxious to hear more. Damon was an inspiration, he’d made it from nothing and look at him now. He was only thirty-six, a man who’d put himself out there and made a huge success doing something he loved. He wasn’t just some rich hip-hop mogul with his own record label, he’d worked hard to get where he was, and it must’ve been quite a jump from nothing to everything.

The great American dream. Damon was
it
.

It occurred to her that getting back to New York didn’t seem so urgent. Whatever her mom had to say could wait. After all, she’d waited nineteen years to hear the truth–what difference would one weekend make?

Besides, Damon was right, if she was going to achieve anything it was because of
her
efforts. It didn’t matter who her father was–he was long gone–she was her own person. It was time to stop feeling sorry for herself and seize everything life had to offer. Right now there was a trip to Cabo staring her in the face–and if Damon’s wife didn’t care, why should she?

For the morning shoot she was wearing a slinky, soft black-leather Versace gown, so glamorous she was almost scared to move. It was slashed in the front all the way to the top of her thigh, while the back dipped dangerously low. Teddy piled her hair on top of her head, and Uma had procured a million bucks’ worth of diamond and emerald jewellery from Neil Lane–the king of the estate jewellery business. Neil himself came to the shoot, and couldn’t stop raving about how fantastic his jewels looked on her.

When she finally hit the beach she was barefoot and flawless.

‘Phew!’ Chip was blown away when he saw her. ‘
This
’ll be the cover shot. No doubt in
my
mind.’

‘Not one of the swimsuit shots?’ she asked. ‘Isn’t showing
flesh
what this new magazine is all about?’

‘Believe me, this shot’s gonna beat ’em all,’ Chip assured her. ‘You got that Halle Berry mixed with Angelina Jolie thing going. Only younger and sexier. You’re amazing!’

Amazing! Yes!
Everything
was amazing. A week ago she’d been toiling away as a waitress, and now here she was in L.A., wearing Versace and posing for the cover of a magazine. It was all too much! An adventure she’d never believed possible.

Damon came back in time for an early lunch break.

Before she was able to give him a positive response about Cabo, the caterer appeared with a huge cake–chocolate decorated with strawberries, the image of her face re-created in the centre.

‘What’s this?’ she exclaimed in surprise. ‘It’s not my birthday.’

‘No, it’s a big thank-you from all of us,’ Chip said, crooked grin going full force as he mingled with all the people involved in the photo shoot. ‘We wanted your first modelling experience to be memorable. Everyone, gather round, we’re taking a photo for posterity.’

Damon started to move away, while Chip began to set up the shot with one of his assistants.

‘Damon,’ she said, calling him back boldly. ‘I want you in it too.’

‘This is
your
deal, LL,’ he said, uncharacteristically low-key. ‘Go ahead an’ shine. I’m not a part of it.’

‘Yes, you are,’ she insisted. ‘A very special part.’

‘Don’t tell me my charm’s finally meltin’ that stony heart of yours?’ he said, a slight smile hovering on his lips.

‘Shut up and get over here,’ she said, grinning. ‘I
want
you in this picture.’

‘Yes,
ma’am,
’ he said, mock-saluting.

‘Oh, and by the way,’ she added.

‘What you got for me now?’

‘I’m on for Cabo.’

‘Yeah?’

‘Separate rooms.’

‘The lady builds me up just so she can let me down,’ he said wryly. ‘She gives with one hand, takes away with the other.’

‘That’s the deal. Are we going?’

‘Damn straight we’re goin’. Gotta hunch you an’ I are gonna make sweet,
sweet
soul music.’