Mogul (4 page)

If he could pay for a whore to live like a
head of lettuce in a swanky hospital for the rest of her life, he
could give Leo, Julian and Holly the lives they had been denied. At
least Leo and Julian were willing to work for their share by making
that prima donna even more famous than he deserved.

He waved away the residue smoke from Julian’s
cigarette. “What the hell is wrong with you?” Leo snapped. “Don’t
you know that kid is your golden ticket? Keep Holly healthy till
she gets that ring on her finger.”

Julian shrugged as he flopped back on the
bed. He rifled through the bag, pulling out bags of chips. “Yeah,
like this is on her prenatal diet plan.”

“It’s food and it’s cheap,” Leo retorted.
“It’s also a hell of a lot more than you’re doing for her.”

Julian glared at him. “You know damn well I
could support her if I could get work. You’re the one who told me
to lay low.”

Leo leaned forward. “Until Holly can ease
thing over with her sweet little pregnant mama routine, we all have
to lay low.”

“And when is that?”

Leo leaned back in the chair again. “Soon.
Sources tell me that Yael is frustrated with the stalemate in the
band. For whatever reason Vanni doesn’t want to get back out on the
road, so he’s taking a break from everything. He probably fell into
that fat whore’s cooch and hasn’t been able to climb back out
again.” He chuckled at his own joke. “As soon as he knows about the
little bun in Holly’s oven, he’ll get back out on the road and do
what people pay him to do – just like the dancing monkey he
is.”

“He’s never going to leave that whore,” Holly
mumbled as she staggered out of the bathroom, weak and pale. Thanks
to her severe nausea, she’d lost about eight pounds from her
already slender frame. Leo was worried if they didn’t do something
soon, she’d keel over from malnutrition and all their plans would
be destroyed. He pulled a plastic container of juice from the bag
and handed it to her as she slumped into the other chair. “Until we
get rid of her, he’ll never come back to me.”

“Don’t you worry about that,” Leo told her.
“I’ve already planted some seeds to drive her right out of Vanni’s
house and back to Graham’s.”

“What do you mean?”

“Think about it. She nearly got blown to
pieces by one of his crazy fans. If she thinks someone is stalking
him again, she’ll bail just like last time. Then Vanni will be all
heartbroken and ripe for you to swoop in and give him the white
picket fence. You’ll own him. And we all get our lives back.”

She groaned and dropped her head onto her
hand. As miserable as she felt she couldn’t muster the strength to
carry out any complicated con games. It was taking every bit of
strength she had to protect that baby, which, at this point, was
their only ace in the hole.

“I’ve already sent a little care package to
their house,” Leo informed them. “Waited until Vanni left and she
was all by herself, locked up in her ivory tower. Nothing too
scary, just a hand-delivered box with no postage, just enough to
make her nervous, but not enough to draw any real heat. Just like
clockwork she called Graham, who sent his security guy to protect
her highness from having to see what was in an unmarked package on
their doorstep. Keep her nice and paranoid so that she has to
depend on the people around him more and more… which will hit Vanni
right in the ego. They’ll implode. It’s a perfect plan.”

Holly shoved the bottle of juice away, barely
touched. “Better make it fast,” she muttered as she rushed to the
bathroom.

Leo sighed as he stood. They all realized
that in the shape Holly was in, her pregnancy could turn into a
ticking bomb. It wasn’t the first pregnancy she’d had; it wouldn’t
be the first she’d lost. He glared at Julian, who had checked out
of their conversation to watch an old rerun on TV. “Take care of
her, man,” Leo instructed. He towered over the younger, smaller man
ominously. “Like your life depends on it.”

He slammed out of the room, and Julian re-lit
his cigarette.

CHAPTER FOUR

Redondo Beach, California

February 6, 2011

Andy watched Vanni slip into a nice dress
shirt and tuck it into his slacks. It was formal attire for her bad
boy rock god, but the legal system typically preferred more
traditional dress. She pulled the sheets around her naked form,
their bed still warm from their early morning tussle. “I wish I
could go with you,” she said again, and he gave her a loving smile.
She was his to protect now… especially from the mistakes he’d
made.

“We talked about this, babe,” he said. “You
know PING is going to be all over this. You haven’t stayed
invisible all this time to be splashed on the front page of a
tabloid. Once we get this behind us, then we can be free to tell
the world that we’re in love.”

He bent down to kiss her again… and again…
and again. He couldn’t believe that after all the time they’d spent
in their safe little cocoon he still couldn’t get enough. This was
entirely new territory for this reformed womanizer. He could lay
with her for hours and still find something new to discover,
whether they were talking or saying nothing at all.

It was what he always thought a honeymoon
would be like had he ever found the one woman he’d want to marry.
Now he knew with all certainty that woman was Andy. She filled his
soul. If he had his way they’d elope in Vegas on Valentine’s Day,
give the press their heyday to gossip about it for a week, and then
they could get on with the business of living their lives.

First, however, he needed to figure out what
he was going to do about this situation with Baylee Wilke. A
settlement was the quickest solution, but the question remained
what number would satisfy her bloodthirsty family.

He arrived at his lawyer’s office just a
little after ten that morning. He wore his hair pulled back in a
neat ponytail and looked as respectable as he was going to look for
the occasion. He wore a jacket that was well-tailored to fit his
form, but was not ostentatious. He wore no jewelry except for a
plain, gold watch, and finished off his transformation with
necessary dark glasses to salvage some of his anonymity.

It was a lost cause; PING was ready to strike
the minute the car arrived at the house that morning. They trailed
him all the way to the high rise downtown, located conveniently
near the courthouse.

Ivy Cunningham greeted him in the plush lobby
of her firm’s offices. She was tall and thin, with dark hair as
long as his. She had likewise tied in a neat ponytail that she
knotted at the nape of her neck, which made her look professional
and youthful all at the same time. Her features were striking, with
high cheekbones that hinted at a Native American heritage, and dark
eyes that didn’t appear to miss any detail.

“Mr. Carnevale,” she said with a smile and an
outstretched hand.

“Vanni,” he corrected. She was going to be
his ally in one of the biggest battles of his life; they might as
well be on a first name basis.

He followed her into a large office
overlooking Pershing Square. The office itself was sparsely
decorated, mostly with books and plants, with a few personal photos
along the shelves. It was warm without being intimidating, and this
somehow inspired confidence on Vanni’s part. It gave him the
impression she was simple and direct, and yet still successful and
competent. “It’s very nice to meet you,” she said as she took a
seat behind a large desk, “although I certainly wish the
circumstances were different.”

He nodded as he sat across from her in a
plush chair. “Likewise,” he agreed.

“I’ve spoken with the Wilkes’ attorney and we
both believe that it can be settled quickly and quietly with
cooperation on both parts. But I’m afraid it will come at
significant cost to you, especially with what they’re asking.”

He gulped. “Which is?”

“Five million,” she stated simply as she
linked her fingers on her desk. “Since Baylee is so young and will
likely need significant medical care for the rest of her life, they
want to be sure that her needs are covered.”

His mouth fell open. “That’s a bit much,
don’t you think?”

“Apparently they want some money to meet
their own needs as well. They like the doctors here in Los Angeles,
and they like the facility itself. In order to care for her
properly, they would need to relocate from Florida to California,
and this poses significant financial hardship on the family.”

“So I pay it and they go away.”

“That’s the offer,” Ivy said. “But you should
be aware that if Baylee should succumb to her injuries, they want
the right to come after you with criminal charges. They won’t sign
anything stating otherwise, especially if your counter offer is
lower.”

He sighed. “You’d have to talk to my
accountant,” he said as he tried to do the math in his head. Once
their second album took off, he hadn’t thought much about the nuts
and bolts of his finances. He knew that much of his fortune had
been invested, but he had blown quite a bit during his
self-destructive phase the year before. He always thought the money
would keep coming in with each new album and supporting tour. Only
now, thanks to the situation with Holly and Julian, he wasn’t sure
he’d be recording anything in the near future. And he certainly
wasn’t willing to tour with Andy pregnant with his child. This was
his other, and main, financial commitment. They needed a bigger
house in a safer environment, and he needed to provide for his
baby. That need outweighed any other, despite how guilty he felt
about Baylee’s condition. He wasn’t sure if he could write a check
for five million dollars even if he wanted to. “I was thinking one
million and they’d be satisfied. What they’re asking…” he trailed
off.

She nodded. She had already crunched the
numbers with his accountant, and proposed a counter offer of 2.5
million, which was available for them immediately.

The Wilkes were not budging.

“So what now?” he asked.

“If you can’t or won’t pay what they’re
asking, then they will likely sue. We go to court and fight. It
could prove quiet lengthy and you would be hard pressed to find a
judge sympathetic to your situation. Their lawyer is going to paint
you as a reckless celebrity who doesn’t think the rules of society
apply to you. You got off legally with a slap on the wrist, and
you’ll ultimately have to settle anyway – only with the added cost
of a trial and all the lawyer fees.”

“So do my best to settle,” he filled in the
blank.

“If you want to go on with your life, then
yes.”

He thought about Andy and their future. He
wasn’t about to let her go and he wasn’t going to let her down.
He’d find a way.

Within an hour he was in Graham’s office.

Graham had returned to work at the beginning
of February. He had limited mobility on crutches, which he used
whenever he had a business meeting. Otherwise he used his chair and
had Maggie nearby to assist him. She didn’t say much, and often
left the office when he discussed business with his clients, but he
was reassured by her presence just in case he had rushed coming
back to work too soon.

He wasn’t surprised to see Vanni. Ivy
Cunningham was an attorney on his payroll so he was privy to the
problem. He’d also been thinking about some solutions, which made
it convenient to face off with one of the biggest names on his
label.

Vanni was impressed by how much Graham had
bounced back from his gunshot wound from the year before. He
remembered all too vividly seeing the man in charge of his career
lying helpless and crippled in a Philadelphia hospital room; mostly
because he remembered with painful clarity how it felt to watch the
woman he loved choose another man over the future he was finally
willing to offer her.

Now Graham reminded him of the man who had
taken his fledgling career from the likes of Jasper Carrington and
molded him into a superstar. He could only hope he still had some
of that old magic still in him. “You’re looking well, Graham,” he
said as he sat. He was genuine in his compliment, and Graham took
it well.

“You, also,” he countered. “You clean up
well.”

“I met with Ivy Cunningham today, to talk
about the Wilke settlement.” He let out a deep breath. “I’m in
deep, man.”

Graham nodded. “I know.”

“What do I do?”

Graham sighed. He knew that it took a lot for
Vanni to set aside his pride and ask for his help. There was a
residual bitterness over the struggles they had all overcome. But
this was business, and if there was one thing Graham understood, it
was business. “You finish your album. You tour. We have plenty of
offers pouring in to use your music for movies. They want you to
guest as a mentor on some talent shows. If you’re ready to work, I
can find work for you to do. This is a lot of money but fortunately
for you, you’re still in pretty good demand right now. But you have
to strike now, while the iron is hot. Otherwise these offers go
away.”

Vanni nodded. “I’ll do whatever you want me
to do, but I’m not touring.”

This declaration startled Graham. Vanni had
always been a workhorse when it came to Dreaming in Blue. “May I
ask why?”

For one brief second, Vanni considered
telling Graham about Andy and their baby. But he knew that wasn’t
fair to Andy, who had wanted to spare Graham from any further pain
regarding their complicated situation. If anyone were to tell him,
she wanted it to be her. “It’s complicated,” he offered instead.
“You know about the package that showed up on the doorstep. With
Andy at the house, I just would feel better staying closer to
home.”

Graham tried to swallow the lump in his
throat. “You could take her on the road with you,” he offered, but
Vanni shook his head.