Thrill! (67 page)

Now they were honouring the man who at one time had meant so much to them. An Oscar-winning director killed in an unavoidable act of nature.

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piden arrived with Cassie. Since her unfortunate car accident she'd °st forty pounds, and somehow or other an improbable romance ad blossomed between her and Lara's publicist. She'd left Lara's Ploy, and now worked as a partner in Linden's firm. They were Cry haPPy together.

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483 Mick Stefan wandered in next. He'd handed over his new white Rolls Royce to a parking valet, and was now worried that the guy might scratch it. Revenge had opened to critical acclaim and excellent box office, and Mick was currently directing a sixtymillion-dollar-budget action adventure movie starring Johnny Romano and Norman Barton as two mismatched cops.

He had a seventeen-year-old French movie star girlfriend, and a new mansion in Bel Air.

Mick Stefan was on a roll.

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Summer came with Reggie Coleman, a boy she'd met in high school. He was a year older than she, handsome and nice with no secondary agenda. He made her feel good about herself. In fact, he made her feel sixteen, and it was a nice feeling.

She lived at home with Nikki and planned to attend USC Film School when the time came.

Summer was finally enjoying being a teenager.

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Aiden Sean made it to the ceremony late. He'd spent the last year in and out of drug rehab. He tried his best, but it wasn't easy.

Nikki remained his good friend, always there for him.

Their romance was dead - a mutual decision.

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Tina didn't make it at all. She'd been

"discovered"

by Cluny, and whisked off to New York to be a model. So far she'd appeared on three magazine covers, and was currently shooting a spread tor Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition.

She and Cluny had become more than friends.

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Nikki watched her gorgeous daughter walk into the ceremony. It was amazing what a little love, attention and caring could do. She was so proud of Summer - what a transformation!

Sheldon had returned to Chicago a much chastened man. Summer had refused to take action against him, and in return for her silence, he'd promised never to see or contact her again. Nikki considered this far too lenient a punishment.

Since working with Mick on the post-production of Revenge, Nikki had the producing bug in a big way. She'd read countless scripts and books, but had not discovered anything that fired her imagination, until one day, while sorting through Richard's personal papers, she'd come upon a fascinating manuscript written in the first person. She'd started to read, and become totally hooked. It was the story of a young man who runs away from home at sixteen and then lives a wild and interesting life - becoming everything from a thief to a male hustler to a movie star in Asia. The opening lines of the manuscript had really grabbed her attention: Here's the truth of it -1 can fuck any woman I want any time I want - no problem.

The manuscript ended with a brutal murder, after which the protagonist takes off for Mexico.

Had Richard written it? Since there was no author's name attached, she assumed that he had - which was really something, because the material was so raunchy and un-Richard-like. Still . . . it was a powerful read, and she was sure it would make a fantastic movie. She'd hired a writer, and was now busy developing the script. She even had an actor in mind for the lead. Joey Lorenzo. He would certainly do the role justice.

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^fld as for Lara and Joey, true love, soulmates - call it what you ^e - they'd recognized a certain sadness and need in each other, ^d although the sex was just as great as ever, it was the mutual . eed and understanding that had drawn them together. They were %eParable. Fate ruled.

^ara shuddered whenever she remembered the night of the

4S* storm. How she'd summoned the strength to drag Joey up from the side of the cliff she'd never know. God must have put his hand on her shoulder and helped her.

Nobody could help Alison Sewell. Her body washed up three miles down the coast, five days later. There was a brief investigation. Nobody cared. Only Lara, who paid for a proper burial.

Joey confessed everything about his past. He bared his soul with searing honesty and Lara believed him. In return, she'd told him about her demons, the nightmare stories she'd never revealed to anyone.

They were married quietly a month later in Santa Barbara. Six weeks after that Joey landed a key role in a movie starring Charlie Dollar, following that with the lead in a lowbudget thriller. He was good. He was very good.

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The memorial service was a fitting tribute to Richard Barry. Many people he'd worked with got up and spoke. There were tears and there was laughter. Summer made a particularly moving speech calling Richard the father she'd never had.

As Lara and Joey walked away from the service, she reached out for his hand.

"Joey,"

she murmured, thinking how handsome he was, and how much she loved him,

"there's something I've been meaning to remind you about."

"What?"

he asked, thinking she was just as beautiful inside as she was out, and that he was possibly the luckiest man in the world.

"You owe me a honeymoon,"

she said softly.

He lifted her hand to his lips.

"I know. We leave for Tahiti tomorrow."

"Joey!"

"Don't fight it. Look what happened last time we didn't go to Tahiti!"

She smiled, basking in the glow of his love.

"That's true."

"Have I ever let you down?"

"No. Never."

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And as they reached their limo, the paparazzi pressed forward, multiple flashbulbs blinding them.

And Lara knew she would never be frightened of anything again because she had Joey beside her, and he was her world.

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