“I don’t care,” the boy answered. “Gramps listens to them country stations, but I like rock and roll.”
“Who’s your fave?” Max asked.
“Rolling Stones, they’re good.”
“You’re too young to know anything about the Stones,” Max said, turning her head to look out the back window.
“You too,” the boy said. “How old are you?”
“I’m—” She was just about to lie, but then she thought, what’s the point? “Sixteen,” she said. “And you?”
“Gonna be fourteen in a month.”
“You’re both too young to know who the Rolling Stones are,” Ace remarked.
“I am so not,” Max objected. “I’m into all kinds of music. Rap, soul, alternative rock.”
“The Stones must be as old as this kid’s grandfather,” Ace said, feeling a lot stronger since eating the half sandwich.
“Thing is they’re still rockin’,” Max pointed out. “Saw their last concert in L.A. They rule!”
“I’ve got a record of Mick Jagger singing ‘Satisfaction,’” the boy boasted.
“Wow!” Max said, giving him a little slack. “You’re smarter than you look.”
“You bein’ rude?” the boy asked, scratching his head.
“Just eff-ing with you,” Max teased.
“Now, now, kids,” Ace said from the driver’s seat. “And I do mean kids,” he added pointedly.
“What?” Max said.
“Sixteen, huh?”
“Shut up and put on the radio,” she said, embarrassed because she’d originally told him she was eighteen, and now he’d caught her in a lie.
He reached over and switched on the radio. Music filled the car—a twangy female moaning about lost love and a husband who’d dumped her with six kids and no money.
Glancing in the rearview mirror, Ace noticed a car coming up fast behind them. He drew over to the side to let it pass.
Then he saw that it wasn’t just any car. It was the Volvo he’d seen outside the cabin, and if he wasn’t mistaken, sitting behind the wheel was Internet Freak in hot pursuit.
“Shit!” he exclaimed.
“What?” Max asked, leaning forward.
“Believe me, you don’t wanna know.”
CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE
They’d argued all the way home. Venus was furious with Billy for getting in a fight with Alex—a fight that had ended only when Steven and Bobby managed to separate the two men. But not before Billy had received a black eye and Alex a split lip.
When they’d finally arrived at her house, Billy had informed her he wouldn’t be staying the night due to his early call to the set the next morning. “Speak to you tomorrow,” he’d said, barely kissing her on the cheek.
“Fine,” she’d said, and stormed inside, angry and frustrated. Billy’s childish behavior reflected on her. She was sure it would get reported in the tabloids or on some scurrilous gossip Web site, and once more she would be the brunt of every late-night talk-show host’s jokes.
She’d spent the rest of the evening alone in her bedroom, seething.
By the time Cole arrived early Monday morning for their workout session, she was ready to explode.
“You’re lookin’ angry,” Cole remarked. “Beautiful but angry. Think we’ll do the gym today, get out some of that aggression.”
“Wouldn’t you be angry if you were in my position?” she demanded. “I’m sleeping with an idiot!”
“My philosophy is never take responsibility for somebody else’s bad behavior,” Cole said, flexing his arms as they made their way across the courtyard to Venus’s fully equipped home gym.
“It’s not fair,” she complained. “I’ll get all the blame for this, y’know.”
“How come?” Cole asked, adjusting the weight level on one of the many pieces of Cybex gym equipment.
“Because it’ll be in the papers that I instigated the fight. They’ll say that Alex Woods and Billy Melina were fighting over me. I can see it now: ‘Venus’s Boy Toy Springs to Her Defense,’ something like that. They make up this shit all the time.”
“Honey, Billy doesn’t get called a boy toy anymore. He’s a movie star in his own right.”
“Yes, Cole, I know that and you know that, but it’s more fun for the tabloids to give him a label. You know how they get off giving celebrities demeaning nicknames.”
“You’ve got a point, but we’re not gonna dwell on it. Now let’s get your ass on the treadmill.”
“No treadmill today, I don’t feel like it.”
“Exercise helps.”
“It does?”
“You betcha.”
“I’m just pissed, you know.”
“I understand,” Cole said soothingly. “But you can’t let it get to you.”
“Nice, huh? I can see it now, the two of them working together today. Billy with his black eye and Alex with his split lip. It’ll be a fun day on the set.”
“I think it’s cool they’re working together,” Cole said. “They’ll be forced to interact, then it’ll all be history. You’ll be the only one thinkin’ about it.”
“I suppose it is my fault,” she admitted.
“An’ why’s that?”
“’Cause I’m the one who told Billy that Alex said something negative about him to Lucky, and no good ever comes from repeating gossip.”
“Okay, that’s a positive—you learned a lesson.”
“Did you bring me a Starbucks?”
“Do I look like I’m carrying Starbucks?”
“I’ll send somebody out to get us two Mocha Frappuccinos—what do you think?”
“I think you’re putting off getting on the treadmill. We’ll add boxing today, get out all that aggression.”
“Not yet. Let’s talk about you for a change, I’m bored with me. Tell me about you and Rich. I’m impressed.”
“What’re you impressed about?” Cole said with a casual shrug. “Rich is a nice guy.”
“He’s not just a guy, Cole, he’s an icon.”
“I get off on mixing with icons. Why d’you think I’m with you every morning?”
“Hmm … so now that you’ve got a super-affluent sugar boyfriend—”
“Listen to you, madam, taggin’ me with a nickname.”
“Okay, I shouldn’t have said that. I’ll try again. Uh, now that you’ve got this very famous rock star boyfriend, you really don’t have to keep working, do you?”
“I train people because I like doing it,” Cole explained. “Why do you keep performing? You’ve got enough money socked away to stop anytime you want.”
“’Cause I love it.”
“Then concentrate on what you do an’ stop bitchin’ about your boyfriend. Career first—weren’t you the one who taught me that?”
“You’re right,” she said, finally jumping on the treadmill in a better frame of mind. “Career first. Assholes second.”
“Well,” Cole said with a jaunty grin, “let’s not get carried away.”
* * *
“It’s all over the freakin’ news,” Kev announced.
“What is?” Billy asked. He was sitting in his trailer at the location, waiting to be called to the set. Kev had arrived with the newspapers, a stack of mail, and a Thermos of decent coffee.
“This fight you had last night,” Kev said, dumping a pile of fan mail on a side table. “I wanna hear all about it.”
“Jesus!” Billy complained, not in the mood to discuss it with Kev. “You can’t do anything in this town without it getting out.”
“You actually hit Alex Woods?” Kev said. “Punched him in the freakin’ face?”
“Take a look at my eye, Kev,” Billy said evenly. “He hit me.”
“Can’t see anything,” Kev said, squinting at him.
“That’s ’cause they covered it in the makeup trailer, but I have a mother of a black eye underneath all this crap.”
“Who threw the first one, bro?”
“I
t might’ve been me.”
“Shit!” Kev said, slapping his palms together. “Wish I’d been there to see it. What did Venus say?”
“She’s major pissed.”
“I bet. You know how she likes to protect her image.”
“I’m not her fucking image,” Billy exploded. “How come you say dumb crap like that?”
“’Cause one minute you’re tellin’ me you’re a free man watchin’ football an’ hittin’ the clubs, and the next you’re Mr. Freakin’ Boy Toy.”
“Fuck you, Kev. Don’t ever call me that.”
“I’m only repeating what they’re saying on TV. Turn on channel eleven, Jillian and Dorothy are all over it.”
Billy frowned. He had an important scene that morning and he wasn’t sure how things would turn out when he and Alex came face-to-face. Was he supposed to apologize?
No, why should he? Alex was as much to blame as he was. Alex was the one running around behind his back mouthing shit. He was the one who deserved an apology, not Alex Woods.
He had other things on his mind too. The girl who’d given him crabs, who according to her hadn’t given him crabs. She was threatening to tell Venus if he didn’t score her an acting gig on his movie. And how was he supposed to do that now? Alex would not be exactly open to granting him any favors.
There was a knock on the trailer door.
“Who is it?” he called out.
“Maggie.”
“What’s up, Mags?” Billy said, throwing open the door, thinking that maybe she could help.
Maggie climbed the steps. “There’s press hanging around everywhere,” she informed them. “Alex is not happy.”
“Uh, yeah?” Billy said, wondering what her point was.
“Not the press that was supposed to be here today, press that decided to show up uninvited.”
“I wonder why,” Kev chortled, quite enjoying the latest drama.
Billy threw him a dirty look.
“They want your take on the fight, Billy. How about making a comment?”
“It wasn’t a fight, Mags, it was a minor altercation.”
“Alex has already put out a statement.”
“What’d he say?”
“That it was a misunderstanding and the two of you are the best of friends.”
“I’ll make the same statement, then.”
“That’s what I wanted to hear,” Maggie said. “The less you say, the better. The movie is what’s important.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“And regarding your … altercation, on my advice, Alex has forgotten about it. I suggest you do the same.”
“Wish I had a woman like you in my life, Mags.”
“You do,” she said crisply. “You’ve got Venus. She’s quite a woman.”
“Yeah, right.”
Maggie turned to leave.
“Hey, Mags,” Billy said, stopping her at the door and turning on the baby blues so she could melt right into them.
“Yes, Billy?”
“Uh … there’s this girl,” he said, keeping it vague. “She’s a friend of a friend, and, uh … I kinda promised I’d get her a bit in the movie. Nothing big, like a walk-on.”
“A walk-on,” Maggie repeated, raising a cynical eyebrow.
“That’s it.”
“Billy, you know what Alex is like. He sees every face, casts every role big and small.”
“You can swing it, Mags.”
“What’s her name?” Maggie sighed.
“I’ll let you know.”
* * *
After a vigorous workout Venus got on the phone to Lucky.
“Hey,” she said. “Great party.”
“Thanks,” Lucky said.
“Apart from that, I called to tell you how sorry I am about Billy getting out of line. It was so uncalled for.”
“That’s okay,” Lucky said. “It made Gino’s night.”
“Seriously?”
“Oh yes, there’s nothing that turns Gino on like a good fight.”
“Billy’s sorry it happened too,” Venus said quickly, apologizing for her boyfriend, who apparently didn’t give a shit.
“It’s forgotten.”
“Hardly. The press is all over me. They’re outside my house in droves waiting for Billy to comment, and he’s not even here.”
“Where is he?”
“Out on location with Alex,” she said, laughing derisively. “That should be a press-worthy scene.”
“I would imagine so.”
“Y’know, Lucky, I think the time has finally come for me to move on.”
“Again?”
“This time I mean it. Oh, and when I do—please, I beg you—make sure I never hook up with an actor again. Too much baggage.”
“Whatever,” Lucky said, her mind elsewhere.
“What’s up with you?” Venus questioned. “You sound out of it.”
“Max is still not home and I’m mad as hell. Right now I’m on my way out to talk to Cookie again. These kids share secrets—I’ve got a hunch our little Cookie knows more than she’s saying.…”
“Anything I can do?”
“Thanks for the offer, but no.”
“Well … if you think of anything…”
“You’ll be the first.”
“I should hope so.”
After speaking to Lucky, Venus realized it was time she got it together. Billy was taking up too much time and energy. Because of him, she was neglecting her career, and her career was what she should be concentrating on, not a man. Even worse—a younger man. And on top of everything else—an actor!
What was she thinking? Falling in love was a bitch. Getting over it was even worse.
But she would do it. No more making excuses for Billy’s behavior. No more putting herself out for him. He had to grow up and take some responsibility.
And just as she was thinking about ending their affair, he called, apologized profusely, and told her he’d make it up to her and that he’d been thinking about her all day.
She melted.
Damn! She was still in love.
Why not?
* * *
“Who’s this girl you wanna get on the movie?” Kev was desperate to know.
“A friend of a friend,” Billy answered evasively.
“What friend?”
“Fuck off with your questions.”
“How’s your crabs?”
“What?”
“You heard.”
The trouble with best friends was that they usually found out stuff, and Kev knew him too well for him to keep up the lie.
“Okay,” he admitted. “It was a mistake, a one-off.”
“Tell me everything,” Kev begged, agog with interest. “And don’t leave out any of the dirty details.”
CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX
Ace hit the accelerator, and the Chevrolet shot forward.
“What’s up?” Max asked, alarmed.
“It’s him,” Ace said.
“Who?” the boy asked, wriggling around on his seat.
“Nobody,” Max replied, looking out the back window and seeing the Volvo in close pursuit. Her stomach did a somersault and she felt like she was about to throw up. How could this be happening, just when she’d thought they were safe?
“Don’t worry,” Ace said, pressing his foot down hard. “There’s nothing he can do.”
Oh, yes there is, Max thought. He can shoot our asses.
She glanced quickly at the boy. “What’s your name?” she asked.
“Jed,” he said. “Why we speeding? Gramps don’t like goin’ fast, sez it uses up too much gas.”
“Gramps is asleep,” Max pointed out. “So what he doesn’t know…”
“Think I’d better wake him,” Jed said, looking worried.
“No,” Max said quickly. “Don’t do that. We’re playing a game with a friend, it’s no big deal.”
Jed climbed up on his knees and peered out the back window. “If this person’s your fri
end, how come you ain’t drivin’ with ’im?”
“’Cause it’s complicated,” Max replied as Ace put his foot to the floorboard and the Chevrolet hit its limit.
Her heart was pounding—they were still in the middle of nowhere.
WHAT IF INTERNET FREAK CAUGHT THEM?
* * *
He spotted them immediately and gave chase.
So incensed was Henry that he could barely see straight. Not only was he angry, he was also deeply disappointed, he’d had such high hopes for himself and Maria. And now she was running away from him, and it was so wrong.
The problem was her cousin. He should’ve shot the cousin when he’d had the chance.
Pow! A bullet through the heart.
Good-bye, cousin.
Good-bye, problem.
A muscle in his cheek twitched uncontrollably as he chased the old Chevrolet down the deserted road. Eventually they’d reach the main highway, so it was imperative he stopped them before they got there.
But how? He was not a very experienced driver, he had no idea how to run another car off the road, because if he did, that’s exactly what he’d do. Besides, he couldn’t take a chance of hurting Maria. It wasn’t her fault she’d run, it was all to do with the cousin.
Henry was filled with hate against the cousin, just as he was filled with hate against Lucky Santangelo and Billy Melina. They were all unworthy, all three of them.
Only Maria was pure. His Maria.
Somehow or other he had to save her.
* * *
“Can’t you go any faster?” Max yelled.
“We’re going as fast as we can,” Ace yelled back.
“I’m gonna wake Gramps,” Jed whined.
“No you’re not,” Max snapped, thinking it was a miracle that the old man was still asleep.
“You people are weird,” Jed sniveled.
“We’re not weird, we’re like having fun,” Max said, trying to convince him that nothing much was going on.
“This ain’t my idea of fun,” Jed said. “I wanna wake Gramps.”
“No!” Max said sharply. “Let him sleep.”
“But I—”
“Tell you what,” Max said, trying to keep it together. “When I get back to L.A., I’m sending you a CD player and all the Stones CDs. What do you think?”
“You’d do that?” Jed said, his face lighting up.
“Yes. I swear,” she answered, saying a silent prayer that Internet Freak was not going to catch them.
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