Lovers & Players (34 page)

S
itting in his kitchen scanning the newspapers, Max realized the headlines were even worse than he could have imagined.
SOCIETY WIFE SLAIN
! screamed the
New York Post.
SOCIETY BEAUTY STABBED SIX TIMES
! was on the cover of the
Daily News.
Even the
New York Times
and the
Wall Street Journal
featured the story on their front pages. There were plenty of pictures too, mostly of Mariska at various events, and a few of her with Max. There was even one of her with Lulu at a tennis tournament in the Hamptons.

‘Jesus Christ!’ Max raged out loud. ‘Why do they have to put my daughter in the paper?’

Then he realized he had not called Amy. The night before, he’d been so busy going through the papers he’d found in Mariska’s locked box, that he’d forgotten all about Amy and Lulu.

He picked up the phone and called her. ‘I’m so sorry, sweetheart,’ he said apologetically. ‘I was exhausted–I must’ve passed out. Are you okay? Is Jett still there?’

‘No,’ Amy said. ‘He left as soon as Lulu fell asleep.’

‘How is she today?’

‘Unhappy. She wants to be with you, Max, and I can’t blame her. Yesterday she went through a traumatic experience and she
needs
to be with her daddy.’

‘Right now it’s difficult,’ he said, stalling, because he had no idea what he was supposed to do with Lulu.

‘Max, she hardly
knows
me,’ Amy persisted. ‘Surely you can persuade her nanny to come back.’

‘The woman flew to England,’ he said helplessly.

‘Well, she should be with someone she feels safe with.’

‘Do you think I don’t know that?’

‘Did Mariska have any close girlfriends who could take her?’

‘No,’ he said abruptly. ‘And I’d prefer not to go there.’

‘Then what
do
you want to do?’

‘I’ll come get her.’

‘I think that’s the best idea.’

‘Amy,’ he warned, ‘you cannot let her see the newspapers. It’s bad.’

‘I’ll make sure.’

‘I was thinking that maybe next weekend the three of us could go to your mother’s house in the Hamptons, you know, get out of the spotlight.’

‘Not a good plan,’ she said, imagining Nancy’s reaction to
that
.

‘Why not?’

‘Uh…we have to talk, Max. My mother’s in a state.’

‘What kind of state is
she
in?’

‘She wants us to…postpone the wedding.’

‘Jesus, I hadn’t even thought about it, but I suppose–in view of the circumstances–we should.’

‘It seems to be the right thing to do.’

‘Nancy must be driving you nuts.’

‘She is,’ Amy said, cradling the phone under her chin. ‘She, uh…she really wants more than that.’

‘More than what?’ Max asked suspiciously.

‘More than a postponement. She thinks I should give you back the ring.’

‘What?’

‘I know it’s ridiculous, and I wouldn’t even consider it, but that’s what she’s saying.’

‘Your mother is a bitch,’ he said harshly. ‘And I don’t use that word lightly.’

‘I know.’

‘What did you tell her when she said this?’

‘That there was no way I was breaking up with you.’

‘Thank God! Because I couldn’t go through this without you, Amy. We both know I’m not the best at expressing my feelings but, believe me, you mean
everything
to me.’

‘I never wanted a big wedding anyway,’ she said, attempting to lighten the conversation. ‘Did you?’

‘We were doing it for her,’ he acknowledged.

‘Absolutely,’ she agreed.

‘Then this could work to our advantage.’

‘It could?’

‘Of course. Just think, we won’t have to endure a huge rigamarole with all the trimmings. We can fly off to Bali or somewhere remote and have a simple ceremony.’

‘I’d like that.’

‘Okay, sweetie. I’ll be there to fetch Lulu within the hour.’

He hung up the phone and wondered what he could do with Lulu to keep her safe and happy. He had things to take care of and, much as he wanted to be with his daughter, now was not the time.

His housekeeper, Mrs Conner, entered the kitchen. ‘I’m so sorry for your loss, Mr Diamond,’ she said, in a hushed tone, her Scottish burr quite soothing. ‘I wasn’t certain if you’d want me to come in today. If you like I can—’

‘No, no,’ he said quickly. ‘I
do
want you here. I was hoping you could keep Lulu company. I don’t think I should send her back to school yet, and I know she enjoys spending time with you. It’s difficult, and what with Nanny Reece deserting me…’

‘Of
course
I’ll spend time with the wee girl, Mr Diamond. Where is the little lassie?’

‘She slept over at my fiancée’s. I’m on my way to get her now.’

‘I’ll make her those tasty buttermilk pancakes she gobbles up. Not to worry, Mr Diamond, she’ll be happy and well looked after with me. I raised three wee ones of my own.’

‘Thank you, Mrs Conner,’ he said gratefully.

Chris wandered into the kitchen. ‘What’s going on?’ he asked. ‘I could hear you pacing around all night. Those hardwood floors are a bitch.’

‘I discovered a few things,’ Max said grimly.

‘Anything interesting?’ Chris asked, pouring himself a glass of orange juice.

‘As a matter of fact, yes,’ Max said. Then, glancing at Mrs Conner, he added, ‘Why don’t you come with me to collect Lulu, and I’ll fill you in?’

Amy put down the phone and went to find Lulu. The little girl was sitting in the middle of the bed, sobbing.

‘I want my mommy,’ Lulu cried, in a tear-soaked voice. ‘Where’s my mommy?’

‘Daddy’s coming to get you,’ Amy promised, feeling depressed and out of her depth. ‘He’ll be here soon, so while we’re waiting, why don’t you let me help you get dressed?’

‘Don’t
wanna
get dressed,’ Lulu shouted.

With everything that was going on, Amy did not feel at all equipped to deal with a recalcitrant five-year-old, but she was doing her best. ‘Why not?’ she asked patiently.

‘Don’t have my clothes here,’ Lulu muttered.

‘Yes, you do, you’ve got the pretty dress you had on yesterday.’

‘Don’t wanna wear that again.’

‘Why not?’

‘
I WANT MY MOMMY
!’ Lulu yelled.

‘I know,’ Amy said sympathetically. ‘And if you get dressed, you’ll be all ready for Daddy when he gets here.’

‘But I want
Mommy
, not Daddy,’ Lulu said, lower lip quivering.

‘Mommy can’t come right now, but Daddy’s in his car, and he’s racing to get you. I know he’ll want to see you all dressed and pretty,’ she said, handing Lulu her dress.

‘Wore that yesterday,’ Lulu said, flinging the dress back at Amy. ‘Want
other
clothes.’

‘You don’t have any other clothes here.’

‘Want my jeans,’ Lulu whined.

‘I just told you,’ Amy said patiently. ‘We don’t have your clothes here. Daddy will take you to get them.’

Lulu threw her a furious glare.

‘I’ve got an excellent idea,’ Amy said brightly. ‘Let’s go eat breakfast.’

‘Don’t
want
breakfast,’ Lulu said, sulking.

‘Is there anything you
do
want?’

‘Yes, I want my mommy,’ Lulu mumbled, her eyes filling with tears. ‘Where’s my mommy?’

Amy leaned over and attempted to hug her, but Lulu shoved her away. ‘You know, Lulu,’ Amy said softly, refusing to get upset. ‘Wouldn’t it be nice if you and I were friends? We could do fun things together. I could buy you that Hello Kitty stuff you like, and maybe we could take a trip to Disneyland.’

‘No stupid Disneyland,’ Lulu said stubbornly.
‘I want my mommy!’

‘Well,’ Amy said. ‘I’ll leave your dress here, and if you put it on and come into the kitchen, I’ll make us some waffles. How’s that?’

‘No
waffles
.’

‘Okay, I’ll be in the kitchen if you change your mind.’

With Jett around it hadn’t been so difficult dealing with Lulu. He’d joked and laughed with the little girl, who was obviously fond of him. But as soon as Lulu had fallen asleep watching her movie, and he’d carried her into Amy’s bed, Amy had asked him to leave.

‘I thought we could talk now,’ he’d said.

‘This isn’t the right time,’ she’d replied.

‘We have to talk sometime,’ he’d said, trying to get her to look him in the eye, which she’d refused to do.

‘Not now. I’m feeling very fragile. It’s been an unbelievable day, and with Lulu here I can’t get into what happened between us.’

‘So you’re saying you don’t want to talk about it?’ he’d said, refusing to give up.

‘What is there to say?’ she’d murmured, shrugging helplessly. ‘Neither of us knew the consequences of what we did. You obviously didn’t know who
I
was, and I certainly didn’t know who
you
were. I’m embarrassed and kind of…confused. So please go, Jett.’

Reluctantly he’d left.

After he’d gone she’d regretted sending him away. And then she’d been overcome with guilt for feeling that way. It wasn’t fair to Max, especially in view of what was going on.

It was quite a situation to find herself in, and now she had her mother on her case, telling her she had to break up with Max and go away on a trip. What did the woman think? That she would simply give up her job and take off? It was so typical of Nancy–imagining she was doing the right thing to save the precious family name.

For as long as she could remember her mother had blackmailed her with the threat of her inheritance from Grandma Poppy, but Grandma Poppy would
never
cut her off. Her grandma was a kind, generous, and very smart old lady. There was no way she’d listen to Nancy.

Besides, Amy didn’t care whether she inherited the money or not. Life wasn’t about how much money you had, and there was no way she was letting Max down at this time. He was hurting and so was she.

Eventually she’d taken a blanket and curled up on the couch, sleeping fitfully.

Now she was in the kitchen toasting frozen waffles for a child who couldn’t stand her.

On Tuesday morning Gianna was intent on dragging Jett into the famous photographer Antonio’s studio, when all he wanted was to go over to Max’s and see if there was anything he could do to help.

Gianna was having none of it. ‘They pay you
bene
money,’ she announced. ‘Is nice, no?’

‘Yeah, sure, but—’

‘You have reputation, Jett,’ Gianna said sternly, all glamorous and business-like in tight-fitting Seven jeans, a Valentino masculine-style jacket, and Jimmy Choo boots. ‘You cannot bail from job at last minute. You missed fittings yesterday. Fortunately I
know
your body. I found man same size, they do the fittings anyway.’ Then she decided that she’d better lighten up before he got really pissed. ‘You’ll
love
the clothes,
carino,
so sexy,’ she purred affectionately. ‘You sexy boy,
sì?
’

He hated it when she called him ‘boy’. She was only five years older than him, so what was with
that?

‘I shouldn’t be doing this gig,’ he complained, running his hand through his hair. ‘It doesn’t feel right with everything my brother’s going through.’

‘You spent yesterday with him,’ Gianna pointed out. ‘Today you work, is not your problem,
carino
.’

‘That’s cold, Gianna,’ he said restlessly. ‘Max’s wife was
murdered
.’

‘She not his wife–he was divorced.’

‘It’s still something he has to deal with. Mariska was Lulu’s
mother
.’

‘Jett,’ Gianna said, a touch icy. ‘I come to New York, we do photos together. Antonio shoot the photos. I insist they use
you
, you cannot disappoint.’

So there he was in a cab with Gianna, passing the newsstands where the headlines screamed about the murder. It was all one big stinking mess.

Last night he’d got nowhere with Amy. She’d behaved like a nervous racehorse, ready to back off if he so much as touched her arm. He’d finally left because he hadn’t wanted to upset her. Was he
ever
going to get a chance to tell her how he felt? Although he had to agree–the timing
was
bad.

Gianna had been out when he’d got back to Sam’s apartment the night before. She and Sofia Courtenelli had apparently hit the town, clubbing until two a.m. when she’d finally come home and attempted to wake him.

He’d pretended to be asleep as she’d tried to work her sexual magic. The problem was that his cock had not been in agreement with his mind. Taking advantage, Gianna had climbed aboard and ridden him for a fast five minutes before he came. Then, unfazed, she’d rolled away and finished herself off.

All the while he’d pretended to be asleep.

Apparently nothing bothered Gianna. She was a self-contained ball of fire. A girl who took what she wanted whenever it suited her.

For the first time in his life he’d felt like a piece of meat. Not a pleasant feeling, although he guessed that during his stoned-out-of-his-mind years, he’d left a lot of girls feeling the same way. At least he wasn’t that person anymore. Now he was together and caring.

Yeah,
so
freaking caring that all he could think about was getting back with his brother’s fiancée.

Nice. Very nice.

And, hopelessly, he realized there was nothing he could do about it.