Mogul by Ginger Voight Page A

for a moment before she
shook her head. “So what now?”
    He sighed again as he rested his chin on top
of her head. “I don’t know. But whatever it is, I want us to be in
it together.”
    Her arms finally circled him. “I guess it’s
wishful thinking to hope someone else fathered her kid, huh?”
    He chuckled humorlessly. “Who else would it
be? Julian?” Then, more seriously, “I’d honestly rather err on the
side that it’s mine. She’s in bad shape, babe. Even if I’m not the
dad, I couldn’t leave her living like she is now.”
    She didn’t like hearing that but she didn’t
say anything. It still reeked of a setup to her. Holly played the
innocent damsel in distress well, and they already knew she wasn’t
above using PING to her favor. Andy had a sneaking suspicion that
Holly had let PING break the news of her pregnancy so that she
could tell Vanni later she hadn’t sought his help or attention.
    Her very presence in Los Angeles proved
otherwise.
    The only one she could say those things to
was Graham, who suspected likewise. They had the luxury of
approaching the whole thing more logically and rationally.
    Vanni was currently being driven by guilt and
regret.
    Holly had him right where she wanted him.
    The next day, when Vanni told Andy he was
heading to the hospital, she told him that she wanted to go with
him. She felt they needed to present a unified front to Holly, to
let her know that despite her scheming, they were solid and
unbreakable.
    Vanni shook his head. “I don’t think that’s a
good idea, babe.”
    She faced him with her arms crossed over her
chest. “Why not?”
    “For the same reason you had to go see Graham
alone,” he shot back. He hated being defensive about it, but didn’t
she see how much his back was against the wall already? “Look,
she’s scared. She’s in the hospital. Now is not the time to drop
the bomb on her that I’m marrying somebody else. She’ll feel even
more insecure than she already does.”
    Her eyes narrowed. “You haven’t told her
we’re engaged?”
    “I told her my relationship with you is none
of her business. She can find out when the rest of the world finds
out. I’m there for her baby, not to be her best friend.” Andy
glared at him, which made him approach her to unravel her arms and
take her hands in his. “I just… I don’t want to run the risk of her
bolting again. I know that would be easier, but – I could never be
okay knowing my kid is somewhere out there, living a life like I
lived, thinking his dad doesn’t want him. Please get that,
Andy.”
    She did get that. It was why she was
terrified of someone like Holly having his kid. She could, and
would, hold him hostage for a lifetime. “How far are you willing to
go, Vanni?” she asked softly. “Are you willing to marry her?”
    “I’m marrying you ,” he said as he
gripped her tighter.
    “Then tell her that.”
    “I will,” he promised. “But not today. Today
just let me handle it my way. Okay?”
    She allowed him to gather her into his arms,
but despite the strength of his embrace she felt anything but
assured. She watched silently as he grabbed his jacket and headed
out the door.
    She waited until he had driven out of sight,
followed not so subtly by the leeches of PING, before she grabbed
her own set of keys and headed for her car.
    She took a long, scenic route around the
city, hoping that if any PING stragglers had decided to follow her
they would ultimately be bored silly by her uninteresting schedule
and shake themselves free. She stopped for tea, did some minor
shopping, and went to a boutique. She even switched her pink
diamond from her left hand to her right in order to make her first
real outing around L.A. anything but newsworthy. She’d only worn it
for a few days, but already her left hand felt naked without it –
but these were the kinds of precautions she’d have to take if she
wanted to fly under the radar.
    And today she definitely did.
    Finally,