Free Hollywood Wives - the New Generation by Jackie Collins Page B

dressed. I'll tell you everything
on the way to your event.'
    Larry followed her up the stairs into their bedroom. 'Were you in an
accident?' he asked, removing his glasses and staring at her. 'You look
terrible.'
    'Uh… sort of,' she replied, running into her bathroom and closing
the door.
    'What kind of accident?' he questioned, opening the door and
following her in. 'Are you hurt?'
    'No, sweetie, I'm fine,' she answered soothingly, 'but, please, let
me get ready, then I'll tell you all about it.'
    'Christ, Taylor!' he said, frowning. 'I was worried sick.'
    She took a moment to placate him. 'I know, darling,' she said,
patting him on the cheek. 'Everything's all right now. I promise. So go
downstairs, fix yourself a drink, and I'll be right down.'
    'Only if you tell me what happened to you,' Larry said stubbornly.
    'I was, uh… mugged.'
    '
What
?' he roared, enraged.
    'The main thing is I'm okay,' she said. 'And I have exactly fifteen
minutes to dress. So… in the car the full story.' And she pushed him
gently out of the bathroom.
    Somehow or other she managed to get herself together in record time.
Black velvet Valentino strapless gown, Steiger pumps, Bulgari
jewellery, hair piled on top of her head, and a regal smile. She was
every inch the genius's wife. Beautiful, caring, a fine partner for
such an important and respected man.
    Sitting beside her husband in the back of the limo, she wove a web
of lies.
    I was on my way to see a writer about my script…
    Rundown area…
    Mugger came out of nowhere…
    Knocked unconscious…
    Friendly neighbours took me in…
    Wow! She was good. By the time she'd finished her story she almost
believed it herself.
    Larry was very concerned, he wanted to know if she'd called the
police. 'No,' she said. 'Who needs that kind of publicity? Certainly
not us.'
    Then he wanted to know what she'd had stolen.
    'Nothing,' she answered truthfully. A pause before she came up with
more lies. 'My purse was locked in the trunk, and by the time the
mugger tried to pull the rings off my fingers, the neighbours came
running out and scared him away.'
    'Jesus Christ!' Larry exclaimed. 'Why didn't you call me
immediately?'
    'Because, my love,' she answered, leaning over and kissing his
cheek, 'I know how you get, and I didn't want to alarm you.'
    Larry shook his head in amazement. 'You,' he said, 'are my life. If
anything ever happened to you…'
    Guilt overwhelmed her.
    It wasn't easy screwing around on a genius like Larry Singer.

Chapter Eight
     
    Eric Vernon whistled tunelessly as he followed the girl in her
silver
BMW, watching her as she went about her business _ - such as it was.
After weeks of trailing her, he'd soon realized that she never did much
of anything. Most mornings she attended a kickboxing class, picked up a
styrofoam cup of coffee from Starbucks, then sometimes she went
shopping along Melrose, or met a girlfriend for lunch. Most times she
headed back up to her boyfriend's house at the top of Mulholland where
she lived, then spent the rest of the day lying by the pool, putting in
time on her already perfect tan.
    Lazy spoiled bitch. It was patently obvious she didn't have to work
for a living like most people - Eric Vernon included.
    He resented her lifestyle. It wasn't right that someone could go
along week after week, month after month, doing exactly nothing.
    Eric's mother had been a maid to a rich family in Philadelphia.
She'd had no husband to support her because his dad had walked when he
was only a few months old. This meant that six days a week his mom was
forced to clean up after two adults and three over-privileged children,
two girls and a boy. The boy was the same age as him, and sometimes his
mother had dragged him along with her to help scrub the tile floors.
    Help with the floors, for crissakes. He was nine years old and down
on his knees, while the other boy - the sneering, spoiled prick - was
playing with an expensive model train set and laughing at him behind
his back.