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“I’ll let you handle that,” she said. “I’m going to lunch. A long lunch that might take me through the night.Ciao, bella.” She blew him a noisy kiss and hung up.
Was that it? Would he never see Nikki again? Alessandro would miss her fun. Then he remembered the club and the police and the night in jail getting eyed by men a lot bigger than him. Maybe he wouldn’t miss her that much.
He called Yasmin back. “You can tell Donna to put out a statement that we broke up right after the arrest.”
“Of course she’s going to do that,” Yasmin said impatiently. “What about Megan?”
“Nothing about her. She’s helping with the fundraiser, and apart from that, I won’t be seeing her.”
“You sure? Hollywood loves a romance. And so might Papier. You can tell them you guys simply couldn’t help yourselves.”
“I am an asshole right now, remember? No one will be happy if I start dating someone else right away.”
“Memories are short, Alessandro. And having someone on your arm for awards season is always useful.”
“After the arrest, you told me I could not attend any of them.”
“Not for that long, honey. Once you get nominated for the Oscar—”
“IfI get nominated.”
“You’ll get nominated,” she said stoutly. “Being in the press for something wholesome will keep you in front of the judges. Romance sells. It just does. If she’s interested, there’s no reason not to keep it going.” Alessandro winced at her clinical description. “I’m not saying you have to invite the cameras into your bedroom or anything—”
“Thank you.”
“I’m kidding, Alessandro. You’ve been in this country long enough—you have to learn when people are teasing you. I’m saying that if you two give the press a few well-placed publicity opportunities, they’ll satiate their hunger and your profile will stay high. Which you need at this point in your career.”
“Yasmin,” he tried again. “She does not want to be in front of the cameras, even if we know when it’s going to happen. You just read what happened the last time someone in her family got famous.”
“That was her brother! And he came out great in that—Boston hottie for a few years, then he got the sympathy of the public. He could have parlayed that into all kinds of speaking gigs.”
“I am pretty sure he didn’twantany speaking gigs,” Alessandro said.
“I’m just saying. I wonder if he had a manager,” she mused. “They would have handled the whole thing better. Gotten his girlfriend protected.”
He let out a breath he was sure she could hear. “I do not know if you are right. It was years ago. But Megan told me this morning that she does not do cameras.”
“I’m always right,” Yasmin pronounced. “So I guess the only question is, do you want to convince her that I can make this work for both of you? She’s a businesswoman, right? The publicity would be good for her, too.”
Alessandro turned away from the lights outside, which suddenly hurt his eyes. “I’m not going to try to convince her of anything. If I am lucky, she will still help the Studio. That is all I can ask.”
“Okay,” Yasmin said in the tone that meantyou’re crazy. “What are you doing today?”
“Apologizing to Megan. Several times if necessary. Then I will call the producers.”
“Don’t. I’ll call them.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence.”
“You can call them when you have a better story to tell.”
He shook his head at her. She hadn’t listened to him at all. “Then I’m going to go film the kids at the Studio.”
“That’s sweet,” Yasmin said. He wished he could believe that she meant it. “I’ll call you tonight,” she went on. “This isn’t going to go away just because you ignore it, Alessandro.”
Now he sighed, and she could definitely hear it. “I know, I know. I will deal with it.”
“Good. Talk to you tonight,” she reiterated and hung up.
