Chapter 30: She Kicked You Out

Nico isn't leaving this up to chance anymore. No more spontaneous trysts where they might be seen, might be heard. He and Marilyn now have a regular time and place to carry on their affair, a hotel in Beverly Hills that caters to its celebrity clientele, with tight security that keeps the paparazzi away.

"You should leave first," she says, arranging her hair in front of the mirror, "I have to do my make up."

When they make love, he speaks to her in his native Italian, and she practices her accent for the role she's currently playing. Outside of that, they don't speak much at all. It's better that way, Nico thinks, this isn't about love, it isn't a relationship, and it in no way interferes with what he has with Jacklyn.

In the hotel lobby, his cell starts to buzz. "Giancarlo? Cosa sta succendo?" Nico asks, surprised to be hearing from his oldest brother, who he hasn't spoken to since he came to L.A.

"Andrea hit Papa," Giancarlo tells him, "Broke his jaw. Mama kicked him out, sent him to me. And I'm sending him to you. I don't need to get my jaw broken, too."

"This isn't the best time..." Nico protests. He doesn't have to ask why their youngest brother hit their father, or why Giancarlo fears Andrea will turn on him if made to move in with him.

"Too bad, then. I already put him on a plane. He'll be in L.A. in a few hours." Nico has no choice but to take the flight information and promise to pick Andrea up from the airport.

First, he goes home, to tell Jacklyn about his younger brother's visit. "My father is in the hospital," Nico tells her, leaving out the reason he was put there, "So my mother is sending my little brother here for awhile."

"I'm glad I get to meet at least someone from your family before we get married," she says, "Maybe he'll be here for the wedding."

Nico kisses her long and hard before he leaves for the airport. Nothing, no other woman, can be what she is to him. 

The surprise visit may be an inconvenience, but Nico is sincerely happy to see Andrea, closest to him in age as well closest to him in relationship. Born years later than their older brothers, they grew up together.

"Why did you do it?" Nico asks when they get into his car.

"I warned him," Andrea says, "I told him if he went out to meet his whore, I'd be waiting for him when he got home."

"It wasn't your place to interfere."

"Not my place? It shouldn't have come down to me, Nico. Mama has five sons, and not one of them ever raised a voice or lifted a hand to stop him."

"And when you did, she kicked you out, not him."

When Nico said 'little brother', Jacklyn was expecting a teenager, not this super-sized jock version of her fiance.

"I can't wait to meet my little niece," Andrea says, not shy about rubbing her belly minutes after meeting her. well, he wouldn't be the first, and at least he's family.

Having a family visitor doesn't change Nico's schedule, Bill still has him out nearly every day doing something to promote the band until Jacklyn can perform again. Rather than keep Andrea cooped up with his pregnant soon to be sister-in-law, they send him out to muscle beach to entertain himself.

"Nico?" a surprised voice asks, seeing him on the bench press.

"I'm Andrea," Andrea introduces himself, "Do you know my brother?"

"A little. We've worked together," she says, "You look just like him." Except for being ten times hotter, she thinks.

"You're a musician, then?" he asks.

"No, a model. My name is Debbie. Do you work out here often? I haven't seen you around before."

"I only just arrived here," Andrea answers, "But I like it here."

"I like to go jogging along the beach in the mornings," Debbie tells him, detailing the exact paths she takes and the times she can be expected to be found. Assuming someone wanted to run into her while jogging.

"Jacklyn and Nico must be very busy now, with the baby coming," Debbie says, in case she hadn't made her intentions completely crystal clear, "If you need someone to show you the sights, I'd be happy to be your tour guide."

"I'd like that, Debbie," Andrea says, "But I can't imagine what you could show me that could take my attention from what I'm looking at now."