He frowned as he became aware of an insistent buzzing. He hadn't heard it until the helicopter had gone, but now he could tell it was coming from the intercom.

'Josh,' he yelled. 'Is that the b.l.o.o.d.y reporters again? And where's Jim?'

His PA scurried in from the study, where he'd been fielding calls. 'Sorry, Sam,' he hissed, holding his hand over the receiver of his mobile. 'I'm on the phone to New York. You wanted me to get Harvey for you? And I think Mr Parker's in the media room monitoring the TV coverage.'

'b.l.o.o.d.y h.e.l.l,' muttered Sam, running over to the silver box on the wall. 'What's the point in having staff if you have to do everything yourself?'

He stabbed angrily at the b.u.t.ton.

'Who is it?' he said, immediately jerking back as a roar filled the room: a hundred voices shouting, the chaotic whirr of camera shutters; it sounded like a riot going on out there.

'Hel ... Pier ...' said a crackly voice. Sam could barely make out the words over the racket.

'Who?' he shouted.

'It's Helen Pierce. Let me in.'

Jim Parker shouted down the stairs, 'It's the lawyer. Buzz her through already!'

As Sam pressed the switch that would open the gate, he could hear a plummy female voice coming through the intercom.

'If any of you puts so much as one foot on this property,' it said with schoolmistress authority, 'I'll have you in the nick faster than you can say "parasites".'

I like this chick already, he smiled.

His new lawyer was surprisingly s.e.xy. Older, more severe than the last one and dressed in a crisp shirt and very high patent pumps, she looked like a 1940s pin-up. Or maybe I just go for uptight chicks, thought Sam as he watched her walk into his dining room accompanied by Eli and Valerie Lovell, the PR powerhouse who had also flown over from the States for this council of war. They all shook hands as they sat down around his redwood dining table. This was Sam's favourite room in the house, a modern addition to the three-hundred-year-old architecture designed to soften the antique edges of the house. A wall of gla.s.s overlooked a grey slate fishpond and the lawns beyond, although today the blinds were drawn to discourage any long-lens photography.

'Busier than I thought out there,' said Eli with his usual understated humour.

'Busy like a war zone,' sniffed Jim Parker.

'Sam, I don't think you've met Helen Pierce,' said Valerie, peering over the top of her horn-rimmed Chanel gla.s.ses. 'I've worked with her before and there's no one better at crisis management from the legal end.'

Sam snorted. 'If it wasn't for Donovan Pierce, there might not even be a crisis.' He knew he was being rude, but he was still angry at Anna Kennedy and Donovan Pierce as a whole for letting him down with the injunction. It would take more than sending their top attack dog the lawyer he should have had in the first place to placate him.

Josh came through with strong coffee and Sam slugged it back gratefully. The sleeping pill he'd taken at 3 a.m. to stop the endless questions running around his head was still making him feel groggy and detached.

'Where have you been, Sam?' asked Helen.

Sam lit another cigarette. It wasn't even 10.30 a.m. and already he'd smoked a packet. Terrible habit, he knew, but he felt justified today. He needed something to quiet his nerves.

'Eigan island,' he said. 'A tiny place near Mull. You won't know it.'

'Actually I do,' said Helen. 'It's a little piece of paradise, isn't it? I'm surprised you came back.'

Maybe I should have stayed, he thought. It had certainly been tempting, but Mike had urged him to 'get a grip and go and sort things out at home'.

Instead he was hiding here in his dining room, the table strewn with papers and magazines, all of them boasting 'exclusive' takes on the story. 'Sam and Jess Split: The Inside Story!', 'Why I Walked Out, Jess Speaks!', 'I Always Knew He Was A Cheat, Jess Tells Friend'. It was mostly speculation; thankfully Jessica had yet to speak publicly about it, although the fact that Sam was here, a thousand miles away from his 'heartbroken' fiancee, was a fairly large clue as to what was happening between them.

'So I guess we all know what's going on in the press,' said Jim Parker, indicating the table. 'I've just been scanning the satellite channels; the news media's pretty much taking the same stance.'

Helen Pierce opened her notebook. 'What's the support from the industry like?'

'Hard to tell,' said Jim. 'Everyone's making the right noises: "Tell Sam we're thinking about him", all that c.r.a.p, but the only way to judge LA is by the movie offers that are on the table.'

'And what's that like?'

Jim glanced at Sam, then shrugged.

'It's summer. It's quiet. They'll be in a wait-and-see position until we know box office on his next movie. But honestly ...' He pulled a face. 'I think we should be worried.'

'Oh great,' said Sam. 'Kick me when I'm down, why don't you?'

'Hey, buddy, we gotta get real,' replied Jim. 'You're nothing in Tinseltown unless you're making money, you know that. If you were making the studios half a billion a picture, we wouldn't be having this conversation. No one would give a d.a.m.n who you screwed.'

'It's true, look at Charlie Sheen,' nodded Valerie. 'He had to really really really screw up before they cancelled his show.' screw up before they cancelled his show.'

'And we ain't in Charlie's position,' said Jim. 'He was the star of America's biggest sitcom. Sam? Well, let's be frank, his last two movies tanked.'

Sam hated his career being talked about as if he wasn't even in the room. He found himself getting defensive.

'Jim, you were the one who told me to do those movies.'

Jim turned his hands outwards.

'I get the offers. You and Eli take the decisions. If you choose to make the turkeys ...'

'Hey, this is a team effort, Jim,' said Eli. 'Don't pa.s.s the buck just because the s.h.i.t's. .h.i.t the fan.'

It was no secret that Eli and Jim disliked each other, both of them fighting for the upper hand in the steerage of Sam's career.

'All right, gentlemen,' said Helen firmly. 'Let's focus on what we can control. Sam's next movie is premiering in a week or two, yes? So the industry is out of our hands until then. I think we should concentrate on the media. Valerie, this is your area.'

'The weakest link in the chain is the girl Katie,' said the PR, sweeping back her black bob. 'We could definitely go after her. Spin it as a set-up, release the story about her trying to blackmail us.'

'Wouldn't that just look like Sam was trying to wriggle out of it?' replied Helen.

'Isn't that what we're trying to do here?' snapped Jim. 'I don't think it's too late to persuade people that Sam didn't even have s.e.x with her. She doesn't really have much evidence, so we threaten to sue, major damages, scare her into a retraction.'

Helen looked thoughtful. 'It's possible, but we should have come out with denial immediately. Sam's all but confessed.'

'I haven't said anything!' he managed to splutter.

'Yes, and that's the problem. If you'd denied it and Jessica had stood by you, we could have weathered it, but as it is, she's effectively kicked you out and now we have all this ...' Helen grabbed a copy of the Sun Sun and held it up, showing the headline that read: 'Kinky Sam Forced Himself On Me'. and held it up, showing the headline that read: 'Kinky Sam Forced Himself On Me'.

'But that's just rubbish!' said Sam.

'Is it?' said Helen, scanning the text. 'Sam was a s.e.x pest, always badgering me for s.e.x ... Sam wanted s.e.x all the time, we did it five times a night.'

Sam winced. He couldn't bear to look at it himself and it sounded even worse when someone read it out. The funny thing about show business was that you needed the toughest skin just to get your foot in the door. The auditions, the knock-backs, the humiliations, you couldn't do it without tunnel vision and an iron will. But once you made it, that rhino hide disintegrated. Suddenly everyone was telling you how wonderful you were, how funny, how handsome, every single day of your life. And you came to expect it, your self-esteem was all wrapped up in the constant barrage of love, even if deep down you knew it was pure sycophancy. So when all that was taken away, the insults and the criticism hurt more than ever.

'Well, is it true?' pressed Helen.

'Yes and no,' he said uncomfortably.

'Yes and no to what? To being a s.e.x pest?'

'No! That girl is an old girlfriend from when I was at university fifteen years fifteen years ago. Yes, we had s.e.x, of course we did. And yes, I was keen on it who isn't when they're nineteen?' ago. Yes, we had s.e.x, of course we did. And yes, I was keen on it who isn't when they're nineteen?'

'I hear that,' said Eli. Helen just glared at him.

'But this story makes me sound like some sort of rapist. And there's no timeline on it, so readers might think it happened last week.'

Valerie shrugged.

'Clever reporting. It's what they do.'

'Can't we sue?' said Sam desperately.

'What for? Turning back time? Anyway, this is all taking us away from the main problem,' added Helen.

'Which is what?'

'That your reputation is in the toilet and it's open season on you now. With your disappearing act, the media had nothing real to report on, so they went trawling for dirt and it's no big surprise that they found ex-girlfriends and disgruntled rivals who were happy to take a few quid to say bad things about you. The trouble is, this is going to run and run unless we give them a better story.'

Sam felt his heart start to pound and tried to calm himself. He really shouldn't have taken that sleeping pill; they always put him on edge the next day. Everywhere he turned people seemed to want to bring him down, ruin all the hard work he'd put in.

'A better story?' said Jim. 'What are you suggesting?'

'How about this?' said Valerie, holding up her hands as if she were imagining the front-page splash. '"Sam and Jess: The Second Honeymoon".'

'We haven't had our first honeymoon yet,' said Sam.

'What I mean is that a reconciliation story could be all we need. All is forgiven, you both get a huge flurry of publicity and we're back on track.'

'It'd certainly put an end to all the Sam-bashing,' said Helen. 'What do you think, Eli?'

'Unlikely,' he said gruffly. 'I've spoken to Barbara, the mother. She's still talking about wanting Sam's b.a.l.l.s on a platter.'

'But the buzz on Jess's latest movie is that it stinks,' said Jim. 'If it's really that bad, she may want a positive spin to deflect the attention.'

Sam's mouth almost dropped open. He couldn't believe they were being so cynical about something as important as his life.

'Look, this is my relationship we're talking about here,' he said angrily. 'It's not some smokescreen for a box-office turkey.'

Helen turned to him.

'Do you want to have a career in films?'

'Of course!'

'Then you will do whatever is necessary to get back on track. Now, have you spoken to Jessica? Is a reconciliation an option?'

Sam paused for a moment.

'I don't think so,' he sighed. 'You know I flew to the Cape to see her. Plus I've spoken to her friends. It hasn't changed what she's saying.'

'Which is what?'

'That it's over.'

'Well, of course she's gonna play hardball,' said Jim. 'The people who read US Weekly US Weekly want Girl Power. They don't want her rolling over too quickly. She's got to let you roast for a while.' want Girl Power. They don't want her rolling over too quickly. She's got to let you roast for a while.'

Sam glared at him.

'Or there's always the possibility that she is genuinely heartbroken about being cheated on and wants nothing more to do with me. Besides, I think splitting up was maybe for the best ...'

His team looked at him, their eyes wide.

'How is this for the best, Sam?' said Jim.

'Because I'm not sure I was ever in love with her.'

Silence rang around the room.

Valerie whistled between her teeth. 'I hope the press aren't bugging this room.'

'Have you actually said this to her?' asked Eli.

'I mentioned it in Cape Cod.'

Jim Parker went pale. 'Mentioned it. Sam, this is your career.' it. Sam, this is your career.'

'This is my life,' he snapped, feeling his chest tighten.

Helen looked down at her notes, tapping the page with her gold pencil.

'Okay, well, if a reconciliation is out of the question, we need to think rehabilitation. Ideas, everyone?'

Sam looked at Helen as she took control of the meeting. She was certainly impressive. His agent, manager and PR were the best in the business, a.s.s-kickers all, but they were deferring to Helen Pierce without a murmur. Sam had met plenty of players in his time Hollywood was the natural home of arrogant egotists but this woman had something more: control and authority. You felt she knew what she was doing and, more importantly, that she could make it happen.

'I think we send him to Hazelden,' said Jim Parker. 'Six weeks in rehab could be just what we need.'

'Rehab?' said Sam, appalled. 'What for?'

'Who cares? Booze, drugs, s.e.x,' said Jim. 'It's a strong move because it shows you're admitting you have a problem and that you want to put it right.'

'Hazelden's great but is mainly substance abuse,' said Valerie. 'I know another clinic. Very small. Very discreet. s.e.x addiction is their specialty.'