The meeting had gone well, except that just as he was about to leave she’d stopped him at the door and said, ‘I’m aware that Paramount passed on your movie because of the graphic violence, and I’m not asking you to tone it down. However, about the sex – the script makes it clear several of the actresses are naked in certain scenes, yet it seems our hero and his friends remain modestly covered.’
‘What’s the problem?’ he’d asked, genuinely not getting it.
‘This is an equal opportunity studio,’ she’d said. ‘If the females take it off, so do the guys.’ He’d stared at her like she was a crazy woman. ‘Let me put it this way, Mr Woods,’ she’d added. ‘If we get to see tits and ass, we get to see dick. And I’m not talking Dick Clark.’
He’d left her office outraged, complaining to Freddie all the way to his car. Freddie had laughed at him, so had his two Asian assistants – Lili, a softly pretty Chinese woman who’d been with him for ever, and France, who’d since departed.
Yes, Lucky Santangelo had managed to shock him, something that few women had been able to do. And yet, he’d fallen in love with her then and there.
He’d never forget the one magical night they’d spent together. Never. No woman could ever live up to Lucky. She was the woman he’d been searching for all his life, and when things seemed to be on track and moving along at a good pace, Lennie had come back into the picture, returning from the dead so to speak.
So now Lucky was his friend. But he wanted more than that.
He wanted her to be his everything.
* * *
They returned home around six. Lucky hurried straight to the answering-machine, where there was a message from Detective Johnson acknowledging the licence-plate information. She listened to his message, then clicked off the machine. ‘Let’s hope they can finally get some action going,’ she said. ‘Those guys are useless.’
‘You think?’
‘I know. They should’ve made an arrest long ago.’
‘Can you believe how quiet it is here without the kids running around?’ Lennie remarked.
‘It sure is,’ she agreed.
‘Kind of like old times, huh?’ he said, throwing himself down on the couch and smiling lazily. ‘And, my darling wife, I have a great idea.’
‘Wanna share it?’
‘Well . . . how about you take off your clothes, and walk around naked?’
‘I don’t believe you!’
‘C’mon, Lucky, humour me.’
‘You’re such a little voyeur,’ she said. ‘No way am I parading around like a hooker.’
He grinned. ‘I love it when you turn prudish.’
‘Okay, okay, here’s the action,’ she said, happy to see a smile on his face. ‘I’ll take my clothes off if you do the same.’
‘It’s a deal!’ he said, leaping up and immediately starting to unbutton his shirt.
Lucky smiled and began humming stripper music. After a few moments, when he was down to his underwear, she collapsed in fits of laughter. ‘You’ll never make it as a male stripper,’ she gasped. ‘Sorry!’
‘Why not?’ he said indignantly, flexing his muscles while macho posing in his jockey shorts. ‘I’ve got moves you haven’t even seen.’
‘And I don’t want to.’
‘I’m insulted.’
‘Go back to acting, Lennie,’ she said, choking with laughter. ‘You’re such an actor in real life.’
‘Come here, woman,’ he said, holding out his arms. ‘There’s something wrong with this picture. I’m down to my Calvins, and you’re still fully dressed.’ She ran into his arms and he hugged her to him, crushing his mouth down on hers. ‘I’ve missed you so much,’ he said. ‘You gotta forgive me for behaving like an asshole. I think I’m out of it now. Normal life will resume.’
‘It doesn’t matter,’ she whispered. ‘I love you anyway. I always have and I always will.’
‘You do realize how precious time is?’ he said, holding her close. ‘One moment we’re here, the next gone. I’ve decided I don’t want you out of my sight ever again.’
‘It’s you and me, babe,’ she murmured. ‘We’re destined to be together for ever. Soulmates.’
‘Soulmates,’ he repeated. ‘You don’t have to tell me twice.’
Chapter Forty-One
Brigette explored the house, talked to some of the guests, endured Leopold Lewyllen Wharton peering down her neckline, and found herself seated next to him at dinner, an elderly Member of Parliament on her other side. She’d never been so bored and restless. But, as she reminded herself, she wasn’t in London to enjoy herself, she was here to make sure Carlo paid for what he’d done.
There were three tables, each seating ten people, so it wasn’t until after dessert, when she got up to go to the ladies’ room, that she bumped into Carlo again.
He caught up with her outside the dining room. ‘What are you doing here?’ he demanded.
‘Excuse me?’ she said innocently, noticing that he seemed disturbed. Good.
‘Why did you tell Fiona we knew each other?’ he continued, the expression on his handsome face quite agitated.
‘I wasn’t aware it was a secret, Carlo,’ she said coolly. ‘Is it a secret?’
‘Well . . .’ He obviously didn’t know what to say. ‘Because of what happened between us . . .’
She fixed him with her big blue eyes. ‘What did happen between us?’
‘Surely you remember?’
‘No. Why don’t you tell me?’
‘We made love, Brigette,’ he said, lowering his voice. ‘And, if I may say so, you enjoyed it a great deal.’
‘Oh, God!’ she said, pretending to be upset. ‘I had no idea you really were engaged. What’ll Fiona say when you tell her?’
He took a step back. ‘I am not planning on telling her.’
‘You have to,’ she said, widening her eyes.
‘I do not have to do anything,’ Carlo answered churlishly. Maybe it was her imagination, or did she see a bead of sweat on his perfect brow?
‘Oh dear, I must have had too much to drink,’ she apologized, fanning herself with her hand. ‘Champagne’s my downfall. Although I seem to recall that at the dinner in New York, you told us all that you weren’t engaged.’
‘True,’ he said quickly. ‘Fiona and I had broken our engagement for a few days.’
‘How convenient.’
‘Believe me, Brigette,’ he said, ignoring her stab at sarcasm, ‘it is best to say nothing.’
‘Why?’ she said, staring at him.
‘Meet me for lunch tomorrow and we will discuss it.’
‘You mean the three of us will have lunch?’ she asked, still playing the innocent – albeit a sexy one in her low-cut dress.
‘No,’ he said sharply. ‘Just you and me.’
‘Well . . .’ she said, pretending to consider it. ‘If you think it will help . . .’
‘In the meantime,’ he said, in a stern voice, ‘do not mention the night we spent together in New York.’
‘How can I mention it,’ she asked ingenuously, ‘when I don’t even remember it?’
He leaned closer, sure that soon they would be a couple, and with her kind of money behind him he would rule the world. ‘You’re still as lovely as you were that one magical night, Brigette,’ he whispered. ‘I will remind you of things we did together. You will want to do them again.’
‘I can’t sleep with a man who is already taken,’ she said primly. ‘If you wish to see me again, then you must break your engagement immediately.’
‘I know,’ he said. ‘The moment I met you, I realized it was over between Fiona and me. I am an Italian count. You, my sweet Brigette, will be my contessa.’
‘There’s something I don’t understand,’ she said, frowning.
‘What, my darling?’
‘If we had such a wonderful time in New York – and I’m sure we did, although I’ll have to take your word for it – how come you didn’t call me?’
‘Really?’
‘Tomorrow I will explain everything.’ A pause, while he gave her the benefit of a long, lingering look. ‘You will meet me, won’t you?’
She nodded her agreement, knowing that soon she would have Count Carlo Vittorio Vitti exactly where she wanted him.
* * *
‘I love you,’ Lina said.
‘What?’ Charlie managed, his eyebrows shooting up in alarm.
‘I always say that,’ Lina said, shrieking with hysterical laughter. ‘I get off on seeing the panic rise.’ She rolled off Charlie, stretching out one of her long arms to grab a cigarette from the bedside table. ‘Course, I never mean it.’
‘Shitcakes!’ Charlie exclaimed, shaking his head in bewilderment. ‘You really do dance your own tango.’
‘Takes two, don’t it?’ she said, lighting up.
He regarded her with a certain amount of puzzlement. ‘You’re very . . . energetic.’
‘Oooh,’ she said mockingly, flinging back a curtain of long, straight black hair. ‘Tired you out, ’ave I?’
‘I’m a movie star, baby,’ he deadpanned. ‘Movie stars never get tired or go to the bathroom. Surely you knew that?’
‘I’m a supermodel, darlin’,’ she said, handing him her cigarette for a drag. ‘We never get tired either. We always gotta look gorgeous an’ be nice to people.’
‘How convenient for you,’ he said drily.
‘Screw being nice,’ Lina said vehemently. ‘Sometimes I wanna kick ’em in the ’ead. Specially some of those bitches who call themselves fashion editors. They’re the worst.’
‘You’re forthright,’ Charlie said. ‘I like that in a supermodel.’
‘No point in beating around the bush, is there?’ she said. ‘I’m a little Cockney girl from London who made good. Now I wanna make even better.’
‘Ambition. Another admirable quality.’
‘So,’ she said, giving him a penetrating stare, ‘am I gonna be in your movie or not?’
He blew lazy smoke rings in her direction. ‘Is that why you fucked me?’
‘No,’ she said, taking back her cigarette. ‘I fucked you ’cause you was there.’
Even Charlie was puzzled by that one. ‘Explain?’
She giggled. ‘Me mum would have a freaking fit if she knew I was in bed with Charlie Dollar. She loves you, thinks you’re the best thing since a bit of toast and marmalade.’
‘How about Grandma?’ Charlie drawled sardonically. ‘She love me, too?’
Once again Lina shrieked with laughter. ‘You’re funny,’ she said. ‘I thought all you American movie stars ’ad no sense of humour.’
‘Depends on which American movie stars you’ve been sleeping with.’
Lina stretched languorously. ‘I love sex, don’t you? ’S better than a sleeping pill any day.’
‘You’re not planning on spending the night in big bad Charlie’s bed, are you?’ he asked, worried at the thought. ‘I have a sometime girlfriend who’s likely to walk in on us and shoot you dead. She’s a devil with a gun.’
‘It’s usually the wife I’m watching out for,’ Lina remarked, completely unconcerned.
‘Sorry,’ Charlie said. ‘I’m all out of those at the moment.’
Lina kneeled up on the bed, hugging a pillow to her chest. ‘Do you think Max is pissed?’
‘About what?’
‘About me coming home with you.’
‘Not Max – he’s used to it,’ Charlie said, opening his bedside drawer. ‘Here’s the deal. You’ve got an agent on one side and a movie star on the other. Who do you think’s gonna get the girl?’
‘He’s kind of cute,’ Lina mused.
‘You wanna fuck him, too?’ Charlie enquired, taking out a plastic bag and a neat stack of cigarette papers.
‘Why?’ she said boldly. ‘You into threesomes? ’Cause if you are, we can call him up, see if he’ll give us ten per cent of his dick!’
Charlie roared with laughter. ‘I have here some very fine grass,’ he said, starting to roll a joint. ‘That’s, of course, if you’re interested.’
Lina grinned. ‘Now you tell me.’
Chapter Forty-Two
‘Is Steven coming?’ Venus Maria asked.
‘He’s not,’ Lucky said. ‘I invited him, but he feels it’s too soon.’
They were talking in the gym of Venus’s ultra-modern house in the Hollywood Hills. Lately Venus had been on Lucky’s case about working out with her. ‘I hate exercise,’ Lucky had said. ‘It’s boring.’
‘You’re not twenty any more,’ Venus had pointed out. ‘You have to work out – unless you want to turn into a fat slob.’
‘Ha!’ Lucky had replied. ‘All you want is company in your quest for perfection!’
Now they were sitting on a bench in their workout clothes, waiting for Sven, Venus’s personal trainer.
‘You’ve gotta tell Steven that it’s never too soon to get back into life,’ Venus said briskly. ‘Look at me after that horrible experience with the stalker at my house. I was back doing things immediately.’
‘Yes,’ Lucky said, ‘but that was only a stalker. This is the murder of Steven’s wife we’re talking about. And, of course, he’s broken up about the baby – who wouldn’t be? He didn’t even know Mary Lou was pregnant. I can understand why he doesn’t want to go out.’
‘Maybe I should go talk to him myself,’ Venus decided. ‘He’s always liked me.’
‘No,’ Lucky corrected. ‘You’ve always liked him. If you didn’t have Cooper, I’m sure Steven would’ve been a contender.’
‘He is gorgeous,’ Venus admitted. ‘Didn’t you tell me that when you first met, and you had no clue he was your half-brother, you had kind of a big flirtation?’
Lucky chuckled at the memory. Nineteen seventy-seven. The big New York power outage, and her and Steven trapped in an elevator together. Pure fate. Neither of them had had any idea they were related. ‘It could have been a lot more than a flirtation,’ she said, ‘but Steven’s always been so straight. Apart from when he was married to that Puerto Rican maniac.’
‘Can you imagine,’ Venus said, ‘if anything had happened between you and him?’
‘No, I can’t,’ Lucky said briskly, reaching for a cigarette. ‘Mind if I smoke?’
‘You know I do,’ Venus retorted. ‘Anyway, I thought you gave it up.’
‘I give it up, then I do it again,’ Lucky said, gesturing helplessly. ‘It’s kind of a see-saw deal.’
‘Smoking is bad for you,’ Venus said sternly.
‘You’re becoming such a boring health nut,’ Lucky replied, lighting up and taking a long, deep drag. ‘You’ve even got Cooper working out, and he was the run-around stud of all time.’
‘Ha!’ Venus exclaimed. ‘How about Lennie? In his movie-star days he didn’t exactly keep it zipped up.’
‘Ah . . . but he wasn’t Cooper Turner,’ Lucky responded, with a mischievous grin. ‘Cooper’s legendary in this town. Him and Warren Beatty.’
‘I suppose he is,’ Venus said, smiling proudly. ‘Of course,’ she added, after a thoughtful pause, ‘I wasn’t exactly hiding in a convent.’
‘True,’ Lucky agreed. ‘Miss If-it-moves-I’ll-fuck-it!’
‘I like being married though,’ Venus said, stretching her arms in the air. ‘It’s . . . comfortable.’
‘That’s ’cause you’re never peering out of your marriage to see what you’re missing,’ Lucky said wisely. ‘You and I both experienced everything, so did our husbands. Which means we never missed a thing.’
‘Been there, done that,’ Venus said, with a crazed giggle.
‘There should be a law against getting married too young,’ Lucky said. ‘Thirty for women. Thirty-five for men. Seems reasonable to me.’
‘According to Gino,’ Venus said. ‘You were so wild he had to marry you off at sixteen. The othe
r night he was telling insane stories about you.’
‘Here’s the thing about Gino,’ Lucky said, stubbing out her cigarette after two drags. ‘Never believe a word he says. Gino likes to embellish.’
‘Seems you had almost as much fun as me.’
‘Nobody had as much fun as you,’ Lucky remarked drily. ‘You invented the word party!’
‘Hmm . . .’ Venus said, savouring the fond memories. ‘Sometimes I miss being single . . .’
‘Do you really?’
‘Nope. But it sounds good.’
Sven arrived, cutting short their conversation. He was a tall well-built Swede with muscles to spare. ‘Ladies,’ he said, with what Lucky considered to be an evil sneer. ‘Are we ready to be tortured?’
‘No,’ Lucky said irritably, ‘I’m ready for another cigarette. I had a hard weekend.’
‘How hard?’ Venus asked provocatively.
‘Hard enough,’ Lucky replied, smiling. ‘Lennie has returned to the land of the living. And how!’
‘I’m glad to hear it.’
‘So am I.’
‘After we’ve worked out,’ Venus said, ‘I think I’ll call Steven. In fact, I might even visit him at his office.’
‘That’ll cause a riot,’ Lucky said. ‘You – walking into the law offices.’
‘Steven represented me on a couple of things,’ Venus said. ‘They’re used to me.’
Lucky shook her head. ‘Nobody’s used to you, Venus. You’re an original.’
‘That is true,’ Sven said, flexing his considerable muscles. ‘Now, ladies, enough time wasted. Let us get to work!’
* * *
Steven was gazing out of his Century City office window, when his secretary announced that Venus Maria was there to see him.
‘Does she have an appointment?’ he asked.
‘No, Mr Berkeley. She said she’ll only take five minutes of your time.’
‘Okay.’ He nodded, knowing that if Venus was on the premises there was no getting rid of her. ‘Show her in.’
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