Vendetta: Lucky's Revenge

by Jackie Collins

  “I thought he’d be here before me,” Tin Lee replied. “He must have gotten held up. As you know, he’s starting production on Monday, he’s very busy.”

  “He could’ve phoned if he was going to be late,” Abigaile said, hardly able to conceal her aggravation.

  “I’m sure he wouldn’t mind if you went ahead without him.”

  “Hmm…” Abigaile said, not pleased.

  She was on her way to the kitchen when she spotted Tabitha, dragging Santo behind her. Oh, God, the outfit! Mickey would have a heart attack when he saw it. She swooped into her daughter’s path, blocking her way. “Tabitha,” she said, quietly seething. “May I see you for a moment?”

  “Mom,” Tabitha said, her orange spandex microskirt riding up. “Have you met Santo?”

  “Yes, I’ve met Santo,” Abigaile said through clenched teeth. “Come, dear, I wish to speak with you.”

  Tabitha, who was feeling the effects of the grass, giggled stupidly. “What’re we gonna talk about, Mom? Sex? Do you and Dad still do it?”

  Abigaile gripped her daughter’s arm and was on her way to maneuvering her out of the hall when in walked Alex Woods, accompanied by Lucky Santangelo.

  Abigaile stopped short. Tabitha took the opportunity to wriggle from her grasp and escape.

  “Sorry, Abbey,” Alex said, not sounding sorry at all. “Got held up in a meeting.” And before she could say a word, he and Lucky were on their way into the living room.

  She hurried behind them, desperately trying to catch Mickey’s eye. He was in such an intimate conversation with Venus that he didn’t notice.

  Tin Lee jumped down from her bar stool and ran to greet Alex. “I was late getting to your apartment,” she started to explain, then she saw Lucky and stopped.

  Alex’s worst nightmare was coming true. “What are you doing here?” he said, completely exasperated. “Didn’t you get my message?”

  “What message?”

  “You must be Alex’s date,” Lucky said, getting the picture, and feeling sorry for the poor girl who—pretty as she was—was way out of her depth. “I’m sorry I kept him. Alex and I had a business meeting. He asked me to come here for a drink.”

  “I’m sure it’s okay if you stay for dinner,” Alex said quickly. “I’ll tell Abigaile.” He made his way over to Abigaile, who was still trying to get Mickey’s attention. “Abbey,” he said. “Lucky’s staying for dinner.”

  “Lucky Santangelo is not Mickey’s favorite person,” Abigaile responded tartly. “They have a history.”

  “She happens to be my date.”

  “No, Alex,” Abigaile responded. “Your date is Tin Lee—who, I might add, has been here for half an hour without you.”

  “My date is Lucky Santangelo,” he said, refusing to back down. “Tin Lee is the one you’re fitting in.”

  “There’s no room at the table, Alex.”

  “Pull up another chair, Abigaile.”

  They glared at each other.

  “I’ll see what I can do,” she said crossly.

  Lucky assessed the situation. She knew all the players except George, Donna Landsman’s husband. Without hesitating, she walked right up to the woman and said, “So, we meet again.”

  Donna was shocked to see her. She tried to compose herself, aware that it would be unwise to make a scene. Mickey inviting Lucky was a big mistake, one he would pay for. “How are you?” she said coldly.

  “Pretty good, as a matter of fact,” Lucky replied, staring at Donna, trying to reconcile the new image with the old Donatella. There wasn’t the slightest resemblance. “Thing is, I’ve had time to reflect, get myself organized, consider the way things have been going.”

  Cooper snuck up and grabbed her from behind. “Hi, gorgeous! Great to see you.”

  “Cooper—have you met Donna Landsman?”

  “Sure.”

  “Isn’t it nice to know we have such an experienced woman at Panther—you are experienced in the film industry, aren’t you, Donna?”

  George answered for her. “Mickey Stolli will do an excellent job.”

  Lucky raked George with a look, summing him up instantly. Worshiped his wife, probably never got laid before, a whiz with finances, had no idea what Donna was up to.

  She turned back to Cooper. “Are you making any deals with Panther?” she inquired.

  “You’ll have to ask my agent,” Cooper said with a smooth smile.

  “Oh, I’m sure Donna will pursue you. She probably has all the agents and managers crawling up her ass begging for deals. And, Donna, I must say—it certainly looks like it could accommodate them.”

  Before Donna could respond, Lucky moved away, leaving Donna fuming. She was not fat. How dare the skinny Santangelo bitch make a comment like that. And why was Lucky walking around so cool and collected? Wasn’t it enough that she’d lost her husband, her studio, and almost lost her father? What else would it take to bring her down?

  “Did you hear that?” Donna said to George, her face red with anger. “Did you?”

  George tried to calm her. “No scenes,” he said quietly. “You mustn’t let these people see she’s upset you.”

  “What’s she doing here?” Donna seethed. “I thought Mickey hated her.”

  “I’ll find out.”

  “You’d better,” Donna snarled, her triumphant entry into Hollywood society ruined.

  Abigaile finally managed to pry Mickey away from Venus. “Have you seen who’s here?” she said, amazed that he hadn’t noticed.

  “Everything’s going great, honey,” he said, a stupid smile spread across his face. “What’s your problem?”

  “My problem is Lucky Santangelo.”

  “What about her?”

  “She’s over there! Alex brought her. And he has a date here.” She glared at her husband as if it were his fault. “What are you going to do about it?”

  Mickey shrugged. “There’s nothing we can do. What did Alex say?”

  “He told me to lay another place at the table.”

  “Go ahead and do it.”

  “I don’t want that woman in my house. She fired you from Panther.”

  “True, but in this town you gotta get along with everyone—you never know when you’ll need ’em. So, Abbey—go tell your maid to set another place. It’s no big deal.”

  “It is a big deal,” Abigaile fretted. “It’ll ruin my placement.”

  “Honey,” Mickey said mildly, “take your goddamn placement and shove it up your ass! Now do as I say.”

  Still glaring, Abbey retreated.

  Mickey headed straight for Lucky. “I see Lucky Santangelo has decided to honor us with her presence.”

  “Hi, Mickey,” she said coolly. “How’s everything?”

  “Pretty damn good. I’m back at Panther, where I belong. Now all I gotta do is dump that lineup of crappy movies on your schedule. The only good one is Gangsters.”

  “I’m sure you’ll turn things around, Mickey. Only you can put Panther back where it was before.” A meaningful beat. “In the crapper.”

  Johnny strolled over, joining in the conversation. “Lucky, baby,” he said. “No shit—you are my favorite.”

  “Everybody’s your favorite, Johnny,” she said. “Do yourself a big one and get a new line.”

  “Why?” he said, grinning. “The old one’s always worked for me.”

  Jeff stumbled and almost fell off a bar stool on his way over to join the illustrious group. This was an opportunity too good to miss. “I’ve always wanted to meet you,” he said to Lucky, slurring his words. “You’re beautiful, rich, and powerful. There should be more of your kind of woman in Hollywood. I’m Jeff, I’m an actor.”

  “Big surprise, Jeff.”

  He grinned at her, swaying slightly. “An’ you’re as beautiful as everybody said.”

  Alex walked over and took Lucky’s arm. “Come here, Lucky—talk to Venus for me.”

  “What now?”

  “Here’s the deal,” he
said quietly. “Mickey wanted Leslie to play Lola, then changed his mind—now he wants Venus, only she’s under the impression she didn’t get the part. You’ll tell her she did, and not to mention anything tonight.”

  “What am I—the mediator around here?”

  “Do this for me, Lucky. Please.”

  She sighed. “Yeah, sure, like I have nothing else on my mind.”

  Tabitha sat Santo on a couch and proceeded to give him a brief rundown of the players.

  “You see the woman with the long red hair? She’s Leslie Kane, used to be a hooker. My father doesn’t believe it, neither does my mother. I know.”

  “How do you know?” Santo asked.

  “My mom’s manicurist told me, she’s into everything. And the guy with her—he’s some freeloader out-of-work actor who’s living with her. That’s Lucky Santangelo over there, the one with the black hair. The dude with her is Alex Woods. You know who he is?”

  “’Course I do,” Santo said, thinking that this girl wasn’t treating him very nicely.

  “Okay, so he’s meant to only like slit eyes. I guess that’s his date—the one with the funny name.”

  “How do you know all this?”

  “I observe,” Tabitha said, twirling the gold ring in her navel. “See Cooper Turner—he fucks anything that moves. And Venus Maria—so does she.”

  “What did you say?” Santo said, his face reddening.

  “You heard. Venus is a major slut. Fucks everyone.”

  “Don’t say that about Venus,” he said furiously.

  “Why? Do you know her?”

  “Yes. She’s a wonderful person.”

  “Ha! Shows how much you know. Right now she’s fucking her masseur ’cause she can’t find anybody else since she booted Cooper Turner out. Tonight she’s hitting on Johnny Romano—he screws all his girlfriends in the back of his limo. Bet he gets it on with her tonight.”

  “You’ve got a dirty mouth,” Santo said.

  “Yeah?” Tabitha jeered. “And I bet you’d give anything to have it wrapped around your tiny little dick.”

  “What are we doing here?” Lucky said to Venus. “And what are you doing with Johnny Romano?”

  “Okay, okay—you caught me—this is pretty low,” Venus said, grinning sheepishly. “I wanted to come tonight—if only to see Mickey’s face when I walked in. He’s under the impression I’ll blow him if he gives me the role in Gangsters. I’m kind of stringing him along, then maybe I’ll slap him with a sexual harassment suit.”

  “Great idea,” Lucky said. “You slapping Mickey Stolli with a sexual harassment suit is definitely a Newsweek cover.”

  Venus laughed. “Yeah, but nobody would believe it. They’d say I was the one harassing him.”

  “I’ve got good news for you,” Lucky said. “There’s some complicated thing going on here involving Mickey. However, according to Alex—you are Lola, and Leslie’s out, but you’re not supposed to say anything tonight.”

  “Are you sure?” Venus said.

  “Alex told me himself.”

  “Oh, God—what a relief! Now I don’t have to blow Mickey!”

  “You weren’t seriously considering it?”

  Venus laughed. “What do you think? And by the way, how come you’re with Alex Woods?”

  “He’s…a friend.”

  “Oh, c’mon, Lucky, it’s me you’re talking to. Alex is following you around with that look. You know the look I mean.”

  “Let me ask you something?”

  “What?”

  “Am I an Alex Woods type?”

  “Honey, you’re so cool, you’d be anybody’s type.”

  They both laughed.

  Alex walked over.

  “Done,” Lucky said.

  He smiled at Venus. “How are you?”

  “Better since I heard the news.”

  “Let’s keep it to ourselves. We’ll talk tomorrow.”

  “I’ll have to put a muzzle on Johnny—he’s decided to defend my honor and get me the role.”

  “Don’t tell him why.”

  “Of course not.”

  “And talking of muzzles,” Lucky said, “what do you plan on doing with him on the way home?”

  “Not a damn thing,” Venus said, smiling. “Exactly nada!”

  Abigaile did as Mickey asked, and had the maid set another place at the table. She hated it when things didn’t go the way she wanted them to. Her daughter looked like a refugee from a bad Madonna video; the Landsmans’ son was fat and unattractive; Lucky Santangelo was making everyone uncomfortable; and Mickey was behaving like a horny schoolboy, lusting after Venus as if he’d never seen a pair of tits before.

  However, Abigaile refused to let anything ruin her perfect evening. Putting on a proper smile, she clapped her hands together. “Dinner is served, everyone,” she trilled. “Shall we make our way into the dining room?”

  51

  HER NAME WAS CLAUDIA, AND AS FAR AS LENNIE was concerned, she was an angel. She’d given him back the will to live, and that meant everything, it gave him hope that there was a future.

  He’d found out he was in Sicily. How he’d gotten there or why was still a mystery. Claudia had told him everything she knew. She’d discovered that her father, Furio, and his friend Bruno were being paid to keep him in the cave. Someone in America had hired them to do so; she suspected it was Bruno’s sister.

  “Who’s she?” he’d asked.

  Claudia said she was a very rich woman who lived in Los Angeles. As far as Claudia knew, nobody was aware of his existence except Bruno and Furio. Recently Bruno had been involved in a car accident and was in the hospital with a broken leg. Furio was away from the village on business, which was why she’d been entrusted to bring him food.

  Claudia was twenty-one, and worked as a seam-stress in a neighboring village. She’d learned English at school, and lived at home with her five brothers and sisters.

  “My father…he trusts me,” she said in broken English. “He no trust others. Now I hear your story…I am not sure what I think.”

  Several hours after capturing her that first day, Lennie had been forced to let her go—but only after they’d talked for a long while. He’d tried to explain to her who he was, that he’d been kidnapped, and exactly who she should contact in America. He’d even given her Lucky’s number to call.

  “Not possible,” she’d said.

  “Why?” he’d demanded.

  “Not possible,” she’d repeated.

  Before she’d left the cave he’d made her promise to return, to help him. “You have to find a way to get this chain off my ankle. You must, Claudia, otherwise they’re going to let me die here.”

  She’d returned the next day with two cigarettes, an apple, and a box of matches. Precious treasures.

  Now she visited him every day, bringing whatever she could and talking to him. He learned about her life in the tiny village where there was not even a movie theater; her boyfriend—whom her father hated; and her abusive older brother, whom—according to her—everybody hated.

  “You’ve got to get to a phone,” he begged her. “Summon help…”

  “No,” she refused, shaking her head. “My papa would know it was me. I must help you my way.”

  “When’s that going to be?” he said roughly. “I’m going insane trapped here.”

  “Be patient, Lennie. I will help you. That is my promise.”

  “When, Claudia, when?”

  “One day I want to go to America,” she said, her eyes shining at the thought.

  “Help me, and you will,” Lennie assured her.

  The next day she brought him a crudely drawn map.

  “When I get the key, I bring it. You leave immediately. I replace key before papa finds it missing. You follow map.”

  “Why can’t you lead me out of here?”

  “No.” She shook her head, her long hair swirling around her beautiful, innocent face. “I go to my village. You travel other way. They come a
fter you.”

  “When can we do this?”

  “On the weekend my papa drinks beer…he sleeps. I try to get key.”

  Only a few more days. He couldn’t believe it.

  Only a few more days and maybe he’d be free.

  52

  AS THE GUESTS TROOPED INTO THE STOLLIS’ dining room, Mickey grabbed Abigaile. “I’ve handled it,” he said, pleased with himself. “Gave that Santo kid a hundred bucks and told him to take Tabitha out to a movie and get a hamburger.”

  Abigaile frowned. “What will Donna say?”

  “Who gives a shit? If you think my daughter’s sitting at our dinner table dressed like that, think again.”

  “Was Santo all right with this?”

  “He took the money, didn’t he?”

  “If you say so,” Abigaile said with a put-upon sigh. “I’d better remove their places.”

  “I’ve already had the maid do it.”

  “Thank you, Mickey.”

  He winked. “I deliver in a squeeze.”

  “Yes, you do,” Abigaile agreed, nodding. It was quite possible that Mickey was right, with Tabitha out of the way she’d be more relaxed, although tonight’s gathering was not her ideal group.

  She considered her seating plan. She’d placed herself between Cooper and Johnny Romano—the best seat in the house; Mickey was flanked by Leslie and Donna Landsman; she’d squeezed Lucky in between Venus and Alex, placing Tin Lee on his other side—let’s see how he’d deal with that; George was next to Tin Lee; and on the other side of Leslie was Jeff, then Veronica.

  All in all, she thought she’d done a masterful job. Seating was never easy, but Abigaile liked to think she excelled.

  Alex took Lucky’s arm as they entered the dining room, Tin Lee trailing behind them.

  “I don’t want to be here,” Lucky whispered. “Not one little bit.”

  “You’re here—accept it,” Alex said.

  “Nobody forces me to do anything I don’t want to.”