Goddess of Vengeance (50 page)

But right now she was looking forward to having him exactly where she wanted him. It was a game. A game at which she excelled.

Chapter Fifty-Nine

I
f he wasn’t so stoned, Armand would have been well aware that what he was doing was reckless and beyond stupid. He would have known that he should summon Fouad to make sure that the details were handled properly. And he would also have known that Fouad would put an immediate stop to what he had planned.

Ah yes . . . Fouad would caution him that he was behaving in an impossible and dangerous fashion. That he was putting himself in distinct jeopardy for dealing with such bad people. Whores and thugs who would do anything for money.

WHORES AND THUGS.

Armand laughed. He didn’t care. He had his mind made up.

He walked unsteadily into his bedroom, pulled out the money suitcase and unlocked it. Twenty-five thousand to get rid of an enemy was a cheap price to pay. Twenty-five thousand and goodbye Lucky Santangelo.

He stared at the neat stacks of bills, organized into bundles of twenty thousand. Cash. There was nothing like it. No paper trails to catch a man out.

Before he knew it, Luscious was standing beside him, her mouth gaping open as she gazed down at the suitcase stuffed full of money. ‘You rob a bank or somethin’?’ she asked, her eyes wide with greed.

‘My bank. My money,’ he replied, vaguely annoyed that she’d followed him into the bedroom.

‘You’re a rich mothafucker, ain’tcha?’ she said, hanging onto his arm. ‘Rich an’ sexy.’

‘You think I’m sexy?’ Armand said, quite pleased that she would say so. He’d never given a woman the opportunity to call him sexy before – he’d always been too busy humiliating them, or telling them that they weren’t fit to speak.

‘Sure you is,’ Luscious said, still clinging onto him. ‘An’. . . I got a treat for you all set up in the other room. Somethin’ real special.’

‘What would that be?’

‘You ever done crack, Arnie? ’Cause if you never did, then I’m gonna take you somewhere you ain’t
never
gonna forget.’ She pulled on his arm, dragging him away from the suitcase stuffed full of money. Leaving it unlocked and open. ‘Let’s go, big boy. This’ll be a night t’remember.’

*   *   *

Crouching in the bushes near Billy’s villa alongside Ellie and her long-lens camera, Kev experienced a pang of guilt. He and Billy went way back, they were longtime friends, and now he was about to sell him out.

But hey – it was all Billy’s fault. Billy had decided not to trust him, and that was okay. No trust between friends meant all was fair.

‘We could be stuck here all night,’ Kev muttered, not relishing the thought.

‘Okay with me,’ Ellie replied, perfectly cheerful. ‘Whoever is in there with him has to come out eventually, and when they do, I’ve got the shot.’

‘You’ve done this before, haven’t you?’ Kev said, wondering when he should make his move. After all, this was Vegas, and tonight he was definitely getting laid.

‘A few times,’ Ellie replied, a tad sarcastic. ‘Learned from my dad. Now
he
was one of the greats. He shadowed Jackie O. Captured Elvis fat and thin. Michael Jackson in his pjs. O.J. on the run. Diana and Dodi. Oh yes, my dad nailed it every time. He taught me that the trick is to lie dormant until the exact right moment, then go for it. Kinda like bird-watching. The subject doesn’t even know. Night vision camera, sweet lens. It’s a trip.’

‘I dunno who he’s with in there,’ Kev said for the third time. ‘Could be Venus for all I know. We ran into her earlier.’

‘What a shot
that’d
be,’ Ellie said, adjusting her camera position. ‘Front page everywhere. Oh my!’

‘He’s been seeing Willow Price,’ Kev offered.

‘Old news. Besides, everyone knows she’s a pussy hound.’

‘Then there was this young girl in L.A.’

‘Young is good,’ Ellie said matter-of-factly. ‘Or black. Or a porn star. The best would be if he pulled a Charlie Sheen, always a winner.’

‘Not Billy,’ Kev said surely. ‘That’s not his scene.’

‘No? One thing I’ve learned in this business, anything is possible.’

*   *   *

‘I really don’t wanna let you go,’ Billy said, walking Max to the door, his arm around her waist.

‘And
I
really don’t want to go,’ she responded, reaching up to playfully touch the dimple in his chin.

He opened the door, and they stood there, bathed in the moonlight, not ready to part company.

Billy leaned forward and kissed her on the lips, a long sexy kiss. ‘Night, Green Eyes,’ he said. ‘See you tomorrow.’

‘I guess I should make up with a nickname for
you
,’ she said, reluctant to leave. ‘How about Dimples?’

‘How about that sounds like somebody’s pet monkey,’ Billy said, snorting with mirth. ‘Dimples, my ass. Think of something macho.’

Giggling, Max wrapped her arms around his neck. ‘What then?’

‘You’ll come up with something,’ he said, hugging her affectionately.

‘Oh yes, I will.’

‘Oh yes, you will.’

And neither of them heard the steady click of the camera lens hidden in the bushes.

*   *   *

The euphoria that overcame Armand was like nothing he’d ever experienced before. Sharing hits from a crack pipe with these people – his new best friends – was magical. They
were
his friends.

No. Better than that. They were his loyal subjects, here to do his bidding. Here to help him achieve greatness.

Yes. Greatness. FOR ARMAND JORDAN WAS THE MAN WHO WOULD BE KING.

And when he was the ruler, he would transport everyone to Akramshar where they would all live in harmony and peace.

He stared at the two women – Luscious and Seducta. These women were not whores, they were beautiful creatures. Exquisite. He wanted to fuck them. He wanted to fuck them both. He wanted to fuck them forever.

They would all float together in a sea of happiness. Their bodies would be filled with wonderment. It’s the way it was supposed to be.

His heart was on a crazy trip of its own. It was beating so fast he could hardly keep up. And yet the rhythm was comforting, it made him feel warm and safe.

He could do anything.

Being alive was such a pleasure.

It was heavenly.

He
was heavenly.

*   *   *

‘Do you recognize her?’ Ellie asked, keeping her voice low.

‘Think it might be the one from L.A.,’ Kev said, squinting to get a better view. ‘Max somethin’ or other.’

‘She looks young,’ Ellie observed.

‘She
is
young.’

‘All the better,’ Ellie said, clicking away with her long lens as Billy and Max continued to hug and kiss.

Kev wondered if, when Ellie had taken enough photos, he was going to get laid.

Laid
and
paid. It was a no-lose situation.

*   *   *

‘Seems to me your wife is on the missing list,’ Alex said, making digs at Lennie as he’d been doing all night.

‘My
wife
is at home in bed waiting for me,’ Lennie responded.

‘You mean she leaves you in a club without so much as a goodbye?’ Alex taunted, swigging more Scotch.

Lennie gave a dry laugh. ‘Just goes to show how well you know Lucky. She does her thing, I do mine. We never feel the need to check in.’

‘A modern marriage, huh?’

‘Modern, not open.’

‘Just asking.’

‘Ask away, Alex.’ A long meaningful beat. ‘But I think I should tell you – Lucky will
never
be yours. Never. And that’s something you can take to the bank.’ Another long beat. ‘Do we understand each other?’

*   *   *

‘I’m tellin’ you,’ Luscious whispered in Randy’s ear. ‘We gotta forget about the hit. There’s a shitload of money in a suitcase in the bedroom – could be more than a hundred thou.’

Randy had just taken a solid drag on the crack pipe and he wasn’t concentrating, which infuriated Luscious. So did the fact that Seducta was lolling all over him, and he was not shoving her off. Her tits were in his face and he didn’t seem to mind.

Sometimes Randy didn’t get the bigger picture, but Luscious was sure that Mikey certainly would. She was starting to think that it was time for her to move on.

Mikey was standing by the window smoking a long thin cheroot. He’d already pocketed the twelve thousand five hundred dollar deposit, now he was waiting for the client to tell him who the subject was.

It had already crossed Mikey’s mind that he could take the money he already had, stick it in his safe-deposit box and do nothing. This visiting prick was so out of it he wouldn’t know the difference. And if he did that – there was nothing the john could do. The asshole would be fucked, screwed, caught on a freeway without a ride and no pants.

Mikey gave a grim smile. He didn’t do drugs. He smoked. He drank – never to excess. Mikey was a man intent on staying in control.

As he watched them all getting wasted he felt sorry for them. No willpower. No backbone. Truth was, they were nothing but a bunch of losers.

He observed his wife sucking on the pipe. Dumb as shit. The puzzle was – why had he married her?

Could it be that in a weak moment he’d succumbed to the power of pussy and the lure of big tits? Foolish. Even Luscious – who was no prize herself, was smarter than Seducta.

As if reading his mind, Luscious sidled up to him. ‘We gotta move fast,’ she said in a low voice.

‘Move fast what?’ Mikey said, flicking ash on the rug.

‘There’s a suitcase in the bedroom stuffed fulla money. I saw it.’ She indicated Armand. ‘He’s too fucked up to know anything. What we gotta do is take it an’ get the shit out.’

‘How much money?’ Mikey questioned, his interest piqued.

‘Go look for yourself,’ Luscious insisted. ‘I’m tellin’ you – it’s worth runnin’.’

Mikey didn’t need telling twice. He headed purposefully toward the bedroom.

Chapter Sixty

‘T
he timer has come,’ Bobby said. ‘For us to move in together.’

‘Don’t you ever sleep?’ Denver groaned, rolling over in bed. ‘What’s the time?’

‘A house, I’m buying us a house,’ he said decisively. ‘Half-yours, half-mine. I’ll decorate my half, you can go for it on yours.’

‘Oh,’ she said, yawning. ‘So now you’re a decorator.’

‘I know what I like. I worked with my design team on Mood.’

‘You’re something else, Bobby Santangelo Stanislopoulos,’ she sighed. ‘A man of many talents.’

‘What’s your favourite?’ he asked, reaching his arms around her.

‘Right now my favourite is sleep, plenty of it.’

‘Then we’re agreed?’ he said, spooning up against her. ‘I can buy us a house.’

‘I didn’t say—’

His hands slid under the oversized T-shirt she wore to bed and began caressing her breasts. ‘
What
didn’t you say?’

‘No sex. Sleep,’ she begged. ‘You’re turning into a horn dog.’

‘Only if we got a deal.’

‘Okay, okay, we got a deal,’ she agreed.

‘Is that a promise?’

‘Yes, it’s a promise.’

‘Are you a woman of your word?’

‘Yes! Yes! Yes!’

‘Okay then,’ he said, grinning. ‘You can go to sleep now.’

‘You’re sure?’

‘Well . . .’ he said, his hands on the move. ‘Maybe we should—’

‘Bobby!’

‘Hey – third time for luck.’

‘Oh my God! Has anyone ever told you you’re turning into a sex maniac?’

He grinned again. ‘Only you.’

*   *   *

‘Was I right or was I right?’ Luscious said, addressing Mikey, a triumphant gleam in her eyes.

Mikey, standing in front of Armand’s open suitcase filled with nothing but money, let out a long low whistle. ‘Yeah,’ he said at last. ‘You was right.’

Praise from the inscrutable Mikey was praise indeed. Luscious preened.

Mikey began tapping his right foot on the plush carpet, a sure sign that he was thinking. By his quick calculations there had to be at least three- or four-hundred-thousand in the suitcase. Maybe more. He’d
never
seen that much money in one place, and he’d been around drug dealers and criminals all his life. This was big time.