Double Lucky (29 page)

Standing outside the door of Ace's prison, he strained to hear if there was any movement inside.

Not a sound. Total silence.

This was good. This meant he wouldn't have to deal with the cousin. This meant that he didn't have to open the door if he chose not to. He was out of the Pasadena mausoleum and living an adventure. He was not shut in his room watching endless horror movies and pornographic images on his computer. He was the star of his own movie, and this was one role Billy Melina could
never
steal from him.

AN ADVENTURE

Starring

HENRY WHITFIELD-SIMMONS

and

MARIA GOLDEN

It should be a love story.

It
would
be a love story.

Now that the cousin was taken care of, he would make it happen.

 

CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

The enormous white tent set up on the grounds of Lucky and Lennie's Bel-Air house was an impressive structure, no expense spared. The tent was ablaze with hundreds of twinkling fairy lights, crystal chandeliers, and garlands of white calla lilies winding around Roman columns. Exotic orchid arrangements were the magnificent centerpieces on each table, along with musk-scented candles in tall sterling-silver holders. The theme was white and silver from the long flowing tablecloths to the pristine place settings.

Before reaching the tent where dinner was to be served, guests gathered around the two Art Deco bars, one on each end of the shimmering blue pool. Sensual Brazilian music played over loudspeakers, while attractive waiters and waitresses circulated holding aloft trays of champagne, wine, and sparkling water.

Venus and Billy were amongst the first to arrive. Bobby was playing host for his mother who was still upstairs dressing. He raced over to Venus, his former boyhood crush, and greeted her with an enthusiastic kiss on both cheeks. “You are looking spectacular,” he said admiringly.

“Doesn't she,” Billy agreed, claiming possession.

“You know Bobby, Lucky's son,” Venus said, introducing the two men.

“Oh yeah, you're the dude with the club in New York, right?” Billy said.

“A
hot
club in New York plus a billion dollars when he hits twenty-five,” Venus added, smiling. “And you
know
how I like young men. You'd better watch out, Billy.”

“Hey, baby,” Billy said, taking her arm. “
I'm
the
only
young man in your life, an' don't you forget it.”

“As if I could,” she said, hugging him.

“I had a crush on her when I was twelve,” Bobby admitted. “Posters on my wall, CDs on my mind, the whole ten yards.”

“Didn't we all,” Billy said with a knowing grin. “I can remember—”

“Hey!” Venus objected. “You're making me feel as if I'm ninety years old!”

Bobby lifted a glass of champagne from a passing waiter and surveyed the arriving guests.

“Got a hunch I'm not gonna be getting much action here tonight,” he said. “It's like couples' city. I knew I should've imported a date.”

“Sorry, bro,” Billy said, holding on to Venus. “But this one is definitely taken.”

“I can see that.”

“There's Gino,” Venus said, gesturing across the pool. “C'mon, Billy, let's go say hello.”

“For an old guy, he looks pretty damn great,” Billy said, squinting.

“Yeah,” Bobby agreed. “For an old geezer, Gino is amazing.”

“Y'know,” Venus ventured, “Billy and I were thinking of maybe developing a movie about his life.”

“No shit?” Bobby said, looking interested. “Have you run it by Lucky?”

“Not yet, but wouldn't it make an incredible movie?”

“It sure would,” Bobby said. “Gino stories are legendary in our family. When I was growing up, Uncle Costa had tales to tell nobody would believe.”

“Maybe we should sign Uncle Costa up as creative consultant,” Billy suggested. “Is he here tonight?”

“If he is it's a miracle,” Bobby said with a wry grin. “Costa's long gone. If he was still around he'd be about a hundred years old.”

“Oh,” Venus murmured dryly as they all headed toward Gino. “The same age as me!”

Gino was delighted to see everyone. All dressed up in a pinstriped suit, white shirt, and red tie, he did not look anywhere near ninety-five—he was still an impressive-looking man with all his own teeth, a healthy head of gray hair, and a ribald sense of humor. He sat in a chair next to the bar, holding court.

“An' here she comes,” he exclaimed as soon as he spotted Venus. “Lucky's hot little friend. How ya doin', kiddo?”

“I'm doing great, Gino,” Venus responded, bending down and kissing him on both cheeks. “Even better for seeing you.”

“Always noticed you was a sexy-lookin' broad,” Gino said, clearing his throat. “Ah … if only I was a coupla years younger, what I wouldn't do to you!”

Everyone laughed. Venus introduced Billy.

“Paige,” Gino said, grabbing his wife's arm. “Y'see this kid, he's a big friggin' movie star. We saw him in somethin' last week, am I right?”

“Indeed we did,” Paige agreed.

“Yeah, you played a psycho killer. Nice job, kid, you got it down.”

“Tell that to Alex Woods,” Billy said, still smarting from Venus's earlier comments about Alex's opinion of him. “Anyone seen him around?”

Venus gave Billy a sharp nudge in the ribs. “Now don't get all wound up over nothing,” she cautioned. “I shouldn't've told you what he said.”

“Well, you did, babe, an' now I'm pissed.”

A few minutes later Lucky made her entrance wearing a red column of a Valentino dress that set off her smooth olive skin and unruly cascades of jet black hair. She wore diamond hoops in her ears and a stack of antique diamond bracelets up both arms. As usual she looked incredible.

Lennie was by her side. He'd been trying to calm her down about Max all afternoon. The good news was that they'd recently received a message from their daughter on Lucky's cell phone, which had made her feel better, although she was still furious at her errant daughter. “I'm gonna bust her too-smart-for-her-own-good ass when she finally makes it home,” she'd threatened, after listening to Max's message a third time.

The message was Max saying, “Mom, sorry to miss Granddad's party. I'll be home tomorrow. Love ya.”

Hmm …
love ya
. That wasn't Max's usual greeting, and she always called Gino by his name, never Granddad. Lucky had her misgivings. What the hell was Max up to now? And how come Cookie didn't know anything?

Glancing around at the clusters of guests, Lucky noticed Cookie over in a corner with Max's other friend, Harry. The two of them looked like they were in deep conversation. Distracted, she waved a quick greeting at everyone, said, “I'll be right back,” and hurried over to Cookie and Harry.

“Did you hear from Max?” was her first question.

“No,” Cookie answered, wishing Lucky would stay out of her face. Why was
she
the one getting all the flak? “Did you?”

“She left a message on my cell,” Lucky said. “I'm wondering why she didn't call on the main line.”

“So like what did she
say
?” Cookie asked, most put out that Max hadn't called her, she'd left enough frantic messages.

“Just that she's coming home tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?” Harry questioned.

“I'm mad as hell,” Lucky said. “And you two—what were you thinking, letting her go off to Big Bear to meet a stranger? I thought you were her friends.”

“You know what Max is like,” Cookie said, shrugging. “We couldn't stop her even if we wanted to. Max does things her way.”

“I understand that,” Lucky said coldly. “But did you have to encourage her?”

“We're real sorry, Mrs. Golden,” Harry muttered.

“Don't call me Mrs. Golden,” Lucky snapped. “It makes me feel ancient. You know my name—use it.”

“You're like
so
right,” Cookie said, biting her lower lip. “We should've tried to stop her.”

“Yeah,” Harry agreed, his black hair spiked higher than ever.

“Thing is, I
did
tell her,” Cookie said, getting into it. “I like
so
warned her that the Internet dude could turn out to be a pervert freako who could chop her up into little pieces.” Harry shot her a warning look. “Uh … just joking,” she finished lamely.

Shaking her head, Lucky walked back to join Venus and Billy. “You look fantastic,” she said to Venus, still distracted. “And Billy—always a star.”

“Oh, just what I need,” Venus muttered. “Here comes Cooper.” And as she finished saying it, Cooper strolled over with his very young girlfriend, Mandy, whom Billy seemed to know.

“Hey, Mandy!” Billy exclaimed, giving her a friendly hug. “How ya doin'?”

“Billy!” Mandy squealed. “You're here! How fab! I thought it would be all old people!”

Venus gave Cooper a cool look. “Hello,” she said.

“Good evening, Venus,” he replied.

“I see you went trolling outside the school yard for a date,” she said, indicating Mandy, who was all over Billy.

“You too,” Cooper said, glancing at Billy. “Must run in the family, huh?”

*   *   *

“Alex, you drive like a maniac,” Ling complained, sitting stiffly in the passenger seat.

“I drive the way I've always driven,” Alex replied, maneuvering his Porsche into a line of cars waiting to enter the Bel-Air driveway of Lucky's house. “Never had an accident.”

“Your driving makes me nervous.”

“Then shut your eyes.”

“Why can't you be nice to me?”

“I
am
nice to you,” he said. “You live in my house, isn't that being nice to you?”

“Is it because of your mother that you're the way you are?”

“I have no problem with my mother,” he said, reaching for a cigarette.

“I think you're wrong. Your mother is a
very
domineering woman.”

“No she's not,” he said shortly, lighting up. “And do not discuss my mother, she's off limits. Try to remember you're a lawyer, not a shrink.”

“That's right,” Ling said, holding tightly on to her clutch purse resting on her knees. “I'm a divorce lawyer, so I know plenty about relationships.”

“Good,” Alex said, exhaling smoke. “'Cause I'm not planning on getting married, which means you won't have to represent me.”

“I represent women, only women,” Ling said.

“Of course you do,” Alex said, taking another drag on his cigarette. “When the fuck is this line of cars getting to the goddamn house?”

Ling gazed out of the window and hoped that maybe tonight she would meet somebody more to her liking than Alex Woods. He was an extraordinarily talented man, but he treated her with no respect, and that wasn't right. But then again, as she'd recently confessed, she was in love with him, which made things complicated.

Soon they reached the front of the line where parking valets jumped forward to take the Porsche.

Alex got out and strode into the house. Ling tagged along behind him, finding it difficult to keep up in her ultrahigh heels.

Waiters holding trays of champagne were circulating. Alex grabbed a glass and downed it quickly. “Let's go find the bar,” he said. “I need a proper drink.”

“Please don't drink too much,” Ling begged.

“For God's sake, quit with the nagging.”

*   *   *

Venus loved being out with Billy, especially amongst her peers. She knew they made an amazing couple—he didn't look too young and she didn't look too old. They looked like contemporaries. She also liked that he was getting plenty of attention as well as her. Billy was an excellent actor, and a well-respected one too. It wasn't like she was out with some boy toy; Billy had his own high profile.

Holding on to his arm, she proudly introduced him to people he hadn't met before, enjoying the compliments bestowed upon him.

Billy was enjoying himself too, although his crotch itched like crazy. Venus might have gotten rid of his crabs, but the stubble burn from her shaving skills was driving him nuts.

“Gotta go to the men's room, babe,” he said, slipping away from her.

As he walked toward the house, a tray-carrying waitress stepped in front of him, blocking his way.

“Billy?” she said.

He gave her a puzzled look. “Do I know you?”

“You should know me,” she retorted. “It was you who gave me the crabs.”

Holy shit! It was the waif from Tower Records. Miss Broken Taillight herself. And here she was all neat and clean in a waitress uniform with her hair piled on top of her head, looking quite respectable.

“What do you mean,
I
gave
you
crabs?” he said, outraged. “I got them from
you
.”

“You certainly did not!” she replied, equally outraged. “You were the one who had them.”

Jesus! He motioned her over to the side of the room. “People can hear,” he said, keeping his voice low. “Don't talk to me about this here.”

“When
should
I talk to you?” she retorted. “You gave me crabs and I had to spend a ton of money I didn't have visiting the doctor and finding out what it was. You're disgusting!”

“Hey,” he said, scowling, “you didn't get them from me 'cause the only person I sleep with is my girlfriend.”

“Really?” she said. “Then what does that make me? A one-afternoon stand?”

“I didn't mean that,” he said, steering her over to a quieter corner. “What I meant was that when we did it, I was broken up with my girlfriend.”