Double Lucky (72 page)

“He's merely a late starter,” Sidney had assured her. “He doesn't wish to get tied down for now. It's understandable.”

Sidney was always so smart about everything. How she missed him!

However, the time had come to do something about Armand, and she fully intended to. If he couldn't pick a wife for himself,
she
would do it for him. As his mother, it was her duty.

When he called, she was ready.

“How was your trip, Armand?” she asked.

“The same as usual,” he replied.

“And the king?”

“Nothing changes.”

“Any new wives?”

“I do not notice such things.”

Of course he doesn't notice such things,
Peggy thought, slightly aggravated that her son never had any juicy gossip when he returned from his yearly visit.

“Well anyway,” she said. “I wish to see you.”

“When I get back,” Armand said, wondering what the hell she wanted now.

“You just got back,” Peggy said, pointing out the obvious.

“I know,” he said impatiently. “But tonight I fly to Vegas for an important meeting.”

“What time tonight?”

“Does it matter?”

“Yes, Armand, it does,” she said, keeping her tone even. “Because tonight I am coming with you.”

 

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Upon awaking early Thursday, Bobby was pleased with himself. He had not answered his door to the four
A.M.
caller, whom he was positive was Zeena. His only fear was that she might have been accompanied by a bodyguard who would be quite capable of springing the lock on his front door. Fortunately, this had not happened, and after fifteen minutes, the ringing had stopped and he'd gone back to bed. Now it was morning and he was safe.

Man! What an insane situation. Scared of an ego-driven superstar desperate to get in his pants. Who would believe it?

After shaving and showering, he called Denver, who was at work. “I'm hoping to catch a three o'clock flight out of here,” he told her. “That means if I don't get delayed, I should be with you around six.”

“Uh … how do you feel about dinner at my family's house?” she ventured, thinking that the time had come. “Family dinners are a Thursday-night tradition, and since you haven't met them, I thought…”

“You mean you're actually going to introduce me to your family?” he teased. “What are you—on drugs?”

She laughed weakly. “Is that a yes?”

“Damn right it's a yes.”

“Then consider yourself invited.”

“Oh, you bet your ass I will.”

Things were looking up. He was finally going to meet Denver's family. He couldn't wait.

*   *   *

“Morning,” Billy said, fit and tanned, tousled dirty-blond hair flopping on his forehead.

Max rolled across the sand and slowly opened her eyes. There he was, Billy Melina, standing over her holding a glass of orange juice.
So it wasn't all a crazy dream! He's here, and so am I.

“Where … where did you get that?” she asked as he passed her the glass.

“From the house,” he said calmly. “Hate to be the one to tell you, but it's a freakin' wreck up there. We're gonna need a cleanin' crew.”

We;
he'd said
we
. How exciting was
that!

The sun was just coming up and it was chilly. Shivering slightly, she attempted to recall details of the previous night. Getting together with Billy was some kind of wonderful hazy blur. But one thing she knew for sure was that it had been totally great, and she didn't regret one single minute of it.

“You're still here,” she murmured, stretching her arms above her head.

“Course I'm still here,” he answered cheerfully. “What did you think, that I was gonna run off an' leave you?”

She gazed up into his super-blue eyes and broke into a wide grin. “You wouldn't do that, would you?” she said happily.

He grinned back. “No,” he said sincerely. “I wouldn't do that.”

“Didn't think so.”

“Oh, like you know me so well,” he teased, dropping onto the sand next to her and placing his arm around her shoulders.

She snuggled close. “You do know that last night was … uh … my … uh … first time,” she murmured softly.

“Yeah,” he said, nodding. “I kinda realized that.”

“And you weren't disappointed?” she asked, dying to hear what he would say.

“Are you kiddin' me?” he said, throwing her a quizzical look. “You made it all the way to eighteen, that's almost a record.”

“Uh … actually, I won't be eighteen until Saturday,” she confessed, deciding that she'd better be honest with him.

“Huh?”

“Yeah, I kinda fudged a little,” she admitted.

“Ah, jeez!” he groaned.

“
What?
”

“That means you're not even legal.”

“Almost,” she said quickly.

“‘Almost' doesn't cut it,” he said, imagining the headlines if this got out. “You do realize I could get my ass thrown into jail for what we did last night?”

“Who's going to know?”

“You, me, and no one else, right?” he said, swallowing hard.

“Right,” she agreed.

“That means you cannot tell anyone—an' I mean
anyone
. Got it?”

“Like who exactly am I gonna tell?” she asked, regaining a little of her composure.

“Lucky, for a start.”

“You
have
to be insane!” she exclaimed. “Lucky's the
last
person I'd tell.”

“And who'd be the first?”

“Oh, I dunno,” she answered vaguely. “
The National Enquirer, Star
magazine, TMZ—”

He lunged on top of her, and they rolled across the sand, laughing. The orange juice spilled, but neither of them cared.

“You're funny,” he said.

“I try,” she replied, suddenly breathless.

“
And
a nasty little liar,” he added, but not in a bad way.

“Sorry,” she said, feeling quite exhilarated.

“But I like you,” he said quickly.

“And I like you back,” she replied, equally fast.

“Jeez, this is crazy, isn't it?” he said, touching her face.

“Way crazy,” she replied, marveling at the intense blue of his eyes and the feel of his hard body on top of her.

Actually, it was beyond crazy. Never mind about the party, if Lucky and Lennie found out about her night of lust with Billy, they would totally
freak!
Her losing her virginity probably wouldn't faze them. But her losing it to Billy Melina was a big huge NO!

Anyway, who cared? She'd just experienced the most fantastic, awesome night of her life. Now all she really wanted to do was be by herself so she could relive every magical, fantastic moment.

“I suppose we should drag our asses up to the house,” Billy said.

“I guess,” she said, worrying about what kind of devastation she'd find.

“I'd better warn you, you're not gonna be thrilled,” Billy said, leaping to his feet and helping her up.

“Is anyone still there?”

“A coupla strays.”

She hoped the strays were Cookie and Harry, but she doubted it. Knowing them, they'd both taken off and left her to deal.

“Is it a mess?”

“You'd better believe it.”

“What am I gonna do?” she groaned. “How am I gonna fix it?”

“Don't sweat it.”

“Well,” she said, searching for a solution, “at least the housekeepers are coming back at noon.”

“Gonna take more than a couple of maids to fix this,” Billy said, shaking his head.

“You think?” she asked nervously.

“Come on,” he said, pulling her toward the steps that led up to the house. “I've already called my manager. He's gettin' a crew over here.”

“You can't do that,” she said, frowning. “I've got to keep this under the radar.”

“Don't worry, my manager's a cool dude. Nobody's gonna know whose house it is.”

“You're
sure?
” she asked, certain that somehow or other she was going to get busted. Oh God! The wrath of Lucky and Lennie didn't bear thinking about.

“Course I'm sure.”

Billy's amazing,
she thought, gazing up at him.
He won't let me down. He's definitely a take-charge kinda dude, unlike Ace, who's always vacillating about what he's going to do with his life.

Still … Ace had been her on-again, off-again boyfriend for eighteen months, and now she would have to break up with him for sure. She liked him, she'd just never liked him enough for him to be The One. The truth was, even if she never saw Billy again, she was glad he'd turned out to be The One. It was super karma.

As they reached the top of the steps and approached the once immaculate pool area, she let out a gasp of horror. “Oh my
God!
” she yelled, trying to control a sudden rush of panic. “They've trashed my house!”

A trail of destruction surrounded the pool. There were overturned loungers, overflowing ashtrays, cigarette butts stamped out on the marble surround by the pool, and empty firework boxes everywhere, plus scorch marks on some of the sun umbrellas. Not to mention crushed beer cans, broken bottles, half-eaten burgers, cartons of French fries, ketchup spilled everywhere, and trash, trash, trash.

The pool resembled a garbage dump—what hadn't ended up around it was in it. A mass of floating debris.

“Lucky's going to
kill
me,” Max wailed. “She'll freaking
murder
me!”

“Stay cool,” Billy said, in charge and liking it. “It'll all be taken care of.”

Venus had
never
let him take charge; she'd had “people” to do everything. This situation was refreshing, made him feel manly and useful.

“When?” Max demanded, thinking of all the ways she could be punished. “How?”

“They're on their way,” Billy assured her.

“
Who's
on their way?”

“I told you, I called my manager. A cleaning crew will be here any minute.”

“You think?” she said, forcing herself to calm down because she had no wish for him to perceive her as a hysterical kid. That would really be lame. After all, he was used to being with Venus—who was not only a worldwide superstar, but the epitome of cool, even though she was old. Well, not exactly old, but certainly older than him.

“It's a done deal,” he said easily. “So calm down.”

“If you say so.”

“I do,” he said, taking her hand and leading her over to the outside bar, where they perched on two tall bar stools.

“I'm, uh … going to Vegas later today,” Max blurted. “Lucky's throwing me a birthday party on Saturday.”

“No shit?” he said, picking up a half-full bottle of Evian and taking a long swig.

“It's not what I want,” she said quickly. “Not at all.”

“No more parties for you, huh?” he said, thinking what a knockout she was with her dark curly hair, olive skin, and brilliant green eyes. So different from Venus, who was all seductive blond perfection and toned muscles.

But she was young—too young?

Hell no. He was Billy Melina; he could hook up with anyone he wanted.

“Absolutely not,” she said, shaking her head. Then after taking a long beat she added, “I don't suppose…” Trailing off, she looked at him expectantly.

He caught her drift and hurriedly said, “Sorry—no. Much as I'd like to be there for you, it ain't gonna happen.”
No way, babe. Are you kidding? Lucky would have my balls for breakfast.

“No?”

“No.”

“I get it.” She sighed.

And then she thought,
But there's no way I'm giving up on Billy Melina.

No way at all.

*   *   *

Once a year Lucky planned a board meeting for all her original investors, hopefully a celebration of how well The Keys was doing in such a downward economy. Generally Vegas had taken a big hit, but not The Keys, oh no. Business was on an upward spiral.

The day before the meeting she gathered a group of her key executives, who early on had each received shares in her company. Being part of the process was the biggest incentive of all, and everyone appreciated Lucky's generosity. She'd learned from Gino that making people who worked for her feel like part of a family was a key move. Actually, it was something she enjoyed; personal interaction couldn't be beat for creating a loyal group of executives who were always there for her.

A lunchtime gathering took place on one of the flower-filled outdoor patios, where Lucky made sure to have a one-on-one conversation with each individual. She had a knack for not only remembering everyone's name, but also remembering the names of their spouses, kids, and family pets if they had any. Lucky was adored by the people who worked for her; they were extremely dedicated, and they too strived for The Keys to be the best it could be.

As Lucky moved between groups, stories were exchanged about difficult guests, high rollers who weren't worth the trouble they caused, con artists, stars and their egos, jewelry thieves, card sharks, petty criminals, fake identities, and beautiful women passing themselves off as high society when in fact they were highly expensive call girls. All Vegas hotels and casinos suffered from the same proliferation of scammers, but Lucky liked to think her security team worked at the top of their game. She enjoyed hearing the stories, always interesting, sometimes bizarre, often hard to believe.

Jerrod, her head of security, was the best, formerly a captain in the Israeli army. Nothing and no one got past Jerrod.