Gorilla Beach (23 page)

Gia reached into her Hello Kitty, sequined tote and gave $100 bills to Erin, Steve, and the chip counter. It was awful to see Gia upset.

“Are you okay?” asked Erin.

“Meh. I was more bummed about losing my psychic gift than the money. But I got the last bet right. So I still have my power.”

Oh, you poor deluded girl,
thought Erin. “Just the same, I'd call it a night.”

“For what it's worth,” said Gia, “I'd rather be lucky in love than gambling.”

Bzzzzzzzz
. Erin's phone vibrated in her suit pocket. “Hello?”

“Lobby, now,” said Mr. Violenti.

She found her boss
by the statue of Jupiter, inside the security gate, holding a bucket. It was feeding time again. He threw a hunk of gristle into the moat. The gators snapped, the water roiled. “So Lupo dropped a bundle. Good. But he's still way up for the week.”

“The streak is over,” said Erin. “He'll steam through the rest in the next few days.” Secretly she hoped Fredo would have the good sense not to.

“But his girlfriend told him to stop betting,” said Mr. Violenti.

“Gia's not his girlfriend …”

He was smirking at her. So he knew about last night. Of course he did. “You told me to get close to him. And now you're angry about it?”

“I find it interesting that he lost a fraction of his winnings the day after you two spend the night together. That's convenient.”
Mr. Violenti flung more fat into the moat, and his raccoon toupee tilted an inch to the left.

Erin's stomach tightened. “What are you getting at?”

“That little fight when he stormed off? I bet it was rehearsed. Now he's got an excuse to leave town with all my money, and you come off looking like a loyal employee for following my instructions.”

“You're wrong,” she said, panic rising.

“The capper was that the little brunette didn't seem to care about dropping twenty thousand dollars. Why wouldn't she cry or stamp her tiny feet or beat on her tan boobies?
Because it was part of the act.
You've been in on this scam from the beginning.”

“Not true.”

“I can't trust you anymore. You're done in the pit.”

“What about the Midnight manager job?”

He doubled over laughing, the sick son of a bitch. “You don't really believe I'd ever give that job to
a woman
? Do I look retarded to you?”

“Now that you mention it …” The askew toupee wasn't helping his case.

Then he threw the rest of the beef gristle into the moat. “Just look at those suckers snap! God, I love them. You're freakin' fired. Clear out by noon tomorrow.”

Bella begged off betting
tonight. She and Will were having dinner at Flagrante Delicto, a schmancy Italian restaurant in the hotel. She shimmered in a silver-lamé, strapless sheath dress and strappy stilettos, and fantasized about walking into the place and watching Will's expression change when he saw her. She laughed to herself, feeling that a
woww
was waiting for her.

A hand cupped her elbow from behind. “How's it going, hot wenis?” a deep voice growled in her ear.

In a flash, Bella grabbed the asshat's hand and bent his wrist forward in a karate move she called the Pussy.

The guy dropped to his knees. “Jesus, Bella! Let go!”

“Tony!” Her ex. She released him. “What are you doing here?”

Rubbing his wrist, he stood up. “Drove down from Seaside an hour ago, on an errand for my grandfather.”

Was he stalking her? “In my hotel?”

“As a matter of fact, yeah. But I wanted to find you, too. We've got some unfinished business.”

As far as she was concerned, they were done, done, done. Nothing left unsaid. “How did you know where to find me?”

“From Gia. She's my errand for Giuseppe.”

They barely knew each other. “What's going on there?”

Tony shrugged. “No clue. He won't talk about it.”

Bella made a mental note to ask Gia later. Her phone vibrated. A text from Will that said
I'M HERE. WHERE U?

She texted
ON THE WAY.
To Tony, she said, “I'm late to meet someone.”

“Just give me a few minutes, Bells. I've been thinking about you nonstop since you left town.”

“Oh, for Christ's sake. Get over it.”

They were standing within ten feet of the restaurant entrance. The last thing she needed was for Will to come looking for her and find her in an intense discussion with Tony. Will was well aware that he wasn't her usual type, and seeing her with Tony, a classic guido gorilla, might make him insecure and jealous.

“Come on,” she said, grabbing Tony by his bruised wrist—“Ouch! Careful!” he whined—and leading him to her favorite statue of Venus, in the lobby. “Get back there.” She directed him behind it, so they'd be hidden from view. “You've got two minutes.”

He grinned. “You look good, Bella. Have you been working out? I mean, more than usual?”

Rolling her eyes under her glittered lashes, she said, “I'm outta here.”

“No, wait. I don't mean anything. That's my fallback opener. You know that.”

Tony was the manager of a gym. He pretty much started every conversation on the subject of abs, lats, and pecs. “Waiting,” she said.

“Gia told me about Marissa, and how Charlie took off while she was sick. I had to tell you how sorry I am. If I knew what you were going through at the time, I wouldn't have been such a dick—not that it's ever okay to be a dick. Why didn't you tell me?”

A fair question. She'd thought about that, too. Instead of relying on Tony when she could have used the emotional backup, she'd frozen him out. He sensed her backing off, and like any guido would, he reacted with anger. When Gia accused her of
feeling superior and needing to be needed, something clicked in Bella's head. For all her caretaking abilities, she was incapable of letting others take care of her. “I should have told you and let you help. I just couldn't talk about it. I didn't want to turn Mom's illness into my problem. And confiding to anyone outside the family felt like airing dirty laundry. I wanted to circle the wagons.”

“I understand,” he said softly. “When my parents died, I didn't talk about it to anyone, except my grandparents, for a year. I'm not blaming you for anything. I just hope you know you've got a friend in me. I'm here for you, no matter what. How is Marissa? Is she okay?”

Tony looked genuinely concerned. Seeing the sympathy on his face made the heavy armor Bella had worn for months suddenly fall off her shoulders. She felt lighter and freer and wanted to talk. “Mom's fine. She's still recovering from her treatment. But the doctors say she's in remission. She needs to be tested every six months, but things look good.”

“And your dad?”

Bella shook her head, her chin buckling. “Can't go there.”

“How about you?”

She smiled at Tony, the kid she'd loved hard for a while there, and felt only gratitude for their relationship. No more anger. No hurt feelings. He'd asked her for friendship, and now she was ready to have one.

“Better now,” she said. “I was angry at the world and put a lot of it on you. It's not fair. I really am sorry about cutting you out.”

“
I'm
sorry.”

“We can both be sorry,” she said.

“We have so much in common.”

The last ripple of anxiety about their past smoothed over. “Do you wanna hang out later? Gia and Fredo are around here somewhere. I'm having dinner with my new friend, but we can meet up after.”

“Friend? With benefits? Already?”

“I've been in AC for over a week! And I haven't been sitting around picking my nose.”

Tony laughed and pulled her into a Guido Hug. He kissed her bare shoulder and said, “Thanks for asking, but I gotta get back to Seaside. I think the water's safe for you and Gia to come back, too.”

“Why?”

“Donna Lupo has put out the word that you can come back, as long as you bring Fredo with you.”

So Donna missed her boy. Well, he'd grown up
a lot
since she'd last seen him. “I don't control him. And I'm not sure we want to come back. Maybe,” said Bella. Doubtful. Why leave AC when she had a boyfriend, her BFFs, and a great place to stay right here?

“If you do come back, you know where to find me,” he said.

“Doing curls and making kissy faces to yourself in the mirror at the gym?”

“Exactly.”

Bella rushed into Flagrante
Delicto. Will wasn't there. But he'd texted not two minutes ago … another one came in.
DINNER'S OFF
he wrote.

The hell?
Bella hadn't spent an hour flat-ironing her weave, shaving her limbs, and gluing on glittered lashes to get blown off at the last second.

She called him. “What's your problem?”

“I lost my appetite,” he said gruffly.

She could tell he was walking through the casino from the bongs and pings of the slot machines. She turned her stilettos in that direction. “Talk to me, or else.”

“Or else what?” he asked casually. “Or else you'll go behind the statue of Venus and make out with some juicehead? Too late. You already did that.”

Just as Bella feared, he did come looking for her. “That was my ex. He's here on business and we ran into each other.” Even as she defended herself, she knew it sounded lame. If he told her he'd gone behind the statue with an ex, Bella would've kicked him to the curb.

“That brainless side of beef used to be your boyfriend? If you're interested in a guy like that, I'm not interested in you.”

“Nothing happened. We were just clearing the air.”

From the background sound, Bella could tell Will had exited the casino and was on the boardwalk. She took a shortcut through the elevator bank and was outside in the neon glow soon after.

“I don't own you, Bella. You can do whatever—”

Cutting him off, she said, “Tony is a friend. He wanted to ask how my mom was feeling, since she's just out of the woods with cancer.”

She spotted Will leaning on the railing nearby, overlooking sand dunes and the ocean. He was pressing the phone to his cheek, his mouth opened, surprised. “You never told me.”

Walking toward him, she said, “I'm telling you now. And there's more. My father was so freaked out, he left home. I woke up one morning, and he was gone. Packed his bags and disappeared in the middle of the night. He was a coward, and I'll never forgive him for it.” The last part, she was close enough to say to Will's face. She leaned on the railing next to him. “You're not the only person who's been disappointed by the people you love. I know what it feels like, too. But I'm not your mother or your father. I ran into Tony and made peace with him after months of bad blood. Settling up with him makes me feel even better about being
with you
. I got dressed up tonight for
you
.”

Will shook his head. “Seeing you with that guy only made me realize just how different we are. You looked good with that kid. You fit. You talk the same language. I don't speak guido. Now that you set things right with Tony, you can get back together.”

“Tony and I broke up because I couldn't open up to him. So now I open up to you, and you're dumping me anyway?”

“It's a preemptive strike.”

Bella hauled back and jabbed him in the solar plexus. One of her signature moves in the sparring ring.

The air punched out of him, Will collapsed to his knees, gasping for breath. Bella squatted to get on eye level with him. “Just so you know, that's how guidettes say, ‘
Fuck you
.'”

Stomping back into Nero's, Bella collided with Fredo, who was also in a snit. “Where are
you
going?”

“Out of here,” said Fredo.

“Wait for me!” Gia bounced up behind them. Seeing Bella's expression, Gia asked, “And?”

“Will is a scumbag.”

“Told you he wasn't your type. Then again, Bobby and Tony were jerkoffs, too. So maybe that is your type.”

“Yeah, scumbags are my weakness,” said Bella.

“Can we
go
?” pleaded Fredo.

“To Gorilla Beach,” said Gia. “Tanner will hook us up.”

Bella did a double take. “Something's changed about you, Fredo.”

“I just lost twenty thousand dollars!”

He looked taller, brighter, and studlier. Testing her theory, Bella gave him a Guido Hug—and he didn't squirm. “You lost something else, didn't you?” she asked, laughing.

Gia said, “Yeah, he did!
With Erin
.”

“The ginger? She's hawt.”

“We want juicy details.”

Fredo shook his head. “A guido never tells.”

Gia and Bella stopped in their tracks.

“Wow,” said Bella.

“I know,” agreed Gia. “The transformation is complete.”

They got to the Gorilla Beach Bar and grabbed seats. As they settled, Bella noticed that three or four of the juiceheads gave Fredo the nod. Two came over to him for fist bumps.

“Yo, bro. Washapnen?” asked one, a massive creature of six feet and 250 pounds.

Fredo said, “Rebate, my man! This is Gia and Bella. Girls, meet Rebate.”

The cousins shook his hand, which was like trying to grab hold of a basketball. He said, “Fredo, man, I thought you were okay before. But now. Dude. Shock and Awe right there.”

Gia said, “I'm Shock!”

Bella pointed at her chest. “Awe.”

Rebate laughed. “We're hanging at the end of the bar. Check in later.”

Gia asked, “We? You and your girlfriend?”