Vendetta: Lucky's Revenge (19 page)

LUCKY DID A LOT OF THINKING ON THE DRIVE
back from Palm Springs. In a way, she felt as if she were emerging from a dense fog—Lennie was gone, and hard as it was, she had to learn to accept it.

She drove directly to her house, where she spent time with her children. She picked up baby Gino, holding him close, allowing herself to be enveloped by his soothing warmth and helplessness. The realization that her children needed her swept over her. One thing she knew for sure—she would always be there for them.

Maria was racing around the house as usual. She had more energy than her mother—which was really saying something. She jumped up and down with delight when Lucky told her they’d spend the morning together. “Mommy, Mommy, read me story…I wanna story
…Pleeease!
” she begged.

“Okay,” Lucky said, and sat down and read to Maria from a colorful book about Larry the Lamb and Petey the Petunia.

Maria collapsed with mirth as she listened to her mother assume the various voices. “Now we go swimming, Mommy. Now! Now!” she shrieked when Lucky finished reading.

Instead of swimming, Lucky took her daughter for a long walk along the beach, then promised that over the weekend they’d go out and choose her a puppy. Maria was ecstatic.

Cee Cee informed her that Venus had called. Lucky was well aware she’d been neglecting her friends, and she resolved to do something about it.

Arriving at Panther after twelve, she drove across the lot, parking in her usual spot.

Kyoko was at his desk in the outer office.

“I’m sorry about yesterday, Ky,” she said on her way into her private domain. “I had to get out of here or go totally insane. Did you reschedule the appointments I missed?”

“Everything’s taken care of,” he replied, following her in. “I thought you might be late, so I canceled all your morning meetings, too.”

“Why?” she said wryly. “Was I that out of control yesterday?”

“It seemed like you were about to be.”

“Very astute, Ky. I had an interesting trip, and now I’m back.”

“You probably needed the break,” Kyoko said sympathetically.

“I did. Only today I’m being punished big time. I have a
major
hangover—any aspirin around here?”

He fetched her aspirin, a mug of strong black coffee, and a large glass of fresh orange juice. Then he placed her phone list in front of her.

She scanned the names, noting that Alex Woods had called twice. She had no intention of calling him—it was probably better to give him time to cool off, then, when they met again, it would be merely business.

For a moment she allowed her mind to wander, remembering Alex in bed…hot, fast sex…

No! Alex was a one-night revenge fuck. It would
never
happen again.

“Uh, Ky…” she said, trying to sound as casual as possible. “If Alex Woods phones back, find out what it’s in reference to. I don’t want to speak to him unless it has something to do with
Gangsters
. Take care of it, okay?”

“Yes, Lucky,” Kyoko said. It was not for him to ask questions that were obviously none of his business.

“And get Venus for me,” Lucky added, gulping down two aspirin with the orange juice.

Kyoko connected with Venus’s house and spoke to Anthony. “She’s not home,” he said. “Shall I try her on her car phone?”

“Please.”

A few seconds later Venus was on the line, sounding delighted. “This is like thought telepathy,” she said. “Did Cee Cee tell you I tried to reach you at home last night?”

“I’d
really
like to see you,” Lucky said. “It’s been too long since we got together. You don’t happen to be free for lunch?”

“Unfortunately, no,” Venus said, sounding disappointed. “How about dinner tonight?”

“Works for me. I’ll have Kyoko make a reservation at Morton’s.”

“Great! We can trash every guy in town, I love doing that!” Venus paused for a moment before continuing. “Uh…I wasn’t going to mention this, ’cause I know it’s your movie, but I’m on my way to see Alex Woods. I’m reading for Lola in
Gangsters
.”

“Lola?” Lucky said, surprised that Venus would consider such a small part. “That’s not a starring role.”

“I know, but
your
friend and
my
agent, Freddie, assures me I should do it, ’cause it’ll showcase me in a different light.”

“Trust Freddie to come up with a good idea.”

“I’ve been studying the script, which I
love. Now
I know why you wanted to make this movie.”

“Are you seeing Alex today?”

“In about ten minutes. So…if he should ask you about me…”

“Alex has the final say on who he casts. If it were my decision, you’d be Lola—although you’d bust the budget. Last week Alex signed Johnny Romano.”

“According to Freddie, he had to fight to get me in to see the great Mr. Woods, which—as you can imagine—does not thrill me.”

“I’m sure it doesn’t.”

“
You’ve
been working with him, what’s he like?”

Lucky reached for a cigarette, her addiction worsening every day. “I thought
you
were the one who knew all about him,” she said in a noncommittal tone.

“Only the stuff one of his ex-girlfriends couldn’t wait to tell me.”

“What was it she said again?”

“Hmm…let me see…oh, yeah—only screws Asians and doesn’t give head.”

“Sounds like a great guy,” Lucky said dryly.

“You should know.”

“What do you mean by
that
?”

“C’mon, Lucky,” Venus pleaded. “Give me the goods. Is he the pain in the ass everyone says he is?”

“Alex seems to be an okay guy,” Lucky said, choosing her words carefully. “He’s gotten a bad rap in the press. I’m sure you’ll get along with him.”

“If you happen to speak to him later, find out what he thought of me.”

“Sure,” Lucky said casually. “Maybe I will.”

And then again, maybe I won’t
.

By the time Venus finished talking to Lucky, she was pulling up to Alex’s production offices.

A guard waved her into the parking lot with a
welcoming beam and an enthusiastic, “Can I have your autograph for my sister? She’s your biggest fan.”

How many times had she heard
that
line.

She got out of her car, smoothing down the skirt of her clinging silk dress. The guard’s eyes were all over her, inspecting every available inch as she scrawled her signature on the grubby slip of paper he thrust her way. Her security advisors had warned her never to drive around L.A. by herself. Too bad—she enjoyed being alone in her car, listening to the latest CDs, thinking about things, generally relaxing. If she used a driver, it was a whole different trip. Although since she and Cooper had broken up, she never went anywhere unaccompanied at night.

Marriage to Cooper had been fun while it lasted; she’d been comfortable being faithful to one man.

A pity he hadn’t felt the same way.

An exquisite Asian girl met her at the entrance to Alex’s building. “Hi, I’m France,” the girl said, extending a small, well-manicured hand. “Welcome to Woodsan Productions. We are honored to have you here. Please follow me.”

Hmm…nice greeting. Perhaps Alex Woods was anxious to see her after all.

France led her into a large reception area with framed posters of all of Alex’s movies on the walls. An impressive collection.

“Alex is running a few minutes late,” France said apologetically. “May I get you something? Tea? Coffee? Spring water?”

Venus settled for an Evian and the latest issue of
Rolling Stone
. This was a new experience—she hadn’t been kept waiting in years. Was he testing her? Seeing if she was a prima donna?

After a twenty-minute wait, by which time she was getting more than a little impatient, another Asian
woman appeared. This one was older and strikingly attractive.

“I’m Lili, Alex Woods’s executive assistant,” the woman said, introducing herself with a warm smile. “Alex had to go out of town unexpectedly last night. He extends his heartfelt apologies for being late, he should be here momentarily.”

“How momentarily?” Venus asked. She was not inclined to wait much longer, it wasn’t good for her image.

“Very soon,” Lili assured her, adding a convincing, “He’s so looking forward to meeting you.”

I bet
, Venus thought, her confidence level sinking fast.
Freddie forced me on him. He’s never heard of me, and if he has, he hates everything about me
.

Why was she putting herself in this vulnerable position when she didn’t have to? She was a star, for crissakes, it wasn’t necessary to wait around for anyone—especially Alex Woods with his chauvinist reputation.

“Another Evian?” Lili inquired.

Venus stood up. “You know what,” she said pleasantly. “I can’t wait any longer. Please tell
Mr
. Woods, it was uh…a pleasure
almost
meeting him.”

What she really wanted to say was
I’m pissed off, I’m out of here, and tell your rude, fucking boss to shove it
.

Lili looked visibly distressed as she tried to think of a way to stop Venus from leaving. “He’ll be right here,” she said soothingly. “I spoke to him on his car phone minutes ago and he was almost downstairs.”

“That’s all right,” Venus said graciously. “We’ll reschedule.”

Freddie Leon’s image flashed before her eyes. “No Oscar,” he said sternly. “Forget about your pride and stay.”

Sorry, Freddie, not even for you
.

She was at the door, with Lili trailing her, when Alex made his entrance. Unshaven and harassed, he brushed past Venus, not even noticing her. “Shit!” he said to Lili. “The goddamn traffic. Don’t blame me.”

“Alex,” Lili said evenly, but with an underlying edge of steel, “this is Venus Maria. She was just about to leave; however, I am sure
you
can persuade her to stay.”

He took a look at the platinum blond superstar. Not bad. She’d dressed as her interpretation of Lola and it almost worked.

“Sorry, honey,” he said, flashing the little-boy killer smile that had gotten him out of a million predicaments. “Why’n’t you come back in, an’ we’ll talk.”

The “honey” didn’t please her. Too patronizing.

The smile was cute. Calculated though; he probably used it on women purely to get his own way.

He was not perfectly handsome like Cooper. He was bigger, rougher, more masculine. In fact, he was quite attractive in an overpowering, macho way.

Bet you love getting blow jobs
, she thought.
Wonder why you don’t return the compliment
.

“Five minutes,” she said boldly. “I’m sure that’s long enough to convince you I’m your Lola.”

A CHANEL SUIT SEEMED APPROPRIATE. NAVY
blue with white braid trim and neat gold buttons. Daytime diamonds. Her hair styled to reflect the life of an extremely successful businesswoman.

Donna Landsman, née Donatella Bonnatti, stood back from the full-length mirror, admiring her reflection.

Yes, she looked the part—no vestige of Donatella visible. There was no way Lucky Santangelo would ever know. And Donna was not about to tell her. Not yet.

Donna often wondered what her late husband’s reaction would be if he could see her now. So cool and sophisticated, So worldly. In her new role, she wouldn’t look twice at an uncouth lout like Santino, with his disgusting bathroom habits and foul mouth. In spite of his faults, she’d willed herself to never forget that Santino was her children’s father, and as such he deserved the respect of having his death properly avenged.

So far, she was doing an excellent job. First Lennie Golden—and today Lucky’s precious Panther Studios. She’d even discovered where Brigette Stanislopoulos was, and she had a plan in mind to deal with her, too.

Yesterday she’d spoken to her brother, Bruno, in Sicily. He’d assured her everything was under control.
Lennie was their prisoner, and nobody except he and Furio knew. Just as she’d thought, the caves were the perfect hiding place.

It gave her a great sense of exhilaration to know that she had Lucky Santangelo’s husband captive in a place where nobody could find him. In fact, even better, everyone thought he was dead. What a masterful piece of planning
that
was.

Of course, eventually, Lucky would find out, Donna would make sure of that. But not until Lucky was involved with another man—maybe even planning marriage.
That’s
the time Donna would arrange to have Lennie set free and returned to his wife.
That
would be Lucky’s real punishment.

In the meantime, after taking over Panther she would give the order to deal with Lucky’s father, the infamous Gino. He was an old man now, he’d be easy to take care of.

It made her proud that she was going to be responsible for the downfall of the Santangelo family. Bad blood had existed for so many years, and the Santangelos had always come out on top.

Well, she, Donna Landsman, was finally changing all that.

With that thought foremost in her mind, she set off for Panther Studios and retribution.

“See if Charlie Dollar’s on the lot, and ask him if he’d like to lunch with me,” Lucky said, thinking that she wouldn’t mind a dose of Charlie’s light relief.

Kyoko did as Lucky asked, and informed her that Charlie
was
on the lot and would be delighted to see her.

They met in the private dining area in the commissary—Charlie as dapper and as mismatched as ever in baggy corduroy pants, a flapping Hawaiian shirt, and
blacker than black shades. Lucky, cool in a white Armani suit.

Charlie grinned his maniacal grin. “Hi’ya, gorgeous,” he said. “It’s about time you came up for food an’ conversation.”

“It’s great to see you, Charlie. How was Europe?”

He gestured expansively. “The old movie star slayed ’em. My film’s doin’ boffo biz—a direct quote from
Variety
.”

Lucky nodded. “I know, I’m excited with the figures.”

Charlie pressed his stubby, nicotine-stained fingers together. “I’ll tell you what it is. Give the great unwashed something they wanna see, and they’ll fight their way into the theater.”

“You underestimate yourself, Charlie. It’s you and your special magic that pulls them in.”

“No, babe,” he quipped. “It’s that scene in the shower where they get an eyeful of my bare butt.
Nobody’s
seen an ass like that in years!”

“Same old Charlie,” she said, reaching over and squeezing his hand affectionately.

“’S’good t’see you, too, Lady Boss.”

“Hey,” she objected, “how come you’ve always got some crazy title for me?”

He raised his extravagant eyebrows. “Maybe you prefer Mafia Princess?”

“Let’s not start with that again,” she said sternly.

He threw up his hands in mock dismay. “Okay, okay, don’t shoot!”

“Very amusing.”

“I always like t’go for the laugh.”

“Don’t you just.”

He raised his black shades, peering over them.

“So what’s happenin’?”

“I saw Gino this morning.”

“Is the big man in town?”

“No, I drove down to Palm Springs last night.”

“How come you didn’t call? I’m the best on a car ride. I sing, give directions, eat crackers, make twenty-five pit stops.”

“You’re always good company, Charlie.”

He chuckled. “That’s what my proctologist says!”

She smiled. “Was the European trip fun? Did you finally meet
the
girl?”

“My love life sucks,” he drawled. “They only wanna fuck me ’cause I’m a movie star. An’ they wanna do it
fast
, so they can run off an’ boast about it to their friends. That’s their whole deal.”

“I’m sure there’s a nice girl out there for you somewhere.”

He laughed sardonically. “A nice girl? In Hollywood? Baby, what planet are
you
from? They’re all hookers or actresses. Take your pick—there ain’t much difference.”

“Mr. Cynicism.”

“Hey,” he said, waving at a couple of producers. “Here’s your task.
Find
me a nice girl, and you can be best man at my wedding.”

“How about Venus?”

“How about checking your sanity?”

“She and Cooper are split.”

“Big freakin’ surprise.”

They were in the middle of lunch when Kyoko rushed over to their table in an extremely agitated state. “Lucky, you’d better come to your office right away,” he said.

“Is it the children? Has something happened?” she asked, imagining the worst.

“No, no…they’re fine. It’s business,” Kyoko said, his usual calmness ruffled. “Please, Lucky, come with me right now.”

“Anything you need my help with?” Charlie offered. “’Cause you know I’m your resident movie icon in shining armor.”

Lucky stood up. “Stay here. I’ll be right back.”

She followed Kyoko from the restaurant, waiting until they were outside before she turned on him. “What the
hell
is going on?”

“There’s a woman in your office. She refuses to go.”

“
What
woman?”

“I don’t know. Morton Sharkey’s with her. They walked right past me into your private office. They wouldn’t stop.”

Lucky felt a shiver of apprehension. She’d suspected Morton was up to something, she’d sensed it the other day. But what?

They walked across the lot without speaking. She entered Kyoko’s office and strode through it into hers. Sitting behind her desk was a woman in a Chanel suit. Hovering nearby was an uncomfortable-looking Morton Sharkey.

“You’d better have a good explanation for this,” Lucky said, her voice full of steel. “A
very
good explanation.”

Donna swung around in Lucky’s chair, locking eyes with the enemy. “I’m Donna Landsman, the new owner of Panther Studios,” she said, her voice even colder than Lucky’s. “And you, my dear, are fired.”

“What?” Lucky gasped.

“I’m taking over as of now,” Donna said, satisfied to note that not a flicker of recognition had crossed Lucky’s face. “You have thirty minutes to clear out your personal possessions and get off the lot.”

“What the
fuck
is going on?” Lucky said, angrily turning to Morton.

He cleared his throat. “It’s true, Lucky,” he said in a strained voice. “Mrs. Landsman has gained control of fifty-five percent of Panther stock. This gives her a controlling interest.”

“It’s not possible,” Lucky said, in shock.

“Oh, yes.” Donna gloated, savoring the moment. “It’s
very
possible. And, I can assure you, it’s done.”

An icy calm came over Lucky. She was under attack, had to get a grip, find out exactly how this had happened. “Did you know about this, Morton?” she asked, her voice a tight coil of anger about to erupt.

He couldn’t look at her. “I…heard something was going on.”

Lucky’s black eyes were suddenly deadly. “Don’t give me that bullshit, Morton. You knew. You
had
to know, there’s no way this could have happened without you.”

“Lucky, I—”

Her heart was beating so fast she thought it might explode. “I bet you even helped her. Didn’t you? DIDN’T YOU, MORTON?”

He shrugged helplessly. “Lucky…I had no choice.”

“No choice? NO FUCKING CHOICE?” She was well aware she was screaming, but it was impossible to stop herself. “How can you stand here and say that to me? Have you no shame, you double-dealing hypocrite?”

“This is no time for name-calling,” Morton muttered, truly ashamed but caught in a trap from which there was no escape.

“Oh, isn’t it?” she said furiously. “Whatever happened here, Morton,
you’re
responsible.
You
were the one who put together the stock deal for me.
You
brought in all the investors and told me I never had to worry. Now this woman marches in and informs me she has control of my studio.” She turned on Donna. “Who the fuck are you, anyway?”

“Unbecoming language for a supposedly smart businesswoman,” Donna said cuttingly, relishing every second of her triumph.

Lucky was enraged. “I need to see proof of this.”

“I have all the papers here,” Morton replied, handing them to her. She flicked through them.

“You still own forty percent—”

“You set me up,” she interrupted violently. “Nobody could have done it except you.”

“The board called an emergency meeting and made a decision that your services as head of the studio are no longer required,” Morton stated. “You will, of course, be paid off on your contract.”

“Paid off?” she said incredulously. “They’re paying
me
off? Don’t any of you get it? This is
my
studio. Everything that’s going on here now is because
I
turned it around.”

“You shouldn’t worry about the studio, dear,” Donna said patronizingly. “I’m bringing Mickey Stolli back to run it.”

“You’ve
got
to be kidding?” Lucky exploded. “Mickey Stolli ran this studio into the ground.”

“He’s thrilled to be returning,” Donna said, still savoring Lucky’s fury.

“Why are you doing this?” Lucky demanded, shaking with anger. “WHY?”

Donna consulted her watch. “Ten minutes have passed. That leaves you exactly twenty more minutes to collect your personal belongings and vacate this office. I wouldn’t want to have you thrown off the lot.”

“Fuck you,” Lucky said, her black eyes filled with rage. “Whoever you are.
Fuck you
. Because I’m going to get this studio back. Don’t you doubt it for one minute. In fact, you can bet on it!”