The Santangelos (45 page)
Authors: Jackie Collins
“I know, I know,” Brigette said with a beguiling smile. “I’m just f-ing with you. We’re off to bed anyway. Oh yes, and if you get stalked by Venus, I’m supposed to advise you to steer clear.”
“Huh?” Bobby said, frowning. “What’s
that
about?”
“You heard,” Brigette said, getting up from the table. “No screwing around with Mom’s best friend. Lucky’s orders.”
* * *
“Got another text from Max,” Cookie informed Harry. “They’re just leaving, so that means she won’t get here for hours.”
“That’s a bummer,” Harry complained.
“And guess what?” Cookie added.
“What?”
“Willow Price is with them.”
“Crazy Willow Price. How come?”
“She’s apparently the girlfriend of Max’s boss’s friend.”
“Sounds like a party.”
“Yeah, an’ talkin’ of parties, instead of hanging around waiting, we should go hit a club,” Cookie suggested.
“Why’d we wanna do that?” Harry asked.
“To have fun,” Cookie replied, fishing out a hand mirror from her Birkin purse—a present from Daddy—and inspecting her pretty face. “We’re totally capable of gettin’ trashed without her, aren’t we?”
“Sure, ’cause you just wanna go somewhere to pick up some random dude and get laid,” Harry said accusingly.
“Don’t
you
?” Cookie questioned. “We’re in Vegas. We gotta totally go for it.”
“I can go for it on Grindr, thankyouverymuch,” Harry reminded her. “Best app
ever
.”
“Does that mean I’ve gotta make do with Tinder?” Cookie groaned. “That’s
so
loser city.”
“Better than a club. At least you know you’re getting a sure thing.”
“You’re such a
perv
.”
“Oh,” Harry said. “An’ I suppose you’re not?”
They both giggled. For their generation, getting laid was so damn easy.
* * *
With a throaty “Bobby,” there she was. His boyhood crush. His mom’s best friend. The delectable, gorgeous, ageless, sexy Venus.
“Hey,” he managed, remembering the things he’d done staring at her photos in magazines when he was just a kid.
Auntie Venus. Superstar. Lounging by the pool in a barely there bikini when he was fourteen.
Auntie Venus taking it all off for
Playbo
y and showing just enough to make a teenage boy never forget.
Auntie Venus onstage in Vegas cavorting half naked with the best-looking male backup dancers ever to grace the stage.
Eventually he’d grown up and dropped the Auntie, and they’d become casual friends, running into each other at family events, always polite. She’d usually been with a boy toy or a husband. Never alone.
Now here was Venus on the night before Gino’s funeral looking like a million bucks, and she was indeed alone. And so was he. No more Denver. No more commitments. He was a free agent and so, apparently, was she.
“I’m not supposed to talk to you,” Venus said with a wicked glint in her eye. “You’re off-limits.”
“So I heard,” Bobby replied, grinning.
“From whom?”
“From Brigette, who was put in charge of keeping us apart.”
“She was, huh?”
“Apparently so.”
“Where is dear Brigette?”
“Gone to bed, like everyone else around here,” he said, indicating the banquet room, which was emptying out fast. “How come you’re still here?”
“I was having a drink with Charlie Dollar. That man talks a blue streak until he’s just too stoned to go on.”
“What happened to him?”
“He fell asleep in a booth.”
“You’re kidding. And you left him there?”
“Oh, someone will mop him up,” she said with a casual wave of her manicured hand. “Old movie stars are hardly my responsibility.”
“Okay, then.”
Her startling blue eyes met his. “Okay, then,” she said, gently mimicking him. “Are you up for a drink?”
“Where?” he asked cautiously.
“My suite.”
“The last time I accepted a drink in a woman’s suite, I got roofied.”
“Yes, I read about that,” she said with a slight smile. “Does that mean that if I promise not to roofie you, we’re on?”
“Depends what ‘we’re on’ means.”
Leaning toward him, she lightly touched his arm. “You’re a big boy now, Bobby. No explanations needed.”
He experienced a sharp jolt of electricity mixed with unforgettable memories of his horny teenage years.
Venus was his fantasy. And he was about to step into fantasyland.
* * *
At last they were off, Alejandro roaring out of the underground garage as if he were being chased by a dozen police cars, bragging about how much speed he could summon from his new toy in less than six seconds. Gangsta rap blared from the multiple speakers.
Max curled up on the backseat and shut her eyes, willing herself to fall asleep. But sleep refused to come; her mind was too full of random thoughts.
Would she ever see Billy again?
Why was Dante such a miserable pain?
What were Cookie and Harry up to?
Did Athena even miss her?
How was Lucky dealing with Gino’s murder?
Eventually she fell into a half sleep, waking when they hit the freeway and she felt her phone vibrating.
Retrieving it from the pocket of her jacket, she noted that it was Lennie.
“Daddy,” she whispered tentatively. “Can’t wait to see you.”
“Where the hell are you?” Lennie demanded.
“On my way.”
“What? By horse and carriage?”
“By car. I’m with my boss from Dolcezza.”
“Your boss, huh?” Lennie said, frustrated. “That would be the asshole who was supposed to get you here by helicopter. What happened to
that
plan?”
“I dunno.”
“I’ll be speaking to him when you finally arrive.”
Great,
she thought.
You can tell him what a dick he is
.
“What’s all that noise?” Lennie growled. “Sounds like a party.”
“It’s just car music,” she said lamely.
“Well, take it easy.”
“Yes, Daddy.”
“See you soon, sweetie.”
* * *
Up in her suite, Venus offered Bobby a drink.
He declined.
“You still think I might drug you?” she murmured teasingly.
“I thought we covered that,” he said.
“Oh yes, we did, didn’t we?” she drawled. “Why don’t
you
open us a bottle of champagne.”
She was treating him as if he was one of her fans, and he didn’t like it. She was toying with him, probably wondering what kind of move he was about to make.
“I didn’t come up here for a drink,” he said.
“No? What did you come up for?”
As if she didn’t know. Auntie Venus. Famous. Beautiful. Talented. Sexy. A tease.
He refused to let her intimidate him.
“Come here,” he commanded.
“Excuse me?”
“You heard.”
“I don’t take kindly to orders.”
He’d had enough. Years of lusting after her propelled him into action. He wanted her. He wanted all of her. And he wasn’t waiting any longer.
“You wanna fuck or you wanna play games?” he said.
“My oh my, the little boy has a mouth on him.”
He strode across the room and grabbed her hard, ripping the revealing jacket off her.
She wore nothing underneath.
He cupped her breasts, pushing them together, shoving her up against the wall, bending to suck on her nipples until she cried out.
Within seconds they were in the bedroom, clothes falling off along the way.
Then he was rolling around with Mommy’s best friend, and he didn’t give a damn about upsetting Lucky. Some things were bound to happen, and this was one of them.
Venus. All soft blond curves, sweet-smelling and succulent. Naked, she did not disappoint. Pilates and daily workouts had kept her body in pristine shape. Being in bed with her was like taking a luxury trip to heaven.
“To think I knew you when you were a little boy,” she purred, her long, manicured fingers raking his chest. “Now look at you, all grown up.”
“Cut the shit, Venus,” he said, climbing on top of her and spreading her golden thighs. “Do you have any idea how long I’ve wanted to do this?”
“Why don’t you tell me?”
“It might take too long.”
And as he spoke, he plunged inside her, reliving every lustful teenage memory.
Denver was forgotten. Denver was yesterday’s news.
He was a man with no ties, and he could do exactly as he liked.
Dave Riggio was tired. He was tired of his nagging wife, his stripper girlfriend who had her own line of nagging, and his two teenage brats—both into drugs and partying. He worked like a fucking dog while they all played. On
his
money. The money he made driving a fucking big rig back and forth across the country—sometimes working a twenty-hour shift with no sleep.
Tonight was one of those nights, and all he wanted was a decent night’s rest. However, that was not about to happen, because he was on the road from Vegas to L.A. carrying a full load of fruit that had to be in L.A. early in the morning in time for market, and it was already three
A.M.
Sitting next to him in the rig was a young girl—a runaway, no doubt. She wore ripped jeans and a T-shirt featuring the slogan
Freaks rule!
She had frizzy brown hair framing a thin face, and buckteeth. He’d picked her up at a well-known truck stop, and in exchange for a blow job, he’d offered her a ride to L.A., thinking—mistakenly—that she’d entertain him with some kind of inane chatter.
This was not to be. The girl was silent and sulky, huddled in the passenger seat, and the blow job she’d given him was not worth the ride.
“Fuck it,” he muttered under his breath.
“What?” the girl said, suddenly coming to life.
“You ever given a blow job before?”
“Course I have,” she said, rubbing her eyes.
“Didn’t seem like it,” he said gruffly.
“I could do it again,” she said, sensing that he might be planning on dropping her off, even though they had a deal.
Dave took one hand off the steering wheel and patted his crotch. He might be tired, but he was still horny.
“It’ll be better the second time,” the girl promised.
“Gonna pull over at the next exit,” Dave said, although he realized that he was pressed for time and every minute counted.
“You don’t have to,” the girl said. “I can do you while you’re driving.”
Dave salivated. He liked a girl with fresh ideas.
“Why not?” he said, patting his crotch again. “An’ this time try t’ pretend you’re enjoying it.”
While Alejandro settled behind the wheel of his latest acquisition, testing how fast his car could go as they hurtled through the desert, Willow found her mind wandering. She’d been reluctant to leave her mom alone in her house, but Pammy hadn’t given her much choice. Right now Mother Dearest was no doubt nosing through her possessions. She’d never given Willow one inch of privacy when Willow was growing up, and now she must be in heaven checking out her house.
Willow could just imagine the scene. Pammy laid out on
her
bed snorting cocaine from
her
secret supply, downing vodka from
her
bottle, and probably watching porn on
her
TV.
“
Motherfucker!
” Willow muttered, cringing at the thought. Her house was all she had, and she didn’t want it tainted with her mom’s presence. She bet Pammy would still be in residence when she returned from Vegas, which meant she’d be forced to throw her out.
Pammy was an embarrassment she did not need in her life, especially with all that would soon happen.
Willow Price was about to regain her place at the top of the tree, and before she did, Pammy had to go.
Her thoughts moved on to Ralph Maestro. Ralph had left her several voice mails demanding to know where she was. It delighted her that a big movie star was hot to keep playing, although getting her hands on the money came first, because once she gave Eddie his million bucks, all she had to do was sit back and watch everything fall into place.
That was her plan. She’d worry about Pammy and Ralph when it was done.
* * *
Back at Club Luna, Sonia—who’d been busy working on the bartender—had noticed Rafael, Alejandro’s business partner, shooting her sly looks.
She knew who he was; his photo was on the pin-board at the office right up there next to Alejandro’s. Usually Rafael did not hang out at the club, but tonight, with Alejandro gone, he was settled in a booth chugging champagne.
Sonia was not one to miss an opportunity. Her job was to gain access and take photos of Alejandro’s private office, and she had a far better chance of doing that with Rafael than with the bartender.
The music playing was loud and sexy—strident beats that allowed her to shake her assets in front of Rafael’s booth.
He was staring, his watchful eyes taking in every inch of her.
She’d heard he was a tight-ass, not a player like Alejandro. Tonight he seemed like a player.
She undulated toward him. He continued to stare.
Flopping down next to him, she began fanning herself with her hand. “Too hot!” she exclaimed. “This girl needs a drink.”
Rafael said nothing.
“Gonna buy me one?” she asked, touching his arm. “Gonna make a girl happy?”
Rafael thought about Elizabetta with anger in his heart. Which one of Pablo’s guards was she fucking? Then his thoughts turned to Willow and how she’d ignored him earlier.
Puta!
They were all
putas
.
Perhaps this one was different?
It didn’t matter. He would fuck her and send her on her way.
Rafael was a changed man.
* * *
Sometimes the sex is so hot that neither party wishes it to end.
Bobby felt it, and so did Venus. She was caught up in the way he made love to her. So strong and sure of himself. Her Venezuelan boyfriend had been a boorish lover, thinking only of his own climax. Before him there had been many, but none like Bobby. Their chemistry sizzled. He touched her in ways she felt she’d never been touched before. His cock was a thing of beauty, and she couldn’t get enough.
