Hollywood Divorces / Hollywood Wives: The New Generation (29 page)

‘It was a happenin’ party,’ Teddy offered.

‘Yeah?’ Gregg answered, completely disinterested. The last thing he wanted to hear about was a party he hadn’t been invited to. ‘Let’s get to work here, I haven’t got all day.’

By the end of their session, he felt pretty high. One
more time and they’d have it down.
Wouldn’t it be something
, he thought,
if this song makes me a star? Anything’s possible. How would Lissa react to that
?

He drove home and was annoyed to see cars in the driveway. Belinda had a lot of friends, and was constantly entertaining. He didn’t like being looked over and inspected.
And here he is, folks–the new stud on campus. Fuck that shit
. Unfortunately, until he had money, there was nothing he could do about it.

He circumvented the living room and went straight upstairs, carrying Lissa’s boxes, which he placed in the master bathroom.

Belinda’s bedroom was all chintzy and girly, much too fancy. She didn’t possess the class and style of Lissa. Belinda was nothing but a ballsy woman who’d made it by climbing over everyone, and probably crushing a few men on her way.

Before he had a chance to open any of the boxes, Belinda was on the house intercom summoning him. She’d obviously spotted his car in the driveway.

‘Gregg, honey, can you get on down here? I want you to meet someone.’

Oh, yeah, that’s right, Belinda–call me like I’m your pet dog or something.

Who did she want him to meet now? Her grandmother? Her cousins? Her coterie of Hollywood wives?

He walked into the living room and came face to face with Deidra Baker.

‘Honey,’ Belinda said, ‘this is Deidra–she’s going to be my personal shopper at Barneys, and since your birthday’s coming up in a couple of weeks, I thought you could go in and choose yourself an outfit. Deidra will help you pick it out.’

He stared at Deidra.

She stared back at him.

They both decided they would not acknowledge that they knew each other.

He thought of her nipples and got the stirrings of a hard-on.

She thought of the way he’d walked out on her and the cruel things he’d said, and decided that revenge was long overdue.

‘You clean up nicely, Michael,’ Lissa said lightly, when he walked into her suite at eight o’clock precisely. ‘I like your suit.’

‘Thanks,’ he answered. ‘And you–well, I know you don’t want me to tell you that you look beautiful, but if I could, that’s what I’d be saying now.’

‘I was thinking,’ she said, not acknowledging his compliment, ‘if you don’t want to come with me tonight, I can always take Fabio or Danny. They’d be happy to escort me.’

‘Lissa,’ he said pointedly, ‘in case you’ve forgotten, I’m here to look after you.’

‘Oh, yes, you are, aren’t you?’ she said, adding a curt ‘You’ll look after me until it’s time for you to run.’

‘Huh?’ he said.

‘You know what I mean,’ she said, wishing she hadn’t brought it up. It made her look needy, and that’s the last thing she was.

He didn’t appreciate her attitude. ‘Shouldn’t we clear something up before we go downstairs?’ he said, determined to get it out in the open.

‘And what would that be?’ she asked.

‘I’ve tried to say it to you before, Lissa.’

‘Go ahead,’ she said, in that same cool tone she’d been using lately.

‘We’ve, uh…got this kind of unspoken thing going on between us, and we both know it. We also know it won’t lead anywhere, so what’s the point?’

‘What’s the point of anything, Michael?’

He began rubbing his chin, something he always did when he got agitated. ‘Y’know, Lissa,’ he said forcefully, ‘I can’t allow myself to get all screwed up over you. I’d like to do my job, make sure you’re safe, and if I can do that, we’ll be fine.’

‘I’m glad you feel that way, because
I
feel exactly the same.’

‘Good.’

‘Do you want to take a look at the view before we go?’

‘I already saw it,’ he said irritably, because he had a feeling she wasn’t listening to a word he said. ‘My room has the same view.’

‘I mean from the terrace. Come, it’s quite spectacular,’ she said, walking out to the terrace, which was like an exotic plant-filled garden with a thirty-foot lap-pool in the centre.

He followed her out. The view
was
spectacular, a panorama of sparkling lights encompassing the entire strip.

‘Isn’t this something?’ she said, walking to the edge. ‘I’m telling you, when they build hotels in Las Vegas they don’t play around.’

‘It’s certainly different from where I come from,’ he said.

‘What do you think?’ she murmured, turning to him.

He could smell her perfume and it was driving him insane. He had to summon every inch of will-power he possessed not to kiss her. ‘I think we should go to dinner,’ he said.

Walter Burns was a granite-faced man in his late sixties. Tall and broad-shouldered, he had a full head of silver hair, manicured nails and a wary expression. When he spoke, his voice was so soft and raspy that most people had to lean closer to hear him. His wife, Evelyn, was the definitive Barbie-doll type–a top-heavy bleached blonde who wore
figure-revealing clothes, flashy jewellery and hooker shoes. She was pushing forty, but dressed twenty.

Walter had left his same-age-as-himself first wife in order to pursue Evelyn, who had once been a famous showgirl. They’d been married for ten years and had no children.

It had been Evelyn’s idea to find out if Lissa Roman would be prepared to do a one-night show to celebrate the opening of the Desert Millennium Princess. The new Vegas hotel was a giant amongst a tower of shining giants that had been erected over the last ten years, including the Mirage, the Rio, the Bellagio and the Hard Rock.

Walter Burns’s business ventures were spread across America. He owned casino-hotels in several states, but this was his first foray into the Vegas area. He had a couple of investment partners, but he was the main man.

His tenth wedding anniversary to Evelyn was coming up, and his present to her was getting Lissa Roman to appear for one night. Quite a present, considering it was costing him three million dollars. Although to a man such as Walter Burns, three million dollars was like three hundred dollars to anyone else.

Evelyn had dressed for dinner in a low-cut, sequined cocktail dress, cut down to the rise of her butt at the back. Huge sapphires and diamond earrings adorned her ears to match the sapphires and diamonds on her fingers and wrists.

‘I’m so excited,’ she confided to her husband, as they set off to meet Lissa. She had a slight Brooklyn accent, a sweet personality, and adored her multi-billionaire husband, who regularly popped Viagra to keep his twenty-five-years-younger wife happy. ‘This is the best present ever!’

Lissa had no idea she was a present as she travelled down in the elevator with Michael beside her. She’d decided to enjoy herself, forget about Gregg, and throw herself into her show. She certainly had no intention of getting involved
with Michael Scorsinni. He lived in a fantasy world if he thought she was even entertaining the idea.

‘This is like a mini-vacation for me,’ she remarked, as the elevator made its descent. ‘It seems I’m always working.’

‘This
is
work,’ he pointed out. ‘You’re rehearsing tomorrow, then you’ve got your show on Saturday.’

‘It’s hardly the same. I’m not locked in the recording studio, or making a video. I’m not even on location. This is my idea of freedom, and I like it. Tomorrow will be fun. I have a great group of dancers, and I love working with them. You’ve never seen my show, have you?’

‘No, I haven’t.’

‘You’ll be surprised.’

‘You couldn’t surprise me, Lissa.’

‘I couldn’t?’ she asked, an amused expression in her blue eyes.

‘I don’t think so.’

‘Hmm…we’ll have to see.’

He laughed. One thing he was sure of, being in her company was never dull.

Walter and Evelyn Burns turned out to be a surprisingly entertaining couple. Walter was gruff and full of interesting stories, while Evelyn played his perfect foil–the dumb blonde who knew how to play it. She worshipped Lissa, gazing at her adoringly most of the night. She even offered to give her the sapphire and diamond ring off her finger.

Lissa politely declined.

‘My wife’s your biggest fan,’ Walter announced, when Evelyn tottered off on her four-and-a-half-inch heels to visit the ladies’ room.

‘I’m flattered,’ Lissa said.

‘Yeah,’ Walter rasped. ‘It’s why we were so anxious to get you to open the hotel for us. And, let me say, I’m damn grateful you agreed, otherwise my life would’ve been crap.’

‘I wasn’t aware of the back story,’ Lissa said, smiling. ‘I’m glad I said yes.’

‘Your show’s all sold out,’ Walter offered.

‘Good,’ Lissa said. ‘That means you’ll make money.’

‘Not with what we’re paying you, my dear,’ he said, with a snake-like smile.

Michael kept quiet during dinner. He didn’t think it appropriate to join in, although Lissa insisted on trying to include him.

After dinner, Walter wondered if they wanted to gamble.

‘You must,’ Evelyn insisted. ‘I’ll teach you to play craps. Walter says I’m a natural!’

‘We
let
her win,’ Walter said, straight-faced. ‘Keeps her happy.’

‘How dare you?’ Evelyn squealed. ‘It’s a skill. And if there’s one thing I have, honeybun, it’s skill.’

A photographer appeared shortly after they’d finished, and Walter respectfully asked Lissa if she’d mind posing for a few pictures with Evelyn.

‘Not at all,’ Lissa said.

Michael had noticed how easy and calm she was with people–there was certainly an extremely kind side to her character. She wasn’t like some of the other stars he’d dealt with, most of whom were extremely difficult.

‘I’ll pass on the gambling tonight,’ Lissa said. ‘Maybe after the show tomorrow you’ll teach me how to do it.’

‘Oh, honey,
my
pleasure,’ Evelyn said, still star-struck. ‘And since you were admiring my shoes earlier, I’m having several pairs sent to your room tomorrow. What’s your size?’

‘Oh, no, please don’t,’ Lissa said.

‘Honey, when you want something in
our
hotel, you can bet your sweet ass you’ll get it.’

‘My wife speaks the truth,’ Walter said. ‘Anything you want, anything at all, call me.’

On their way back upstairs Lissa said, ‘You were very quiet tonight.’

‘I wasn’t quiet,’ Michael answered, ‘I was watching out for you.’

‘You could’ve been more friendly towards them.’

‘I’m not your date, Lissa,’ he pointed out.

‘I know that,’ she said.

‘What did you want me to do?’ he asked, exasperated. ‘Make conversation? Those aren’t my friends, I have nothing in common with them. The guy’s a multi-billionaire, for crissakes–you think he has anything to say to me?’

‘Oh, Michael,’ she sighed, ‘you’re too sensitive.’

‘Never been called
that
before.’

‘By the way,’ she said, her eyes bright, ‘you keep implying that I wanted you to stay the other night because we were probably going to indulge in some crazy one-night stand. Well, let me tell you, that’s not what I had in mind at all. I needed a friend, and if you think there was anything else going on, you’re very much mistaken.’

‘I’m glad you cleared
that
up,’ he said, as they reached the door of the penthouse suite.

‘Good night, Michael,’ she said. ‘I’ll see you in the morning at eight.’

He waited for her to ask him in. She didn’t.

Hey, maybe he was imagining this whole thing.

Feeling somewhat dejected, he returned to his room.

F
riday morning Eric Vernon was on alert. Only one more day and he still had much to do. He went over his checklist, making sure he’d forgotten nothing. Most important were his getaway plans once he had the ransom money. Everything was in place–passport, driver’s licence, social-security card, two new credit cards taken out under his new name. Several thousand dollars in traveller’s cheques–money left over from his San Diego bank heist–an airline ticket to the Bahamas, bookings for several different flights.

Yes, he could say goodbye to Eric Vernon in seconds. All he had to do was stop being him.

‘We’ll meet at the park,’ Eric said over the phone to Arliss.

‘What?’ the skinny man replied.

‘The park.’

‘What park?’ Arliss asked.

‘Near the school. You know where I mean.’

‘Can’t we meet at the bar?’ Arliss whined.

‘I don’t care for the way Sam watches us.’

‘Sam don’t watch us,’ Arliss said.

‘Yes, he does,’ Eric said.

‘The park seems an odd place t’ meet.’

‘Not so odd if we do it at four in the afternoon. Make
sure the others are there. Tomorrow’s the day, and remember–no screw-ups.’

Seeing the group in daylight was certainly a shock. Eric knew they were a seedy-looking bunch, but he hadn’t realized quite how bad they were. Arliss the weasel, with his thin, pointed face and straggly hair. Big Mark, a huge bear of a man with an unbalanced craziness reflected in his beady eyes. Little Joe, short and fat and quite stupid. Davey ‘The Animal’, snorting and wheezing, his ferret face cunning and greedy.

‘We’ll get together at noon tomorrow,’ Eric announced. ‘At the building. Davey, you’ll bring the car. Joe, you’ll have the chloroform. Mark, you’ll bring yourself.’

‘The guys an’ me was talkin’,’ Arliss ventured.

‘You were?’ Eric said.

‘We think we should be gettin’ somethin’ up front,’ Arliss said boldly, while the other three nodded their agreement.

‘Will you explain to me how I can give you something up front before I get the ransom?’ Eric said, his cold eyes daring them to argue.

‘A grand each,’ Big Mark said. ‘Good-faith money.’

Eric turned on him. ‘You dumb fucks,’ he said, his tone icy. ‘How do you expect me to give you money I don’t have?’

‘How’d
we
know ya don’t have it?’ Davey wheezed.

‘Yeah,’ Little Joe agreed, his eyes popping.

‘I’m walking away,’ Eric said.

‘What?’ Arliss whined.

‘Walking,’ Eric said, making a calculated move to pull them back in line.

‘Where to?’ Little Joe asked.

‘Away from all of you.’

‘What about the job?’ Arliss asked.

‘Fuck the job,’ Eric said. ‘And fuck you, too.’

He started to walk away. The four men conferred, and within seconds Arliss came running after him. ‘All right, no hard feelings, we’ll wait for our money.’

Until hell freezes over
, Eric thought.

And he turned around and rejoined the four misfits.