Lady Boss (51 page)

‘Hear what?' she asked brightly.

His voice rose. ‘You mean nobody's told you? You haven't
seen
it?'

‘What are you talking about?'

He was making a three-course meal out of this one. ‘Remember I warned you about Emilio when you chucked him out?'

She had a nasty feeling she wasn't going to like what she was about to hear. ‘Yes?' she said slowly.

Ron picked up a piece of toast and took a bite. ‘I never trusted him.'

‘Ha!' she said. ‘You think
I
trusted him? He broke into my house on Saturday.'

‘Yeah? I wonder what he was after? Take a look at this.' He picked up the copy of
Truth and Fact
and waved it in front of her face.

She stared at it in horror. There, on the front page, was a photograph of her with Martin. It was
her
photograph – the two of them together taken by Cooper.

‘Oh, no!' she cried.

‘Oh, yes!' stated Ron firmly. ‘He probably dropped by to rip off the photo. Where did you keep it?'

She jumped up. ‘In my safe.'

He sighed. ‘Let's go check it out.'

‘I can't believe he'd do this to me,' she said angrily. ‘I'm paying his goddamn rent. I let him stay here for months! Ron, oh, God! Look what it says –
Next week Venus Maria's brother is going to reveal all
. What the
hell
is all?'

‘When you're famous you can't even take a crap in peace,' Ron said succinctly.

Venus headed upstairs, with Ron close behind her.

She stormed over to her safe, opened it, and searched frantically for her picture.

It wasn't there.

‘He stole it!' she yelled. ‘That lousy, low-life rat-faced piece of shit!'

‘Don't hold back,' encouraged Ron.

‘Oh my God,' she wailed. ‘What does the story say? Martin's going to have a fit. Oh, Jesus!'

‘It's not such a bad thing,' Ron said, trying to calm her. ‘At least Deena will know you exist now. You won't have to creep around in hiding every time you get together with Martin.'

Venus Maria snatched the magazine from him, eyes racing over the story:

Billionaire Martin Swanson's phone calls and secret visits to ravishing superstar Venus Maria are driving his beautiful society wife, Deena, into the arms of young Paul Webster, son of Deena's best friend, interior designer to the rich and famous, Effie Webster. Sexy superstar Venus Maria can teach billionaire tycoon Martin Swanson a thing or two about getting to the top. Heartbroken Deena moved in on Paul after hearing about her husband's fascination with video superstar Venus Maria. Deena is making a last-ditch effort to get Martin back. In the meantime, Martin Swanson has been showering Venus Maria with gifts. According to a close friend, Venus Maria and Martin Swanson met casually at a party in New York several months ago. But after a chance second meeting in Los Angeles, they couldn't resist each other any longer. All of Venus Maria's close friends were soon telling Swanson, ‘She likes you, she wants you.' Within a week the two got together at a hideaway in Big Sur. According to another close friend, Martin told Venus he was not happy in his marriage. ‘From the beginning,' an acquaintance said, ‘Venus Maria and Martin Swanson were magic together. Martin finds her extremely erotic, and Venus Maria is fascinated with his power and wealth.'

Venus threw the magazine down in a fury. ‘Where do they get this garbage?' she yelled.

‘Let's call Emilio,' Ron suggested. ‘It's quite obvious he's been paid for this.'

She pulled a face. ‘How can people
do
these things? If he needed money so desperately I would have given it to him. Doesn't he have any pride?'

‘Emilio, pride?' Ron said, raising a sceptical eyebrow.

She was determined. ‘Gimme the phone.'

Ron did so, and she dialled Emilio's number. His answering machine picked up.

‘Fuck you!' she screamed into the receiver and slammed the phone down.

‘That'll do you a lot of good, dear,' remarked Ron.

Venus snatched up the magazine again. ‘Oh, and get this bit – Cooper's going to be
really
thrilled.' She read aloud from the magazine. ‘ “
While Venus Maria plays house with Martin Swanson, Cooper Turner thinks he's her only lover
.” Can you believe this crap? I'm calling my lawyer.'

‘What can
he
do?'

‘I'll sue 'em.'

‘How can you? Most of it's true.'

She hadn't thought about that. ‘I'd better warn Martin.'

‘Where is he?'

‘He left early. He's involved in some kind of takeover bid. He's gaining control of a studio.'

‘Oh, just like that. The very rich
are
different.'

‘Ron, do me a favour. Call his office in New York and find out where I can reach him.'

‘What do you think he'll say?'

She shrugged. ‘I don't know. He's not used to this kind of publicity. At least
I
know what to expect. I've been everything from a lesbian alien to a woman with three breasts – and that's just this year! The shit comes with the territory.'

‘Don't kid yourself, dear,' Ron said mildly. ‘Martin will probably love every minute of it.'

* * *

Martin Swanson was in a board meeting when a secretary discreetly entered the room, tapped him on the shoulder, and said, ‘Your assistant in New York has to speak to you urgently, Mr. Swanson.'

Martin couldn't imagine what was so urgent that they had to interrupt him in the middle of a meeting. ‘Excuse me, gentlemen,' he said, standing up.

He walked outside. The secretary hovered behind him. ‘I'm sorry to disturb you, Mr. Swanson,' she apologized. ‘However, your assistant
did
say it was imperative that she speak to you at once.'

‘Don't worry about it.' He waved a vague hand in her direction and picked up the phone. ‘What is it, Gertrude?' he asked abruptly.

‘Mr. Swanson, Venus Maria is trying to reach you. She says it's extremely urgent and that she must talk to you immediately.'

‘OK, Gertrude.'

‘Mr. Swanson?'

‘Yes? What now?'

‘I do believe I know what it's about.'

‘Do you want to tell me? Or would you prefer to keep it a secret?' he said sarcastically, not feeling particularly patient.

Gertrude plunged right in. ‘There's a magazine called
Truth and Fact
. It's similar to the
Enquirer
.'

‘So?'

‘On the cover of the issue out today there's a front-page story concerning you and Venus Maria. Of course, I'm certain it's all lies.' She hesitated, and then rushed on. ‘Mr. Swanson, it's not a very nice story. Mrs. Swanson will not be pleased.'

Martin turned to the secretary hovering nearby. ‘Is there a news-stand downstairs?'

‘Yes.' She nodded.

‘Be a good girl – run down and get me a copy of
Truth and Fact
.'

‘Certainly, Mr. Swanson, at once.'

He replaced the receiver and immediately phoned Venus Maria.

‘Have you seen
Truth and Fact?
' he demanded.

‘I just read it,' she replied.

‘Do you want to tell me about it?' he said curtly. ‘What have they got? San Francisco? Is Cooper in the picture?'

‘It's worse than that, Martin. Remember that photo Cooper took of us one night at my house? Well, I had it in my safe, and I suspect my brother must have stolen it and sold it to
Truth and Fact
.'

‘Your brother?'

‘Emilio. He was staying with me. A real loser.'

‘So what you're telling me is that they've printed this picture of us together?'

‘Yes, and it's pretty intimate. We're kind of sitting on the couch with our arms all over each other.'

‘Didn't you destroy it?'

She resented his tone. ‘Obviously not. I had it in my safe. That seemed like a pretty secure place to me.'

‘Christ!' he exclaimed, thinking of Deena's reaction.

‘Don't get pissed with
me
, it's not my fault.'

‘Whose fault is it?' he asked coldly.

‘I don't know, and quite frankly I don't give a fuck.' She slammed the phone down. It was about time Martin learned to treat her with a little respect.

‘Trouble in lifestyles-of-the-rich-and-famous land?' Ron ventured, pretending not to be enjoying every minute.

‘Let's go rehearse,' she said. ‘I've had it with that ego-inflated asshole.'

The news spread like an out-of-control brush fire. This was Hollywood, after all, capital of innuendo, gossip, and scandal. Already everyone was talking about Mickey Stolli's arrest at Madame Loretta's. What a delicious item to start the day! Now the rumour was that Lucky Santangelo had purchased Panther Studios with Abe Panther's full cooperation.

The word was out of the room before they finished the meeting. The word spread from person to person. Phones were picked up. Calls were made. The news was passed on. The news spread across Hollywood.

At Panther everyone was abuzz with Mickey Stolli's arrest. Ford Werne couldn't understand it. The rule was, if you go to a prostitute, never get caught. Mickey had spoiled it for all of them.

This was no ordinary Monday morning at the studio.

When Arnie Blackwood and Frankie Lombardo had finished sniggering about Mickey's misfortune, they heard about Lucky Santangelo's purchase of the studio and her call for a noon meeting with all the department heads. They immediately placed a call to Eddie Kane.

Eddie picked up his own phone. ‘Yeah?'

‘Don't you come in anymore?' Arnie demanded.

Eddie was in no mood to be harassed. ‘Only when it suits me.'

‘So I guess you've got no idea what's going on,' Frankie said, speaking on a conference call so Arnie could join in.

‘You got something to tell me?' Eddie asked impatiently, knowing that Arnie and Frankie would never call just to enquire after his health. Maybe they were about to complain he'd scored too much coke at their party. Well, fuck 'em. Don't have the party if you can't part with the goods.

‘Yeah,' Arnie replied, drawing the words out slowly. ‘Some rich broad from New York walked in with Abe this morning and bought the fuckin' studio.'

‘What?' Eddie wasn't sure he'd heard correctly.

‘Yeah, old Abe sold the studio from right under Mickey. Didn't you know?'

‘If I knew, do you think I'd be sitting here?' Eddie replied agitatedly. ‘I got problems of my own.'

‘Get your stoned ass down here,' ordered Frankie sharply. ‘There's a meeting of all department heads at noon. We need someone in there.'

Eddie's mind was racing. He wondered if Mickey had known about this beforehand. Maybe that's why he'd been so cold and uptight.

Christ! Yes, Arnie and Frankie were right, he should be there. ‘I'm on my way,' he said.

Leslie was pottering around in the kitchen. She looked beautiful. He still hadn't figured out what she was doing in a whorehouse. Eventually he was going to have to investigate.

‘Gotta go to the studio, babe,' he said, like this was the start of another normal day.

She looked dismayed. ‘Oh, no, Eddie. I thought we were going to find a counsellor and talk about getting you into a detox centre. Do you have to go?'

‘Yeah,' Eddie said, his twitching in full swing. ‘Too bad about that counsellor thing. We'll do it next week. OK, babe?'

It wasn't OK, but Leslie didn't say a word.

* * *

Lucky had an advantage. She knew who the players were and they didn't know her.

At twelve o'clock precisely they all trooped into the conference room.

Abe had taken off, followed by Inga, followed by Abigaile, followed by Primrose and Ben – both complaining bitterly. No doubt she would hear from them later.

The contingent of department heads was led by Ford Werne, still looking as if he'd stepped from the front page of GQ magazine, impeccable in another Armani suit, the same five-hundred-dollar tinted aviator shades covering his eyes. He was an attractive man – if you liked killers.

Zev Lorenzo followed Ford into the room and walked straight over to her, offering his hand. ‘Welcome aboard,' he said in a friendly fashion.

Then came Grant Wendell, Junior, Vice President of Worldwide Production, looking like a reject from the mail-room in his baggy pants and Dodgers baseball cap. He gave her a casual sort of half-wave. ‘Hiya.'

Lucky wondered if Mickey was going to put in a final appearance, or if his resignation was it. He must be in shock. Good. Mickey deserved a little shock in his life.

Teddy T. Lauden hurried into the room – a thin, precise man, constantly glancing at his watch. ‘Good afternoon, Miss Santangelo,' he said, opting for a more formal relationship. ‘A pleasure to meet you. I do hope I'm not late. I had another meeting to attend. Unfortunately I wasn't allowed enough time to cancel it. As you must understand, this has been a big shock for all of us.'

Lucky nodded. ‘Yes, I do understand,' she said quietly. ‘I'm sure it has been.'

‘You could say that,' Ford Werne agreed, taking off his aviator shades and immediately putting them on again.

‘I
am
saying it, Mr. Werne.'

He was clearly surprised she knew who he was, since he hadn't bothered to introduce himself. ‘Where's Mickey?' he asked.

‘He won't be joining us,' Morton Sharkey said, from his position beside Lucky.

Glancing around, she observed that Buck Graham and Eddie Kane were the only two still missing. ‘Will Mr. Graham and Mr. Kane be joining us?'

Grant Wendell shrugged. ‘Ummm, I talked to Eddie this morning. He's on his way in. And, uh, Buck had another meeting he's trying to break out of.'