Lucky (6 page)

They ate in the hotel at the secluded Rio restaurant, just the two of them. Lucky spoke of her trip non-stop, her eyes shining with enthusiasm, her cheeks flushed.

‘I’ve set up exactly the deal we’ve been looking for,’ she said. ‘The right property on the boardwalk. The right investors. I’ve even got architects and builders coming up with bids. If we move fast we can start work within the next couple of months. It’s all set. All you have to do is give the go-ahead.’ She paused for breath. ‘Of course we’ll need building permits, licences. But everything’s in hand. I have it covered.’ She grinned triumphantly.

Gino listened carefully. She was smart, his daughter. Smart and fast. Beautiful and bright. Tough and wild. Daddy’s little girl. She made him proud. Her business acumen was as sharp as his.

He had never thought a woman could equal him – but his daughter could. His Lucky.

*   *   *

Right from the beginning Lucky Santangelo was a bright-eyed excitable child. Her younger brother, Dario, was smaller, more delicate. There were only eighteen months between them, but even when they were young, Lucky took charge
.

Maria was a wonderful mother. Gino spoiled them rotten. All the time it was presents and kisses and hugs. And special hugs for Lucky, who responded to him far more than Dario
.

On her fifth birthday they threw her a fantastic party for fifty children. Clowns. Donkey rides. A huge chocolate cake. And Gino on hand to sweep her up in his arms and smother her with love. Lucky remembered it as the happiest day of her life
.

A week later Gino left on a business trip. Lucky hated it when he went away, but there were compensations, such as taking his place in the big double bed he shared with mommy, and all the wondrous presents when he came home
.

Only this time there were no presents, or kisses, or laughter. This time there was only the pain of her mother’s sudden and brutal murder, her naked body left floating on a raft in the centre of the swimming pool for Lucky to discover when she got up in the morning
.

Memories, for a while, were a blur. Policemen. Photographers. Guards. Then a plane trip to California. A new house with bars on the windows, alarms, and guards with dogs – patrolling the grounds. Life changed completely for Lucky and Dario. Maria gone forever. And Gino. So different, angry and sad. No more laughter and playing, or hugs and kisses. In fact he was hardly ever there. He was either in his New York apartment or Vegas hotel. It was almost as if he didn’t want to spend any time with them. They were cared for by nannies and tutors and maids
.

The pain hardened inside Lucky, while Dario withdrew into a world of make-believe. They had everything money could buy. But all they really had was each other
.

When Lucky was almost fifteen a decision was made to send her to a boarding school in Switzerland. She was both excited and fearful at the prospect, but the thought of getting away from the Bel Air mansion was certainly tempting
.

L’Evier turned out to be a strict private school run by a thin-nosed woman who demanded ‘respect and obedience’ from her girls. If it hadn’t been for her friend, a classmate, Olympia Stanislopoulos, Lucky would have hated it. Olympia’s attitude was ‘screw school. Let’s get out and have fun.’ And Lucky did not argue. Together they obeyed the rule of lights out at 9.30 p.m. And at 9.35 Lucky and Olympia were climbing out of a convenient window. It was only a ten minute ride to the nearest village where waited boys, booze and fun. It took them exactly two semesters to get expelled
.

Gino arrived to collect his rebellious daughter, his face a mask of thunder. He flew her back to New York and promptly enrolled her in an even stricter school in Connecticut. It did not take her long to contact Olympia in Paris, and together they planned an escape. With a little help from a couple of credit cards she was able to get a flight to France, where Olympia met her. Then it was a fast drive in a white Mercedes convertible all the way to the South of France, where they broke into Olympia’s aunt’s villa and took up residence. The memories were sweet. Even when Olympia moved in her boyfriend, ‘Warris the hustler’, as Lucky christened him
.

The memories were not so sweet the night their fathers arrived. Gino Santangelo and Dimitri Stanislopoulos. Then it was back to the Bel Air mansion – Dario was now away at school
.

There were times when she hated her father. A furious blazing hate which burned deep. Other times she loved him more than anything else in the world. And she wished it could be like it once was. Desperately she craved his attention, but that seemed the last thing he was prepared to give her
.

On her sixteenth birthday he surprised her by flying her to Las Vegas. Once there he arranged for her to have her hair styled, bought her a designer dress, and gifted her with exquisite diamond ear-studs. Then he said she was to accompany him to an important charity benefit he was giving for Mrs Peter Richmond – Senator Richmond’s wife. Lucky was thrilled. Things were looking up. Only at the dinner he sloughed her off at another table next to Mrs Richmond’s creepy son, Craven, and ignored her all night
.

Later, she sneaked away, changed into jeans, cruised the Strip, and ended up fighting off a drunk in the parking lot
.

Gino was waiting when she arrived back at 3 a.m., her clothes torn and dirty
.

He came straight to the point. She was a little tramp whose only thought in life was to screw around, so he was marrying her off and that was that
.

If she didn’t like it
. . .

Tough
.

*   *   *

Gino had not thought of Susan Martino all night. Nor had the moment been right to mention his involvement to Lucky. So it gave him a jolt when Susan entered the restaurant with a man, smiled, waved and sat down at a nearby table.

Lucky said, ‘Who’s that?’

‘Hey,’ he stalled for a moment. Had somebody told her already? ‘Don’t you know Tiny Martino’s widow?’

‘Not the woman,’ Lucky replied dismissively. ‘The old guy with her, he looks familiar.’

Gino squinted – his eyes were going, but pride prevented him from wearing glasses. ‘Yeh,’ he agreed. ‘I think I know the face.’

He began a slow burn. The man was over six feet tall, impeccably groomed, with bushy white hair, and hard but handsome features – marred only by a prominent nose. And the sonofabitch was sitting down next to Susan.

Gino scowled.

She couldn’t possibly be his date.

Could she?

He signalled for the captain. ‘Who are the people at that table?’ he demanded.

‘Guests of Mr Traynor’s,’ the captain replied.

‘Where the fuck is Mr Traynor?’

‘Coming in now, Mr Santangelo.’ The captain backed away nervously.

‘What’s the matter?’ said Lucky calmly, used to her father’s outbursts. ‘Is he someone we shouldn’t have in here?’

‘I’ll find out soon enough,’ replied Gino grimly. ‘Hey – Matt. Over here,’ he yelled, ignoring the other diners who turned to stare.

Matt Traynor bore down on them, all smiles, his silver hair gleaming in the candlelit room. ‘Lucky. Welcome back. You look beautiful. And Gino. It’s a pleasure.’

‘Who the fuck is that asshole with Susan Martino?’

Matt Traynor blinked rapidly while he tried to figure out what he’d done wrong. He had heard rumours of Gino Santangelo’s interest in Tiny’s widow, but he hadn’t figured it to be anything serious, so why was Gino bellowing like a jilted lover?

‘Susan’s not
with
anyone,’ he explained quickly. ‘I thought she might enjoy a little company, so I asked her to join me and some of my friends.’ He paused, threw in the punch line with sad sincerity. ‘Tiny was like a brother to me, you know.’

Gino was untouched. ‘Who’s the prick?’ he growled.

‘Am I missing something here?’ interrupted Lucky.

‘If I thought it would upset you, Gino—’ Matt said solicitously.

‘Who the fuck’s upset!’ screamed Gino. And he stood up.

‘Dimitri Stanislopoulos,’ Matt said hurriedly. ‘He arrived this evening. He’s here for the Francesca Fern tribute dinner. We’re comping him in the Presidential Suite. Usually he stays at the Sands, and
loses
at the Sands – if you get my drift. But I met him in Monte Carlo last month and persuaded him the Magiriano would be more to his taste. The guy has more money than Onassis. And loves to play baccarat.’

‘Of course!’ exclaimed Lucky. ‘Olympia’s father! No wonder he looks familiar.’

‘Olympia?’ said Gino blankly.

‘You remember,’ Lucky continued excitedly. ‘Olympia was my best friend at school – we ran away to the South of France and you and Dimitri tracked us down. It’s him all right. I could never forget
that face.
’

Gino gestured impatiently. He was in no mood for the past. ‘Matt,’ he said brusquely, ‘you’ll join us.’

It was more command than invitation.

‘I’m sure we’d love to,’ Matt replied easily, although he was aggravated at being treated like hired help. Still, when Gino Santangelo spoke – everyone jumped.

‘My date will be here in a minute with a girl for Dimitri. You want us
all
to join you?’

‘Sure. Bring Susan and whatshisname over now, and the others when they get here.’

‘Good idea,’ said Matt, thinking it was a lousy idea.

As soon as he left their table Lucky said, ‘Why do you want
them
to come over? We have so much left to talk about.’

‘Why not?’ replied Gino, sitting down again. ‘You’ll like Susan Martino, she’s a lovely woman.’

Like hell I will
, thought Lucky. It was becoming increasingly clear that while she was away Gino had been at play. And this time not with some two-bit showgirl. She could tell she had lost his attention and it infuriated her.

‘Have you been seeing her?’ she asked lightly.

‘Once or twice,’ he replied, equally casual.

Once or twice, my ass. You’ve got a hot nut the whole room can see
.

Inexplicably she felt jealous.

Why?

Why not?

He was her father.

Daddy.

Gino.

*   *   *

The wedding invitations, hurriedly printed, invited guests to attend the wedding of Lucky Santangelo to Craven Richmond
.

Craven Richmond. Tall, skinny son of Senator Peter Richmond and his athletic wife, Betty
.

Craven Richmond. Attentive, polite, boring
.

Craven Richmond. A husband chosen by Gino for Lucky without her approval or consent
.

She dared not disobey her father. So she and Craven were married one week after her sixteenth birthday. It was a marriage doomed to failure. They honeymooned in the Bahamas. A big joke. Although Gino thought she was some hot little nympho and married her off to protect the great Santangelo name, she was actually still a virgin in the technical sense, never having done more than a lot of heavy petting. Craven, at twenty-one was totally inexperienced, and unwilling to indulge in more than three fast minutes of sex a night
.

Before their honeymoon was over Lucky took her first lover. And from then on she never looked back. How else would she have gotten through four years of being married to a man who had been paid to marry her? Yes, paid. A sad fact she had found out from Betty Richmond one day during the course of a family fight. Gino had paid Craven, and blackmailed Betty and Peter to allow it to happen
.

So, she was stuck in a loveless marriage to a man she couldn’t stand. And her future seemed bleak. They lived in a Washington apartment not five minutes from the Richmond palatial spread. Craven had no job. He spent his days playing tennis with his mother and hung around his father’s campaign headquarters getting in everyone’s way. Lucky filled her days with shopping, reading, and drifting up and down the freeways in her red Ferrari – a wedding present from big daddy. It was not the way she wished to spend her life
.

Once, she had indicated to Gino that she wanted to follow him into the family business, but he had looked at her as if she were mad, and said that only boys went into business, girls got married, stayed home, and had babies
.

She felt trapped in a life Gino had forced upon her. She hated him with a passion. Yet she desperately wanted to please him
.

Staying married pleased him
.

Fucking around pleased her
.

So she did
.

A lot
.

Until one day, four years into her marriage, came the phone call summoning her to New York. Gino wanted to see her, and for once without Craven. She was delighted. Anything to get away, and it had been months since she’d seen her father – maybe he was missing her
.