Goddess of Vengeance - Jackie Collins [124]
‘What’s going on?’ Lucky said, inserting herself into the conversation. She’d known Eddie since he’d worked in the mailroom at Panther Studios. He’d always had big ambitions, and she was glad to see he was working it. ‘Is Eddie promising you the moon?’ she asked with an amused grin.
‘And the stars,’ Venus responded with a smile. ‘Should I believe him?’
‘Well,’ Lucky said, still grinning, ‘the day you believe a Hollywood agent is the day you should pack your bags and scoot your fine ass out of town.’
‘Thanks, Lucky,’ Eddie said. ‘Nice to have your full support.’
The three of them laughed.
‘Ah, showbusiness,’ Lucky sighed. ‘I do not miss it. Not one little bit.’
* * *
‘I need your help,’ Max said, cornering Cookie in the ladies room, where a crowd of under-dressed and over made-up girls jostled for space at the mirrors. The room was smoke-filled – even though smoking was not allowed – and the smell of cheap scent and musty sweat overpowered everything.
‘Can you believe the a-hole like hasn’t even texted me to find out where I am,’ Cookie griped, once again checking her phone. ‘He probably hasn’t even noticed I’m missing. What a douche!’
‘I could’ve told you that,’ Max said, grabbing Cookie’s arm, attempting to get her full attention. ‘But this is about me.’
‘No,’ Cookie argued, applying blusher. ‘It’s about me havin’ to put up with a dumb-ass famous freakin’ dad who gets everyone fallin’ all over him. You are so right about Frankie, he’s a major star fucker.’
‘Listen, I have to get outta here,’ Max said, wishing Cookie would concentrate for once. ‘It’s totally urgent.’
‘Why? Where’re we goin’?’ Cookie asked guilelessly.
‘We are not going anywhere, that’s the whole point. I have to get out of here and uh . . . meet someone.’
‘Someone like who?’ Cookie asked, her curiosity finally aroused.
‘Someone I don’t want Ace to know about.’
‘Woo-hoo! Now it’s gettin’ interesting,’ Cookie said, her brown eyes lighting up.
‘The thing is,’ Max continued, ‘there’s no way I can pull it off without your help. So you’ve got to tell Ace that I got an important call from Lucky, and that I had to take off. Okay?’
‘You’re kiddin’, right?’ Cookie said, curling her lip. ‘Like what makes you think I’m gonna do this for you an’ you’re not givin’ me the lowdown on who you’re meetin’?’
‘It’s just a boy,’ Max said, feeling desperate.
‘What boy?’ Cookie demanded. ‘Who is he? Is he hot? Hotter than Ace?’
‘Please do this for me, Cookie,’ Max said, her voice rising. ‘Tomorrow I’ll tell you everything.’
‘I dunno—’ Cookie started to say.
‘Screw you!’ Max yelled, suddenly losing it. ‘I’ve been doing what you want all evening – so get it together and do this one thing for me. Tell Ace I’ll see him back at the hotel later, and don’t make it seem shady.’
And with that she stormed off, leaving an open-mouthed Cookie in her wake.
Chapter Forty-Seven
As they reached Armand’s villa, Annabelle was more or less sure that tonight she would be able to cement herself firmly into his life. This time she was not letting him slip away – he was too valuable a prospect.
She’d allowed him to finger-fuck her on the walk to his villa, now it was time for her to exhibit her considerable bedroom skills. When she was living with Frankie Romano, he’d often told her that her blow-jobs were superlative – the best he’d ever had. Now she had the opportunity to show off her technique (learned from a gay friend when she was fifteen) to Armand. Men loved nothing better than a woman going down on them. Annabelle knew that they considered it the ultimate power trip – a beautiful woman on her knees servicing them, their hands pressed firmly on her head. It was the best.
She recalled that when she and Frankie were running their call-girl business in New York, the girls were always full of outrageous stories about their clients and the things they were into. Blow-jobs were the number one topic. It seemed