Goddess of Vengeance - Jackie Collins [131]
As soon as she gave Ace the bad news, he told her he was leaving.
‘Where’re you goin?’ she asked, thinking that it might be a good idea to tag along.
Ace shrugged. He wasn’t in the mood for company, especially Cookie’s. ‘I’m taking a walk,’ he said shortly.
Cookie nodded; walking wasn’t her thing. ‘See you back at the hotel then,’ she called after him as he strode away.
‘Yeah,’ Ace said over his shoulder. ‘Later.’
Cookie wondered who Max was hooking up with. It had to be someone special for her to dump Ace in such a brutal way. After all, the poor guy had driven all the way to Vegas just to spend time with her.
Still thinking about it, Cookie made it to the deejay booth where Harry was rocking out with Paco. Once there she thoroughly questioned Harry, but he didn’t know anything either, so once again she checked her phone for messages. Nothing. Nada.
Screw Frankie Romano, he was now number one on her shit list. If he thought he was sharing a bed with her tonight, he had another thought coming.
* * *
Getting rid of Kev was not easy. Kev was determined to visit more strip clubs and generally party, but the problem was that he didn’t want to do it without Billy’s movie-star presence. So when Billy said he was heading back to the villa, Kev announced that he would come too.
‘No,’ Billy said resolutely.
‘No what?’ Kev said, his eyebrows shooting up.
‘Change of plans,’ Billy said, walking to the kerb and hailing a cab. ‘You can’t come back to the villa with me.’
‘Why?’ Kev asked, a blank expression on his face as he tried to figure out what was going on.
‘It’s not cool. I’m expecting someone an’ I don’t want you around.’
‘You gotta be shittin’ me,’ Kev said, quite dumbstruck.
‘I’m not.’
‘C’mon, man,’ Kev pleaded. ‘There’s two friggin’ bedrooms. I’ll shut myself in mine, an’ whoever you got comin’ over won’t even know I’m there.’
‘It ain’t gonna happen,’ Billy said. He’d made up his mind that this time everything would go smoothly – no Kev around to screw things up. ‘Go book yourself a room at the hotel, tell ’em to charge it t’me.’
‘Seriously?’ Kev said, shocked that he was getting dumped.
‘Sorry, Kev,’ Billy said, getting in the cab. ‘That’s the way it’s gotta be.’
* * *
Furious at Bobby, Denver decided against going back to the table. Bobby had made her so mad! What kind of childish game did he think they were playing? He knew she was insecure about the legions of women he’d probably slept with, and just because she’d felt sorry for Venus’s young stud, he’d deemed it necessary to hit the dance floor with one of his many exes. A drop-dead gorgeous ex at that.
He’d made a stupid move, and she wasn’t playing.
Besides, she was not thrilled with the way their so-called romantic weekend was progressing. Whatever happened to their intimate dinner for two? Not only had it failed to take place, but instead she’d been stuck with M.J.’s young wife, trying to talk her out of getting an abortion. After that she’d had to sit at a table in Mood surrounded by Lucky and her famous husband and friends, while Bobby was off somewhere attending to club business. It was all too much.
After confronting him, she’d needed breathing space, so she’d simply taken off.
Now she was adrift in the middle of The Keys casino and she had no idea what to do next.
* * *
‘I like your girlfriend,’ Lennie remarked when Bobby finally returned to the table. ‘She’s a smart one, you should hang onto her. And beautiful too. How come I haven’t met her before?’
‘Could be ’cause you’re always away on location,’ Bobby replied, checking the group out, and not seeing Denver. Where was she now? The dude she’d been dancing with was sitting beside Venus, who seemed more interested in talking to Eddie Falcon. ‘Uh . . . have you seen her?’ Bobby said to Lennie, his eyes still searching.
‘You’re asking me?’ Lennie said, raising a caustic eyebrow. ‘She’s your girlfriend. Gotta keep tabs on this one. She