Goddess of Vengeance - Jackie Collins [163]
Paco informed Harry, after one brief awkward encounter in the men’s room at Wonderball, that he wasn’t (just as Max had suspected) gay after all.
A very disappointed Harry continued searching for the right one.
* * *
Annabelle and Eddie got married at the Beverly Hills Hotel. It was the first time for both of them, and each of them had their reasons.
Eddie figured marrying Annabelle was somehow or other getting himself attached to Hollywood royalty. After all, her parents were movie stars, even though her dad – the very famous Ralph Maestro – had probably arranged the murder of her very famous mother, Gemma Summer Maestro.
Who cared? This was a Hollywood murder. Ralph Maestro walked free.
And Annabelle decided that marrying Eddie was a good thing because he was a comer with clout and an A list cluster of clients.
One day Eddie would run a studio, Annabelle was sure of it. And she’d be Mrs Eddie Falcon with power up the kazoo. Not such a bad thing.
She never spoke of her evening with Armand Jordan. It was best forgotten.
* * *
Alex Woods still had lust in his heart for the unobtainable Lucky Santangelo. He moved yet another Asian beauty in with him, and bided his time.
Alex was not a man who gave up easily.
* * *
Remaining Venus’s resident stud for almost three months garnered Jorge a huge amount of publicity. The two of them were all over the Internet, a staple of gossip columns, and magazines that loved nothing better than putting them on the cover. Together, they made a stunning couple.
The publicity benefited them both. Women were envious of Venus, but they also admired the fact that at forty-something she was able to attract and keep the attention of such a virile young man.
Jorge became a known name in his own right. So much so that Calvin Klein hired him to be the face and body of the next big underwear campaign.
Jorge was on his way to getting exactly what he wanted.
Fame.
Money.
Recognition.
Love would come later.
* * *
Meanwhile, Venus met a Venezuelan avant-garde film director, who saw her as more than just a blonde and beautiful superstar sex symbol who happened to sing, dance and act. He saw her as Everywoman, an earthy creature whose incredible potential had yet to be unleashed on the world.
She saw him as the intellectual saviour she had been searching for.
Together they had big plans.
* * *
Danny and Buff got married in Oregon. The trip was a wedding present from Lucky, who felt Danny deserved some time off.
Danny complained all the way about how ridiculous it was that gay marriage was not legal in California, the most laid-back State of all.
Buff heartily agreed.
And after five wonderful days they returned to Vegas in full wedded bliss.
* * *
M.J. never did get to take Cassie on the trip he’d planned, for the night of Armand Jordan’s murder was the night she lost their baby, solving all their problems. Although deep down M.J. couldn’t help feeling that maybe she’d done something to facilitate the miscarriage.
He desperately tried to put it out of his mind, but somehow it lingered.
* * *
Fouad recovered nicely. His wife and children flew to Las Vegas to be by his side, and later, back in New York they all shared in the surprise that Armand Jordan had split his estate fifty-fifty. Half to his mother, and the other half to Fouad.
It made Fouad sad that Armand had come to such an unfortunate end, for although Armand had been an extremely difficult and challenging man, they had indeed shared many interesting times before the drugs had taken hold.
Strangely enough, Fouad missed him.
To celebrate his newfound position as head of Jordan Developments, Fouad collected all of Armand’s sex DVDs and promptly destroyed them.
He determined that Armand’s legacy would be pristine, and that his reputation would remain untarnished.
* * *
Peggy Dunn was all set to organize a spectacular New York funeral for her only son. She had Fouad contact the King and tell him the sad news in case he wanted to attend. The King responded by saying that he wished the funeral to take place in Akramshar.