Goddess of Vengeance - Jackie Collins [94]
‘Do you really love it? Are you wild about it? Do I look awesome?’
‘’Course you do,’ Frankie lied, because he wasn’t sure whether he liked it or not. Now she looked like every other pretty young black girl instead of standing out as one of a kind. But at least it had given him a free afternoon to play the tables. He’d taken a beating at craps, although tonight he was confident that he’d win it all back.
After all, he was Frankie Romano. He always came out on top.
‘So about the concert.’ he said. ‘I think we should go.’
‘Seriously?’
‘Yeah, seriously.’
‘I’ll see what I can do.’
Chapter Thirty-Four
Lucky had major connections; she could pick up a phone and get through to almost anyone, and if she couldn’t, Gino certainly could. After talking to the New York madam who supplied girls for Armand Jordan, and the Vegas madam, Yvonne Le Crane, a pattern emerged. He booked girls to be seen with, and if sex was involved his preference was to humiliate and debase them.
I knew he was an asshole, Lucky thought. Probably can’t get it up.
Then she suddenly decided that she was wasting too much time investigating Armand Jordan’s dumb ass – it was getting boring. He was a sick joke, not someone to be concerned about. She informed Danny to cut off any further digging, adding a terse, ‘Just make sure he never gets into my hotel again. Okay?’
‘Got it, Lucky,’ Danny agreed. ‘I’ll have Jerrod circulate his photo.’
‘Good plan.’ A beat. ‘Did you hear if Max and Bobby got here yet?’
‘They’ve both arrived. And according to Betty, Max’s boyfriend, Ace, turned up unexpectedly.’
‘Nice surprise for her,’ Lucky said, pleased, because she liked Ace a lot, and he seemed to be a good influence on Max. ‘Any of them requesting reservations tonight?’
‘I’ll check with everyone shortly.’
‘Thanks, Danny. You’re always on top of it. I know you’ll make sure they’re all taken care of.’
Danny appreciated getting praise for a job he knew he handled well.
‘Well,’ Lucky continued, ‘I’m about to throw myself into a sauna, so I’ll see you in the morning.’
‘You certainly will,’ Danny said, still unsure about whether he should mention Billy Melina being spotted in her car.
Best not to, he decided. His boss was getting prepared to greet Lennie. Why ruin her evening?
* * *
Being a star, in Vegas, with nobody around to protect him except Kev – who was about as helpful as a teenager on crack – was turning out to be a bad idea. Everywhere Billy went, fans surrounded him. Girls with longing and hero-worship in their eyes. Couples from Middle America who requested he pose for a photo with them because their granddaughter was his biggest fan. Gay guys who simply gazed adoringly. Autograph hounds. And predatory middle-aged women who thought that since he’d been married to Venus, he must be into older women.
Kev got off on every fan-filled minute, he was even collecting digits from the fans with the biggest attributes. ‘Didn’t realize you was this popular, dude,’ he announced, happily taking advantage of it all. ‘They’re treatin’ you as if you’re Johnny Depp or Brad Pitt.’
Billy was aware that Kev did not understand the price of fame. The loss of privacy, the way people treated him as if he was simply there for their viewing pleasure, the demands they made. It was all too much.
And then there was the touching. Billy loathed the touching. Random strangers throwing their arms around him as if it was their right to do so. Girls trying to feel his hair. Clammy handshakes. Every personal interaction turned him off; it was an intimacy issue he could well do without.
Venus had always surrounded them with bodyguards when they were out in public – now he realized why. When it came to the PR game, Venus was way more savvy than he was.
After attempting to play Black Jack at the casino in The Cavendish, he finally gave it up and went back to the suite where he played with the remote until he found a sports channel on TV, settled on the couch, and tried to recover from the fan-fest.
Kev stayed in the casino, basking in Billy’s fame.
After fifteen