Poor Little Bitch Girl (33 page)

His gut told him that he had to get rid of the woman. She was bad luck, bad karma.

Fortunately she hadn’t seen him, but she
had
seen Rosa.

So what? There were a million girls who looked like Rosa with their short skirts, platform shoes, too much make-up and teased hair. Their captive would never pick Rosa out in a line-up, and even if she did, Rosa would not risk opening up her mouth and involving him.

One thing he knew for sure, he had to come up with a new plan, because keeping the Senator’s pregnant bitch in his house was no longer an option.

* * *

With Benito settled in front of the TV, Rosa seized the opportunity to slip out to the alley and open the back passenger door of his car. She was looking for the woman’s purse. When they’d taken her, first smothering her face with a chloroformed pad, Rosa had grabbed the purse and hurriedly thrown it on the back seat. Benito hadn’t noticed, he was too busy trussing up his unconscious victim and attempting to jam her in the trunk of his car.

Sometimes Benito could be so dumb. This taking the woman thing was dumb, but Rosa went along with whatever Benito wanted because he was her boyfriend, and it wasn’t easy finding a boyfriend once you had a crying baby at home. Besides, having an older boyfriend like Benito gave her power in school when she bothered to attend. Nobody dared mess with Benito’s girlfriend. Everyone knew she was his property and therefore untouchable.

Rosa had decided that grabbing the purse was her bonus for helping out. She wasn’t walking away empty-handed – why should she?

After recovering the purse from the car, she scurried back into the house and stashed it under the kitchen sink. Later, when Benito was asleep, she’d take a look and see what was in it. Hopefully money, ’cause Benito gave her nothing; she had to steal from his pockets when he was sleeping.

“Yo!” he yelled from his seat in front of the TV. “Get me another beer, an’ slide your ass in here.”

Rosa obliged. She knew what he wanted. Beer followed by a solid blow-job.

It was never wise to fight with Benito.

* * *

Gaining consciousness, Carolyn realized she must have passed out, for when she came to she was no longer tied up in the trunk of a car, she was lying on a narrow sagging bed in a dark room with her right wrist tightly affixed to the bedframe.

Little did she know that this was the same room Gregory had woken up in, only a couple of days earlier.

Waves of fear overcame her as she attempted to sit up. She was desperate to use the bathroom, her stomach ached and she began shivering uncontrollably.

The room was small, cold and damp. There was the smell of cigarette smoke and onions in the air, no carpet on the bare floorboards, and the tattered covering over the one window was tacked up with nails. Through the walls she could hear the noise of a loud TV, and overhead there was the faint drone of a helicopter.

Where was she?

What was happening to her?

She wasn’t rich or famous, so why would anyone want to kidnap her?

Panicked, she couldn’t be sure how much time had passed since she’d been taken. A few hours? A day? She had no idea, but it seemed like it was night-time, and her growling stomach informed her she was hungry, while her dry mouth craved water.

Overcome with feelings of fear and confusion, all she could do was hope and pray that any minute she would wake up, and this would turn out to be some insane nightmare.

Then the thought came to her. Gregory would race to her rescue. He had to.

After all, she was carrying his baby.

T
he dinner with Brigette and Kris, M.J. and Cassie, Lucky, Max, plus the two female owners of the Cavendish Hotel, Renee and Susie, went well. As usual, Bobby found himself impressed by his mom’s knack of making everyone feel comfortable, even though Max spent most of the evening needling her.

Lucky seemed delighted with Brigette’s choice of lover, while Kris was totally enamored with Lucky. Renee and Susie were in lesbian heaven. Meanwhile Cassie and Max were hitting it off big-time.

Why not?
Bobby thought, watching the two girls chat nonstop.
They’re almost the same age. M.J. is definitely cradle-snatching.

Finally he got a chance to talk to Lucky alone, just the two of them. “What’s up with Miss Wild Thing?” he asked, referring to his little sister.

“Max is driving us crazy,” Lucky confessed, making a helpless gesture. “But what can we do?”

“How about letting her make her own decisions?” Bobby suggested. “She’s almost eighteen, she’s smart enough.”

“Not as smart as
you
were at eighteen, and she’s still only seventeen,” Lucky responded. “It would drive me insane to see her go through the kind of experiences Brigette endured.”

“What makes you think that might happen?” he asked.

“C’
mon
,” Lucky said. “Max is young and gorgeous, plus she comes from a mega-rich family. You and I both know that every asshole searching out a major score will be after her, which is why I want her safely stashed in college until she’s older.”

“No chance, Mom,” Bobby said, shaking his head.

“Why do you say that?”

“’Cause Little Sis is ready to roll – with or without your permission.”

“You think?”

“She’s already told me she’s not going to do the college thing.”

“Too bad, ’cause there’s certainly no way I’m letting her run wild. That’s not an option.”

“Could be you got no choice.”

“There’s always a choice,” Lucky said, her face clouding over. She took a long beat before continuing. “You know what the main problem is? She takes after me when I was her age. And trust me – I never listened to anyone.”

“Shouldn’t that make you understand where she’s coming from?”

“Believe me – I try.”

“If I remember, didn’t Gino marry you off at sixteen?”

“Oh yeah, he sure did,” Lucky said with a dry laugh. “Gino did it ’cause he thought that way he could control me. Naturally it didn’t work. I outsmarted him all the way.”

“But hey – Mom – you turned out a winner. You’ve achieved so much.
And
you did it all by yourself.”

“Thanks, Bobby, but you still don’t get it. Nothing’s simple any more – we live in dangerous times.”

“Back in the day, wasn’t your mom murdered? And your brother,
and
the guy you were engaged to? Are you telling me things weren’t dangerous then? Jeez, Mom, gimme a break.”

“Sure they were, but like I said – it’s a different world now. Besides, I was major street-smart, I knew how to look after myself in any situation.”

“Max is smart, too. She got herself out of that whole kidnapping scam a couple of years ago.”

“Pure luck. Besides, she had Ace to help her.”

“Whatever happened to him? He still around?”

“Kinda, it’s an on off thing.”

“I guess you know she wants to move to New York.”

“Oh yes, I’ve heard all about that. She’s conjured up this fantasy about living with you.”

“No
way
,” he said. “I love Little Sis, but I’m not about to be responsible for her.”

“Believe me – I get it, Bobby.”

“Hey, you and Lennie will work it out.”

“We’ll sure as hell try.”

“Hey, lotsa luck with that,” Bobby said, grinning. “You’re gonna need it.”

Lucky smiled ruefully. “Enough about Max, what’s going on with my number one son?”

“I’m taking over your club, that’s enough to keep me busy.”

“I mean relationship-wise, Bobby. What’s the deal? Any girl I should know about?”

“Nobody special,” he answered casually. A pause, another grin. “I’ll just have to keep looking.”

The next morning, Max flew back to L.A. Bobby drove her to the airport. Once again, he urged her to think about giving college a try, then he left it at that. There was no point in arguing with her. Max wanted her freedom, and as far as she was concerned, nobody was going to stop her.

Later, he spent the day at the club with M.J. They brought in an architect, a designer and a building contractor. It was all systems go.

Immersing himself in the meeting, Bobby also kept a sharp eye on his watch so he’d be around to welcome Frankie and Annabelle when they arrived at the hotel. He wasn’t sure why he’d invited them; it was a spur of the moment decision he was starting to regret. On reflection he realized that he might’ve thought he needed a wall of people around him to protect him from Zeena, the maneater. Not that he planned on getting sucked in again, but perhaps it was inevitable.

Where were all the nice girls – the smart, intelligent, age-appropriate girls? They certainly weren’t hanging out at
Mood
. He’d had it with the models and the party girls and the rich heiresses.

For a moment his thoughts turned to Denver – the lawyer he’d run into at Annabelle’s in New York. She’d mentioned that they’d attended the same high school. He hadn’t remembered her from then, but he’d liked her style – even though their meeting was brief. She’d given him her card, and it occurred to him that maybe he should call her, she’d seemed normal enough. She’d had a kind of appealing glow about her, and she wasn’t stick-thin, she looked as if she might enjoy a steak or two. He should’ve told Frankie to bring her.

Hey – too late now. What was he thinking, anyway? He was simply trying to protect himself from Zeena.

Or was he?
Bring it on, Miz Superstar. I can deal with anything you got.

* * *

Like most mega-stars who are known by only one name, Zeena expected everything – and then more. Her demands were calculated and bizarre, and nobody dared argue with her. She strolled through life secure in the knowledge that most people would bow down to her, and she could get away with anything.

Zeena had a penchant for using people. She got off on seeing how far she could push them. It was all a game, and if she happened to destroy someone along the way – too bad.

Men intrigued Zeena, although she was not averse to a woman or two when the occasion arose.

Bobby Santangelo Stanislopoulos intrigued her. He was different from the usual younger men she was attracted to. He had style, he had money, he had presence. And . . . even though she’d criticized him in bed, he certainly knew what he was doing.

So when Zeena discovered that Bobby would be in Vegas the one night she was appearing there, she considered it serendipity.

Renee, the owner of the Cavendish, let it drop that Lucky Santangelo and a group – including Lucky’s hot son – would be attending Zeena’s one-night charity event.

Zeena feigned total disinterest. “Would Zeena find them interesting people?” she asked.

“You mean you’ve never met Lucky?” Renee responded. “Oh my God! Lucky is
the
most amazing woman. The two of you should get together – you’ll love her.”

“Zeena is very particular about who she loves and doesn’t love,” Zeena purred. “However, I trust your judgment, Renee, so after my show, arrange for this Lucky woman and her group to attend a private dinner with us.”

“Done!” Renee said, clapping her hands together. “You won’t regret it.”

“Hmm . . .” Zeena drawled, reaching for her trademark Gauloises. “I sincerely hope not, because Zeena hates to be bored. Being bored is a mortal sin.”

* * *

By the time their meeting was over, Bobby found himself alone. M.J. had taken off with Cassie, Brigette and Kris were at the spa, and Lucky was on the phone in her palatial office dealing with business.

He wondered if he could get out of attending Zeena’s concert that night, then he remembered he’d invited Frankie and Annabelle along with everyone else, so there was no escape.

Zeena would be up on stage doing her thing. It wasn’t as if he’d have to see her or spend any intimate time with her.

On impulse he decided to make the limo trip to the airport and meet Frankie and Annabelle himself. It was better than sitting around doing nothing, and maybe they’d all stop off at the Wynn Hotel and play a few rounds of blackjack before hitting The Keys.