Free Vendetta: Lucky's Revenge by Jackie Collins Page A

her,” Alex said shortly. “She’s a fine woman.”
    “I’m sure,” Tin Lee said. “After all, she raised you, Alex, and you are a wonderful man.”
    Oh, Jesus. One good fuck and they think they know it all .
    “I’m excited to meet her,” Tin Lee continued, clutching her tiny hands together. “It is quite an honor that you wish me to accompany you and your mother on her birthday.”
    Baby, baby, if you only knew. I can’t be alone with dear old Mom. I can’t stand her company. When we’re alone together, we rip the flesh from each other’s throats. We’re a fucking horror show .
    They were standing in the front hall of Alex’s Wilshire condo. He never took his girlfriends to his main residence—the modern house at the beach. That was private property not to be invaded by transient girlfriends.
    Tin Lee was six weeks old in Alex Woods’s life. From Thailand, she was petite and pretty, an actress in her early twenties. She’d come in for an audition and he’d invited her out. He’d only made love to her once and had no real desire to do so again. She didn’t make him feel young, she made him feel old and decrepit. But tonight he desperately needed her as a buffer between him and his mother.
    “I hope she likes me,” Tin Lee said anxiously.
    “She’ll love you,” Alex assured her.
    Right. And if you believe that, you’re dumber than I thought .
    “Thank you,” Tin Lee said gratefully.
    Oh, Jesus, Dominique would pick this poor girl to shreds. “Another gook, dear?” she’d ask when Tin Lee visited the ladies’ room. “Another Asian bar hooker? Why can’t you settle down with a decent American girl? You’re not getting any younger, Alex. You’re forty-seven, and look your age. Soon you’ll be losing your hair, and then who’ll have you?”
    Sure, he knew exactly what his mother would say before the words left her brightly smeared crimson lips. She was going to be seventy-one years old and time had not mellowed her.
    But what could he do? She was his mother and he was supposed to love her.
     
    Morton Sharkey was a tall, slim, hawk-nosed man in his late fifties. He was also a brilliant lawyer and well-respected business advisor. He was the man who’d helped Lucky buy Panther, and even though he was a pessimist, his instincts were usually impeccable.
    They had their fights. Ever since she’d bought Panther, he’d been carrying on about it being a losing proposition.
    “Don’t sweat it, Morton,” she’d told him on numerous occasions. “I’ve built hotels in Vegas, run Dimitri’s shipping empire—I sure as hell know how to make a movie studio work.”
    “The movie business is different,” Morton had warned, a stern note in his voice. “It’s the most creatively dishonest business there is.”
    If he knew so much about the movie business, then surely he realized it took time to turn things around. Besides, when she’d sold off 60 percent at his insistence, she’d practically recouped her original investment. So what was he so worried about? Everything was under control.
    Morton listened as she filled him in on her meeting with the Japanese bankers. “If this merchandising deal goes through,” she said, “it’ll raise plenty. And that’s exactly what we need to keep the banks happy. That, and our two hit movies.”
    “Good,” Morton said.
    “I thought you were going to be at the meeting,” Lucky added, noticing that Morton seemed to be somewhat preoccupied.
    “I got held up.”
    “Shouldn’t wear a Rolex,” she joked.
    He didn’t get it.
    “I’m visiting Lennie this weekend. When I’m back we’ll discuss everything. If the Japanese deal is a go, and our two movies keep performing, I think we’re finally in excellent shape, don’t you?”
    He cleared his throat. “Yes, Lucky.”
    There was something wrong with Morton today. She hoped he wasn’t going through some bizarre midlife crisis. He acted as if he couldn’t wait to get out of her office.
    “Are you