Free The Love Killers by Jackie Collins

fear—that’s why we call him Black Balls!’
    One of the monkeys let out a loud screech.
    â€˜Shit!’ exclaimed Bosco Sam. ‘That fuckin’ monkey just pissed all over me!’
    â€˜It’s lucky,’ Dukey said, managing to keep a straight face.
    â€˜It better be,’ Bosco Sam grumbled. ‘Or your bones gonna be
dead
fuckin’ bones.’

CHAPTER TWELVE
    Lara’s effect on Nick was slow but lethal.
    They met again at the party Jeanette and Les threw for her, and then again at a screening of a new movie.
    Lara was seeing Sammy Albert, fighting him off, because to get involved with him sexually was a diversion she did not need. It was at her suggestion that Sammy invited April and Nick to dinner at a restaurant.
    Confident that this was the night, Sammy was in a buoyant mood.
    Lara put on her Yves Saint Laurent black-velvet jacket, cut man’s style, and underneath it a high-necked blouse in black chiffon which, when you looked closely, was see-through. Underneath she wore no bra, and the effect was incredibly sexy because as she moved the jacket moved, too, exposing her and then falling back into place.
    â€˜Now you see them, now you don’t,’ Sammy announced proudly at the beginning of the evening.
    Nick and April started to fight halfway through dinner, a whispered argument no one was supposed to hear, because above all April would never blow her image by showing a jealous streak.
    The champagne Sammy had insisted on was beginning to have its effect. ‘For God’s sake, get your eyes off her bloody tits!’ April hissed angrily at Nick.
    Nick, who had been making a concerted effort
not
to look, was insulted. ‘Cool down, April,’ he muttered. ‘Don’t make a fool of yourself.’
    â€˜Cool down,’ she mimicked. ‘Just
who
do you think you’re talking to, little man?’
    â€˜I’m talking to you, and goddamn it—you’ve had enough.’ He gripped her wrist as she lifted her glass.
    Furious, she tried to shake free, and the champagne spilled down the front of her dress.
    â€˜Oh, dear.’ Lara was the first there with a napkin, dabbing it dry. ‘I don’t think it will stain.’
    â€˜It’s only an old rag,’ April said, recovering her composure and shooing Lara away. ‘Nick, dear, you’re
so
clumsy.’ She turned her back on both of them and began to talk to Sammy on her other side.
    Lara glanced at Nick and smiled sympathetically. He grinned back, allowing his eyes to drop briefly to her breasts. If he was going to get accused, he might as well do it.
    She was still looking at him, her green eyes probing and interested.
    He felt a sudden uncomfortable tightness in his pants, a feeling he had long ago learned to control. Christ, this girl was really something—she was getting to him in no uncertain way. In the year he’d been with April he’d only taken chances twice. Once, on a business trip to Vegas, a faceless showgirl with incredible legs. The other, a redhead he’d met at the beach on one of his rare afternoons off. Neither of the girls had known who he was or anything about him. That way there was no risk of April ever finding out.
    â€˜Let’s go to The Discotheque,’ Sammy was saying.
    â€˜Yes, marvelous idea,’ April agreed, downing another glass of champagne.
    Nick didn’t try to stop her. Tonight it was her problem, let her get good and boozed up. She would be sorry in the morning.
    There was more champagne at The Discotheque, and Lara noticed that even Nick was drinking, something she had never seen him do before.
    She danced with Sammy and was embarrassed by his convulsive, almost obscene way of moving. One thing about European men, Prince Alfredo especially—they knew how to keep their cool on the dance floor. Sammy hopped about like a baby elephant jerking off.
    When she sat down April invited her to accompany her to the