Lady Boss by Jackie Collins Read Free Book Online Page B

readin’ you wrong. But the thought here seems to be that you’re gonna buy a film studio just ’cause your old man is not havin’ a day at the beach. Am I hittin’ it straight on?’
    â€˜You got it!’ Lucky was on a roll. She felt the adrenaline coursing through her body. Telling Gino was a kick. When she’d financed and built the Magiriano Hotel in Vegas by herself, and her father had seen the results, it had been a real triumph. Somehow, purchasing a movie studio was even more of a thrill.
    Gino laughed derisively. ‘What the hell do
you
know about makin’ movies?’ he asked.
    â€˜What did
you
know about running a hotel when you put up the Mirage in 1902?’ Lucky countered.
    â€˜It was 1951, smart ass, an’ I knew plenty.’
    â€˜Like what?’ she challenged.
    â€˜Like more than
you
know about the goddamn picture business.’
    â€˜What I don’t know, I’ll find out. I plan to surround myself with professionals. If you look around at some of the jerks in charge of major studios you can see it’s no big challenge. Panther is coasting along on cheap exploitation flicks and stars’ ego trips. I’m going to turn the studio around and make it hot again.’
    Gino shrugged, sipped more wine, and shook his head. ‘Yeah, you’re my daughter all right. You’re a Santangelo.’
    With a smile she charmed him. ‘Was there ever any question?’
    Three hours later they’d finished two bottles of wine, eaten a mound of spaghetti and clam sauce, dallied with a dishful of home-made pastries, and were now on hot, whisky-soaked Irish coffees.
    â€˜Cholesterol heaven!’ Lucky murmured happily. ‘Are you
sure
you’re supposed to do this at your age?’
    He winked. ‘I’m forty-five, remember?’
    She leaned forward to kiss him on the cheek. ‘I do love you, Gino… uh… Daddy.’ It was only on very special occasions that she called him daddy.
    Basking in her affection, he said, ‘It’s mutual, kid. You never doubted it, didja?’
    Yes, lots of times
, she wanted to say.
When Mommy was murdered and you withdrew from your children. And how about the time you paid to marry me off to Senator Richmond’s dumb son when I was only sixteen? And shutting me out of the family business. And treating me like women were an inferior species. And marrying that Beverly Hills bitch Susan Martino and almost adopting her scuzzy, fully grown children…
    Oh yes, there were plenty of bad memories. But now things couldn’t be better. They were a team. And somehow she knew it would never change.

Chapter 9
    â€˜You’ve been edgy for the last three days,’ Mary-Lou said, massaging Steven’s left foot. ‘What is it, honey? Are you ever going to tell me, or have I just got to carry on tiptoeing around your bad mood like a zombie?’
    Steven roused himself from Johnny Carson’s television monologue. ‘What bad mood are you talking about?’
    Mary-Lou dropped his foot and let out an exasperated sigh. ‘Either you’re going to tell me, or you’re not. Obviously you’re not, so quit with the short answers and long silences, otherwise
I
am out of here.’ She raised her voice. ‘You hear me, Steven? O-U-T.’
    He looked faintly amused. ‘Where would you go?’
    â€˜Go? Me? I’m a star, honey, I can go where I want. So there!’
    Lazily he reached for her. ‘With that big belly?’
    She pulled away. ‘Don’t try an’ sweet-talk me now. You’re too late.’
    His hands found their way to her swollen breasts, where they lingered.
    She didn’t move. A good sign. Maybe he could short-stop a fight and get lost in her warmness. He needed comforting and nurturing – not a damned argument.
    â€˜Steven,’ she murmured in a low voice that was neither denial nor acceptance.
    With practised ease