Lovers & Players

by Jackie Collins

  They were standing on the sidewalk outside Red’s house, neither of them looking forward to going in.

  ‘I don’t see you carrying a bag,’ Chris remarked.

  Jett pushed his hair out of his eyes. ‘A bag?’

  ‘L.A.,’ Chris reminded him. ‘Remember? I booked you a ticket to come with me.’

  ‘Oh, yeah.’ A beat. ‘Uh…listen, Chris, thanks for the offer, but I can’t go. Y’ see, last night—’

  ‘I know all about last night,’ Chris interrupted. ‘Max called me. I went over to his place and heard the whole sorry story.’

  ‘Is he destroyed?’

  ‘Do you want him to be?’

  ‘No way. I got nothing against Max. I wish I knew him better.’

  ‘That ain’t gonna happen, little bro’. Not when you tell him he’s exactly like Red.’

  ‘Oh, shit,’ Jett said, shaking his head. ‘I didn’t mean to say that.’

  ‘Then why did you?’

  ‘’Cause he punched me out, called me a loser,’ Jett explained. ‘I couldn’t hit him back–I would’ve floored him. Guess I tried to hurt him with words.’

  ‘Right,’ Chris said. ‘So you steal his fiancée, then tell him he’s exactly like the father we all hate. Right on, little bro’. That’ll really make him like you.’

  ‘Fuck!’

  ‘Yeah, fuck. Let’s go in.’

  Red watched from an upstairs window as his two younger sons entered the house. Lady Jane was already in the library. He’d told Diahann not to come up until he buzzed her to do so.

  Now he was waiting for Max to arrive, and the moment he did–let the party begin.

  Chapter Sixty-Six

  Max got to the house on 68th Street ten minutes after his brothers, thanks to the woman in the parking garage who’d attempted to detain him.

  He didn’t care that he was late, he didn’t care about anything much any more. Except Lulu–and who knew if she was even his?

  Irena could’ve told him, but Irena was no longer around to answer his questions.

  Who would have thought that one week could totally change a person’s life? His business was back on track. His personal life was pure shit.

  The butler opened the front door and he walked straight through to the library.

  Lady Jane Bentley was sitting stiffly on one of the leather couches, while Jett and Chris stood by the window. Chris immediately came over to greet him. ‘Tough night, huh?’ Chris said, in a low voice. ‘Did you get any sleep?’

  ‘Not much,’ he replied, noticing Jett over by the window and wondering if his younger brother would have the balls to speak to him. ‘Where’s Red?’ He turned to Lady Jane and repeated the question.

  She shrugged in a noncommittal way. ‘I’m sure he’ll be here.’ Then she added, ‘In the future your father and I will be going our separate ways. I thought I’d tell you before you read it in one of the columns.’

  Chris raised his eyebrows. ‘When did this happen?’

  ‘You know what Red’s like. He was always a selfish man, never cared about anyone except himself. I can’t change him, no one can.’

  This did not exactly answer Chris’s question, but he figured he’d let it go. Lady Jane was no prize, she walked around as if she had a poker shoved up her Chanel-clad ass.

  ‘Where is he?’ Max asked impatiently. ‘If this is a repeat performance of the other day, I’m leaving, and this time I will not be coming back.’

  ‘Ha!’ Red boomed, appearing in the doorway. ‘Didn’t expect me to make it, huh? Well, here I am. Good morning to all of you.’

  The old man seemed particularly cheerful, as if he’d recently been privy to some excellent news. He was dressed for the occasion in a blue pin-striped suit, crisp white shirt and bright red tie. At seventy-nine he still had a full head of iron-grey hair and today it was plastered back in what he obviously considered a fetching style. His faded blue eyes were alert and crafty, while a very pleased-with-himself smile hovered on his thin lips.

  Red Diamond was obviously in a very good mood indeed.

  Max Diamond was not. ‘Why are we here?’ Max demanded, surreptitiously cracking his knuckles.

  ‘Patience,’ Red replied. ‘That’s a quality you’ve never possessed.’ He cleared his throat, then turned his attention to Lady Jane. ‘Where are the refreshments, woman? Call the maid, for God’s sake.’

  Lady Jane threw him a cool look. ‘I am no longer running this house,’ she said frostily. ‘Or perhaps you chose to forget that.’

  Ignoring her, Red picked up the phone and buzzed the kitchen, ordering coffee, tea, soft drinks and cookies to be sent up immediately. ‘I enjoy a cookie in the morning,’ he announced, as if anyone cared.

  Chris stepped forward. ‘While you’re enjoying your cookie, I have a flight to catch,’ he said. ‘You mentioned over the phone something about the true story behind my mother’s plane crash. What did you mean by that?’

  ‘Christ!’ Red grumbled. ‘Don’t any of you have any goddamn manners? I called this meeting in my house, and I will conduct the order in which it takes place.’

  ‘Order?’ Max questioned. ‘I didn’t realize we were in a boardroom.’

  ‘There will be things I say today that concern all of you,’ Red said. ‘If you want to hear them, sit down and shut up.’ He picked up the phone again and buzzed somewhere in the house. ‘Get up here, now!’ he commanded.

  ‘I thought I should inform you that I’m arranging Mariska’s funeral for early next week,’ Max said. ‘For Lulu’s sake I’d appreciate it if you could show some respect and be there. I presume you do know that four days ago Mariska was brutally murdered?’

  ‘How could I not know?’ Red rasped. ‘It’s all over the goddamn newspapers. Including my photo, and a bad one at that.’

  Standing by the window, Jett didn’t move. He regretted comparing Max to this despicable human being, this psychologically flawed excuse for a father. It was no surprise Red had managed to turn Edie into a pathetic drunk, she was the only one to have survived the horror of being married to such an abusive bully.

  He had a strong urge to leave while he could. But something kept him there, a need to hear exactly what the old man had to say.

  ‘I’m going to be eighty in two weeks,’ Red announced. ‘Eighty years young.’ He chuckled at his lame attempt at humour. ‘Never thought of myself as old, and I’m sure you’ll all be delighted to hear that I’m healthy as a goddamn thirty-year-old. Took a physical, and I might not look it, but my body is stronger than it’s ever been. Good peasant genes, inherited from my dumbass father, the loser granddaddy you were lucky enough never to know.’ He paused to light up a dark-coloured cigarette, indulged in a short coughing fit, then continued: ‘I’ll start with you, Max, my eldest son. My eldest moron. You’re not that smart, you just think you are. However, you managed to build yourself a mini-empire–an empire I almost took away from you with a couple of well-placed phone calls.’ Once again he chuckled. ‘You must’ve learned something from me, ’cause you managed to save your ass by calling in the goddamn Japs.’

  ‘No thanks to you,’ Max said, thinking how much he’d like to smash his bigoted and egocentric father in the face.

  ‘You got enough money,’ Red continued. ‘You don’t need any from me.’

  ‘Is that what you called me here to tell me?’

  ‘No,’ Red said. ‘Stick around, it gets a lot better than this. But first I’ll move onto Chris, who thinks he’s Mr Hollywood instead of some paid shyster with a big gambling problem.’

  ‘I’m not interested in your opinion of me,’ Chris said, choking back his anger and frustration. ‘Try telling me about my mother.’

  ‘Ah…’ Red sighed. ‘The lovely Olivia. Such a beauty. Such a sad story. Foolish of her to divorce me. If she’d stayed around she’d still be with us today.’

  ‘What do you mean?’ Chris asked, his heart pounding.

  ‘You should’ve asked your step-father when he
was alive,’ Red answered, plucking a Kleenex from a box and noisily blowing his nose. ‘Your mother’s plane crash was no damn accident. Peter Linden–her lousy choice of a second husband–handled certain clients who could take care of anything he wanted done. And since Mr Linden had the hots for some movie-star tramp, it seems your mother had become an inconvenience. So he arranged to get rid of her, freeing himself to marry the movie star, which of course he did.’

  ‘What?’ Chris said, dumbstruck. ‘How do you know this?’

  ‘Tough shit for Peter, though,’ Red continued, exhaling a stream of dark smoke into the room. ‘Six weeks after he married the movie star, the two of them got into a fatal car accident on their way to Palm Springs. I’m sure you heard about it.’ A long ominous silence. Then: ‘Funny how shit turns around and hits you in the face, isn’t it?’

  The door opened and two maids wheeled in a trolley of refreshments. They were followed by Diahann, who stood hesitantly in the doorway.

  All eyes turned to stare at the transformation of Red’s dowdy housekeeper. She was quite beautiful, in an understated way.

  ‘You all know Diahann,’ Red said, beckoning her to come into the room. ‘Housekeeper Diahann.’

  She entered the library reluctantly, not sure what to expect, although it was patently obvious that Red had something in mind.

  Lady Jane Bentley glared at her, while the two maids left quickly, eager to get back to the kitchen and report what was going on. Diahann sat down on the edge of the couch, as far away from Lady Jane as possible.

  ‘Now let me see,’ Red said, enjoying every moment he spent with his captive audience. ‘We’ve established I’m in perfect health, and that’s the good news–not for you, I’m sure–but good news for me. However, I’m certain you’ll all be glad to know that I am getting older, and one day I will not be around to keep a watchful eye on you.’ A beat. ‘That’s a joke.’ Another beat. ‘Nobody’s laughing. Too bad.’ He swivelled his head towards his former paramour. ‘Jane,’ he said, ‘I have considered your request for the exorbitant and quite ludicrous sum of thirty-five million dollars, and after no thought at all, I have deemed it unacceptable. Therefore, on the condition that you and all your possessions are out of my house by six p.m. tonight, I am prepared to generously offer you one million dollars for the time you spent boring me to death. This is a one-time offer, and I suggest you accept it. Because if you refuse it, I can assure you that I will have you forcibly removed from the premises. Then you can try suing me for the settlement you’re after. I’ll have you tied up in court for the rest of your dull life. I can promise you that you’ll never see a penny, so once again, I suggest you say yes to my offer.’

  ‘You bastard!’ Lady Jane hissed.

  ‘Not the first time I’ve been called that,’ Red said with a nasty chuckle. ‘And speaking of bastards—’

  Diahann’s head snapped up. ‘Stop!’ she said.

  ‘Excuse me?’ Red retorted.

  The two of them had everyone’s attention.

  ‘No. Go ahead,’ Lady Jane sneered. ‘It’s time they heard about—’

  ‘Shut the fuck up!’ Red said menacingly, angry eyes glaring at her. ‘This is none of your goddamn business. You snooped into my private papers and that cost you a lot of money, so be smart for once and stay quiet.’

  ‘Well, I—’

  ‘Did…you…hear…me?’ he said, in ominously measured tones.

  Lady Jane closed her mouth.

  ‘Jett,’ Red said, turning to look at his youngest son. ‘How’s your mother? Still drinking herself into a stupor every night?’

  ‘You gotta figure somebody made her that way,’ Jett muttered, determined not to be intimidated by his bullying father.

  ‘I suppose you’re intimating that it was me,’ Red rasped. ‘News flash–it wasn’t. Edie was a nympho, fucked anything that had a dick. The gardener in Tuscany, the chauffeur in the South of France, two of my business acquaintances—’

  ‘Why are you doing this?’ Chris interrupted. ‘Does it make you feel like a big man? Because in our eyes, believe me, you’re not.’

  ‘Thank you, Chris, for reminding me that I digress. I must get to the real reason we’re all here.’ A long meaningful pause. ‘Money. Inheritance. Moola. Cash. Right, my happy little family?’

  The room was silent.

  Jett thought about his mother and felt tears prick the back of his eyelids. Shit! Mustn’t cry. No way. It wasn’t manly. Red had told him that when he was three, shortly after paddling his ass with a leather belt, the sharp-edged buckle drawing blood.

  ‘Jett,’ Red said. ‘I’m opening you a bank account. In it I will deposit five million dollars. Can’t have your brothers being so far ahead of you. Competitive spirit, that’s what you need. Double the five mill in five years, and there’ll be more where that came from. And if one cent is spent on drugs, you’ll find the money will mysteriously vanish.’

  Jett found his voice. ‘I don’t want it,’ he said. ‘You can keep your money.’

  ‘I called you a fuck-up not a fool,’ Red said crisply. ‘You have twenty-four hours to reconsider. Talk to your brothers. They’ll advise you.’

  Lady Jane stood up. ‘You make me sick,’ she said, trembling with fury.

  ‘Everything makes you sick,’ Red said. ‘Especially sex.’

  ‘I’m leaving,’ she said grandly.

  ‘I suggest you stay,’ Red said, holding up an authoritative hand. ‘I’m about to reveal exactly why I summoned you all here. Surely you don’t want to miss that? You could call it a surprise ending.’

  ‘While we’re playing truth games, how did my mother die?’ Max asked, determined to get to the real story. ‘Did somebody arrange her death too?’

  ‘Sorry to disappoint you,’ Red replied calmly. ‘Rachel had a congenital heart problem. Died of natural causes in her sleep–leaving me to take care of you. Rather inconsiderate of her, don’t you think? I sure know how to pick ’em, don’t I?’

  ‘You didn’t take care of me,’ Max said heatedly. ‘I had a different nanny for every day of the week. I never saw you, unless it was with a leather strap in your hand. Or unless you were raping one of my girlfriends.’

  ‘Boo-hoo,’ Red jeered. ‘Poor little rich boy. If you couldn’t satisfy your girlfriends, somebody had to.’

  Max made a move toward Red. Chris quickly restrained him.

  ‘Someone left their balls at home,’ Red taunted. ‘You wanna punch me out, go ahead.’

  ‘Whatever you have to say, say it now,’ Chris said. ‘Otherwise we’re leaving.’

  Red nodded. ‘You’re right. Why prolong this meeting of no great minds? And, Chris, I might say, if you can conquer your gambling addiction, there’s a strong possibility you could amount to something after all. I like the way you’re trying to take charge here, protecting your brothers. It’s quite touching.’

  Watching the interaction between Red and his sons, Diahann felt sick. How could there be so much tension in one room–and why did Red Diamond hate his sons with such a passion?

  Thank God she’d kept Liberty away from him. Not that she’d had any choice, Red had never expressed any desire to meet his daughter. He’d seen Liberty once when she was twelve–the fateful day he’d caught her napping on his bed. After that unfortunate incident, he’d insisted she was sent away.

  Diahann wondered why Red wanted her and Liberty at this meeting. When Liberty found out that Red Diamond was her father, she’d go crazy. She had always expressed her loathing of him. Diahann knew that when she discovered the truth there would be an explosion.

  ‘Let me get down to it,’ Red said, clearing his throat. ‘Unfortunately, in spite of my excellent physical condition, I will not be around forever. This means that I will be obliged to leave my estate to someone.’

  ‘Find a charity, we’re not interested,’ Max muttered.

  ‘When I’m dead and gone you’ll change your minds,’ Red said. ‘Money has a way of making people
change their minds. So…to prevent any untoward claims on my estate, I have recently made an iron-clad Will that leaves everything–and I mean everything–to your two sisters.’

  ‘Sisters?’ Chris said. ‘We don’t have sisters.’

  ‘I knew there was something I forgot to mention,’ Red said, enjoying every moment of his revelation. ‘Diahann,’ he ordered, ‘stand up and tell them about our daughter. Sorry, Jane, I know you wanted to be the one to spit it out, but we can’t always get what we want, can we?’

  Lady Jane shot him a venomous look. She wanted to leave and call her lawyer. On the other hand she was frightened she might miss something that she could use later.

  Diahann felt exposed and vulnerable. Why was he doing this to her? After Zippy’s demise she’d kept her silence. She’d done everything Red had asked her to. To this day she was not sure if she or Red had shot Zippy. They’d been locked in a tangle and somehow or other the gun had gone off. Had she pulled the trigger or had Red? Because when Zippy slumped to the floor, the gun had thudded to the ground and she’d never been sure who’d actually shot him.

  Red had been determined to avoid any scandal. He’d immediately taken over, arranging for Zippy’s body to be removed, offering Diahann a job as his housekeeper. He’d promised her room and board and a lump sum of money sometime in the future. In a veiled way he’d threatened her that if she didn’t do exactly as he suggested, Zippy’s body would be found and she’d be arrested for his murder. ‘Who will the cops believe?’ he’d said. ‘A black woman or a white man? Your kid will go into the welfare system and you’ll be fucked.’

  Tired and scared, she’d agreed to everything. At the time it hadn’t seemed so bad, a safe haven, no more singing for money to keep the bills paid. Red switched Liberty to an expensive private school in Manhattan, and paid for any incidentals. Diahann had comforted herself with the thought that Liberty was getting a far better education than she could’ve afforded to give her.

  And now, almost ten years later, here she was sitting in Red Diamond’s library while he prepared to reveal that he was Liberty’s father–because he felt like it. Yes, she thought. Red Diamond is as bad as everyone says he is. Cruel, arrogant, a manipulative bully. How much longer could she put up with him?