Mario Puzo - The Last Don

Bobby Bantz invited the above-the-line principals of Messalina to his Villa for celebratory drinks at five that evening: Athena, Dita Tommey, Skippy Deere, and as a courtesy, Cross De Lena. Only Cross declined, claiming pressure of duties at the Hotel on this special night.

Bantz had brought his latest «conquest,» a seemingly fresh young girl named Johanna, discovered by a talent scout in a small town in Oregon. She was signed to a five-hundred-dollar-a-week contract for two years. Beautiful but completely untalented, she gave off such a virginal air that the innocence was a separate attraction. And yet with a shrewdness beyond her years, she had refused to sleep with Bobby Bantz until he promised to bring her to Vegas for the showing of Messalina.

Skippy Deere, with an adjoining apartment in Bantz's Villa, chose to be a squatter in Bantz's place, and so prevented Bantz from getting in a quick screw with Johanna, which made Bantz irritable. Skippy was pitching an idea for a feature film that he really was crazy about. Being crazy for a property was a legitimate part of a producer's job.

Deere was telling Bantz about Jim Losey, the greatest hero cop in the LAPD, a big, handsome son of a bitch, who might even be able to play the title role himself, since it would be a story about his life. One of those great «true» life stories where you could invent anything bizarre.

Deere and Bantz both knew that Losey playing himself was a fantasy, invented to con Losey so that he would sell his story cheap, and also for public hype.

Skippy Deere outlined the story with great enthusiasm. Nobody could sell a nonexistent property better. In a moment of pure exhilaration, he picked up the phone and, before Bantz could protest, invited the detective to the five P.M . cocktail party. Losey asked if he could bring a friend, and Deere assured him he could, assuming it was a girlfriend. Skippy Deere, as a producer of films, liked to mix different worlds together. You never knew what miracle might emerge.

Cross De Lena and Lia Vazzi were in the Xanadu penthouse suite reviewing the details of what they would do that night.

«I have all the men in place,» Lia said. «I control the Villa compound. None of them know what you and I will do, they will have no part in that. But I have word that Dante has a crew from the Enclave digging your grave in the desert. We have to be careful tonight.»

«After tonight is what I worry about,» Cross said. «Then we have Don Clericuzio to deal with. Do you think he'll buy the story?»

«Not really,» Lia said. «But that is our only hope.»

Cross shrugged. «I have no choice. Dante killed my father and so now he has to kill me.» He paused for a moment and then said, «I hope the Don was not on his side from the beginning. Then we have no chance.»

Lia said cautiously, «We could abort everything and lay our troubles in front of the Don. Let him decide and act.»

«No,» Cross said. «He can't decide against his grandson.»

«You're right, of course,» Lia said. «But still, the Don has gone a little soft. He let those Hollywood people cheat you, and that in his youth he would never have allowed. Not the money, the disrespect.»

Cross poured more brandy into Lia's glass and lit his cigar. He did not tell him about David Redfellow. «How do you like your room?» he said jokingly.

Lia puffed on his cigar. «What nonsense. So beautiful. To what purpose? Why does anyone have to live like that? It is too much. It takes away your strength. It arouses envy. It's not clever to insult the poor like that. Why then would they not want to kill you? My father was a rich man in Sicily but never did he live in luxury.»

«You don't understand America, Lia,» Cross said. «Every poor man who sees the inside of that Villa rejoices. Because he knows in his heart someday he will live in just such a place.»

At that moment the private phone in the penthouse rang. Cross picked it up. His heart gave a little jump. It was Athena.

«Can we meet before the movie shows?» she asked.

«Only if you come to my suite,» Cross said. «I really can't leave here.»

«How gallant,» Athena said coolly. «Then we can meet after the wrap party, I'll leave early and you can come to my Villa.»

«I really can't,» Cross said.

«I'm leaving in the morning for L.A.,» Athena said. «Then the day after, I fly to France. We won't meet in private until you come there … if you come.»

Cross looked at Lia, who shook his head and frowned. So Cross said to Athena, «Can you come to me here, now? Please?»

He waited for a long time before she said, «Yes, give me an hour.»

«I'll send a car and security for you,» Cross said. «They'll be waiting outside your Villa.» He hung up the phone and said to Lia, «We have to watch out for her. Dante is crazy enough to do anything.»

The cocktail party in Bantz's Villa was graced by beauty.

Melo Stuart brought a young actress with a great stage reputation that he and Skippy Deere planned to cast as the female lead in the Jim Losey Story. She had a strong Egyptian beauty, bold features, an imperious manner. Bantz had his new find, Johanna, last name not decided, the innocent virgin. Athena, who had never looked so radiant, was surrounded by her friends: Claudia, Dita Tommey, and Molly Flanders. Athena was unusually quiet, but still Johanna and the stage actress, Liza Wrongate, looked at her almost in awe and envy. Both came to Athena, the Queen they hoped to replace.

Claudia asked Bobby Bantz, «Didn't you invite my brother?»

«Sure,» Bantz said. «He was too busy.»

«Thanks for giving Ernest's family his points,» Claudia said, grinning.

«Molly robbed me,» Bantz said. He had always liked Claudia, maybe because Marrion had liked her, so he didn't mind her kidding. «She held a cannon to my head.»

«But you could have made it tough,» Claudia said. «Marrion would approve.»

Bantz stared at her blankly. He felt suddenly tearful. Never would he be the man Marrion had been. And he missed him.

Meanwhile Skippy Deere had cornered Johanna and was telling her about his new film, which had a great cameo of an innocent young girl grossly raped and killed by a drug dealer. «You look perfect for the part. You don't have much experience but if I can get it past Bobby, you can come and test.» He paused for a moment and then said in a warm, confidential manner, «I think you should change your name. Johanna is too square for your career.» Implying the stardom that lay ahead.

He noted how her face flushed; really it was touching how young girls believed in their beauty, desired to be stars, as passionately as Renaissance girls wanted to be saints. When Ernest Vail's cynical smile appeared before him, Deere thought: Laugh as much as you like, still it was a spiritual desire. In both instances it would lead more often to martyrdom than glory, but that was part of the deal.

Johanna went off predictably to talk to Bantz. Deere joined Melo Stuart and his new girlfriend, Liza. Though she was talented on stage, Skippy had doubts about her future on the movie screen. The camera was too cruel for her kind of beauty. And her intelligence would make her unfit for many roles. But Melo had insisted she be the female lead in the Losey picture, and there were times when Melo could not be denied. And the female lead was just a bullshit, carry-the-water-bag part.

Deere kissed Liza on both cheeks. «I saw you in New York,» he said. «Marvelous performance.» He paused for a moment and said, «I hope you'll take the part in my new movie. Melo thinks it will be your breakthrough on film.»

Liza gave him a cold smile. «I have to see the script,» she said. Deere felt that flash of resentment he always felt. She was getting the break of her life and she wanted to see a fucking script. He could see Melo smiling with amusement.