The A-List Collection. Victoria Fox
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Elisabeth Sabell watched as a dripping piece of steak disappeared into her father’s mouth. She heard him chew on it noisily. They were dining in a private booth at the Desert Jewel’s Oasis restaurant, a dreamscape of golden sands and lush palms.
‘She causin’ you trouble yet, Bellini?’ Bernstein chased the meat down with a hunk of bread. He signalled the waiter for another bottle of champagne.
‘Of course not,’ said Alberto Bellini smoothly, not taking his eyes from Elisabeth’s face.
‘She’s wasted playin’ goddamn beauty pageants.’ Bernstein gave Robert a look. ‘Soon as she’s married there’ll be more important things to think about.’
Elisabeth picked at her walnut salad. ‘I’m not having this conversation again.’
‘No need, puss,’ Bernstein said through a mouthful, ‘me and St Louis got plans—’
‘We have?’ Robert caught his fiancée’s eye across the table and briefly shook his head, dispelling her fears. ‘News to me, Bernstein.’
His authority brought out the wild side in her. Elisabeth extended a long, honey-coloured leg, found her lover and grazed a toe up towards his groin. In seconds he was hard.
‘All’s I’m sayin’ is you two got opportunities,’ said Bernstein, oblivious. He lowered his voice. ‘Chicago needs someone they can trust, not some all-singin’, all-dancin’ fairy fuckin’ cabaret act.’ Next to him his girlfriend, a voluptuous twenty-something showgirl named Christie Carmen, shot him a dirty look.
‘Charming,’ she hissed, adjusting her generously proportioned bust.
Elisabeth began trailing over Robert’s erection, slowly, teasing, in the way she knew he liked it. Miraculously his face was giving nothing away.
‘Why’d she have to get all the fucking attention?’ Jessica Bernstein pouted, a nasal whine creeping into her voice. She turned to her father with an accusing expression.
‘Be quiet, Jessica,’ said Elisabeth, wishing her younger sister could grow up a bit. Half-sister, she kept reminding herself. They couldn’t be less alike if they tried: where Elisabeth was sensible, stable and set on her own destiny, Jessica was impulsive, hedonistic and spoiled.
‘Fuck you,’ Jessica retorted.
‘Now, now,’ Bernstein interjected, giving the table a mock-exasperated look. His younger daughter, only twenty, was a firecracker, just like her mother had been. Sleeping with renowned casino hustler Trixie duChamp had been one of his bigger mistakes. The year Jessica had turned eleven Trixie had rolled up dead of a drug overdose. They’d found her naked in bed at the Parthenon with a silk scarf tied round her neck and a pair of dice up her ass.
‘Why’n’t you tell everyone about my little gift to the both of you?’ Bernstein said, steering the conversation back to Robert and Elisabeth. He drained his glass of Rémy and immediately poured another. ‘Call it a wedding present.’
Elisabeth frowned. ‘What gift?’ She applied a little more pressure to Robert, surprised that he felt different to normal … thinner. Alberto Bellini, seated next to her fiancé, raised a beautifully shaped eyebrow and made a gruff sound in his throat, adjusting himself. Mortified, she pulled away, her cheeks flushed.
‘Your father’s bringing Sam Lucas’s premiere to the Orient,’ Robert explained, carefully taking a drink. He put the glass down slowly and cleared his throat. ‘Next summer.’
‘He is?’ Elisabeth gritted her teeth. In her book gifts were given freely.
Jessica was examining her nails. ‘I know it, the one with Lana Falcon.’
Elisabeth noticed Robert tense. She threw him a questioning expression. He met her eye briefly then looked away.
‘It’s going to be magnificent,’ said Robert automatically. Still he didn’t look at her.
‘Damn right,’ said Bernstein. ‘An’ you two are gonna be headin’ up the whole thing.’
Elisabeth spluttered. ‘What about you? I’m sure you’ll be involved. Isn’t that what daddies are for?’
‘We all will,’ he said, loosening the neck on his shirt.
‘Ha!’ Jessica barked. ‘Don’t make me laugh. You wouldn’t want me getting in the way and messing things up.’ She hiccupped. ‘Because that’s all I’m good for, isn’t it?’
‘Now, now, Jessica,’ said Bernstein.
‘It’s true!’ she moaned. ‘It’s always Elisabeth this, Elisabeth that, the story of my fucking life. What’s so special about her?’
Jessica pouted and pushed back her brown hair. She was pretty in a pretend kind of way, but her nose was a fraction too long, her skin two shades too orange and, she was convinced, her hair too thin. Her stylist called it ‘fine’ but Jessica was appalled by the idea she could be bald by thirty. She didn’t have the natural beauty Elisabeth possessed and she knew it–nor did she have the attentions of their father. Jealousy defined her behaviour.
‘Fuck all of you,’ she said, taking a slug of her drink. ‘You’re all assholes.’
‘Could you pass the bread rolls, please?’ asked Alberto. The basket was right beside Jessica but she made no attempt to pick it up. Robert leaned across and obliged.
‘Honey, I gotta go to the little girls’ room,’ Christie Carmen whined, bobbing up and down in her seat. They would have forgotten she was there if it weren’t for her trussed-up breasts spilling into the soup starter.
‘Go on, then, baby,’ grumbled Bernstein. Then he imagined the blow job he’d be receiving later and instantly felt better. After two marriages, young and dumb was order of the day.
Christie Carmen was a hot broad with big tits and a nice tight pussy–it was everything he required from his women these days.
‘Get that ass back here quick.’ Bernstein winked as he patted his girlfriend’s retreating behind. She tottered off in a silver mini-skirt and four-inch heels, drunkenly weaving into an oncoming dessert trolley. Maybe he’d get lucky and she’d come back without her knickers.
How depressing, Elisabeth thought, observing her father’s latest accessory stagger off in her imitation Jimmy Choos. She glanced at Robert, who had gone uncharacteristically quiet. He was folding his napkin into exact squares. His dark eyes were unsettled.
She could sense Alberto Bellini watching her from across the table, the tip of his tongue just visible between his lips.
The photograph was face down, its edges mottled and stiffened by time.
Alberto drew it from the oak chest of drawers, clasping it to his chest. He closed his eyes, his breath escaping in a hoarse, thin stream, like air seeping from a punctured tyre. It reminded him that he was old.
Supper tonight had exhausted him. He didn’t know how much longer he could bear it–loving Elisabeth entirely and yet knowing she belonged to another man.
He scanned the picture one more time, before slipping it back and closing the cabinet. The sound reverberated through the rooms of his expansive Italian-castle-themed mansion.
Linda Sabell.
She was gone. She had never been his in the first place. He had to forget her.
Yet how could he, when every time he clapped eyes on Elisabeth it was like walking straight back into the past? Frank Bernstein would murder him if he ever found out. Or get someone else to do it for him. Though Bernstein never admitted as much, it was clear to all of them that precious Elisabeth was his favourite daughter. If only he, Alberto, could have shared a child with Linda.
Alberto grimaced. He poured himself a brandy and chucked it back. He was getting tired of this game, he wanted out. Too many years