‘There is a new guard, signorina,’ Suka said, and went away.
A new guard? Gina stretched her long legs. She knew better than to ask details. Suka was very careful about his relations with her. Both of them were aware that Amando could be watching.
Could this new guard be interesting? she wondered. God! How she needed an interesting man!
Her mind wandered back to those marvellous, erotic nights in Rome when she had so often shared a vast bed with two young, rich stags who took her, turn and turnabout.
She was releasing a soft moan as she relived those exciting moments when she heard a gentle cough that made her open her eyes and half start up.
Suka was standing at her side, holding a tray on which stood a glass of tomato juice: she was forbidden any kind of alcoholic drink. As he placed the glass on the table, he said softly, without looking at her, ‘Signor Amando goes to Frisco. Not back until tomorrow. Very important dinner.’ He left her.
Gina drew in a deep breath. The new guard would be on duty! For the first time in days, she smiled.
Although the fried chicken looked excellent, Frost found he had no appetite. He pushed the food around on his plate, aware that Marvin was eating hungrily.
Since returning to the Grandi villa, Frost’s mind had been in turmoil. He was in the hole for four thousand dollars! He had no possible hope of paying this sharpshooting sonofabitch and he felt in his bones that Silk would insist on payment. He remembered his words: I don’t take on a match with a piker! There seemed to be no solution except to throw up his job and get out of Paradise City. What a sucker he had been!
‘Something bothering you, Mike?’ Marvin asked as he pushed aside his empty plate.
‘I’m fine... just not hungry.’ Frost stood up. ‘I guess I ate too much for lunch.’ He looked at his strap watch. ‘You signing off?’
‘Yeah. There’s a good movie on the tube. Watch out for Old Creepy,’ then nodding, he left the guardroom.
Frost stacked the plates on the tray, and put the tray on a chair by the door. Then lighting a cigarette, he slumped down in the armchair, facing the TV monitors. Would Marcia get him out of this hole? he wondered. He decided she wouldn’t. He couldn’t imagine her giving him four thousand dollars to settle a crazy bet. That he couldn’t imagine! There was something about Silk that made Frost uneasy. Silk looked the kind of vicious bastard who would alert a tough debt collecting service, and if Frost failed to pay up, he would get cornered one night by an experienced gang who could break both his arms. He knew all about the collection-of-debts-service. The only solution was to throw up this sweet job and return to New York.
He heard the door open behind him and he looked around. Suka was collecting the tray.
‘Signor Amando has left for Frisco,’ Suka murmured. ‘He returns tomorrow,’ and he went out, shutting the door.
Frost shrugged. Now that he would be forced to leave. Paradise City, Amando could get screwed for all he cared. The drag was that by leaving after only two nights of duty, he wouldn’t get paid. His money was running dangerously low. By the time he had paid for his air ticket to New York, he would have very little left. What the hell was he going to do in New York anyway? He had already looked for a job there, and nothing had come up. For the first time since he had left the Army, Frost began to be worried.
He was still worrying, staring at the monitors, when he heard a sound behind him. His hands dropped on to his gun butt as he got to his feet and he swung around in one swift movement.
A girl stood in the doorway, smiling at him.
Gina had watched Amando drive away in the Rolls, then she had taken a shower, hesitated before her vast wardrobe, then selected an emerald green cocktail dress that fitted snugly, revealing her curves: a dress she hadn’t worn since leaving Rome. The dress could be unzipped for immediate action, and when going to a party, immediate action was what she wanted.
Frost’s eyes opened wide as he looked at her. He guessed she was Gina Grandi. He hadn’t expected her to be so spectacularly exciting. As his experienced eyes ran over her compact body, he knew she was naked under the dress.
‘Hi!’ she said. ‘You’re the new guard.’
Frost felt lust stir in him.
‘Mike Frost,’ he said. ‘I know who you are.’
Gina regarded him. What a beautiful hunk of man! she thought, and moved into the room, closing the door behind her.
‘Do you like the job... Mike?’
He scarcely heard what she was saying. He knew for sure that she could be taken. His experience with women over the years had taught him to know the signs, and the green light was flashing.
‘I like it a lot better now,’ he said. He didn’t hesitate. What had he to lose? He walked to her while she stood, waiting, and when he reached her, she slid her arms around his neck and thrust her body hard against his. His lips came down on hers and her tongue darted. They stood, straining against each other for a long moment, then she pushed him away, smiling at him.
‘Let’s have fun, Mike. Not here... in my room.’
Holding his wrist, she pulled him into the big lobby and up the broad stairs, along a corridor and into her spacious bedroom.
She was naked and lying across the bed as Frost shut the door.
Frost came awake as the clock downstairs chimed two. Hard, white moonlight came through the big window and lit up the bed. He looked down at the sleeping girl at his side. A beauty, he thought, what a beauty! He lay back on the pillow and stretched his long legs, then he thought of Silk. He felt vicious hatred run through him. If it hadn’t been for that crazy bet, he would be home and dry, but now he would be leaving as soon as Marvin took over the guard duty. He would be leaving this sweet job, and worst still, leaving this little nympho who had given herself to him with abandoned savageness. His right shoulder was still bleeding slightly where she had bitten him. His loins ached. He felt as if he had been fed through a rock crusher.
He turned on his side and regarded the girl, lit by the moonlight. As he was admiring her, her eyes opened, and she stretched like a sleek, beautiful cat.
Then it was her turn to regard him. What a man! she thought, and her mind became busy to find the solution as to how they could have many more nights like this. That sonofabitch Amando! This was the first time he had left the villa — after nearly four months! When would he go again? She wanted and needed this hunk of male excitement, lying by her side, every night!
‘Hi,’ Frost said.
She slid her arms around him and rolled over on top of him. She began to nibble at his lips, but Frost was drained. Marcia had practically demolished him, and now Gina’s fierce lovemaking had reduced him to nothing. Firmly, he pushed her away.
‘That’s it, baby,’ he said. ‘I’ve got to get back to work. This is hello and goodbye. Tomorrow, I’m quitting.’
She stared at him, then sat up.
‘Quitting? What do you mean?’
Frost swung his legs off the bed.
‘I’m throwing up this job.’ He stood up, flexing his muscles, then began to dress.
Gina stared at him in dismay, regarding his lean brown body and his muscles.
‘Mike! What are you saying? Why are you leaving?’
He zipped up his trousers, then sat on the bed.
‘I’m leaving because I’ve been taken for a sucker,’ then he went on to tell her about the shooting match and about Silk. ‘I now owe this jerk four thousand bucks,’ he concluded. ‘There’s no way I can pay him. So... I have to get out of town before he puts on the squeeze.’
She caught hold of his hand.