The room reeked of alcohol, smoke, and men's aftershave. Three smells that Sam could easily identify as the Haunted Star. She casually walked around the room, admiring the roulette wheel but, failed to notice the figures standing right behind her.
"Well
hey there sweet pea. What're you doin' here? Your shift doesn't
start until Wednesday."
Sam could identify the voice of Luke
Spencer ring through the room but, she preferred the next voice to be
muzzled.
"You haven't started working here and you're already going to sleep with my husband for a raise? Oh Sam, you never learn do you?" Tracy put her pale hands on her face in mock disappointment.
"Sorry Tracy. It's not my fault Luke wants to be with a woman born in the 1980s. Not 800 B.C." Tracy pursed her lips and glared at Sam before walking over to the bar. Luke on the other hand tried to control his laughter as he put his arm around Sam's shoulder.
"Walk with me, talk with me, tell me what you need Sam." He picked up a glass of whisky in the other hand and started swirling it around.
"Well," she started. "I was thinking that maybe I could by over Sonny's part of the Haunted Star?" Luke started choking on his current sip of vodka and Tracy ran over to be at her husband's side. After recovering from his cough attack, he started talking again.
"Sam, don't get me wrong but, what do you want with Sonny's share of the Haunted Star?"
"Actually, it's not me who really wants the share."
"Then who?"
"Johnny Zacchara." She said quietly. She could figure out what their reaction would be. A big, unanimous no.
"There is no way in fiery hell I'm letting that boy own half of this place! Isn't a quarter of this place enough?" She and Tracy noticed that his hand had drifted towards his chest.
"Sam I want you out of here before you give my husband another heart attack."
"Yeah Tracy, I'm the one giving Luke another heart attack. The woman standing right next to him yelling like a banshee day by day is so not stressing him out."
"Now!" Tracy harshly whispered. She tried to push Sam out the door but Sam soon got the upper hand. Pushing Tracy back with more force, she ended up bottom first into a flower pot. Sam quickly ran over to Luke and started massaging his shoulders.
"Now Luke, I know your son just broke up with me, I begged you for a job recently, and I almost gave you a heart attack but hear me out. Johnny would be willing to pay you double, even triple what Sonny offers you."
"Triple?" Luke said in a hushed voice.
"Yes triple." She bent down lower to speak into his ear. "And there's always Claudia to look forward to."
"Claudia?" He asked with a smile on his face.
"No way in hell!" Tracy blared, still stuck in the flower pot. Sam took a handful of poker chips and threw it over in her direction.
"No imagine me, Claudia, and the vast amount of wealth from Johnny. Imagine the possibilities. You can buy out Alice from the Quartermaines and get your own mansion. You can afford the best help for Laura. You could do anything Luke." He gazed around the room dreamily, thinking of all the possibilities Sam had mentioned. But a thought soon crossed his mind.
"Wait a minute, how do I know this isn't another plot to get Johnny and Lulu together?" He crossed his arms over his chest. Dammit! She thought. I was hoping she would ask that. She straightened out her spine and spoke.
"If he wanted Lulu back, why wouldn't he have begged himself?" She could see Luke thinking deeply and held her breath until he nodded his head in agreement.
"Fine. Johnny can have half of the Haunted Star. But if there's a mob war between 'em, I demand protection. That means every damn gun you can get your hand on." Sam only smiled and kissed Luke on the cheek.
"Thank you so much Luke! I promise this'll be worth it." She walked out of the Haunted Star, ignoring the shrill cry of Tracy in the corner. She could only hope her partners in crime had the same luck.
--
"Coleman, I need you!" She yelled as she barged in the front door. Ignoring the various glares by the men around the room, she set her eyes on Coleman.
"Well, give me a moment to get ready and then I'll be all yours." He placed his hands on her arm but, she then grabbed his collar and pulled his face closer to hers.
"Listen you-" her attention was soon drawn to the numerous hoot and hollers coming from the audience she and Coleman had acquired. Grabbing a glass from the counter, she threw it against the wall in order to shut the bumbling idiots up.
"Listen, I want you to give me Sonny's share of Jake's. Now." She demanded.
"Look, I don't want World War 3 in this bar. Sonny and his women haven't gotten along with me and if I sell you his portion of the bar, he's going to have my head served with all the fixings." He turned around and started filling up glasses with beer. She knew just talking to him wasn't enough so, she unbuttoned her shirt a little and tousled her hair before he turned back around.
"Now look Coleman." She twirled a lock of hair between her fingers. "I don't want to cause anymore trouble for you because you've been so generous towards me. But I promise you that this will be all worth it."
"How so?"
"My brother Johnny, has a massive amount of money he'd like to give you, in place of Sonny's current payment."
"How much are we talking?" He rapped his fingers against the counter impatiently.
"Double." Coleman showed no sign of agreement or disagreement.
"…and of course, there is always Sam to look forward to." She saw Coleman's eyebrow shoot up at the mention of her alias's name.
"Sam?"
"Yeah, she with us now and she would greatly appreciate you giving us Sonny's share. So, what do you say? Do we have a deal?" She added a seductive smile in the end.
"Deal."
"Thanks Coleman." She walked out of the bar and dialed a number on her cell.
"I just sold you to Coleman in order to get the deal. How about you?"
"I got the deal but I also sold you out to Luke. So if Tracy starts showing her fangs, you know why." Said the distorted voice of Sam over the phone.
"Well, we can only hope Johnny got through with Monica."
"Yeah listen, I got to go. I'm at Kelly's right now. Gotta see if I can get that deal with Mike." She clicked the phone in her hand and demanded God to give her family and Sam the deals they needed.
