on Ames’s personal finances, facts that Ames thought nobody knew about except his accountants and bankers. His entertainment empire was built on loans and mortgages and his most successful properties, including
Birth of a Nation
, were collateral for the loans. Sometimes Ames fell a few months behind in his payments but there had never been any serious complaints. His bankers knew he was good for the money and tended to be tolerant.
Nicky paused in his chilling recital and took a piece of paper from the thin alligator case in his breast pocket. He handed it across the desk to Ames.
“What the hell is this?” Ames was stunned and furious — and trapped.
“You read English,” said Nicky. “Your debts have been paid. In full. You no longer owe Federal Chemical a cent. From now on, you will make your monthly check to Kiskalesi Enterprises and you will find that we will not be quite so tolerant—”
Ames gulped and turned white as Nicky took back the assignment of debt, carefully folded it, and replaced it in the alligator case.
“You will start taking orders now,” said Nicky. “Number one, you will produce Miss Partos’s concert tour. Number two, you will make it the most spectacular comeback in the history of show business. And number three, you will do it on my terms.”
“Which are?” asked Ames.
“You get nothing in advance and expenses only as you need them,” Nicky said. “The two million comes later —
if
you’re successful—”
“And if I’m not?”
“I don’t think, Mr. Bostwick, we need go into the details—”
Ames had done business with gangsters before. He’d handled trouble when it came, and not before.
“‘Ames Bostwick presents Adriana Partos,’” the producer said, as he extended his hand to shake on the deal. “When do I meet my client?”
“Whenever you want,” said Nicky. “But I think you should know that Miss Partos has point-blank refused to make the tour—”
Ames blinked and his mouth fell open. “Then how the hell can I produce the tour?”
“That, my dear Ames,” said the world’s richest man, “is your problem.”
24
Ames Bostwick’s first impression of Adriana Partos was that she was a damn good-looking broad for her age. His second was that she had a brain. The third was that she had balls and probably needed them to be involved with a
goniff
like Nicky Kiskalesi.
He had been taking her to lunch, to dinner, trying to sweet-talk her into making a comeback tour. He had wheedled, flattered, and pulled every con-artist trick at his command. He rented out the entire upstairs room at 21 and papered the place with actors — some of them famous friends of his, most of them out-of-work performers hungry for an extra buck. He arranged for people to come up to Adriana throughout the dinner and ask for her autograph. They told her how much they missed her, and they wanted to know when she was going to play again. It was an expensive charade (though Nicky was picking up the tab), and it almost worked. Adriana said yes but later had second thoughts.
Ames took her out on his yacht, which he kept anchored at the Seventy-ninth Street Boat Basin and gave a party in her honor. He had two dozen violinists aboard playing music Adriana was famous for performing — Schubert’s posthumous Sonata in B-flat, Mozart’s Sonata in D — and made sure there were plenty of requests for her to accompany them. She was gracious about it but refused to sit down at the Steinway Ames had had hoisted on board.
Adriana was amused by Ames and enjoyed spending time with him. She found him outrageous and refreshing. She didn’t care if he kept on pressuring her, just as long as he realized he wasn’t going to succeed.
Ames realized nothing of the sort and in desperation decided to fall back on the last trick in his repertoire — the truth. It was something to be saved for rare occasions and the good thing about it was that it often worked. Not as much fun as a hustle, of
Birth of a Nation
, were collateral for the loans. Sometimes Ames fell a few months behind in his payments but there had never been any serious complaints. His bankers knew he was good for the money and tended to be tolerant.
Nicky paused in his chilling recital and took a piece of paper from the thin alligator case in his breast pocket. He handed it across the desk to Ames.
“What the hell is this?” Ames was stunned and furious — and trapped.
“You read English,” said Nicky. “Your debts have been paid. In full. You no longer owe Federal Chemical a cent. From now on, you will make your monthly check to Kiskalesi Enterprises and you will find that we will not be quite so tolerant—”
Ames gulped and turned white as Nicky took back the assignment of debt, carefully folded it, and replaced it in the alligator case.
“You will start taking orders now,” said Nicky. “Number one, you will produce Miss Partos’s concert tour. Number two, you will make it the most spectacular comeback in the history of show business. And number three, you will do it on my terms.”
“Which are?” asked Ames.
“You get nothing in advance and expenses only as you need them,” Nicky said. “The two million comes later —
if
you’re successful—”
“And if I’m not?”
“I don’t think, Mr. Bostwick, we need go into the details—”
Ames had done business with gangsters before. He’d handled trouble when it came, and not before.
“‘Ames Bostwick presents Adriana Partos,’” the producer said, as he extended his hand to shake on the deal. “When do I meet my client?”
“Whenever you want,” said Nicky. “But I think you should know that Miss Partos has point-blank refused to make the tour—”
Ames blinked and his mouth fell open. “Then how the hell can I produce the tour?”
“That, my dear Ames,” said the world’s richest man, “is your problem.”
24
Ames Bostwick’s first impression of Adriana Partos was that she was a damn good-looking broad for her age. His second was that she had a brain. The third was that she had balls and probably needed them to be involved with a
goniff
like Nicky Kiskalesi.
He had been taking her to lunch, to dinner, trying to sweet-talk her into making a comeback tour. He had wheedled, flattered, and pulled every con-artist trick at his command. He rented out the entire upstairs room at 21 and papered the place with actors — some of them famous friends of his, most of them out-of-work performers hungry for an extra buck. He arranged for people to come up to Adriana throughout the dinner and ask for her autograph. They told her how much they missed her, and they wanted to know when she was going to play again. It was an expensive charade (though Nicky was picking up the tab), and it almost worked. Adriana said yes but later had second thoughts.
Ames took her out on his yacht, which he kept anchored at the Seventy-ninth Street Boat Basin and gave a party in her honor. He had two dozen violinists aboard playing music Adriana was famous for performing — Schubert’s posthumous Sonata in B-flat, Mozart’s Sonata in D — and made sure there were plenty of requests for her to accompany them. She was gracious about it but refused to sit down at the Steinway Ames had had hoisted on board.
Adriana was amused by Ames and enjoyed spending time with him. She found him outrageous and refreshing. She didn’t care if he kept on pressuring her, just as long as he realized he wasn’t going to succeed.
Ames realized nothing of the sort and in desperation decided to fall back on the last trick in his repertoire — the truth. It was something to be saved for rare occasions and the good thing about it was that it often worked. Not as much fun as a hustle, of
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