Dirty Game

‘You poor thing. Sit down and have some tea and toast,’ said Ellie, a little too sweetly.

Annie sat and exchanged a look with Darren. Ellie was hedging her bets. Annie was back, and she might kick Dolly out of pole position as lady boss. It might pay to suck up. Ellie could get a degree in sucking up, she was that good at it.

The painting was gone, Annie noticed. Someone had put it away, out of sight. Stuffed it in a cupboard or something. Not that she cared. They could burn the bloody thing for her. It represented another time, a time she’d rather be allowed to forget.

‘He didn’t say anything about this place, did he?’ asked Dolly.

Annie looked at her and Dolly looked away. Annie knew what she was thinking – that Annie intended to take over the reins of command here again, and maybe Redmond was going to put Annie back in charge over Dolly’s head.

‘He didn’t say much,’ said Annie.

Dolly’s eyes moved back and locked with hers for a moment.

‘Fine,’ she said, and stood up. She clapped her hands. ‘Come on then, troops. Let’s get this place tidy, the punters will be arriving soon.’

Of course, thought Annie. Friday. Party day. Ellie put her tea and toast in front of her and she was left alone at the table. She took a bite, but couldn’t eat the rest. She drank some tea. Then she went out into the hall and back up the stairs. Fuck it, this was no use, she couldn’t go on like this.

She took a bath, washed her hair, got dressed. There was music coming from the front room, and people were laughing and talking. Maybe this was just what she needed.

She went back downstairs. Chris was at his station. Ellie was servicing an elderly gentleman on a chair just inside the front-room door, jumping up and down on the poor chap fit to break his brittle old bones, but he seemed to be enjoying it. Two whores she didn’t know were rolling about on the sofa with three men who looked like barristers or High Court judges. Probably Aretha was at work upstairs in her room, strapping another poor twisted soul into the Punishment Chair. And Darren didn’t much care for an audience while he performed, so he was probably upstairs too with some outwardly respectable gentleman who preferred to take it up the arse. Dolly was doling out drinks as Brian mixed and served, and passing around canapes. She looked up when Annie entered the room and her smile tightened.

‘I thought I’d come down and lend a hand,’ said Annie, feeling suddenly awkward. Maybe this was not such a good idea after all. Dolly looked miffed, although she was trying to hide it.

‘There’s no need,’ she said.

Annie dropped the pretence. ‘Fuck it, Dolly. Don’t be like this.’

‘Like what?’ asked Dolly, still smiling that horrible false smile.

‘This. The last thing I want to do is upset you. You’re the boss here now, I don’t want to muscle in on your territory.’

‘Oh.’ Dolly had the good grace to look abashed. ‘It’s just …’

‘I know. You don’t want to go back to where you were. I understand that. You’re safe, Dolly. Don’t give it another thought. I’ll go back upstairs, okay?’

‘Thanks,’ said Dolly, shoulders slumping with relief.

Feeling like a fool, Annie made herself scarce. She could easily understand that Dolly didn’t want to go back to shagging for a living. But what could she do, now that being Madam here was no longer an option? She had to do something, she couldn’t afford to just sit on her arse all day.

39

‘Remember your plan, Miss Bailey?’ asked that chilly voice on the phone.

Annie was standing in the hall. It was Saturday morning. Chris was sitting there, watching her impassively. She felt tired and irritable. Redmond fucking Delaney had got her out of a nice warm bed to play mind games. Okay, it was eleven in the morning and she should have been up and dressed. She knew that. But knowing it was one thing, doing it was something else. And so she was here – again – in her dressing gown with hair like a haystack in a gale. Dolly passed by, looking with disapproval at the state of her. It was almost funny. She was turning into Dolly, and Dolly was turning into her.

‘Plan?’ echoed Annie.

‘Expansion, Miss Bailey.’

‘Oh.’ Annie dragged a hand through her hair. ‘That plan.’

‘Why not go ahead with that?’ asked Redmond.

Why not, thought Annie. Because she could hardly summon the energy to stand up, far less launch a new business? Right now she could think of a thousand reasons why not.

‘I don’t know,’ she said.

‘Only I’ve looked at a few places with good potential.’

‘Right.’

‘Perhaps I should leave it with you, let you mull it over.’

‘Mm. Okay.’ She put the phone down. She’d forgotten to say a polite goodbye, she realized afterwards.

‘Bugger,’ she muttered.

You didn’t just put the phone down on Redmond Delaney. But then she was so deeply in the shit, would another few inches matter? She had dumped Max Carter. You didn’t do that, either. But she had. Was she brave, or just stupid?

Stupid, she thought. Because now she was miserable as sin. She missed him far more than she would ever have thought possible. She knew he was a bastard, but she was still in love with him. And what was there for her here? She was strictly surplus to requirements. Dolly had brightened up

after Annie’s little peacemaking speech yesterday, but she was still edgy. The message was clear; she was here on sufferance, and the sooner she went, the better.

Annie went through to the kitchen and found Dolly there at the table with Billy. She hadn’t seen him for quite a while. He’d obviously been intimidated by Chris standing on guard and by the formality of using the front door, she knew that, but now it looked like he’d overcome it. Annie could see, to her shame, that her appearance startled him. Fuck, she knew she looked a wreck. Dolly poured her some tea. Dolly looked immaculate from her hair down to her fingernails.

This can’t go on, thought Annie.

‘Hello Billy, how are you?’ she asked, making an effort.

‘I’m f-fine, thank you Miss Bailey,’ he said, looking sideways at her while scribbling in his notebook.

She looked over at what he was doing. As usual, it was just scribble, blackening the page. There was nothing intelligible there, nothing that made sense at all. Maybe it made sense to Billy. Who knew? It was rather sweet, the way he still came calling even though Celia was gone. And it was good of Redmond Delaney to turn a blind eye to Billy’s continued presence on his manor.

She took her tea out to the hall and dialled the Delaneys’ number.

‘Hello?’ said Redmond.

‘Mr Delaney, I’m sorry, I think we got cut off.’

‘Yes.’

‘What you were saying, about plans,’ said Annie.

‘Yes?’

‘I might have a place in mind,’ she said. It was probably gone by now, but if it was, so be it.

The first place she’d looked at with Ellie had been a favourite, with its fabulous views out over Green Park, but it was unfurnished and it would cost an arm and a leg to get the place done out as she’d like it; it was also a little too far out.

The second had been closer to Whitehall and was rather like a gentleman’s club inside, fully furnished with lots of dark wood panelling and large comfy chairs. Even the bedrooms were sumptuously done out in reds and