Page 124

“Jesus,” I mutter, lifting my hand to rub my face but thinking better of it with the amount of make-up that’s covering it.

“I brought you a gift. You know… just in case.” Emmie opens her bag and passes me a gun. “I hear you’re a shit-hot shot these days, so it might come in useful.”

“Where the hell am I meant to stash this?” I ask, looking down at my slim, tight-fitting black dress.

“Ah… are you ready to blow Alex’s, or Jerome’s, mind?”

“Uh…” Not really, no, but I doubt I have a choice in this right now.

Emmie drops to the floor in front of me, and I make the most of the opportunity to shuffle around a little so there’s no chance of her seeing the paper sitting on the floor behind her as she pulls something else out of her bag.

“What is that?” I ask, although really, it’s damn obvious.

“A holster, obviously. We just strap it here.” She opens the high split in my floor-length dress and wraps the black fabric around my thigh, securing it and then shoving the gun into the straps. “And now, you look fucking hot. The guys are going to shit a brick when they see you.”

“Emmie,” I hiss. “I can’t walk around with a gun strapped to my thigh.”

“Says who?” she asks, pushing to stand once more and lifting her own dress up to show me her concealed weapon. “Stella is packing too.”

“Jesus.”

“Just in case. If this is some plan to lure the Italians out and wipe them from the face of the Earth, then we want to be ready to help our boys, right?”

“Sure,” I whisper, feeling very, very uncomfortable about all of this.

I wonder if they’d let me go home if I were to tell them the truth. Surely, they wouldn’t want me anywhere near this shitshow if I’m…

My stomach lurches before I even think the word.

“Emmie, Calli,” Stella calls. “We need to go.”

“Come on,” Emmie says, reaching for my hand and dragging me from the bathroom and away from the evidence I left on the floor.

I want to breathe a sigh of relief, but the unknown of what the rest of the night holds stops that from being possible.

We’re all loaded into blacked-out SUVs in the hotel’s underground car park before we head out.

“Anyone would think we’re the freaking prime minister,” Jodie breathes as a few cars go ahead of us as others fall in behind.

“Safe to assume the party is at an undisclosed location then,” Stella announces as we leave the hotel and watch as the cars take different exits.

“Isn’t this all a bit much for your mum’s birthday? No offence,” Jodie says with a concerned frown.

“Yeah, it’s crazy. I want to say that I’m surprised she’s letting it happen if it’s all part of a job. But she’s never one to turn down even a few minutes in the limelight.”

Silence falls amongst the four of us as we’re driven through the streets of London to God knows where.

As the minutes and the miles pass, it soon becomes obvious that we’re heading out of the city, which is probably for the best. Although why we couldn’t have done this earlier, before getting dressed, is beyond me. Surely it would have been safer?

It’s well over an hour later when the car finally pulls to a stop outside a fancy country club I’ve never been to before.

Fairy lights are strung up everywhere, and there are two doormen waiting to greet us. It’s fitting for their guest of honour tonight, that’s for sure.

“Fancy,” Jodie mutters.

“Did you expect anything less?” Emmie asks.

“I guess not.”