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Alex had checked around and knew who did Erin Porter’s PR. Some old school type who did deals on the golf course or over brandy at the club. ‘Jack Allen, is that the guy?’

‘Oh, no. Not him. He took early retirement. Erin’s got fresh blood now.’

‘Who?

‘Uhhh, Leigh Calloway? I spoke to her about an hour ago.’

Alex’s body stiffened. Her vision went weird. ‘Did you say Leigh Calloway?’

‘Yeah. You know her?’

Memories hit Alex. A dull thud of bass, the stench of old beer, a sticky rock club floor. The shape of a girl in the distance.

‘No,’ Alex said.

‘Really? Because you said her name like you did,’ Ivy noted.

Alex cleared her throat. ‘Excuse me a second.’

She put the phone on hold and set the receiver down. She gripped the edge of her glossy oak desk and bent her head for a second. This wasn’t that big of a deal. She just needed a second to absorb it, and then she’d be fine. She took three deep breaths, collected herself, repressed her feelings like a motherfucker, and took Ivy off hold.

‘Ivy, look, I don’t know what your slant on the story is, but I’m willing to bet Leigh didn’t mention infidelity.’

‘She did, actually,’ Ivy said.

‘Erin admitted it?’

‘The way Leigh put it, Isabelle was looking for an out, so she made up this infidelity thing, which she has no proof of at all.’

Alex snorted, impressed. If she’d been spinning this in Erin’s favour, she might have said the same thing. ‘What about the picture?’

‘This photo? Do you have it?’ Ivy asked immediately.

‘They, err,Leighmentioned the photo?’ Alex said, pushing the name out despite her mouth’s resistance.

‘Yeah, she said it’s a pretty pathetic piece of proof,’ Ivy said. ‘She’s just sitting in a restaurant with a woman. If that was proof of infidelity, you can tell my boyfriend I’ve had a lot of lesbian affairs. I think he’ll be quite shocked. I can’t even look at myownvagina.’

Alex laughed. ‘Ivy, you know as well as I do that Erin Porter wouldn’t have been stupid enough to get caught in public doing anything more than gazing into this woman’s eyes with a look of utter lust, which is what the pic shows.’

‘What woman? Do we have a name?’ Ivy asked.

Alex was still working on that. ‘She’s not in the biz, just a civilian.’

‘You don’t know.’

‘Not yet,’ Alex confessed.

‘But you have the picture.’

‘Yes,’ Alex lied.

‘And were you planning on sharing?’ Ivy asked.

‘Not yet. Isabelle has not given permission to reveal it, that’s all. But we will if needed.’ Alex felt it was nearly certain that pic would come out, whether Isabelle wanted it to or not. ‘Look, what’s your angle?’ she asked, trying to move away from the picture stuff.

‘You want to know whose side I’m taking? Well, the thing is, Isabelle Kane’s the big name, isn’t she? And Erin’s not quite up there.’

‘Right…’