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‘Ooh, someone’s got some juicy shit to hide!’ Jamie declared.

‘No, it’s just…’

‘Yeah, let’s get the goods on Leigh,’ Joe said.

‘I just don’t like drinking games,’ Leigh said uncomfortably.

She was aware of how this might sound to Alex. Like she was a buzzkill. But she just didn’t see the point of this.

‘Let’s just play for five minutes,’ Jacob said. He looked around. ‘Yeah?’

Everyone nodded, including Alex. Leigh was stuck. ‘Fine. Five minutes.’ How much could go wrong in five minutes?

Now

‘OK, so let’s move on,’ Leigh said to Erin. She was still angry, but she’d have to get over it. PR people got lied to a lot by their clients. She should probably get used to it. ‘We need a strategy.’

‘Yes?’ Erin snivelled hopefully.

‘I mean, first off, you can’t hide during this time,’ Leigh told her.

‘I can’t?’

‘No. Are you working right now?’

‘I’ve got something booked in a few weeks.’

‘We need to have you out way before that. If you hide, you’re guilty.’

‘But Iamguilty,’ Erin sniffed.

‘Yes, I know. But there’s a difference between guilt and shame,’ Leigh told her.

That seemed to blow Erin’s mind. ‘Wow. Right. Totally.’

‘So let’s get you out, living your life. Shame-free. OK?’

Erin blew out a breath. ‘I can try.’

Fifteen

Alex was standing at the edge of a party at a fancy hotel. It was a party to release… Actually, Alex didn’t care. Some movie or a TV show. Hell, it could be to promote Pampers for all the difference it made to Alex. The point was the famous people milling about, as well as the photographers. Isabelle was to see and be seen at this shindig. If she ever turned up, that was. She was an hour late. Alex was pissed about it.

Not that she wasn’t making use of the invite she’d snagged. She’d been making herself known to every remotely wealthy or famous woman in this room, pressing her card into their hands and saying, ‘Alex Walker, Crisis PR. Feel free to google me.’

A few people wanted to know more. Purely for edification, of course. Alex expected calls in the next few days from at least two people at this soiree.

A palpable rise in the excitement of the room occurred, and Alex knew before she turned that Isabelle was here, Steven trailing behind her. Even amongst this crowd, she was a big deal.

The crowd parted enough for Alex to confirm Isabelle’s presence. Alex had to admit, she looked elegant as shit. Her style team had been hard at work. That was good. Isabelle could not afford to look even a little bit tired. Her job tonight was to be a social butterfly, free at last from the suffocating cocoon of her marriage. Because if she seemed happy now, people would think that she wasn’t before. It wasn’t rocket science.

Isabelle moved through the room, smiling and saying hi before landing at Alex.

‘You’re late,’ Alex told her.

‘I was making an entrance.’

‘This thing ends in an hour. You missed fashionably late by quite a way.’