Page 43

‘I thought so, too. But then Ivy Coulter—’

‘Oh, Christ. Nother. She’s an absolute scumbag.’

‘Yes,her. She got the girl from the picture, and she wants Erin to give her an exclusive or whatever that girl says goes out with no counterpoint whatsoever.’

‘But you don’t know what this girlsaid?’ Jack checked.

‘Nope,’ Leigh admitted.

‘So she offered a trade? The mistress for Erin?’ Jack sighed thoughtfully. ‘Then you have to follow her lead.’

‘How?’

‘Trade Erin for something else. Give her something better than Erin and the girl. Juicier.’

‘That’s a good idea, Jack. But I don’t have anything…’ Leigh trailed off. She did have one thought. ‘What about Isabelle trying to buy awards with a lavish screening party?’

‘It’s not bad,’ Jack mused. ‘But I don’t think it’s quite gonna get you there.’ He paused. ‘How do you feel about fishing?’

Leigh was confused. ‘What? Like, trout?’

Jack tutted. ‘No, I mean… Do you remember that thing I used to do? Take out the opposition, wine them, dine them, get them good and loose and then fish for ammunition?’

‘Oh,that? I don’t know. That’s kind of… I mean, I don’t know if I’m up to it,’ Leigh told him honestly.

‘You never know until you try.’

Leigh sighed. ‘Well, I don’t have anything better. I suppose it’s worth a shot.’

‘Keep me updated.’

She got off the phone and rang Alex, taking deep breaths as the phone rang. She needed to feel ready and confident. But the second Alex picked up, Leigh felt nothing but fear. She did her best to bury it in a cheery tone.

‘Hi, Alex. Just wanted to thank you for the invite to your bribe party.’

If Alex was surprised by such a bold accusation, she didn’t reveal it. Her tone was one of pure delight. ‘Of course. Can I count you as attending? Or are you busy that night watching Erin cry about losing her golden goose?’

Leigh smiled and pulled the trigger. ‘Let’s talk about that over lunch, shall we? One thirty at Bouchard’s work for you?’

Alex paused. ‘I’m kind of busy.’

Leigh felt panic. She couldn’t accept the rejection; she needed this chance. She had nothing else. ‘You don’t have an hour to talk about our clients? I promise it’ll be worth your while,’ she lied.

Alex chuckled. ‘You sound desperate, Calloway.’

‘Desperate isn’t the word I’d use,’ Leigh lied. She was getting nowhere. She was gonna have to take quite a big swing. ‘But look, if you can’t do it, I guess I’ll just let you hear what I was going to tell you the old-fashioned way. In the news, when it’s too late to do anything about it.’

There was a silence, during which Leigh was sure she’d utterly fucked this. But then Alex said, ‘I guess I have to eat. Might as well get free entertainment while I’m at it.’

Leigh laughed despite herself. ‘Yeah, we’ll see.’ She cancelled the call there and then.

Was it a bit much to hang up like that? No, it was in line with the vibe. They were enemies who were not afraid to say it. Rudeness was encouraged. And sort of fun.

‘Henry, can you please book Bouchard’s at one thirty?’ she called through.

‘You got it, boss!’ he called back.

Bouchard’s was insanely expensive, but Leigh didn’t want to come off as the poor relation in this. She was going to abuse her company credit card hard today. She wanted to make Alex feel intimidated if such a thing were possible.