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Leigh needed to go. This weird blip in her war with Alex was drawing to a natural close. And shewouldleave—in a minute.

‘What are you going to do now?’ she asked Alex, who was looking in a compact mirror, dabbing at herself, tidying up what had been cried away.

‘I’m going back to work. I’ll come back later, hopefully after a shift change,’ Alex said, snapping the compact close.

‘You’re going back to work?’ Leigh asked, reminded with dread of the article that would hit the internet at some point today and completely ruin her client’s chances of coming out of this alright.

Alex shrugged. ‘I honestly don’t know what else to do. I’m no use here, that’s for sure.’

‘Mmm, well. I’m sure you’ll have plenty to do if you’d rather keep busy,’ she said, tired at the thought of what the rest of the afternoon would hold her. People hammering her for a quote, Erin probably on the phone in tears. It would be a shit show, alright.

She was gonna have to agree to that article if there was time left to do it. Fuck. She knew Erin was gonna would need to explain herself eventually, but of all people to give the first interview to… Leigh was gonna have to prepare the ever-loving Jesus out of Erin to have even a small chance of coming out of it OK.

Alex, as though reading Leigh’s mind, suddenly perked up. ‘Oh, I forgot. Ivy’s gonna drop a bomb of shit any minute, isn’t she? I’ll need to be ready for that. I need to get my staff to prepare a response.’

‘Yeah, me too,’ Leigh said a tad miserably. This day had truly gotten away from her.

Alex’s sharp grey eyes suddenly gave Leigh the most inscrutable look. It made Leigh feel nervous. ‘What?’ she eventually asked anxiously.

Alex groaned like she was annoyed about something. ‘Wait here a minute.’

She stood and walked a few feet away and made a call, her back to Leigh. Leigh watched her back in befuddlement, totally unable to discern what she was doing.

Alex ended the call and came back to the bench, sitting down. ‘Ivy’s full of shit. The mistress is keeping her mouth shut.’

Leigh nearly fell off the bench. ‘What?!’

‘Yeah. She had the name, that’s all. She knew it would be enough to trick you into getting Erin to give her the exclusive.’

‘She told you that?’ Leigh asked, still shell-shocked.

‘Happily. I think she was quite pleased with herself. Which I guess she had a right to be, considering it worked. Youweregoing to agree to an interview with her, weren’t you?’ Alex asked.

‘I was,’ Leigh admitted. She couldn’t believe she was out of this fix just like that. She looked at Alex in wonderment. ‘Why would you help me like this?’

Alex rolled her eyes. ‘I thinkthat’sobvious. But we’re square now, OK? For today, I mean.’

Leigh nodded. After a beat, she raised an eyebrow and asked, ‘Did she giveyouthe name?’

Alex grinned, her usual cocky self again. ‘Of the mistress? Now, that would be telling, wouldn’t it?’ She stood up and straightened her coat, giving Leigh one last sassy look. ‘Leigh, you’ve got a lot to learn. I’d haveneverfallen for that crock of crap.’ Alex walked off, laughing to herself.

Leigh watched her go, bewildered. A couple of hours ago, Leigh had known exactly who Alex was. But that Alex wouldn’t have helped her out for any reason at all. So Leigh was back to square one with her.

Not that it mattered because all Leigh wanted to see in her now was a professional rival. A rival whose arse she was going to kick into outer space.

She called Erin. ‘Hi, Erin. Everything OK?’

‘Yeah.’ She paused. ‘I mean,isit?’ she asked, suddenly worried.

‘It’s all good,’ Leigh assured her, thrilled not to have to deliver bad news. ‘But we need to get you ready for Selma Haynes, OK?’

‘I think I’m ready.’

‘Not yet, you’re not,’ Leigh said gently. ‘But you will be. We’re going to get this right, Erin. We’re gonna talk about every detail and get you in the right headspace to handle this. If we can do that, people will see this interview and have no option but to see you as you truly are: a human being in a difficult situation who made a mistake. But the important thing is transparency. It’s the only way out at this point. We’re going the integrity route.’

‘If you think so, Leigh,’ Erin said. ‘I guess I’ve got to trust you.’

‘Yes, you do. Because that’s the exact opposite of what your soon-to-be ex-wife is going to do.’