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Alex felt a pang of loss. He’d always felt his choice of clothing defined him to others, but now George Tyler would do the defining instead – and he had a feeling he wouldn’t like the person Tyler wanted him to be.

“There’s no razor in the bathroom,” Tyler said suddenly. “And the smartwall footage is monitored 24/7, just in case you’re thinking of suicide.”

“Don’t flatter yourself that being your IS, kept in luxury, forced to wear expensive clothes, and made to fuck people for my supper is bad enough to drive me that far,” Alex retorted witheringly.

“It shouldn’t. It’s not so different to how you lived before.” Tyler patted his cheek. “Only now, you don’t have the freedom to fuck up your own life, or the lives of the people around you. That’s an improvement.”

Alex bowed his head; Tyler had scored another hit.

“Now, when I said you’ll let my guests do anything they want, I meant it. The IS Detention Centre updated your STD vaccinations, and you’ll be tested regularly, so there’s no reason for our guests to be inconvenienced by having to wear condoms.”

“God forbid,” Alex muttered.

“Of course, if they want to be on the safe side, or if they get a kick out of wearing rubber on their pricks, they’re more than welcome to do so.” Rubbing his hands together, he took a step back. “Oh, this is going to be fun!”

“I don’t see how,” Alex replied sullenly. “You’ve got me. That was the fun bit. Now I’m just another IS for you to order around.”

“Oh no, you don’t understand.” Tyler took his face in his hands and gazed at him intently.

“You have no idea how often I’ve dreamed about what I’d do when I got you here.

I’ve had five long years of fantasising about it.

You killed the love of my life – making you my servant is good, but it’s not nearly enough to make you pay.

” He wore an expression of terrifying zeal.

“Losing Isobel nearly broke me, so that’s what I’m going to do to you.

I’m going to break you, and you know what?

” He leaned in close and breathed in Alex’s ear. “I’m going to enjoy it.”

Alex felt a shiver run down his spine.

Drawing back, Tyler was all geniality again. “Now, I have a business to run. I’ll give you some time to settle in and then introduce you to your first assignment.” Leaving the room, he took the guards with him.

Alex stood there, chilled to the bone. What did Tyler mean by “breaking” him?

Surely he was broken enough? He certainly felt it.

He’d lost everything. He rubbed his arms, trying to comfort himself.

He was going to survive. In fact, he’d make survival his mission.

Whatever Tyler threw at him, he’d find a way to endure.

Glancing into the en-suite bathroom, he found a tub big enough for an orgy. The taps were gold-plated, there was a bidet next to the toilet, and several fluffy white towels hung from a gold-plated rail. This was his gilded cage, and he was the beautiful bird trapped inside, ready to sing on demand.

Slumping onto the bed, he gazed blankly out of the window. He had a glorious view over the lost zone. Far beneath, he could see the ghostly outline of the decrepit London Eye, lying forlornly in the water. There was a sudden sound at the door, and Solange poked her head around it.

“Hello, Alex,” she said quietly.

He looked at her for a long moment, realising he had nothing to say to her.

“Alex, please, I need to talk to you.” She tiptoed nervously over, and he realised she was afraid – not of the guard outside the door, who must have let her in, but of him and his reaction.

“I know you must hate me right now.” She sat down gingerly on the bed beside him and put her hand over his, but he pulled away.

Biting her lip, she tried again. “I want you to know that he had cameras and bugs in my apartments and on my clothes. He listened in to all our conversations. His men followed me wherever I went. They were always with us – in bars, restaurants, and clubs – everywhere. I had no way of letting you know you were being played.”

“Did you even want to?” he asked bitterly .

She chewed on her lip again, then shook her head.

“Not at first, but I didn’t know what I’d got myself into.

I grew up in the Quarterlands, Alex. I was desperate to get out and make a life for myself.

Tyler’s men were trawling around the Quarter where I lived – they approached me and asked me to meet him.

He was charming and persuasive – you know how he can be – so I signed myself into his service for seven years. ”

“Didn’t you ask what you’d have to do as his IS?”

“Oh, I knew. I’m aware of how I look.” Solange shrugged.

“He had me polished up and trained for the role he wanted me to play. I was coached to be exactly what you wanted. I asked him what would happen after he was done with you, and he said I’d be useful in his business dealings.

He wanted someone who could talk to his clients – who’d be interesting and entertaining, as well as look good. ”

“Not just talk to them; you couldn’t have been that na?ve.” Alex snorted.

“No. I knew he wanted me to sleep with them. He was honest about that.” His face must have registered his shock, because she shook her head impatiently.

“Alex, women like me have always been courtesans. It’s often the only career path for bright, pretty girls who have no other way of getting on in the world. ”

“What about your art? Your paintings?” he protested.

She burst out laughing. “Don’t be an idiot, Alex. I can’t draw for toffee! I thought you’d seen through me when you noticed I didn’t have any of my work in my Oxford flat.”

“But you were awarded an art degree from one of the most prestigious universities in the world.” He frowned. “I was there on graduation day – I saw you collecting it.”

“Tyler bought it for me – he made a huge donation to the university. He was torn at first about whether to put me in for an art or business studies course – he wasn’t sure of the best way to reach you.

Then he decided that although you were doing a business degree, your first love was clearly art and design – his people reported that you went to art lectures.

He thought if I was an artist, it would make me more attractive to you. ”

“Fuck.” Alex ran his hands through his hair in disbelief. “He went to a lot of trouble to get you into my life.”

“If he wants something, he goes for it; he doesn’t do anything by halves. You have to understand that if you’re going to survive here.”

“Was any of it true?” he asked her quietly. “Any of what you told me about yourself? What about your parents being killed in that duck accident?”

“My mum ran off with some bloke when I was fourteen, and I never even knew my dad.” Solange dipped her head. “The duck accident thing was specially designed to appeal to you because of what happened to your mum.”

“Christ. You’re a real piece of work.”

“I’m not ashamed of becoming Tyler’s IS,” she said hotly, her chin jerking up. “But I am ashamed of what I did to you,” she added in a smaller voice.

“Forgive me if your apology doesn’t sound very convincing.”

“It’s not an apology, it’s an explanation.”

He turned to look at her properly for the first time. Her face was pinched, and her lower lip red where she’d chewed on it. She looked genuinely upset.

“Explain it to me, then. I’m listening.”

She nodded and took a deep breath. “Okay, so at first, he told me to get close to you and find out what makes you tick. Like everyone else, I thought I already knew all about you. That you were a spoilt rich kid who screwed up his family. So it didn’t bother me when he told me to feed you croc and make you fall in love with me.

” She gave a tight little smile. “You fall in love with me? That’s ironic, isn’t it?

You always told me it’d never happen, and you were right.

I wanted to hate you, because I envied you.

I grew up with nothing, but you had it all, and were pissing it away on drink and drugs. ”

“Yeah, that’s what everyone thinks. Maybe it’s even true.” He hunched his shoulders miserably.

“No, see, I started off feeling that way, but I changed my mind when I got to know you. I saw then that this fucked-up world had chewed you up and spat you out the same way it had me. Just because you had money didn’t mean your life had been better than mine – it was just different.

You were sent away to boarding school when you were just a kid, and your family was so obsessed with your shiny older brother that the only way you could make them see you was by acting out.

I wanted to hate you, Alex, God knows I did, but I couldn’t. ”

“I can’t trust a word that comes out of your mouth.”

“I know, and I deserve that, but it’s true all the same.” She reached out again to take his hand, and this time he let her. “Despite what everyone thinks, you’re the least arrogant man I’ve ever met. You’re messed up, but you aren’t wicked. You’re just… lost.”

“If I wasn’t before, I am now. You’ve seen to that.”

“I wish I could change the past, but I can’t.

I did try to help you. I started to feel sorry for you and even to…

” She flushed and looked away. “I fell in love with you, of course, just like Neil and so many others. I knew how much you hated it when people fell for you, and I hoped that if I acted clingy it’d drive you away.

I wanted you to escape from Tyler’s clutches. He was very angry about that.”

“What did he do to you?”

“Well, he has a temper, and he’s very focused on getting what he wants, so I’m sure you can guess.”

“If he hit you, it’s illegal, and you could go to?—”

“Oh, Alex, don’t be so na?ve.” She shook her head impatiently. “They aren’t all like your father, building pretty villages and playing lord of the manor, handing out largesse and getting off on the gratitude of their serfs.”