I froze in my seat. Beaten up. I suddenly remembered Nathaniel’s words when I’d told him about Leo, and what had happened at Liv’s. It’s sorted, I’d said. It is, he’d replied. Phil’s face came back to me – the guy from the F Bar. He’d looked terrified. God, what had I got myself into? It had all rebounded, not on me, but on Leo.

‘I saw yesterday’s paper,’ she continued. ‘And I thought, maybe, you’d go round and see him. I left the paper with him. I thought it might give him something to focus on. He’s lost without you, Grace.’

‘I…’

‘I know what he did,’ she said, not allowing me to speak. ‘But he’s sorry, I promise you. I…really need to get this sorted. He’s going to miss out on a transfer at this rate, and he won’t be welcome back at the club.’

She paused, finally, and I gave a sigh. ‘All right,’ I said, reluctantly. ‘I’ll go round there later today.’

I hardly noticed the photo shoot itself after that. I kept thinking of what’d happened yesterday, from Nathaniel’s arrest to my drunken declarations of love for Leo at the pub, and just wanted to put my head in my hands. I couldn’t because I had to keep it still, while a succession of make-up artists pawed at my face as if I wasn’t even there.

The whole experience was different to the interview on Saturday Siesta. I didn’t have to do anything. Everything was done to me. My skin was carefully cleansed and purified, then coated with various serums and creams. After that, concealer and foundation was applied, layer upon layer, to blank out any and all blemishes, until I felt my face had become a mask, devoid of all character.

Then it was contoured - in stages, each of which seemed take hours – and the rest of the make-up was applied. A girl called Kristi did this part, and she didn’t stop chattering. I didn’t even hear her – she must’ve thought I was so rude, but I just couldn’t concentrate. My heart was pounding and I could feel the blood rushing in my ears. It was the sitting still. I needed to be doing something…anything…and I couldn’t cope with just sitting there. By the time it was finished, I felt like running out the door but, the truth was, I had no idea where I’d go. It was as if I wanted to run away from myself but, at that moment, I was put in front of the camera, my face blank, my body wired.

Even in front of the camera, I had little to do. I didn’t even have to smile, which was probably just as well. I was so agitated, not to mention worried about Leo, and kept wondering whether I’d meant what I’d said to Liv the previous afternoon. Did I still love him? Did I want him back?

Whatever, I didn’t want his whole career to crash and burn because of me. As the cameras flashed around me, the last few days played over in my head. How could Nathaniel beat him up, without even consulting me? It was just another mark of his arrogance. People meant nothing to him. The way he’d so callously killed those women testified to that. And he’d even smiled at me as the police took him away. Was he proud of himself? Was he pleased with what he’d done to Leo? Had he done it in my name?

Although my face was the centre of attention, my thoughts were a million miles away, and I kept staring at nothing.

‘That’s perfect, Grace,’ said the photographer, in between shots. ‘You’re a natural. Hold that pose.’

Perfect. I wanted to tell her nothing was perfect. I wasn’t a natural. I was just in my own world, and everything there was crap. Nathaniel was truly a filth monger, Leo had been beaten up at his hands and, just for good measure, Max was going to throw a fit. Lower your profile, he’d said. I’d nodded and gone straight to a photo shoot.

I was glad when the whole thing was over. I got in the car and gave the driver Leo’s address.

    Seven

Him

I’d called a meeting of my innermost circle for that afternoon. Matt arrived first, hugging me briefly as he entered the flat.

‘Glad you’re out,’ he said. ‘I take it everything’s sorted.’

‘Not really,’ I said. ‘They’ll still pin this on me if they can and, if they can’t, they’ll try for Aimee.’

Matt didn’t say anything, just shook his head looking pissed off.

Ronnie arrived next, with Alex. He was bearing up well since coming out of hospital. You’d hardly have known he’d been stabbed just a few days previously. He’d come back to work on the Saturday night, despite my insistence he get well before returning. I’d been annoyed at first, but then glad. I’d known Grace’s fantasy would be safe in his hands. He’d been my right-hand man for years, and for good reason.

Lionel arrived last. He wasn’t one of my usual confidantes but, in his capacity as family lawyer, his advice might be crucial to how we’d proceed from hereon in. I needed people around me I could trust now, and with his arrival the circle was complete.

I went out to the kitchen to make coffee and, as I did so, my phone rang. It was Felicity Flint, for fuck’s sake. What the hell did she want now?

I let it ring and made the coffee. I’d phone her back later. If it was more about how in love she was with the guy she’d met, I could do without it at the present time. I was glad someone’s life was going to plan, but I was more concerned with trying to rein in my own, and I didn’t need to hear it at the moment.

I thrust the phone into my pocket and took the coffees out into the living room.

‘How are you, my love?’ Ronnie was standing at the door, her face anxious. ‘I didn’t hear from you but, with things how they are, I didn’t know if you wanted it that way.’

I knew she meant the divorce, but I’d thought she’d realise it didn’t change anything. It was only finalising what had happened years before. ‘I’m okay,’ I said. ‘I’m sorry, Ronnie. I needed some time. I should’ve called.’

She didn’t say anything else and we sat down. My phone rang again and I took it out and glanced at it briefly. Felicity again. I put it away, letting it ring out. Whatever it was would have to wait. This was more important.

‘Okay,’ I said, sitting on the arm of a sofa. ‘We all know why we’re here. We need to come up with some sort of course of action. I don’t know what the fuck’s going on, but we’ve got to find out or everything’s going to fall apart. It won’t be long before the law’s sniffing around the Castle, and we all know what that’ll mean.’

Ronnie let out a gasp. I could tell it hadn’t occurred to her that our lives would be placed under the microscope, but it’d been obvious to me from the start. The police were investigating me, and the Castle and I were inextricably linked. It’d only take questioning the wrong person for everything to come out in a heartbeat. My thoughts went immediately to my parents. I couldn’t bear the idea of them questioning my mother – even though they’d be unlikely to get any sense out of her – and the very idea of them interviewing my father was enough to make me wince, although for very different reasons.

I could see similar thoughts were going through the minds of the others. Only Lionel sat calm and impassive. Ronnie was pacing the room, the skirt of her usual fifties-style dress swinging out around her each time she turned. Matt had paled visibly and Alex had sweat standing out on his brow. I wondered how much of it was due to anxiety and how much due to his injury. That they were all so stressed out on my account made me feel guilty and I decided to get the meeting over and done with as soon as possible.

‘There’s things that don’t add up,’ I said. ‘But I can’t for the life of me see what it is I’m missing. We need to talk things through right from the start.’

‘And where’s that?’ said Ronnie. ‘I mean, where do we even begin?’

‘I don’t know,’ I said. ‘But nothing’s been right since the Felicity Flint incident.’

I must’ve had Felicity on my mind after her calls because, really, it’d begun even before that, with Charlotte. Once I’d mentioned her name, though, my thoughts returned to her recent flurry of calls. It suddenly struck me that they might – just might – have some bearing on our current situation.