Yeah, she definitely knew all about Chandra’s old job. ‘You’re probably right. I’d still love to get my revenge on him.’

‘I hear you.’

I took out the gold I’d carried with me for emergencies. ‘I was going to give this to her as payment.’ I gazed at it ruefully. ‘I’m not sure what to do with it now. I’m tempted to throw it at him. Maybe I’ll get lucky and hit an eye.’

The stripper stared. ‘That’s a shitload of money.’ Her expression soured and I immediately knew what she was thinking. I was Sidhe; to me this was probably small change.

I bit my lip. ‘I’d give it all away if I could just confront him. Let him see what he’s given up for that bitch. I don’t really want to hurt him but I’d love to bring him down a peg or two.’ I sighed loudly. The best way for this to work would be for her to make the suggestion but I could only lead her so far. ‘He’s got a bunch of minders with him though. They’d never let me get near him.’

I could see her mind working through the possibilities. I was holding the equivalent of more money than she’d probably ever seen in her life; she had to weigh up the chance that she would get fired versus the chance that she could be set up for years to come. I held my breath. Come on, love. You want to do this.

‘Well,’ she said slowly, ‘you could always take my place.’

Yahtzee. ‘What do you mean?’ I asked, looking surprised.

She dug into her coat pocket and pulled out a pretty feathered mask. ‘I usually wear this when I go in to these kind of parties. Some men like imagining you could be anyone, you know? I wasn’t going to bother because of today’s outfit.’ She opened her coat and I caught a glimpse of a fake police uniform. ‘But it’d let you get in and close to him and then you could say your piece.’ Her eyes drifted back to the gold in my hand. ‘I’m all for the sisterhood.’

I threw back my head and laughed. ‘I’d just love to see the look on his face. But won’t you get in trouble with your boss?’

She shrugged. ‘I’ve been thinking of finding something else to do with my life. These hours suck and there are only so many times you can let men paw at you before it becomes tired.’

I nodded. ‘I hear you.’ I thrust out my hand before she could think about it any further. ‘Here, take this in return. You’re doing me a massive favour and I won’t forget it.’

She took the gold and hefted it before it disappeared into her coat. ‘You’re really not going to hurt him?’

I met her eyes, hoping she could see the truth; I didn’t want her to feel bad about this in any way. ‘No,’ I said. ‘I really won’t. I just want to say my piece then maybe I can get on with the rest of my life.’