‘I was just leaving anyway,’ Kit said quickly, stepping past Johnny and patting him on the shoulder. He couldn’t get away fast enough.

Johnny turned back to her, looking astonished by the rapid exit. ‘Was it something I said?’

She listened frustratedly to the sound of Kit’s footsteps on the stairs. How did she look?

Chapter Twenty-Six

Ari swung the car round towards the casino entrance. Even with blacked-out windows, the photographers’ flashes were dazzling. Johnny was already filming from the back seat, his camera trained on Kit’s profile. Kit’s hand automatically went up to shield his face.

‘Jump out. I’ll meet you in there,’ Ari said with a grim expression.

Kit’s door was opened by a doorman and the outside noise – and freezing night air – leaped into their cream-leathered, climate-controlled sanctuary. Clover felt her nerves grate; she had had a taste of this at the BAFTAs and Golden Globes and it felt so abrasive, the press huddled in a scrum, voices yelling as they saw Kit emerge.

Johnny didn’t wait to have his door opened. He had leaped out before the wheels had fully rolled to a stop, running around the car to continue filming Kit’s arrival.

Clover’s door was opened too, and she made a point of pinning her knees together as she swung her legs round to slide out. The skirt of her dress was narrow and the car was high off the ground. The doorman offered her his hand for balance.

‘Thank y—’ She saw the hand belonged to Kit.

Ari pulled away, withdrawing the car’s protective shield, and Kit’s eyes lifted off her onto the press again. He wore his distrust like a mask. There were no smiles, no waves (much to Julian’s later chagrin, no doubt). Clover wasn’t sure she blamed him. Only a couple of weeks ago, the same publications had plastered their front pages with images of him being beaten, with headlines that suggested he had started the fight; now, looking handsome in black tie – and he did, he really, really did, look handsome in black tie – they wanted him to smile and pose for them?

A man in a dark suit indicated for him to stand on the red carpet laid along the ramp that led up to the doors. Large placards highlighted the charity this benefit was in aid of, with Orsini-Rosenberg Hotels as one of the evening’s sponsors, their name large and bold across the top.

Johnny got into a crouch, his camera’s eye trained on Kit as he was led into position for the press. There was an explosion of light and noise, like fireworks bursting in front of their faces.

‘Kit! Over here!’

‘This way, Kit!’

‘Look at me!’

‘Can you smile for us, Kit?’