Matty smiled. ‘Lucky me . . . lucky Granny.’

Beau grinned at the quip, then immediately looked warily at Ari beside him and began sipping his coffee, looking as though he’d said too much. Been too friendly?

Carlotta came back in with a tray. ‘Eggs,’ she said, setting down an egg-white omelette in front of Ari and a plate of hash browns, sausages and beans for Beau.

‘Thanks Carlotta,’ Beau beamed, looking truly grateful. He began to tuck in with appetite, Ari watching on disapprovingly for a moment. Beau’s hangover was clearly nowhere near as bad as Ari’s, though the manager was – as she recalled – nine years older than him.

Ari looked to be waiting for the housekeeper to retreat again, his eyes darting between her and Clover. ‘We were just about to have a chat,’ he said to Beau, but Clover knew the words were intended for her. Sure enough, a moment later, he pinned her with his black-eyed gaze. ‘I’ll give it to you straight here, as I did in our emails – Kit’s not on board with this.’

She didn’t reply, though she kept her expression open and neutral.

‘For reasons that are perfectly obvious to us all, he doesn’t want you here,’ he said bluntly. ‘He doesn’t like you and he doesn’t trust you.’

Ari paused, as if to allow her to make an objection. But Clover didn’t stir.

‘As far as he’s concerned, the whole point of this new career is to close a door on the past and move on. Kit’s an athlete, he needs to compete.’

Clover nodded, which seemed to confuse him.

‘No. I mean, he needs it. It’s not about money or glory for him. And he doesn’t need the fame. Which is why he doesn’t need you.’

Clover allowed his pause to stretch. She wouldn’t be rushed. ‘And do you think that’s why we’re here? To make him more famous?’

‘I’m not sure you could. You’ve made him infamous.’ Even with a hangover, his eyes were beginning to blaze. His manner was abrupt and coupled with his imposing size, it made him intimidating. Johnny had been right to worry. ‘I told it to you straight in the emails – this is a pointless exercise, you’ll get nothing out of him. Once Kit makes up his mind about something, there’s no turning him.’

‘But it was his sponsor who first approached us. He’s told us Kit will willingly engage in the project,’ she said simply.

‘Julian says a lot of things, but he doesn’t know much about snowboarding, and even less about Kit.’

‘I was also told it was written into Kit’s contract that he must fulfil marketing and promotion obligations as stipulated by JOR,’ she said calmly. Surely, as his manager, he had read that contract? Surely?