He came up close to her, and she backed away slightly. ‘How do I know?’ he hissed. ‘Because you usually take the damn things every night, make a big bloody show of it, trying to make me feel bad. You’ve done it since we got married.’ His finger came up to touch her chin. It felt like a red-hot poker on her skin. ‘Not recently, though. Right?’ He looked triumphant, lips pinched, eyebrows raised in a question that he already knew the answer to.

He flicked his finger, the rough skin around his nail scraping her face. It was a gesture so spiteful that she flushed red. ‘I-I don’t…’ She trailed off, not knowing where she was going, what she could say. Embarrassment mingled with guilt at lying to him. ‘I’m sorry.’ Finally, she pushed the words out.

He nodded and turned on his heel, stalking from the room. The door closed slowly, and she watched as he turned right and moved down the corridor.

Towards Anna’s suite.

Anna remained in the casino. The small crowd of people playing the tables had gone back to their games after the few moments of excitement. The men looked her up and down. The women glared at her. Anna smiled and kept spinning the wheel.

She wondered when Tommy would come for her. That he would, she had no doubt; he had been furious that Paula had made a show of him. He had chased her back to the Expedition Suite, fire in his eyes, fury evident in the taut way he held himself. He would return to Anna. She would comfort him. She understood him. She would fix his masculinity, which Paula had temporarily broken.

Soon, she tired of the roulette wheel. Slipping off the stool, she moved across to the blackjack table, an onlooker now, whiling the time away until her man came back.

A tug at her sleeve. She looked to her left, into the face of a young steward she didn’t know.

‘Yes?’ she said.

He wore fingerless gloves, and his nails were grubby. She moved out of reach of his touch.

‘Sorry to bother you, madam,’ he said. ‘Can you… step over here for a moment?’

She looked him up and down, this youthful, feminine-looking man. Was he going to issue a warning over the fracas at the roulette wheel earlier? Who was he to do so? And anyway, it had nothing to do with her; she wasn’t the one who had thrown foul words and condoms around.

She moved over to the wall with him and waited for him to speak.

His eyes lowered and he leaned closer to her. ‘Forgive me, madam. I need to talk frankly to you. One of our staff members hasn’t shown up for his shift, and we have reason to believe you may know him.’

Mark.

She arranged her face into a frown. ‘Who on earth are you talking about?’