Chapter 21

I called Holly a cab and then escorted her to the performer’s lounge where everyone else was having a cup of coffee. I had a quick word with Jim, to tell him what I’d agreed with Holly. He was sceptical but trusted my judgement.

I guess time would tell how good my judgement was.

While Holly chatted with my girls as she waited for her taxi, I was able to slip out and head to my office unnoticed. I figured it wouldn’t take Emma or Mel long to work out where I’d gone—either that or send me a message demanding to know where I’d gone—but I wanted a little time on my own to do some research.

I’d been at my desk for just under half an hour when the door opened and Mel followed Emma into the room. Mel placed a large paper cup of coffee on my desk and they each took a seat on the other side of the desk.

“You could have said you were leaving,” Mel said. “Holly wanted to say goodbye, apologise again and thank you for giving her another chance before she left.”

I waved a hand dismissively. “Let’s see how it goes tomorrow, shall we?”

“I gave her some voucher codes for the website,” Mel added. “So she could do some research of her own.”

I shook my head. “I’m glad these are only single-use codes. At the rate you hand them out, we’d never make any money otherwise.”

“Performer perks,” she said, sticking her tongue out at me.

“What are you looking for?” Emma asked. “I assume that’s why you needed time alone. I thought you’d already researched Holly. So what is it?”

“Her agency,” I said. “West End Girls. It’s a sister company to Eastern Bloc.”

Emma frowned. “You mean Jack is her agent?”

I nodded. “And from the sounds of it, he’s as shitty an agent as he was a father.”

“That’s no surprise,” Emma said, bitterness dripping from every word.

“Look at this,” I said, twisting the monitor so they could both see it. I had West End Girls’ website open in one tab and Eastern Bloc in another. They were pretty much carbon copies of each other with only the logos and colours different. The layouts were exactly the same. Then I clicked on another tab—Companies House.

“What’s this?” Mel asked.

“The company details for West End,” I said, before clicking on another tab. “And for Eastern Bloc. Listed directors are the same. Jack is one. And the other...” I pointed to the name on the screen.

“Arthur Alsworth,” Emma said. “Isn’t he that lawyer chap that represents those people Jim got messed up with?”

I nodded. “Gary and Jamie Clarke, yes.”

“The Clarke Brothers?” Mel said. “Really?”

I nodded again. “You know them?”

“Know them? I fucked them. Well, Jamie, anyway.”

I raised an eyebrow in question.

She shrugged. “They’re powerful men. Power is an aphrodisiac in the right circumstances. It was at a New Year’s Eve party a few years ago. He promised he could help my career. It was during a period when I thought I could cross over to the mainstream, either acting or singing. I was young and foolish.”

“You’re still young and—”

“—no longer foolish. I assume that’s how that sentence was going to end.” She smirked.

I nodded. “Of course it was.”

“Good. What’s their connection to Jim, then? I mean, they’re pretty much gangsters, right? They certainly run the underworld in this ... Oh, right. I got it. They own part of Jim’s company, don’t they?”

I nodded. “And Kat’s agency. And these two agencies as well.”

“And Dom’s father runs these two?”

“Yes. And from what both Kat and Holly have told me, he doesn’t care all that much for the welfare of the women on his books.”

“While that’s not exactly a surprise,” Emma said, “there’s nothing you can do about it. You don’t want to get involved, Bobby. What was that phrase you and Kat said that lawyer liked to say? It wouldn’t be in your best interests.”

“True. It wouldn’t. But sometimes you have to put other people’s best interests ahead of your own.”

“In that case, think about our best interests. Mine, Mel’s, Dom’s and Amber’s. Stay out of it, Bobby. For all our sakes.”

“I’m going to be working with you and Holly this afternoon,” Mel said at breakfast.

“Since when?” I asked.

“Since I spoke to her last night. We talked for about an hour. She’s really upset about making a fool of herself yesterday and now nervous about coming back this afternoon. She’s terrified of cocking it up, so I offered to give her a hand.”

I raised an eyebrow and smirked. “And it’s got nothing to do with you wanting to taste her pussy?”

She shrugged. “Can you blame me? I watched her taxi scene again last night. It’s one of the best of the series.”

“Taxi scene?”

Mel nodded. “There’s a guy based in London who rides around in a Black Cab pretending to pick up passengers—although they are just girls he’s hired, obviously. He tells them they get a free ride if they flash their tits at him then he takes them to a quiet spot somewhere and fucks them in the back seat. It’s a lot of fun. You should watch a couple of episodes.”

“Have you taken a taxi ride with him?”

She nodded. “Three times. It’s a blast.”

I shook my head.

“At least I’m willing to share Holly. I’d much rather do a girl-girl scene with her.”

I rolled my eyes. “Maybe we’ll have time for that too. Did you remind her to bring her agency contract with her?”

“No. Was I supposed to?”

“Can you do it this morning, since you have her number? Please.”

She nodded. “You going to try and find a way out of it for her?”

“If there’s a way out, I’m sure Jim will find it. The problem though is what she does afterwards. She joined the agency because booking herself was getting too much for her.”

“Yeah, we talked about that. There are a couple of agencies I’d recommend but none of them are great. Kat’s would be ideal from what I’ve seen and the way her client’s talk about her. Erika is full of nothing but praise for Kat and she has handled Lucja well. Did you know she’s done two more scenes since filming with you?”

“No, I didn’t. Who with?” Was it wrong that I felt a little jealous that Lucja was working with someone other than me?

“Jim paired her up with a couple of cocks he uses regularly. Pretty standard stuff. I hear he’s got her lined up for a two-on-one next week too. She really seems to have come out of herself according to Daisy. She said she’s performing with loads of enthusiasm.”

“Good. I’m pleased for her.”

Mel smirked. “But you wish she was only working with you, right? Don’t worry, it’s normal to feel possessive. For a guy, at least. Well, at first it is. But I’m told you’ll get used to it. You have no problems watching me or Dom with work with someone else, right?”