The Dark Glamour (666 Park Avenue 2)

a fleeting moment of regret that she had called Dee instead of their answering machine, which probably wouldn’t have distracted her with wiseass remarks. But it was too late now, and she determinedly soldiered on. ‘Do you think I couldn’t just check with Alfred and ask when he drove you home? Do you think he keeps your secrets when I sign his paycheques, you idiot? But, you know, it’s not even worth my time; I don’t care enough.’
    ‘You’re
so
mean.’ Dee pretended to pout. ‘Also, I’m not sure if I’m supposed to be your ne’er-do-well lover or your bratty teenager.’
    ‘Just get your things and get out.’ Jane sighed. ‘Forget brunch, forget us, forget everything. Be gone by the time I’m back from Garren, and don’t bother the staff with carrying your crap.’
    ‘Bitch,’ Dee remarked good-naturedly. ‘And to think I was going to make enough dinner for
both
of us.’
    Jane clicked her phone shut with a disgusted snort and signalled to one of the ubiquitous blue-clad waitresses. ‘Champagne,’ she mouthed broadly.
    To her barely containable delight, Laura snapped her French-manicured fingers briskly to get the waitress’s attention before she could fill Jane’s request. ‘Bring the bottle,’ she ordered, and then turned to Jane. ‘On me, of course. It sounds like you’ve had about enough of freeloaders for the day.’ She smiled at Jane, who had a momentary pang of guilt at using, arguably, the nicest adult associated with the Dorans. But, she reminded herself, when she brought Annette back to her family, everyone’s life would get better, including Laura’s. It was a deception but not really a betrayal: Lynne would probably
thank
Laura for bringing ‘Ella’ into their lives.
And then Ella will disappear for good, and all the loose ends will vanish with her, and Malcolm will be safe and I can go on with my life.
It was almost easy to smile and raise her quickly produced glass in a toast when she kept all of that in mind.
    ‘To cutting dead weight,’ Laura suggested archly. The five women clinked their glasses high above the table and sipped.
    ‘I don’t know what it is about men,’ Jane sighed tragically. ‘The moment they get comfortable, they turn into little children. Do they not know how terribly unattractive that is?’
    ‘You should see mine,’ one of Laura’s friends agreed, rolling her lash extensions skywards. ‘You’d think the entire world revolved around poker night.’
    ‘You
did
see mine, at the ASPCA thing last week,’ another pointed out. ‘And he thinks
I
should “get a little work done”? I can tell you that whatever I “have done” will
not
be for him. It’ll be for that adorable boy who delivers for our florist, who actually takes care of his body.’
    ‘Blake came home this
morning
from Oliver’s bachelor party,’ Laura admitted in a tiny voice, swallowing the rest of her champagne. ‘And we have to smile and be nice tonight for that harpy.’ Jane automatically poured more into her glass and leaned in. ‘Oh, sorry,’ Laura added, apparently remembering that Jane wasn’t already in her loop. ‘My mother-in-law’s cousin – it’s kind of sick, you know, how they all live together, like it’s a tiny town in Iowa no one ever leaves – anyway, she’s talking to these weirdo Europeans about some kind of merger. I get it, you know: the family businesses pay for my Manolos. I’m totally on board with helping things go smoothly. But do we really all have to go to every stupid party and event and pretend like we’re the world’s most perfect people in every way? Not
one
night off since they got here last week, and I’m supposed to take the woman to Bendel’s tomorrow. It will literally be the
least
fun that I have
ever
had while shopping.’
    Laura twisted a lock of hair that bore no relation whatsoever to her natural colour and swallowed half of her refreshed champagne. Jane, however, was afraid to touch her own in case she got too loose-lipped in her excitement.
Lynne’s distracted,
and
the Dorans are having parties every night!
She couldn’t have found a better time to get herself invited into the mansion.
    ‘Think of it as charity,’ Jane suggested, eyeing a ring that she knew Laura had been proud of acquiring. She searched her memory for every detail she could remember about it. ‘Everyone should be so lucky as to get to shop with someone who knows where to find authentic Laliques. I’d heard a few pieces went up