Birdie sits back with a resigned huff. ‘Touché,’ she says, uncrossing her long, bare legs and grabbing a bottle of fizz. ‘Anyone for more shom-pan-yuh?’
Because she’s French, unfortunately for me, every single word out of her mouth sounds extremely cool. Even when said in a sulky tone. I imagine she is incredibly high-maintenance.
As the music is cranked up to ear-splitting levels, Birdie pours out flute after flute, passing them round, but when she gives me mine, she checks to see no one is looking and pours it into my lap.
‘Oops,’ she says, staring me straight in the eye. ‘How clumsy of me.’
The liquid seeps through my dress like a sponge.
Oh, God. She really has it in for me.
I fake a cough. ‘It’s fine. Fine. Just an accident,’ I say, grabbing a serviette to dab myself dry.
Matteo gives Birdie a hostile look but, before he can say anything, a tinkling laugh escapes from her glossy lips. ‘Come on. It wasn’t on purpose. As if I’d do that. Here, Connie. Let me pour you another.’ She hands me the glass. ‘Cheers.À votre santé!’
While we toast, I slide my eyes to Matteo. He rolls his upwards and gives me a half-smile. This week is already stressful enough without a psychotic ex-girlfriend on the loose.
‘She is just like an attention-seeking version of Luke,’ Liberty leans over to whisper in my ear. ‘We should hook them up.’
I turn to her in surprise. ‘Wouldn’t you be upset by that? I thought you wanted him for yourself?’
She shakes her head. ‘No. I’m sorry for behaving like a massive cock. I was just lonely and fed up. I can see the way you and Matteo are with each other. You’ve practically got sparkles coming out of your eyes. And that’s the sort of relationship I want. Besides, Luke seems incredibly fixated on what he can’t have. It’s put me totally off him.’
‘Right. Right,’ I whisper back. Ever since I have known Liberty, she has relentlessly gone after men she can’t have, or who other women may want. And, with the exception of Luke, she has never failed. Maybe they are too alike for it to work. Maybe she is right about Birdie. Perhaps she will make a better match for him. And they might leave Matteo and me alone to get on with our exclusive relationship. My heart flutters. Matteo is exclusively mine. I have his exclusive attention, romantically speaking. Which means his lips are exclusively mine to kiss. His manly fingers are exclusively for caressing my skin. His eyes, the exclusive way they leave me shivering with excitement and…
‘For fuck’s sake. Stop ogling him like a piece of meat.’ Liberty snaps me to attention. ‘Jesus. Poor man. He’s already got one lunatic to contend with. At least try to play it cool or you’ll scare him off like Birdie.’
‘I wasn’t ogling,’ I hiss back.
I was very much ogling. I must get a grip. Unlike Birdie, who has her eyeballs locked on him like two nuclear missiles.
‘Hopefully we’ll not see anything of Luke while we’re here, anyway,’ I say. ‘He has no idea where we’re staying, and I’m sure Las Vegas is big enough not to bump into him.’
Liberty looks guiltily back at me.
My jaw falls open. ‘Please tell me you did not tell him where we’re?—’
‘It was an accident,’ she says, cutting me off.
How could she tell Luke where we are staying? How?
‘What’s this about Luke?’ joins in Cherry. Her eyes are wired because she’s on her third full-fat Fanta and jumbo bag of Haribo. ‘You told him where we are staying?’ she bellows.
The excited chatter comes to an abrupt halt.
5
We pull up at The Venetian. It is enormous. It’s the biggest hotel I’ve ever seen. There’s a long line of cars waiting to drop off. There’s a huge water fountain outside and lots of people walking around, waiting at the lights to cross the street. There are neon lights, hotels, and digital advertising screens as far as the eye can see. I press a button to roll down my window. I’m instantly hit with bright sunshine and a sweet-smelling heat. Notes of popcorn, aftershave, petrol fumes and pizza. I’m immediately reminded of Italy. Cherry is quick to show us the Wikipedia page.
‘Friggin’ hell. It’s got 7,000 rooms across the two towers. It’s the largest hotel in the world. It has its own river inside. An actual river with gondolas floating on it!’ She gasps. ‘And it’s got a whole load of celebrities doing shows there!’
Ged and Liam light up instantly. ‘Who? Who?’
Suddenly, everyone is swiping away on their phones, and the car is buzzing with excitement as we share photos of the hotel we are parked outside of. I steal a quick peek at Matteo, who has been quiet since Birdie spilled her drink and looked openly smug about Luke being at the same hotel. This potential new client must be very important. She really has Matteo between a rock and hard place.
‘Found it. Residency. The Sphere. Venetian. Blahedy-blah,’ murmurs Big Sue, swiping at her phone. ‘Oh.’ She looks up, disappointed. ‘It’s U2.’
There’s a rumble of dissatisfaction across the limo.
