‘All right, I’m just going to come right out and ask. Is she involved in that mess with Rory Flannagan?’
‘Why would you say that?’ Rose could feel her cheeks colouring, hoping he couldn’t see the burn in them.
‘I know something’s going on. The old man was all sorts of awkward when I asked him how the latest movie was shaping up. He positively squirmed when I asked if he’d seen Tits lately, if she’d watched any of the filming seeing as they were on location in London.’
Rose shrugged. ‘I haven’t heard anything.’
‘You really are a terrible liar.’ He shook his head and walked on. ‘I know Tits gets through men fast, but I would have credited her with more taste. Rory Flannagan’s ears stick out at least an inch on either side of his head, it’s why he wears his hair so long. And he wears blocks in his shoes.’ He turned, standing in Rose’s path. She was expecting to see his trademark latent smile, the non-confrontational expression he wore to ease himself through life, but instead he looked genuinely concerned. It took Rose by surprise.
‘Fill me in, Rose. Tell me what she thinks. Does she think it was me?’
‘Lysander, I don’t know what you’re asking. Does Tania think you’ve done what, exactly?’
‘Tipped the paps off about Galactic Commander Robson’s sidekick and his secret lover.’
Snow Pine Lodge enjoyed a secluded location, right at the top of the resort. Even though it was situated close to the pistes, which ran either side of the lodge, the everyday skier would have no idea that a building nestled within the trees which surrounded it. Termed ‘ski-in, ski-out’, which essentially meant you could put your skis on at the door and never need to take them off until you returned, it enjoyed the best of all worlds. The whole of Près du Ciel opened out below it.
Lysander was framed by a backdrop of snow-capped lodges and chalets which littered the hillside, icicles catching in the winter-season twinkling lights strung around many of them. Below that sat the sprawling subterranean complex of Près du Ciel centre, marked above ground by hotels, apartment blocks and eateries and hosting the base stations of many of the resort’s bubble lifts. Even with an increasingly unsettled expression creasing his face and a woolly hat pulled haphazardly onto his head, Lysander still looked as though he’d just climbed from a stylist’s chair. It was amazing what could be hidden behind a pretty exterior.
‘Why do you care all of a sudden?’ Rose said. She took a deep breath. ‘It’s not like it’s the first time you’ve done something like that, is it?’
His expression darkened, his attempts at keeping the conversation light fell away as he grabbed at her arm and shook her. ‘Just answer the fucking question for once, Rose. Does she think it was me?’
Stumbling back, Rose yanked her arm from his grasp. ‘I don’t know, OK? She hasn’t said anything.’
‘Because it wasn’t. I need her to know it wasn’t me. It’simportant, Rose.’
‘I genuinely don’t know. We’re here for Clara. We were doing our best to leave all that crap behind for a week. Why don’t you ask her yourself?’
‘I see you’re still the loyal little lapdog. She doesn’t appreciate you, you know. She never has. But my sister knows an easy conquest when she sees one. You always were ridiculously grateful for the scraps she throws you.’
Lysander brushed past her, spinning her around before he strode away, heading back towards the lodge. Rose stayed still until the pool of security light illuminated the doorway. Once the building had swallowed Lysander and the door had slammed closed, Rose let out a tight breath and headed away, tucking trembling hands deep into pockets as she fled.
By the time Rose returned, most of the lights were off. Snow Pine Lodge looked peaceful. And Rose felt quieter, too. She’d walked and walked until her hands stopped shaking and she’d managed to shed the feeling of Lysander’s hand grasping at her arm.
She punched in the door code and slipped inside, unlacing her boots and setting them quietly in the rack before she hung up her coat. Tiptoeing up the first flight of stairs, she wondered if Madeleine would already have fallen asleep. Unlikely, she thought. Although Madeleine hadn’t followed her outside, she was probably reading, waiting for her return. Her fingers curled around the handle of her bedroom door, and she was about to turn it when she heard muffled voices coming from the upstairs living area. Whispers with harsh edges, barely contained and urgent, rising every now and again to an emphasised word. It was Tania and Lysander.
Frowning, Rose pushed at the bedroom door handle, then paused as she heard her name. She slid her fingers from the handle and slipped up the first few steps of the second staircase, then settled on a step where she could see the outlines of Tania and Lysander against the dying light of the wood burning stove, but she remained hidden in deep shadow.
‘All I did was follow her outside, I had some questions for her.’ Lysander’s voice.
‘Questions about what? She’s been gone for ages. What exactly did you say to her?’ Tania sounded exasperated.
‘None of your business.’
‘God, Lysander. You’re such a dick. You need to stop upsetting my friends. They aren’t here for your entertainment, whatever you may think.’
‘Believe me, there’s nothing entertaining about Rose.’
On the stairs, Rose tightened her arms around her knees, feeling a muscle tic in her cheek.
‘So why can’t you leave her alone? What did you want to find out this time?’
‘What do you mean, “this time”?’
‘Lysander, I’m not an idiot and nor are you. I know you try and wheedle information out of my friends. So, stop acting like you don’t know what I’m talking about. Were you trying to get the latest details out of Rose? So you could tell your tame “staff writer” on whichever publication you’ve got in your pocket.’ The exasperation was clear in Tania’s voice.
‘Latest details about what?’
