The Betrayed Read Online Free Page B

sure when he’ll be able to pop round and see you, but he’ll come all right. Look after yourself.’
    ‘ End of message ,’ came the robotic voice from the machine. ‘ To listen to the message again, press –’
    Rosie hit the button and backed away. Her heart was beating so fast it felt like it could explode. She knew the nastiness was coming – she’d been married to Johnny long enough to know that there would be repercussions for breaking it off with him – but this ? Setting one of his heavies on her? She hadn’t, in her darkest nightmares, expected that.
    Rosie took a deep breath and collapsed, shaking, into a chair. Inside her head, through the mist of fear, came a voice, strong and resolute. She was not going to let Johnny, or any of his so-called friends, get to her. She was going to be strong, for Ruby’s sake. She was going to move on with her life. Step one, she was going to get up, and return her agent’s call.
    ‘Annie, its Rosie.’ Her voice was still shaking.
    ‘Rosie, where have you been?’ Annie said. ‘I’m sorry, but you’ve missed the boat now…’
    ‘What?’
    ‘Channel 4 was holding auditions for this sit-com early this morning and wanted to see you for it. You should have called last night, darling. I assumed you weren’t interested.’
    Rosie mumbled some excuse about being ill, and put the phone down. Her head was spinning. This is just what I need … Deciding not to dwell on things, Rosie set up the ironing board. She wanted to get through at least half the pile before she went to pick up Ruby.
    Ruby let out a jubilant cry when Rosie handed her a cheque for the remaining £400 she needed for the Switzerland trip. She hugged her daughter, gripping her in a tight bear-hug, and told her they were going shopping for some ‘retail therapy’. If felt good, spoiling Ruby, for once. Dear sweet Rube – she never complained about not having as much as the other girls at her school, or that her school blazer was worn, or that she was wearing last season’s fashions. Bless her . Ruby always made do, and never grumbled. And, God knows, Rosie needed to do something to take her mind off things.
    As they wandered around the shops, helping Ruby pick out some new outfits to impress her latest crush, Rosie knew that what money she had left from her sordid night at the Keyhole was not going to last long… it certainly wouldn’t fill the gaping hole in her mortgage payments. And what would happen if they needed to get away for a few weeks, until the situation with Johnny had died down? With things the way they were, they just didn’t have that luxury.
    Rosie wrestled with her conscience about doing another night at the club and, although she had sworn to herself just the night before that she would never to do that again, she knew, in her heart, that it made sense. One more night, just one more shift at the club – if she really went for it – would enable her to pay enough of the mortgage to keep them off her back for a few months. She had to get herself straight and sort out their money worries… in the short term, at least. Could she face another night at the Keyhole? Just one more night ? After all, she told herself, it wasn’t real. It was only acting. It was her alter ego, ‘Luscious Lena the Hoochie Momma’. As she stood in the queue with Ruby, waiting to pay for a new pink top, she made the decision to do one more shift.

    So, that evening Rosie found herself back in the club, working the floor. She steeled herself before greeting the first arrivals: four Arabs, over from Dubai for a three-day conference, and one smartly-suited businessman.
    Rosie waited for them to sign in, then escorted them to the Foxy Dining Rooms. A drop-dead sexy Polish girl, by the name of Ola, opened the door dressed as a sly fox.
    With a lick of her lips, and a swish of her bushy tail, she purred, ‘Good evening, gentlemen.’
    By 12.30 the Keyhole Club was buzzing. It was hectic and, Rosie thought,