Killer Queens Read Online Free

distant father.
    Toby’s absolutely right,
she thought proudly.
I
am
the girl to help Hugo carry the weight of being King one day. I love him and he loves me. I may not be posh, but I’m not a chav either. And frankly, the Royal Family could do with a bit of common blood in it. Hugo’s mum was really posh, and that marriage was a complete disaster – Prince Oliver and the King and Queen won’t even hear her name mentioned!
    ‘Darling!’ Hugo came up, throwing his arm around her shoulder. ‘Tobes, unhand my lady! Whatever he was whispering in your ear, Chlo,’ he said, grinning at his cousin, ‘you should just bloody well ignore. You know what a dirty bird he is.’
    ‘Toby was actually saying really lovely things,’ Chloe answered pertly. ‘Not a rude word to be heard.’
    ‘Oh my God! It’s worse than I thought!’ Hugo pulled her away from Toby. ‘He’s trying to seduce you! Toby, this one’s off-limits!’
    Chloe was giggling with happiness. One of the things she loved most about Hugo was that he never tried to be cool, to make her jealous, to play games at all. The Mintys of his social circle might try to dirty-dance with him, or corner him for a full-on flirting session, but their advances all went over Hugo’s head: he just thought they were jolly friendly girls.
    ‘You know what you’d be getting into with that one,’ he said, glancing at his cousin. ‘He’s an utter freak show.’ Lowering his head to Chloe’s, he hissed loudly:
    ‘Ginger pubes! Absolute bush of ’em, too! Chaps never wanted to use the shower at school after he’d been in there! Soap was plastered with ’em, and the drain—’
    Toby was sniggering.
    ‘I
do
have a big bush,’ he said, complacently cupping the crotch of his jeans. ‘Apart from my huge cock, I’m practically a woman.’
    Some parts of being posh Chloe would never understand if she lived to be a hundred.
    ‘Should we be going?’ she said, turning to Hugo. ‘It’s past midnight, and I have to be up for work . . .’
    ‘Of course! Sorry, darling!’ He bent to kiss her. ‘We’re off, chaps!’ he announced.
    Chloe sighed. Just once, she’d like to slip off with her boyfriend, just the two of them – well, plus his security officers, of course – avoiding the procession that always fell in behind them. Everyone wanted to be seen with the heir to the throne, and since photos were strictly prohibited inside Pirate’s Cove, being snapped by the paps waiting outside was the ideal way to secure that trophy. A group clustered around them, and in the bustle at the cloakroom Chloe and Hugo were separated. She was pulling on her Reiss coat – bought on sale, and still at the absolute limit of her budget – as she heard Sophie say to Minty, in that clear, cutting voice which was lowered, but still pitched to carry perfectly to her intended victim:
    ‘Darling, have you
heard
the latest thing they’re calling Lonely Chlo? Dog Rose! Because she’s
such
a social climber! Awfully clever, don’t you think?’
    Minty, more than a little tipsy and not Britain’s Brainiest at the best of times, slurred: ‘Sorry, darl, don’t get it . . .’
    ‘Her surname’s Rose! Dog Rose! Honestly, you
are
as thick as a brick, Minters,’ Sophie snapped impatiently at her drunken friend.
    ‘
Oh
!’ Minty could be heard saying as they turned to leave, Sophie glancing back swiftly at her victim to ensure that her words had hit the bull’s eye.
    And they had. Chloe was frozen to the spot, her hands at her belt, which she had just finished buckling and pulling smooth. She wanted, very badly, either to cry or to slap Sophie in the face, but she couldn’t do either. She couldn’t do anything but keep smiling. This was the true price of being with Hugo – the slights and slurs visited on her by his spiteful sister and her coterie, a level of sheer, snobbish nastiness which spread all too quickly to the press, and was picked up by a large section of the public. Chloe was