CHAPTER THREE
HE HAD ALWAYS been confident that Madeleine would return to him. But on this particular night, he had no inkling that she was about to make a surprise entrance.
Alice Mulligan knew though, and she had done everything in her power to dissuade the girl from coming back to a man who had proved time and time again that he could make her life a misery. But her young friend was utterly besotted with their boss.
Steve Drayton had never accepted any of the blame for the couple’s rows. And this time, as usual, he believed himself to be the injured party.
Turning to Alice, the manageress of his club, the Pink Lady Cabaret Bar off Soho Square, he murmured, ‘If I find out she’s left me for another bloke, I swear to God … she’ll live to regret it.’ He stared at the little Irishwoman suspiciously. ‘You know something about this, don’t you? Thick as thieves, you two are. As a matter of fact, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if you’d known where she was all along. All right – out with it! Where is she? Is she with another man? Is that why you’re afraid to tell me?’
When Alice chose not to answer, but merely carried on removing notes from the cash register to transfer to the office safe, he grabbed her by the shoulders and almost lifted her off her feet. ‘Answer me, woman!’ he hissed. ‘Where is she?’
‘Well now, you’d best ask her that yourself, hadn’t you? You being the big boss-man an’ all.’ Small in stature but big in courage, Alice had been around the block a few times and was not one to be intimidated by the likes of Steve Drayton.
‘Don’t you get clever with me,’ he growled. ‘No one’s indispensable, lady!’
With a flick of her head, Alice gestured to the door. ‘Like I said, she’s here now, so you can ask her yourself, can’t you?’
The open street-door sent a rush of cool air through the smoke-filled haze of the nightclub. Curious, he glanced up, and there she was: the Songbird, star of the show – his woman.
Though secretly relieved to see her, Steve was inwardly seething with anger, vowing that he would make the bitch pay for humiliating him. But he was cunning enough not to show his feelings here, in front of all these adoring people. Madeleine was a valuable asset, the reason why his club had flourished. In the early days, when he had let his gambling habits get the better of him, her charismatic appeal and popularity as a singer had brought him back from the brink of financial ruin. He still owed money to some undesirable types, but was reluctant to settle his debts. Steve Drayton never liked to pay what he owed. Arrogant and selfish, he played on his sexual appeal to get what he wanted – from women – and sometimes from men, too.
In the three weeks or so since Maddy had gone on the trot, his takings had dipped to an uncomfortable level. Deeply concerned, Steve had searched high and low, had even put the word out on the streets, but to no avail. The girl had simply disappeared.
Meanwhile, Steve had recruited other entertainers but they were no substitute for Madeleine. She had a certain special something – the punters came back to hear her time and again. ‘Songbird’ was what all the regulars called her. Or, ‘our own Pink Lady’ when she wore one of her glamorous pink stage dresses. Her accompanying musicians, pianist and bass-player Dave and Dino, were very grumpy without her. In desperation, with clients and money rapidly dwindling, Steve had been forced to sack the odd cleaner and even one of his two chefs but that was merely throwing out ballast to keep the ship afloat.
The truth was, only the loyal and the believers had continued to frequent his bar, in the hope that she would be back.
Well, here she was, and now the atmosphere was charged with excitement. But for all that, he was determined to teach her a lesson.
Shoving Alice aside, he gave a cynical smile. ‘Here she comes, strolling in as though she hasn’t a care in the world.’
For what seemed an age, Madeleine paused to glance across the club, her dark eyes seeking him out. And then she was moving towards him, and despite himself, he felt his pulse quicken.
In that darkened room with the soft music playing in the background, all eyes were turned on the woman.
Of petite build and with a certain quiet beauty, she wended her way between the clients, acknowledging their greetings with a ready smile and a friendly word and, much to the annoyance of the man who laid claim to her affections, occasionally accepting a kiss on the cheek.
Steve Drayton’s hungry eyes followed her every step of the way. In spite of his violent temper and his liking for anything in a skirt, the sight of Madeleine could still thrill him like no other. With her mass of rich chestnut hair tumbling to her shoulders, and that lazy, swaying walk which had first attracted him to her, she could turn any man’s head.
She was uniquely talented, yet even now, when she could see how much they thought of her, Madeleine did not seem to realise just how good she was. In truth, she possessed a kind of childish innocence that shone from within. Up there on the stage, when the music filled the room and her voice cut to their hearts, she was magnificent. When the music had died down and her voice was still, she became shy and hesitant, almost naïve in her trust of others. She had fallen under Steve’s spell after auditioning for the club two years ago. Between boyfriends, and feeling lonely, she had found herself in her new employer’s bed by that first nightfall.
Now, as she stopped to chat with a regular, Steve stared at her and felt the familiar arousal, though it still rankled, the fact that she had walked out on him – without even a phone call to let him know what was going on. No woman had ever done that to him before.
He turned to Alice. ‘I knew she wouldn’t be able to stay away for long. Didn’t I tell you she’d be back?’
‘Mebbe so, but she’s a damned fool, so she is!’ As Irish as the Blarney Stone and wick as a leprechaun, Alice Mulligan was herself a force to be reckoned with. ‘It’s a mystery to me how she ever puts up with you.’
‘Women are no mystery to me,’ Steve boasted. ‘I’ve always been able to twist ’em round my little finger.’
‘You’re too clever for your own good, that’s your problem, mister.’ Being a woman of some fifty years, Alice had lovely skin and a slim figure that looked good in her smart business suit. Her blue eyes were alive with vitality. ‘When you said she’d be back, I hoped you might be wrong,’ she sighed. ‘But here she is, an’ may God and all His Saints help her.’
In truth, Alice was not at all surprised to see the younger woman here tonight, because it was not the first time today that Maddy had walked through these doors, though Steve Drayton didn’t know that.
‘She must have lost her mind, to make her way back here,’ Alice said, closing the till and putting a rubber band round the notes. Earlier on, she had said the very same thing to Maddy. ‘It just goes to show what bloody fools we women can be!’ she added cynically. If only Maddy could see through this bully.
‘My girl is nobody’s fool,’ Steve argued. ‘She knows which side her bread is buttered, and come to think of it, so do you. But I can see it’s put your nose right out of joint, now she’s done the sensible thing and come home to me.’ His mood darkened. ‘The truth is, you never thought I was good enough for her.
Undeterred, Alice ignored his last remark and looked him in the eye. ‘That’s
