Page 169 of The Grosvenor's Ghost
It’s busy in here tonight—always is—but with my heart racing and my head fuzzy, I barge through the thick throngs of people who come here in hopes of drowning their secrets and sorrow in twenty grand bottles of champagne.
“Ease up, sweetheart, you ain’t allowed down here,” the guy standing in front of the stairs tells me.
I look past him, down the stairs, where the offices and exclusive rooms are.
“Do you know who I am?” I demand, glaring right at him.
I’ve never seen him before but he’s big, beefy—would probably hit me, actually.
He smiles sarcastically. “I don’t care if you’re the bloody pope, you ain’t going down there.”
“Why the fuck would the pope be here in the first place?” I ask him, tilt my head.
“What?”
I cock one of my eyebrows, hands on my hips, ready to push him down the stupid flight of stairs if I have to.
“Let me through or I’ll get you sacked.”
He throws his head back, laughs. “Alright, Princess, wrap it up—go home.”
“It’s ‘Lady’, actually.”
He shakes his head.
“Oi, Pete, let her through, mate,” I hear from behind me.
I turn around, Albie is walking over. “You alright?” He asks me, frowns, puts his arm around my shoulder. “What you doing here?”
‘Pete’ stands to the side, lets me down with Albie. Looks pissed about it. He seems like the type of man who’s never been proved wrong.
When we reach the bottom, Albie doesn’t let me go.
“What are you doing here, Phoebe?”
I shake my head. Can’t tell him. He isn’t the person I came to see. “Nothing.”
“Well, then, why are you here?” He smiles. His eyes pinch at the sides and he looks at me funny.
“Is Ronan in tonight?”
His face doesn’t change. “He’s always in—why?”
“I need to talk to him, Albie.”
“About what?”
I roll my eyes. “None of your business!”
He laughs. “Don’t be giving me attitude, Phoebs, because next time I won’t get Pete to let you down.”
“Next time, I’ll get ‘Pete’ fired.”
“Why are you using quotation marks for his name? That’s his name.”
“Because it’s a stupid fucking name—who in the twenty first century is called ‘Pete’?”
“What?” He mutters, shakes his head.
