Annie staggered away from the wall and slumped down into one of the chairs at the table. Her head was humming, her heart was crashing around in her chest, and she thought, That’s it, I’m going to pass out now. She heaved in air and put her head between her legs, which set up a fresh surge of agony in her middle. She stopped like that for a long time. Wincing, hurt, shocked, she straightened up again, feeling a little steadier.
Jesus, he knows, he knows . . .
The panicky phrase kept boomeranging around her head. Max knew about Constantine, and he wanted to divorce her. Of course he did. That was why she had made sure he would never know. But somehow it had all gone wrong. Now he was thinking all sorts, and accusing her of things, and this was where they’d landed up. Scuppered. Finished. Max wasn’t the type to make empty promises, either. He would kill Constantine. And then he would kill her.
‘Oh, Christ,’ she wailed, and slapped a hand over her mouth because she wasn’t going to give those clowns on the landing any more satisfaction.
She could hear them out there, talking in low voices. She thought that Max had gone straight out and down the stairs and away, she’d heard the front door slam after him; but Gary, Tony and Steve were still there.
Front it out, she thought. That was all she ever did.
Dolly was gone.
Ellie had washed her hands of her.
Chris, Tony, Steve, all once her friends, were now judging her, hating her.
And worse, far worse than any of that, Max. Max had turned against her, caught her out in this monumental deception. And he was going to destroy both Constantine and her. She totally believed that.
She stood up, steadying herself with a hand on the table. She tottered over to the closed door and took another breath.
Steady, she thought. You ran these streets once. You were a Mafia queen.
Yeah, once . . .
Annie opened the door. The three men, all of them massive and scary, turned and stared at her. She stepped out on to the landing, closing the door behind her. She moved past Tony, past Steve, and there was Gary, barring her way to the stairs.
‘You got something to say to me?’ she asked him.
‘Yeah. What was that bollocks about my boys?’
Annie shrugged, very cool. ‘I said it to them and I meant it. They shouldn’t have done what they did. I warned them.’
‘You’re in no position to warn anybody about anything,’ he sneered. ‘The boss is spitting mad at you. You’re finished, girl.’
‘Oh, shut the fuck up and mind out the way,’ said Annie, shoving past him.
Gary lunged at her, arm raised. Annie teetered on the top stair, clutched at the banister, thinking This is it, he’s going to knock me arse-backwards down those stairs, all the way to the bottom. Then Steve stepped forward and grabbed Gary’s upraised hand, forced it down.
‘This fucking bitch, I told him what she was like, but would he listen?’ burst out Gary, his face puce and his eyes fastened on Annie.
‘Calm down, you cunt,’ said Steve. ‘This ain’t our fight. Let him put it right, any way he wants.’ Then he turned to Annie. ‘You’d better go.’
Annie didn’t need a second telling. Feeling like she’d escaped by the skin of her teeth, she turned and went down the stairs and out the door.