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 toward 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 realize 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 because you’re not good enough for her! And ye never will be.”

Steve helped himself to a large Scotch from the bar, and added a handful of ice. “I don’t give a sod what you think.” He glanced over at Maddy. “She thinks differently, and that’s enough for me.” He preened himself. “Besides, she won’t get better than me, however hard she tries.”… Steve didn’t believe in God, but he did believe in “An eye for an eye.” Two could play at that game of “now you see me, now you don’t.”

“Well, all I can say is, she must be a divil for punishment. Gawd! When I think of the way you treat her…” Alice tossed her head.

“She can’t do without me,” he declared smugly. “In fact, I haven’t yet decided whether I’ll have her back or not.”

“Oh, but you will, me boyo.” Alice had no doubts about that.

“Really, and why is that then, eh?”

“Because without her, the punters would soon stop coming and you’d be broken like a twig underfoot. Besides, one time when you were drunk out of your skull, you actually spoke a few home truths, so ye did.”

“Is that so? And what might they have been, then?”

“You said she was a feather in your cap, for all the other men to envy.” Alice had no liking for this self-centered man. “Deep down you don’t love her at all,” she scoffed. “That poor girl is just another acquisition for you to show off.”

“Hmh!” Swigging down his Scotch, Steve pressed his glass against the optic for another shot. He searched Madeleine out, to smile lovingly on her. “Since she walked out on me…” his voice grew softer “I… might tell you, I’ve really missed her.” It was the truth. The man sometimes wondered if he had foolishly fallen in love with Maddy; it scared him, brought out the violence in him.

“Missed the money she brings in, more like!” Alice snapped, completely unsympathetic. “Deep down, yer a bad bugger, only she can’t see it. You don’t deserve a woman like that, kind and giving; the loveliest thing who ever walked onto a stage. There’s not a man in the crowd who wouldn’t give his right arm for a woman of her caliber.”