Free Dirty Bad Secrets by Jade West

didn’t flinch.
    “Now you’re back I can stop guessing,” he said. Topaz made some blathering excuses before he waved her from the room, but I was hardly listening. Andy waited until the door clicked shut before he skimmed my phone back across the desk. “I just need his number, I can handle the rest.”
    “Handle what, exactly?”
    His expression darkened as he turned his laptop screen in my direction. “This. This fucking... travesty .”
    If he expected shock horror he was sure to be disappointed. The picture on screen was old news. I’d seen it, approved it and signed the thing off long before I left Italy.
    “Thanks, but there’s really nothing to handle.”
    The scowl was etched across his face. “And you’re happy with this, are you? Not bothered that your face is going to be on every dirty cow’s Kindle screen the planet over? He can fuck right off if he thinks he’s using this picture to sell his seedy little porno book.”
    I didn’t even attempt to argue the literary beauty of Vincent’s work. It would have fallen on deaf ears. “I gave him permission,” I said. “In writing. Signed, sealed, case closed.”
    “Is it fuck,” he said. “What’s his fucking number?”
    I couldn’t help but smile at his zeal. “I signed it off, Andy. My signature.”
    “Queen fucking Elizabeth could have signed it off for all I fucking care, Faye.”
    I focused on the twitch at the corner of his perfect mouth. “You’d be wasting your breath.”
    “Don’t be so sure about that.” He stared right at me. “Look me in the eye and tell me you want your face on his poxy book.”
    “It’s not that simple...”
    “It is that simple.”
    “Andy, seriously. I signed it off. End of.”
    “Past tense. Permission fucking withdrawn. I have great lawyers, Faye, we’ll sue him for every penny he’s got, I promise.”
    He rooted through his papers, pulled out a business card and began dialling before I could speak. The business card was one of those uber posh ones, watermarked on a thick, expensive grain. My hand was on his before he’d been connected, guiding the handset back into its cradle. “Thank you, I really appreciate your concern, but stop. Please.”
    He didn’t let go of the phone. “If you’re worried about speaking to him...”
    “I’m not,” I lied. “Look, I knew he’d be using that picture. It’s no big deal, he’s in Italy and I’m here, he’s busy writing books and I’m busy running a club.” I squeezed his hand. “Thanks, though. It’s nice to have someone in my corner.”
    He swallowed, but kept his expression deadpan. “I mean it, Faye, we could fight this.”
    “And I mean it when I say it’s no big deal. It’s just a picture.” I ignored the worms twisting in my stomach.
    He gestured to the screen. Bird in the Bush. The title still made my heart race. “Topaz said you’re this Magpie woman , whatever the fuck that means, and what’s all this dubious consent shit? Did he hurt you?”
    I forced a smile. “Maybe there’s some of me in Magpie, but she’s just a character. It’s just fiction.”
    “ Just fiction?” His eyes were so demanding. “Because if it isn’t...”
    “It’s hardly a biography. Maybe I was a muse for Vincent, maybe some of it is loosely based on real life, but it is just a story.” My heart was thumping so loud I feared he’d hear it, but he let out a sigh.
    “Fine.” He dropped the phone and pushed the business card back amongst the paperwork.
    I used the opportunity to retreat to my desk. “Cheques are all banked. What next?”
    He swivelled his chair to face me, and the fine hairs on my arms bristled. “Just answer me one thing. Why did you leave him?”
    I hesitated for only a second. “End of the road.”
    “End of the road?” I could feel his stare, hot on my face. “Why?”
    “I wasn’t with Vincent, Andy. I stayed to help him organise his Venice events. It didn’t work out. We weren’t a couple. Not like that.