***

  “Goddamn stuck-up...”

  As she rifled through the drawer and pulled out some more cash, Didi struggled to come up with the right word to describe Edgar.

  “Prick!” she hissed eventually. “Pompous, boring, self-satisfied prick...”

  Once she had as much money as possible stuffed into her pockets, she slammed the drawer shut and made her way across the bedroom. Stopping at the window, she looked out at the morning scene. It was barely 9am, and the port town looked so calm and peaceful.

  And boring.

  The whole dull, monotonous day seemed to be stretched out before her, and the worst part was that she was still no closer to getting what she needed. If Edgar was going to tell her the truth about James Nixon, she needed to wheedle her way deeper into his confidence. Instead, she felt as if she was being pushed away.

  Then again, she told herself, a night away from the mansion might be just the ticket. If it made Edgar appreciate her some more, she might be able to use the situation to her advantage. All she needed to do, she told herself, was to make him jealous.

  She shuddered as she tried to imagine what she could get up to down in the town by herself. In the past, she'd been able to call Fernando and drag him to the nearest bed whenever she wanted some time away from Edgar, but Fernando seemed to have left Thaxos without saying a word, so she was out of options. At least when it came to men.