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Neil Webster was sitting in a canvas director’s chair with an air of fascinated satisfaction. Jett was leaning against a white grand piano with a sulky expression on his face. The third man, the shouter, I recognized at once. I’d seen him talking to Jett at the dinner where we’d met. Richard had told me he was Kevin Kleinman, Jett’s manager.
    Before any of us could say anything, Gloria erupted into the room and shoved past me. I couldn’t believe the transformation in her. She’d altered from the dragon at the gates to a sweet little kitten. “I’m so sorry, Jett,” she purred. “But this woman just forced her way in. I tried to stop her, but she just pushed past me.”
    Jett shrugged away from the piano with an exasperated sigh. “Gloria, I told you I was expecting Kate. Christ, how could you have forgotten?”
    The effect of Jett’s words on Gloria was out of all proportion to their sting. She blushed scarlet and almost seemed to cringe out of the room, muttering apologies. To Jett, not to me. Her exit did nothing to diminish the air of awkwardness in the room. With an almost palpable effort, Jett turned the full force of his charm on me and smiled. “Kate,” he said. “I’m really glad you could make it.”
    My reply was drowned by Neil, who called across, “You’re really going to be doing all of us a big favor, Kate. I can’t tell you how pleased I am for Jett that you’re going to sort this business out.”
    I caught Kevin’s scowl at Neil before he too turned to me and
    I hadn’t been too impressed by Kevin when I’d first seen him, and the second meeting wasn’t improving my opinion. His average height and build were diminished by his lousy posture and rounded shoulders, and when he walked his feet seemed to slide over the floor. His thin brown hair was receding fast, emphasizing the sharpness of his features. Richard had told me he’d had a nose job, but looking at the finished product I found that hard to believe. Judging by his outfit—a soft brown leather blouson over a toffee-colored cashmere crew neck and a pair of Levi 501s, he was doing his damnedest to ignore the fast approaching fortieth birthday. Aware of my scrutiny, he moved over to me and extended his hand. “You must be the lovely Kate. I’ve heard so much about you from Richard. I’m Kevin, I take care of business for Jett.”
    “Pleased to meet you,” I lied.
    “I want to make it perfectly clear that whether or not you take on this job for Jett, it’s vital that you do not mention outside this room what we discuss today. In the wrong hands, that information could do Jett a great deal of damage,” Kevin smarmed, holding on to my hand for fractionally too long. I had to fight the impulse to wipe it on my trouser leg.
    “I’ve already told Jett that our confidentiality is guaranteed. We wouldn’t have so many corporate clients if we had loose mouths.” My reply came out sharper than I intended and I noticed Neil smiling wryly.
    “Fine, fine, I just wanted to be sure we understood each other,” Kevin oozed.
    I deliberately walked away from him and crossed the room to Jett. “Do you want to tell me why you’ve asked me here?”
    He nodded and, taking my arm, he steered me across the room to a group of chairs round a low table. I took the chance to look around the large room. It was the size of a tennis court and was obviously a recent addition to the beautiful eighteenth-century mansion Jett had bought five years before. In one corner was a built-in bar, the only thing in the place that looked tacky. The long
    Jett smiled. “It’s not bad, is it? I’ve turned part of the cellars into a recording studio. I mean, for a man who can’t tell Château Margaux from Country Manor, it was a hell of a lot of wasted space.”
    Kevin walked across to join us. Jett ignored him and leaned on the bar, staring intently into my eyes. “I want you to find someone for me. I knew as soon as we met that I could trust you, Kate.