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return.’
    ‘ I’ll do my best.’
    ‘ Fabulous. Well, I’ve got to mingle. I’ll see you soon
Iris.’
    ‘ Thank you Annie.’
    Annie
smiled and walked off and Iris clenched her fists in victory. Step
one of her mission was complete.
    She
returned to the booth to find Arthur still slumped to one side,
asleep. Iris slid into the booth beside him, and shook his shoulder
to wake him up.
    ‘ Wake up Arthur,’ she said. ‘Please, wake up.’
    He
grumbled and looked at her, his eyes wandering.
    ‘ Where am I?’ he asked.
    ‘ In a nightclub. I’ve got a headache, I want to go
home.’
    ‘ Okay,’ he said, nodding off again. ‘I’ll stay here, I’m having
such a lovely evening.’
    Iris
left him to it and walked through the club, to the exit. Just as
she was about to approach the guy who’d taken her coat, she felt a
tap on her shoulder. She turned around to find Patrick standing
there. That cheeky smile on his face.
    ‘ Where’s the boyfriend?’ he asked.
    ‘ Asleep in the booth,’ she replied.
    ‘ And you’re leaving him?’
    ‘ I’ve got a headache.’
    ‘ You got far to go?’
    ‘ South of the river.’
    ‘ Whereabouts?’
    ‘ Streatham.’
    ‘ You got your coat?’
    ‘ It’s a fur wrap. It’s red.’
    ‘ Hang on.’
    He went
into the cloakroom and came back out with her wrap. He passed it to
her, then cocked his head, indicating for her to follow him. She
did so, up the steps to the pavement. Patrick strode ahead and led
her into an alleyway, where a couple of big, black cars were
parked. Iris felt adrenaline start to pump through her body. Where
was he taking her? What did he have planned? He walked up to one of
the cars and the driver wound down the window. Patrick bent down to
speak to him.
    ‘ You alright guv?’ the driver asked in a brash cockney
accent.
    ‘ Take the lady home will you Denny?’ Patrick asked. He stood
back up and looked at Iris.
    ‘ I hope we’ll be seeing you again soon,’ he said.
    ‘ I’m sure you will,’ she replied enigmatically. ‘Thank you for
this.’
    Those
piercing green eyes surveyed her as he sucked hard on his
cigarette.
    ‘ I can’t have a lovely lady such as you wandering the streets
of Streatham alone can I?’ he said.
    ‘ I suppose not,’ she said. ‘Once again, thank you.’
    She got
into the back of the car and Patrick stood and watched them drive
off. Iris gave a demure wave and sat back, feeling a little rocked
by what had happened. She had met a hundred and one Patrick Collins
in her lifetime. The slightly posh accent and good quality clothes
didn’t mean a thing. He was a wide boy, and at a guess he was
either Annie Holland’s bit of rough, or he had some vested interest
in the club. But there was something about him that had got to her.
He was exciting and gorgeous, and she got the feeling he wasn’t put
off by the type of girl she was. Men like that didn’t come along
often.
    ‘ You a friend of Patrick’s?’ the driver asked, glancing at her
in the rear view mirror.
    ‘ No, we only just met tonight. Does he work for Annie
Holland?’
    ‘ Works with her more like. She might own it, but Pat calls the
shots.’
    ‘ Been in business together long?’
    ‘ The club used to belong to his old man, Bernie. But Bernie
lost it in a card game to Mario Stefani, the racing driver. When
old Mario snuffed it, Bernie wanted the club back, but Annie
weren’t gonna budge. So her and Pat drew up a bargain. He puts a
couple of blokes on the door and she gets to play Mein
Hostess.’
    ‘ Anything going on between them?’
    ‘ Nah. No woman can pin Pat down.’
    ‘ Glad to hear it,’ Iris purred. ‘A man like that shouldn’t be
tamed.’

Chapter Four
     
    March
1959
     
    Annie
thought of all the places she’d rather be than sitting across a
table from Kenneth, his face like thunder, looking at his watch and
fidgeting. After months spent in Newcastle, supervising the
construction of the new Tanner Beresford homes, he was back