Songbird Read Online Free PDF Page B

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.”
    Alice threw Steve a contemptuous glance. “And then there’s you — a bully and a womanizer — treating her like the dirt under your feet.” She was angry with Madeleine for coming back, and proving him right. She had no liking for this man who provided her wages; though she earned every penny twice over.
    Since the nightclub had opened eight years ago, Alice had worked tirelessly, shown her true worth and earned her boss’s trust. As a result, her wages had increased in line with her responsibilities.
    To her credit, Alice had fought her way up from the bottom; in turn she had cleaned the toilets, scrubbed the floors, worked as a cloakroom attendant and then behind the bar, had also served at tables and run errands. Eventually she had risen from taking money as the clients arrived, to being entrusted to bank the takings. And now she was a fully-fledged manageress.
    From the start, she was honest, reliable and knew how to keep her mouth shut when necessary, as long as there was nothing criminal or harmful involved. Though when she heard how a certain client had been beaten so badly he ended up in hospital, that was a turning point in her loyalty. From that moment she kept herself to herself and never showed interest in any of Steve’s shadier activities.
    While Steve Drayton valued and respected her, she could never respect him; he reminded her too much of her own cheating husband, Eamon. It was five years now since she’d walked out on him, and good riddance to the man! Childless, she had taken young Maddy to her heart and loved the girl as her own blood. After seeing how badly Steve treated every woman who took a shine to him — and there were many — Alice had grown to dislike and distrust him; especially these past two years, since Madeleine caught his eye.
    Steve might love her and he might not. Alice could not be sure. But it was a strange, destructive love, for he seemed determined to make the young woman’s life a misery.
    Steve interrupted her reverie. “I
do
love her,” he said, answering her unspoken question. “The trouble is, when I get drunk and senseless, I find myself agreeing with you, that she’s too good for me — and then I get insanely jealous. Like you said, any man would want her, and maybe even give her a better life than I do.”
    He dropped his gaze to the floor. “The thought of losing her sends me wild,” he said hoarsely. “Then I hit out and hurt her.” He swished the ice cubes in his glass, and she could barely catch his last few words as he whispered, “I swear I don’t mean to.”
    He watched as Madeleine lingered to chat with another one of the customers. There was no denying, she was a special woman, and Alice was right… he did not deserve her.
    “I’m not surprised she cleared off,” he conceded regretfully. “The last time we had a set-to, she took a terrible beating — and all for something and nothing. A fella at the club put his arm round her as she walked out and as usual, I laid the blame on her.” He shrugged. “Yeah, that’s what it was all right — something and nothing.”
    He sighed self-indulgently and took another measure of whisky. “Mind you, we were busy making up till the early hours, and I can tell you here and now, your precious Maddy didn’t have no complaints about my performance
that
night!”
    “You’re an arrogant divil.”
    “Yes, so you keep saying.”
    Straightening his shoulders beneath the beautiful cloth of his Jermyn Street suit, Steve drew himself up to his considerable height. “She always comes running back. It only goes to prove how bad she wants me.” He flicked open a box of Dunhill cigarettes and lit one with a gold lighter. “Want one?” He offered the box to Alice, who ignored