SILK WICKEDNESS 13

Slinging everything in her bag, she went inside, wondering whether to call on Superbrat on her way up. Superbrat wouldn’t want to see her, but that was beside the point.

Anoushka answered the door with a mutinous expression. ‘Now what?’

‘May I come in?’

‘If you must.’

She flopped back on the bed and picked up one of the magazines that littered it.

Claudia sat on the other bed. ‘Was your father spitting nails?’

‘I don’t know why you’re asking. You’ve obviously seen him and had an earnest discussion about the enfant terrible .’

‘We hardly spoke about you at all.* She wondered instantly whether she’d said the wrong thing. Superbrats generally liked to think they were the centre of everyone’s universe. ‘Look, I know you don’t want me here, but - ’

‘I couldn’t care less whether you’re here or not. If Dad wants to shell out on a babysitter I don’t need, that’s his problem.’

‘He thought you’d be fed up on your own all day.’

Still Anoushka did not look up. ‘If you believe that, you’re even du