‘It was an accident waiting to happen.’ Alexei shrugged a broad shoulder. ‘I did conside
r paying her to keep quiet about us but I knew you would be annoyed if I intervened with that kind of an offer.’
‘Why on earth should she be bribed to keep quiet? How could my mother sell pictures of her own grandson?’ Billie gasped strickenly.
Alexei was a good deal less surprised by Lauren’s perfidy than Billie was. Over the years several lovers, acquaintances and even minor relatives of his own had profited from selling stories about him and his family to the tabloid press. He had long appreciated that Lauren Foster would be vulnerable to such an approach.
‘I’ll have to go back to London to see her!’ Billie announced, so angry with her scheming parent that she was trembling with the force of her
