” I showed her my teeth. “I have no interest in some petty tax collector.”“Wow, now there’s a metaphor!” She grinned. “Politics! You can...have no interest in us, while we have a deadly interest in you.”“Winter doesn’t last forever.” I shrugged. I was heading for the door.“And it comes around again. Every year.”“Then, I guess my next purchase is a gas-guzzling hummer.” I met her eyes. “Choke on global warming, cunt.”I pulled the door open and stepped into the deathly still night. I looked back.. The Emir would be flanked by Tamsin and Janice, while Henry found himself between the two wives, the Princess Ayda and the Princess Alima, formerly Mrs. the Honourable Diana Featherstone and her daughter Susan. He had heard the story that the Emir had made a number of trips round the world looking for Western wives and had finally settled on this impoverished widow, daughter of the equally impoverished Earl of Bargoed, and on her daughter, and had married them both in a single ceremony.The. I walked her to her car, got a kiss, promised to call "soon." She was what Mum would call "a nice girl."Jenny wasn't.I called her around 11 on Saturday morning. She invited me for "brekker." I didn't tell her that I'd been up for hours, had gone for a five klick jog, showered and read parts of Wilson and Holldobler. It wasn't far to the address she gave me – a hi-rise near Meeks and Anzac. I rang the bell and a female voice said to "come on up." When I got to the door I knocked and it was. "You ... I can't remember..." I sighed with frustration. I should know! I was so close."Open your eyes..." the voice spoke again, near my ear. It was a reassuring voice, one that made me feel at ease.I inhaled deeply, feeling every bit of breath as it poured into me. My eyes cracked, seeing a bright shape, indistinct, but there. I could see elegant hair, done up in an intricate pattern, becoming more visible with every second. I strained, willing my eyes to open faster. I took in the soft hazel.