Текст книги "Rotten to the Core"

Автор книги: Casey Kelleher

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Текущая страница: 10 (всего у книги 14 страниц)

Jay struggled up off the floor. It had been a pounding all right, but he knew Ryan’s reputation, and that was a little tap compared to what that man was capable of. Glad that the warning was over, he scurried back to his car; hoping that as few people as possible had just witnessed his humiliation, he pulled away so quickly that his tyres screeched. He was aware that his own mother had probably stood and watched that whole scene, along with half the fucking neighbourhood, twitching their curtains and probably loving the show. He pulled up a few streets away and, after wiping the blood from his nose, he rested his head on the steering wheel.

Shit, they knew about Emma.

He knew he was up fucking Shit Street without a paddle. Billy has dumped Tanya, now it was Jay’s turn to be in the firing line. He decided to make a few calls to his contacts to see exactly how far this thing had gone.

Robbie Challis had been expecting Jay’s call. Billy had paid him a visit a few days earlier, after following Jay. Robbie had been very humble to Billy and had explained that he had thought Jay was working for Billy. Billy had felt sorry for the bloke, it was clear Jay had mugged him off and was using Billy’s name to do so. He asked Robbie how much he had given in cash to Jay, and Robbie figured it at about four grand; his last lot had been the week before, and they were busting their guts to make the five grand a week Jay demanded.

              “Tell you what, mate, you keep it, on the condition that you tell Jay the next time he calls round that you do work for me, and that from now on he’ll have to go through me, too: understand?” Billy reasoned.

              “Yeah.” Robbie was shitting himself; he could see Billy was really pissed off; he was glad that he wasn’t his target.

              “What about Jay, though, he’s bound to kick off, Billy.”

Looking around the tiny flat, seeing the scales on the table and the collection of mobile phones next to them, Billy could see that this guy was out of his depth and just some small-time druggie, Jay always tried to pick on the weak. Billy grinned, deciding that Robbie could keep his money, he wanted no part of it: he had bigger fish to fry.

              “If he calls, just pass the message on. Any trouble from that ponce, you call me, right. As far as I’m concerned, you and me have no axe to grind, mate, you get on with your business, it doesn’t interest me one bit, but you make sure you tell Jay you’re working for me from now on, got it, and trust me, once he hears that you will get no trouble at all, mate.” Dropping his card onto the table, he let himself out.

              “Right.” Breathing a huge sigh, Robbie was relieved that he no longer had to break his neck trying to get Jay’s dough together before he could think about his own money. So when the call from Jay came in, Robbie Challis enjoyed every word. As he inhaled one of the biggest spliffs he had ever rolled, this one of course for celebration purposes, he said down the phone:

              “Jay? Sorry, Jay who?”

Riled, Jay thought the bloke must be truly fucking stoned to be talking like this.

              “You listen to me, you fucking waster,” he began, but before he could finish his sentence he was interrupted by a slow cackle.

              “Why don’t you just fuck off, Jay, you poncing cunt,” Challis said, slowly and clearly so that Jay could take every syllable in. “Billy says he’s personally collecting the money from now on, any problems with that and you take it up with him. So you, you fucking mug, can do one.”

Hearing the dialling tone, Jay realised that Challis had hung up. He was shitting himself, his worst thoughts had been confirmed and he had a terrible feeling that this was just the start of things to come. This was turning into a bitch of a day.

35

The saucy brunette was using every trick in the book. She had on a low-cut top and a very pert pair of breasts spilled over of it every time she leaned forward. She had been flicking her hair and pouting for the best part of the evening but, to be honest, Paul found it more entertaining than anything else. She was a very attractive girl, he would be a liar to deny that, and it was good for his ego to know that he still had it, but he had met dozens like her and she was nothing special.

It never failed to surprise him that so many girls tried it on with him as soon as they realised this club was his. He was more shocked that they seemed to be completely unaware of how obvious they were. Gold-diggers of the worst kind, they were more transparent than the fucking windows.

Peeling himself away from the disappointed girl at the bar, insisting he had work that needed his attention, he made his way to the sanctuary of his office. Pouring himself a whiskey, he went through his e-mails half-heartedly. He glanced at the clock and then back at the computer screen; tapping his fingers on the desk, he chuckled to himself. He had just realised that if anyone had been here to see him they would have just witnessed the look of a lovesick man. He knew that he had been doing nothing but mope, he could admit to himself that he was feeling lost without Kate. She was having a few days off, she had rung and explained that she needed to help her friend, and after hearing the story Paul said he would help her in any way possible. Kate had also asked whether, when she came back to work, she could bring Emma for a trial behind the bar to see if she was up to it. He had agreed without question; they could always do with extra hands, the place was booming, and if Kate thought Emma was up to it that was good enough for him. Paul had told Kate that if there was anything she needed she should call him. She hadn’t, though. Which was, obviously, a good thing, but he had hoped that she would have called by now. He missed her. She had her brother to look out for her, but Paul was her friend: they had become close. He knew that if he hadn’t heard anything from her, though, it meant she was okay.

Paul realised that he wanted Kate to call just so he could hear her voice. He also realised that he had, somehow when he wasn’t looking, turned into a soppy bastard. Laughing once again, he knew that at some point he had fallen for her. He hadn’t known until now how much he loved being around her, working with her, laughing with her, talking for hours about anything and everything. He hadn’t felt like this about anyone for a long time and it had really shocked him. He had only been in love once, and he had been hurt badly: some might say beyond repair. His ex, Caroline, had taken him for a complete ride, she had cheated on him with anyone that had a pulse. He had been oblivious, completely unaware of what had been going on behind his back throughout their relationship. He had been so busy trying to build up his career, working every hour that he could, that he had no idea what she had been getting up to. Paul had wanted desperately to make a decent living so that he could provide for her and for his now broken family. Sophia, his beautiful baby… it broke his heart to think of her, she deserved more than what they had given her. It had been such a mess, when he finally found out the truth about Caroline sleeping her way through the city, through a work contact of all people who was trying to do him a favour, he had confronted Caroline, half expecting her to be sorry. At the least she could have sounded apologetic. He expected her to beg him to stay with her and to say that she had made an awful mistake. Paul had been full of rage at the betrayal, yet somewhere inside, he thought that if she was sorry and if she hadn’t meant to hurt him, maybe he could fix things. After all, he had done nothing but work twenty-four seven for months; even if it had been for both of them, he hadn’t been there for her.  The last thing he had expected when he had confronted her was her laughing in his face and sneering at him that it was entirely his fault. Caroline had blamed him for all of it; none of it had been her fault. She had screamed at him in anger that it was he who had driven her to sleep with other men. He had neglected her; he had never been there; she had been lonely. She reeled off a list of her conquests whilst slugging a gin and tonic, all the time staring into his eyes triumphantly. He had stood in front of her a broken man, realising that this was nothing more than a game. Paul had tried to be a good husband; she had tried to score points. He had known then that it was all pointless; it had been for nothing. Paul had never known her. So he had walked away, and he had never looked back. Since then he had never trusted a woman, and he had thrown himself even more into building his career. He had found success, had more money than he could have wished for, but he had learnt the hard way that there was more to life than money and clubs. If he did get a chance at love again, he would put that first above everything. He wouldn’t make the mistake of thinking money was showing your love. Money wouldn’t keep you warm after a hard day at work, and he didn’t want to grow old alone.

Paul never mentioned his beautiful Sophia to anyone; she was his private business. He had kept her and everything about her close to his heart, but he had felt lately that he could tell Kate, they had become so close; there were times when he almost had told her. She had her own stuff going on, though, what with her losing the baby, and he had never felt it the right time: one day maybe he would.

Deciding rather than moping in the office all alone, he would pick up the phone to give her a call to see how she was doing, he downed his whiskey and dialled.

              “Ooh, someone has a little crush on you,” giggled Emma. Kate blushed as she put down her mobile phone. She had been on the phone to Paul for at least twenty minutes, catching up on the gossip from the club. Although it had only been a few days, she felt as though she had been away forever.

              “Don’t be so silly; he’s my boss, and he’s just checking to see how I am.” Kate could feel her cheeks burning and knew that her friend was nowhere near convinced.

              “A concerned boss, eh….” Emma was laughing. “Oh Kate, you really are oblivious, aren’t you, love?”

              “What?” Kate exclaimed. “You have it all wrong, Ems, you really do; he’s just a nice guy, and he’s just making sure I’m okay. Not all men are after something, you know.” Immediately regretting her words, she quickly added, “Oh, Emma, I didn’t mean anything by that, honest….”

              “Don’t be daft, Kate, I know you didn’t. I’m sure that he is a lovely guy. I mean, from all that you’ve told me; not that you talk about him every five minutes, or anything.” Laughing even louder, she ducked down as Kate threw a cushion across the lounge; just missing her it landed on the couch next to her. Kate laughed too and realised that it was the first time she had seen Emma apparently happy since they had left the hospital, including in the last few nights when they had stayed up late and spoken about everything. It had been hard for Kate to take it all in: she had no idea about what Emma had been through. Kate had been angry at first when Emma had first told her about sleeping with Jay behind her back, but Kate realised now that Jay was persuasive, and it had all been part of his plan. Emma had just been sucked into it all. Kate had found it hard to listen to some of Emma’s painful experiences, such as the time when Emma had been tied up and beaten by some psycho, and was even more freaked out when Emma told her that Jay had known about it, he had been, by all accounts, completely responsible for it. It sickened her to her stomach. Emma had also been beside herself with grief when Kate told her about losing the baby, but Kate had said as scary and devastating as it was maybe it was one of God’s small mercies, as she had been spared from being tied to Jay forever. The fact that she could no longer have kids she kept to herself; Emma had too much of her own stuff to deal with right now without Kate adding her own problems to the list. Besides, Kate had been trying to block it out of her mind, saying it out loud would mean she would have to deal with it, and she wasn’t ready for that yet. Kate could see that Emma was struggling without the drugs, but she was determined to stay clean. The doctor at the hospital who had treated her said he had rarely seen anyone who had become so dependent on drugs leave without medication to help them through the cold turkey process, but then he also added he had never seen anyone as adamant as Emma about staying clean.

              “You know,” smiled Kate, “I think having someone like Paul watching out for me is not such a bad thing.”

              “Oh?” Emma raised her eyebrows.

              “Yeah, I know I have Billy looking out for me, but sometimes I have to be so careful about what I say around him, you know how over-protective he can be.”

Emma nodded. Anyone who knew them knew that Billy guarded Kate with his life; she had to admit though from what Kate had told her that Billy seemed to be easing off on her lately. He had given them this place, for starters, and he had given them space, just a few text messages every now and again just to check that they were both alright.

              “Well, Paul is just so easy to talk to; he doesn’t judge me or quiz me about stuff, he just says his piece and that’s that; he’s been a really good friend.”

Emma couldn’t help but think that if Kate actually filmed herself when she spoke about this guy she would realise how her eyes lit up, that she was smiling and glowing. There were definitely some feelings there, but knowing Kate, it was far too soon to push it, especially after everything that had happened with Jay. As much of a shit that man was, Kate had loved him, although now Kate questioned how she ever had, now realising that she knew nothing about the real Jay Shaw. Kate needed time to get over that relationship.

Hearing the doorbell ring, Kate jumped off the sofa, placing her hand on her friend’s shoulder as she went to open the door, she whispered,

              “Just be honest with them: remember they love you and they are here to help.”

Kate opened the door to Emma’s parents. She had rung them earlier and told them that Emma needed to see them urgently; she had warned them that what they would hear would not be easy to take in and they had sounded worried, although thankfully they had not questioned her any further. Emma sat nervously in the lounge, bracing herself for a very long, painful evening.

36

              “What the fuck do you mean: you’re over?”

Tanya rubbed her temples; she felt her headache returning. She had had the most heavenly massage and had finally started to feel more chilled; at least her shoulders were no longer up round her ears with the stress of everything: and now this. If only she hadn’t been so quick to come back to her room, if she had gone for a nice drink at the bar, she could have given herself an extra half an hour of feeling like a normal person. But here she was, back in the room, looking at Jay’s swollen and bloodied face, as he sat slumped on the bed like a wounded soldier.

              “Just like I said, Tan, I’m fucked, good and proper. Billy has seen to it that I can’t get back into my house, I can’t do business with most of my fucking contacts, and I no longer fucking work for him: but that goes without fucking saying, obviously.” Throwing his keys onto the table, Jay groaned at the sudden movement, feeling pain shooting through his chest, he’d probably had a couple of his ribs done in.

Tanya paced the room, her relaxing massage now feeling like a distant memory, like she’d never had it. She knew how Billy worked, he would close down all of the options for them both, and no one would look at Jay after this, let alone do business with him. He would have to start at the bottom, like a fucking loser, dealing outside schools or in grotty little parks for pocket money. Tanya was too old for that shit, and she wanted more than pennies in her purse. Walking over to the mini-bar, she poured them both drinks: she really needed one, anyway.

              “We need to put our thinking caps on Jay, and fast. If we let Billy do this to us, let him treat us like fucking mugs, we’re not coming back up from it. People will think they can treat us like fucking cunts, Jay, and I’m not having it.”

Taking the drink she offered him, Jay swallowed it down in one, enjoying the burn at the back of his throat and the warmness that seeped through him, slightly numbing his pain. He looked over at Tanya, now deep in thought; he had noticed how she hadn’t once asked him if he was okay, hadn’t once shown any compassion at all. Alright, it was only a kicking, he had been dealt worse in his time, he had a feeling that Ryan could and would have wiped the pavement with him had he wanted to, so he must have been under strict orders from Billy boy. Tanya was merciless, though, she was like a bloke in that respect; she knew what she wanted and she wouldn’t stop until she had it. Even though a kind word wouldn’t have gone a miss, he respected her for it; she was shrewd in that she was already thinking of ways out of this situation for them both. He had never had that before from someone; he had had to fend for himself. Even his dad had used him, they had never worked as a team; his dad had made money out of him and used his innocence for his own gains, playing the father-and-son card whenever possible to get Jay to do whatever he asked. Tanya didn’t look like she had taken any shit from anyone.

Pouring them both another drink, Tanya looked at him impatiently. “Do you need to go to hospital, or what?”

Rolling his eyes, he started laughing, really laughing; his ribs were so sore it made tears spring to his eyes, which made him laugh more.

              “What? What’s so bloody funny?” Tanya demanded.

Jay was laughing so hard he couldn’t speak; good old Tanya; right on cue, just about as caring and sympathetic as she was going to get.

              “Nothing, babe, just glad you’re on my side, because you’re fucking scary right now.”

She laughed, finally understanding his joke, and passed him his glass.

              “A couple of them and you’ll feel a whole lot better, Jay, trust me.”

They sat in the bedroom for the rest of the afternoon, draining the mini-bar. As they drank, Jay told Tanya that he had the best part of fifty thousand pounds stashed away. She did her maths, and although she was very happy that she had been right all along and Jay did have a bit of cash stashed away somewhere, she also knew that it was peanuts in the grand scheme of things. They needed real money. If they were going to fuck off into the sunset, they needed a hell of a lot more than fifty grand.

Tanya sent down for a couple of bottles of champagne; she always managed to think better after a few drinks inside her, besides what she had on her mind was worth celebrating. Jay was gobsmacked at her little plan; he couldn’t believe Tanya could even think about something so… well, fucking brilliant. She knew better than anyone else how to hit Billy O’Conner where it fucking hurt.

37

The music was thumping; once again the DJ was playing the top tunes and had nearly every person in the place going mental for them. The dance floor was packed, as it was most nights. Kate couldn’t believe the length of the guest list: it was almost as long as her arm. Looking at the main bar, she saw Emma and was again astounded. In the three weeks that Emma had been out of hospital, Kate had witnessed such a change in her. It was amazing; like she had her old friend back. Emma had her moments, of course, but Kate would have been more worried if she hadn’t have had them. Emma occasionally got tearful or would want to talk things through, but Kate was there for her. She had even got her a job behind the bar, so they worked together too.

Emma had had a real heart-to-heart with her parents and it had been very emotional for them all, she was stunned when her parents had admitted that they had always thought something wasn’t quite right, but they just couldn’t put their finger on what. Emma hadn’t blamed them, as she had done her upmost to keep her dirty lifestyle a secret. They had promised to keep more of an eye on her in the future and told her they didn’t judge or blame her, that they loved her. They were such old-fashioned parents that she had been surprised when they hadn’t judged her. They had given her all the support she needed. She had sobbed when she heard that, imagining that they would both have been completely disgraced by her. Emma had had to try really hard to stop craving the drugs, but every time she needed something, to take the edge off, she pictured Jay Shaw’s disgusting face and to spite him, to beat him and his hold over her, she took deep breaths and got through it. She would show him, alright. However, no one had seen Jay for weeks, and Kate had told Emma that he had done a runner with Tanya. Emma didn’t care who he had buggered off with, as long as she didn’t have to set eyes on him again.

Catching Kate’s eye, Emma smiled. She loved working at Goldie’s, and now she had met Paul, she could see why Kate talked about him every five minutes: he was hot. Not that she would even be looking at a guy in that way for a very long time. But she was grateful to Kate for everything she was doing and she was determined to see if she could work her magic and get the pair together. Paul had it bad for Kate: that much was obvious. Kate wouldn’t admit it, but Emma was sure that even she had noticed how he always watched her; he was always laughing and joking with her. Kate, being Kate, swore he was just a friend and that they didn’t feel that way about each other. Smiling, Emma gave Kate a little wave before turning back to the ever-growing queue of thirsty clubbers.

Kate could see that Emma being here was doing her the world of good, she would have her confidence back in no time. Kate hadn’t heard a thing from Jay, but to be honest she didn’t really have much of a feeling about that. She felt numb about the whole Jay situation. You can’t really love someone when everything they do is behind your back and everything they stand for hurts you. He was a stranger, he felt like a figment of her imagination, because their relationship had never been real: everything about him had been fake. He was a coward of the worst kind; he couldn’t even stand by his actions, everything he did was in secret behind her back; as far as she was concerned, he was a poor excuse for a man. The Jay she thought she had loved was all in her head. He wasn’t the animal that she had found him out to be. She had changed her number, and Billy and Paul were watching out for her. She had called in to Sonia a few times, and promised that she would stay in touch.

              “Of course I will, silly; you’re like a mum to me, Sonia,” she had said.

Sonia had let tears slide down her cheeks at the kind words; Kate knew she loved the bones of her. She was a decent honest girl, way too good for Jay. Sonia had cut Jay from her life like dead wood. He was nothing to her now. Sonia had felt stupid: she had constantly tried to gain his approval and love. He was bad through and through, just like his father; rotten to the core.

Kate just wanted life to get back to normal; surely it wasn’t too naïve to think that now that everything was out in the open they could all start again.

Turning back to her bar, Kate smiled at the local hot-shot sitting in front of her, lining up drinks like there was no tomorrow. She loved her job with a passion, and as she poured the next round of shots, she thought how intrigued she was to know what Paul wanted to talk to her about tomorrow. He had said earlier that he wanted to have a chat and asked if she could come in an hour or so before her shift. She wondered what it was about. Things at the club were going well; they were a fantastic team. Kate knew that he appreciated and used most of her ideas, and she had seen first-hand how busy the place had become. Goldie’s had made a real name for itself; this was the place everyone wanted to be and Kate was thrilled to be part of it. It helped keep her mind off everything that was going on, and that was a godsend.

              “There you go darling, have one for yourself.” The man winked as he placed a fifty pound note in her hand, and then, just for good measure, looked her straight in the eye and licked his lips. Smiling out of politeness, while thinking what a transparent prat the bloke was, Kate thanked the guy for the very generous tip and popped it into her overflowing tip jar under the counter. She smiled even more at the thought of the gorgeous designer handbag she had spotted in a boutique on Oxford Road, the perfect present to help cheer up Emma, and the rate her tips were coming in lately she would be treating herself to one too.

Upstairs in the gentlemen’s club, Billy was also smiling, while enjoying a few drinks with the lads. Ditching Tanya had been one of the best things he had done. He hadn’t realised how much of a drain she had been, and after her trying to make a mug out of him with Jay he was well out of it. Candice had done her best to help him take his mind off the whole thing; it was just business to her, but that was cool with him. He had his needs, and she filled them nicely. He was quite liking being single. The house was quiet without Kate, but he was pleased that she had accepted the flat and thought that living with Emma would be great for them both. Kate was safe and that was the main thing, at the end of the day. He had also made a conscious decision to stop being so overbearing when it came to her, he had been so close to losing her because of that and he wouldn’t be putting himself in that situation again. Thanks to his mate Ryan, Jay was officially off the radar and had taken Tanya with him, no doubt, so Billy could finally relax. Laughing at Jonny taking the piss out of his brother Lee and telling all their funny stories of the latest little business trip, Billy picked up his pint. He was glad to have these guys around him; they had his back. Life was good.

38

His palms were sweating. Paul took a deep breath, trying to control his nerves. He wasn’t sure whether letting his feelings be known to Kate was the right thing to do, but to be honest he wasn’t sure if he could keep them to himself for much longer. He had to fight the urge he had to hold her when he saw her looking upset, although she did a good job of trying to hide it. At times he could see that she looked lost, and it took every ounce of his willpower to stop himself from wrapping his arms around her and telling her she would be alright. Yesterday, he had felt sure that now was the right to time to tell her, but today he wasn’t feeling confident. He was losing his bottle. What if she didn’t find him attractive, or simply didn’t look at him that way? Kate was nice and kind, she would never set out to lead someone on: she was just so sweet to everyone, what if the vibes he had picked up from her were just her being nice and nothing else? Paul was going to tell her how he felt and tell her about Sophia, his beautiful little daughter. He knew that he wanted Kate, but she would have to accept that he had a child. They were a package, but after everything that Kate had gone through losing her baby, Paul was not sure how Sophia would be received by Kate.

Pacing the room, he looked at the clock in his office, it was quarter to eight; even if he did call her to say not to bother coming in, he would probably be too late, she would probably have left by now. He quickly poured himself a shot of whiskey from the bottle he kept in the top drawer and gulped it down in one then made a note to calm it down on the drinking front at work, it was slowly becoming a habit and not one he intended on keeping. He liked to stay in control; after tonight, he was going to try and curb it at work. Drinking the whiskey, he was surprised that it did nothing to stop his nerves; he felt like a fifteen-year-old schoolboy going on his first date. Strumming his fingers on the desk, he glanced around as he waited for her. The place was immaculate, he had never seen it so organised. Normally there were piles of paper stacked up all over the place and falling on the floor, bills scattered amongst junk mail, scrap paper and e-mails. Kate had devised a great filing system, so everything from wages, stock takes and invoices all had their place and the whole club was running more smoothly. They made a great team, she was so good at the things he wasn’t. Paul had the contacts, the funds and the vision, but he had realised that he had needed someone to work alongside him, doing the organisation, event planning and PR; he was crap at that. He just hoped that by telling her how he felt, he wouldn’t make her run a million miles from him; the last thing he would want to do was scare her off; even if she didn’t want him, he hoped she would want to be part of the club.

Across town, Emma was winding Kate up as she was getting ready to leave. She had done her hair and makeup and was wearing a new white blouse that wasn’t too revealing but flattered her figure and looked very stylish.

              “Ooh, going in early for a bit of one-on-one?” Emma giggled.

Kate rolled her eyes but then grinned.

              “I told you, it’s not like that; I think Paul just wants to run something by me.”

              “Yeah, I bet he does,” said Emma sarcastically, winking. Secretly hoping that the two would get it on, they were clearly besotted with each other, she hoped that all her hinting and teasing would push the idea along a bit in Kate’s head. Paul Goldie would be perfect for Kate, Emma just knew it; he was a real man, a gentleman. Someone like Paul could show Kate that not all men were cheating shits; some of them were decent, with a backbone. Keeping her fingers crossed, Emma added,               “Perhaps he has an indecent proposal for you?”