Authors: Heather Atkinson
“I’m going to burn that bedding,” said Cassandra.
“Why not keep it sweetheart,” purred Toni. “It’ll be like we’re sleeping together.”
“That’s enough Toni,” said Brodie. “Cass has been through a lot and you’re not helping. Now you’ve got what you want…”
“And a little extra,” she smiled.
“Pete’s gone so you can do one, you and Morecambe and Wise here.”
Now the shock of Toni’s performance had worn off Mikey’s temper surged back. He stood nose to nose with Brodie and snarled, “see when this is over me and you are going to have some serious words.”
Brodie’s smile was almost eager, his amber eyes burning. “Bring it on big man.”
Mikey tensed when he felt Jez’s hand on his arm, warning him.
“Take it easy Mikey. He wants to wind you up because he’s pissed off that he’s been pulled into this.”
“Damn right I’m pissed off and it’s not wise to piss me off because when I’m pissed off I get…pissed off,” spluttered Brodie, so angry he was twisting himself into knots.
Jez smiled. “Eloquence isn’t your strong suit.”
“No but bringing down murderers and drug dealers is.”
Mikey attempted to make a grab for Brodie but Toni stood between them, pressing a hand to his chest.
“Boys please,” she said. “I would love nothing more than to see you two go at it, it would be incredibly exciting but we have a lot to do.”
Mikey swallowed down his rage, which he knew wasn’t all aimed at the motor mouth before him. Some of it was frustration with his personal life but it would make him feel so much better to get into a bloody good fight with someone who could give him a good run for his money. As much as he hated to admit it, Brodie looked like he could. There was a power in the man that he recognised, an inner strength as well as a physical one. It was important in his line of work to be able to spot a dangerous man and that was exactly what Brodie MacBride was. Mikey also got the feeling that Jules would like him, which made him dislike him even more.
To stop himself from throwing the first punch Mikey strode for the door, followed by Jez and Toni. As they exited he heard Brodie call, “Bye bye boys,” in a camp voice. Jez had to drag Mikey down the stairs before he returned to the flat for that fight.
Once they were back in the car, Caesar driving them all back to the hotel, Mikey said, “what was the point in that? That dickhead’s a grade A wanker.”
“Don’t be so quick to judge,” said Toni. “Brodie is very influential in this city and it helps our cause that he’s on our side.”
“Anyone with a gob that size is just going to cause trouble,” said Jez.
“He saved Malc’s life once,” said Toni. “Pulled him out of a duck pond before he drowned.”
“Duck pond?” sniggered Mikey.
“Malc can’t swim,” she explained unnecessarily.
“Well that should make it easier to kill him,” said Jez.
“Hmm, not a bad idea,” said Toni. “Anyway, Malc respects him. Brodie’s already tried talking him down but it didn’t work.”
“So what use is he?” said Mikey.
“He’s an ex-polis.”
Jez and Mikey’s jaws dropped open. “You took us to the home of a fucking copper?” demanded Mikey.
“Nope. That isn’t his home. It’s the lovely Cassandra’s,” she said, pulling a pair of cream silk panties out of her jacket pocket and twirling them around on one finger. “I’ll look forward to wearing these later,” she said before pressing them to her face and inhaling. “Lovely but I should have taken an unwashed pair, that would have been better.”
Mikey gaped at her. “Could we please stick to the subject? We won’t work with a copper.”
“He’s not a copper anymore,” she snapped. “He’s a private investigator for fuck’s sake. Stay with the programme. If he’d turned against me then so would most of the city. With him on my side we have a great chance. You see, Brodie’s much more than a private investigator. He tackles cases the police won’t or can’t touch. He gets justice for people by any means necessary, which means a lot of people around here are indebted to him.”
“You mean he’s a vigilante?” said Mikey, unimpressed.
“That word is inadequate to describe what he does. He’s a hair’s breath away from being a criminal himself but he won’t step over that fine line and I should know, I’ve tried to push him enough times. Don’t underestimate that man or it will be the last thing you do.”
“Why don’t we just take out Tam and Malc and get it over with?” said Mikey, fed up of her bigging up Brodie.
“Because I need to make sure I’m in full charge of the family before Tam dies in a spectacularly gruesome way.”
“They wouldn’t have a choice if you just bumped him off.”
“Listen,” barked Toni. “I’ve got it all planned out, okay?” She closed her eyes and shuddered in a breath. “I mean, I do know what I’m doing. I’m just asking you to trust me. We can’t do business if we don’t trust each other.”
“I thought we’d already shown you trust by coming up here,” said Jez.
“You have.” She took another breath, grinding her teeth, eyes darkening. “And I appreciate it.”
Mikey and Jez looked to each other, trying not to laugh. It obviously killed Toni having to thank anyone for anything. Just like her brother.
“You’re welcome,” said Jez magnanimously.
“Yeah, whatever,” she muttered, making him grin.
When they returned to the hotel Jez told Mark and Shane to go inside the suite so he could talk to Mikey privately outside the door.
“You’ve got to keep your temper under control,” Jez told him. “We’re in McVay territory here and we can’t afford to put a foot wrong.”
“Oh come on, that Brodie was an arsehole.”
“True but when he realised you were easy to wind up he kept doing it. Was calling us Ant and Dec really that bad? Alright, maybe it was,” he added when Mikey cocked an eyebrow. “But you should have kept your cool. Showing your anger only made you look like an amateur. You’ve got to get yourself together. Is this to do with Jules?”
He nodded miserably.
“You’re not even denying it anymore. I don’t know if that’s progress or not. Well you’ve got to decide what you’re going to do about it. I don’t even care what that is anymore, just as long as you sort it and get your mind back on the job.”
“You’re right, I was unprofessional back there but that wanker would have tried Mother Teresa’s patience.”
“I liked him.”
“You’re fucking joking?”
“He has huge cahones.”
“Sounds like I’m not the only one thinking about ditching their marriage.”
“I’m just saying you have to respect someone with guts like that.”
“Either huge cahones or a tiny brain.”
“Toni thinks he’s worth having onside so maybe he does have brains. But if we’re going to get back to Manchester in one piece you have to control yourself.”
“Alright mate, I hold my hands up, I was out of order and I’ll keep it together in the future. Promise.”
“Good. Now we’ve sorted that out let’s have a drink. I noticed a lovely bottle of Macallan in the suite.”
“Let’s get tanked.”
“Sounds good,” grinned Jez, clapping him on the back.
CHAPTER 13
“Oh God, yes,” cried Sabine, spine arching up off the bed, flinging her head from side to side. For the first time in her life she was actually enjoying sex. It was the following morning, she’d spent all night with Jules, although they hadn’t done much sleeping.
Jules lifted her head from between her thighs and smiled. “You enjoy that baby girl?”
Sabine couldn’t speak, she was too wrapped up in the pleasure shuddering through her body. Eventually her body relaxed and she nodded. “Mmmm.”
Jules slid up her body to lie beside her, propping herself up on one elbow, just as naked as Sabine.
Sabine turned on her side to face her and kissed her. “Thank you. You have set me free.”
“You’re very welcome.” Jules ran a hand through Sabine’s hair. “And don’t worry, you’ll be fine.”
“You know, you have options. You don’t have to get married,” said Sabine, running her hand down Jules’s thigh, following the tail of the snake.
“Trust me, you don’t want me in your life.”
“I know my own mind, I know that I do.”
“I’m okay for a little while but I’ll drag you down, I always do. Trust me baby girl, you’re better off alone than with me.”
“But I am falling for you.”
Jules’s smile was gentle. “No you’re not, it’s just an attraction. When you meet the right one it’ll be fireworks. You’ll see.”
“Was it like that with you and Jax?”
Jules nodded, unsure whether she was thinking about him or Mikey. “Oh yeah.”
“Then you should marry him.”
“Perhaps but after what happened to me I’m not sure I can ever live a normal life.”
Sabine’s eyes filled with fire. “What is normal? No one is normal. They try to be but everyone has odd things about them that they try to hide. Most are too stupid to realise these odd things are the most interesting things about them.”
“Well I’m certainly full of odd things,” smiled Jules, dipping her head to kiss her breasts.
Sabine let her head fall back and moaned. “You are trying to distract me.”
“I am,” Jules breathed into her skin.
“But I will not allow it,” said Sabine, reluctantly pulling herself up to a sitting position, so Jules was forced to do the same. “You have helped me so now I want to help you.”
“Fine,” sighed Jules. “Go on then.”
“Speaking as someone who has lost every member of their family, you must know how lucky you are to have that tiny life inside you. You will be a good mother because you have a heart. So stop complaining and be glad there are so many people who love you.”
Jules actually felt ashamed of herself. Sabine was right. “Yeah, perhaps you have a point. Maybe I should just stop dithering and get on with it?”
“What is dithering?”
“Messing about, taking ages to make a decision.” Jules sighed and shook her head. Her problem was, what decision did she make? She kissed Sabine. “I’ve got to get back, Rachel and Ryan will be wondering what’s happened to me.”
“Will I see you again before you go back to Manchester?” said Sabine, admiring Jules’s sleek body as she pulled on her clothes.
Jules’s smile was mischievous. “You bet that beautiful backside of yours you will.”
“Where the hell have you been?” demanded Ryan the moment Jules walked through the door.
“In bed with a gorgeous Latvian. What about you?” she said cheerfully.
“You can’t go sleeping around, you’re pregnant and you’re supposed to be getting engaged.”
“Correction, I
might
be getting engaged and I’m not sleeping around, I was helping Sabine discover her sexuality.”
“You were corrupting that sweet girl. If you’ve hurt her in any way…”
“As if I would. I was incredibly gentle and I left her very satisfied. What’s wrong Ryan, did you not get any last night?”
“Keep your voice down, the kids are in the kitchen.”
“They are?” she beamed. “Great.”
“Go and shower and change first. You are not being around my kids smelling of sex.”
“Do I?”
He nodded sternly.
“Right, I’ll go upstairs, quick shower and change and I’ll come down and we can do family stuff. Where do you want to go?”
“You need to rest.”
“I’ve rested, I had a very long, satisfying night,” she said, waggling her eyebrows suggestively. “Anyway, I don’t think a trip to the zoo or the park will do me too much harm.” She winked at him. “Give me half an hour.”
He watched her disappear upstairs, leaving him feeling both angry and relieved. Even though Rachel had told him she’d gone back to Sabine’s he’d still worried all night. In his experience life was so unpredictable and their enemies would take any chance they could get to hurt them.
With a sigh he returned to the kitchen to find the kids all cooing over Teddy, who sat proudly on the kitchen units, enjoying the fuss.
“So we’re allowing animals to walk around where we prepare our food are we now?” he said.
“Don’t worry, the second he moves I’ll clean it,” said Rachel with an amused smile. “He’s like part of the family now.”
“Can we keep him Dad?” said Leah.
“Well, he probably has another home, his owners will be missing him. It’s not fair to keep him,” he said uneasily.
“Aww but we like him,” said Leah, blinking up at him with her big blue eyes.
“Well, we’ll see,” was all he said, unable to resist those eyes.
Leah hugged him. “Thanks Dad.”
The cat walked across the kitchen unit to stand before him, waiting for him to pet him.
“He wants you to stroke him Dad,” said Leah.
“I’m quite sure he doesn’t.”
“Course he does. Go on Dad.”
Ryan sighed when he saw Aaron and Ethan looking up at him with expectant wide eyes too. “Very well,” he said, brusquely patting the top of the cat’s head, raising an eyebrow when he heard Rachel snigger.
“He likes you Dad,” said Leah.
“Yes, wonderful,” he said flatly. “But be warned, when we find his real home he must be returned.”
“Aww,” said Ethan sadly.
“If he does have to go can we get our own cat?” pressed Leah.
Rachel handed Ryan a cup of coffee, giving him time to formulate a diplomatic answer. “Well…”
“Because my friend Sonya’s just got a cat,” continued the girl. “She’s called Snukkums and she’s so cute.”
“Snukkums?” he frowned.
“Yeah and she’s white with black patches and she likes to lie on your chest and nuzzle your face with her little pink nose.”
“Sounds…nice.”
“She’s so lovely. It would be great to have a cat, wouldn’t it boys?” she said to her brothers, who started to clap and cheer enthusiastically.
“Now, I don’t know,” said Ryan. “They take a lot of looking after.”
“No they don’t,” said Leah. “You don’t have to take them for walks or anything.”
“I think it’s better with the animals outside the house,” he continued, feeling nervous.
“But we want one inside, don’t we boys?”
Leah managed to elicit another cheer from them both.
“I’m not sure it’s a good idea,” he said, looking to Rachel for support, who was tactfully remaining silent, the corner of her mouth lifting when his eyes narrowed at her. “We’re busy enough. The last thing we need is a cat.”
Aaron, always the most sensitive of the three children, started to cry.
“Now there’s no need for that little man,” said Ryan, scooping him up. “We’ve got all the animals we need outside the house.”
Aaron stuck out his lip, accusing eyes fixed on his dad. Ryan threw another appealing look at Rachel.
“We’ll have a think about it, won’t we Ryan?” she said.
When hope filled Aaron’s eyes Ryan was forced to say, “yes, of course we will.”
“Did I hear Jules come in?” said Rachel in an effort to change the subject.
“You did. Finally. She wants us all to go out today, as a family.”
“That’ll be nice,” smiled Rachel.
“Yay,” said Leah. “I like Aunty Jules, she’s fun.”
“I like you too honey,” said Jules, walking into the room, hair still wet, dressed in her traditional black jeans and black hooded jumper.
“That was a quick half hour,” said Ryan.
“I’m eager to spend time with my family,” she smiled.
Leah ran up to her. “Where do you want to go Aunty Jules?”
“Where would you three like to go? I’ll be happy with that.”
“We’ve got the biggest model village in the country here,” said Leah, Aaron and Ethan cheering in agreement. She adjusted her expression to a less excited one when she remembered she was almost a teenager now. “Well, you know, the boys like it,” she said with a casual shrug of the shoulders.
“They’ve got a dragon that breathes fire,” said Ethan.
“Great. I love dragons,” smiled Jules. “The model village it is then.” She looked to Ryan. “You up for a model village big bruv?”
“It’s not the first time I’ve been.”
Jules laughed. “Ryan Law at a model village. Brilliant.”
Ryan frowned when Teddy rubbed his head on his arm. “Right, are we all ready to go?”
They all enjoyed their time at the model village, Ryan and Rachel pleased with how good Jules was with the children.
“She’s a natural,” Rachel told Ryan as they watched Jules pushing Aaron on a swing, the little boy laughing his head off.
“I’m forced to admit she is,” said Ryan. “I just wish she’d take it a little easier.”
“She’s pregnant Ryan, not terminally ill.”
“Still, I worry for her.”
“She’s fine. The more you nag her the more she’ll rebel.”
“Just like a child.”
“No. She’s stubborn, like you. You look so sexy,” she smiled when his eyes narrowed.
“Do not try and disguise an insult with a compliment.”
“Is it such an insult to say you’re like your little sister?”
His expression softened. “I suppose not.”
“Admit it, you’re enjoying having her here.”
“Yes, I suppose I am. I still have nightmares about the time I thought she’d been executed.”
“I know,” she said softly, thinking of the nights he’d woken up drenched with sweat.
“Rachel, Ryan,” called a voice.
They turned to see Chris and Angela Marsh, who owned the nearest farm to theirs. The Marsh’s had proved themselves to be staunch friends, taking in all their animals when Alex had burned down their original home, sticking by them when it had all come out about their pasts. Angela didn’t know this but Chris had tried to kiss Ryan once, after he’d confessed he’d had an affair with another man years ago, a man who became a victim of the Dartmoor Butchers. The only other person who knew about that was Rachel. Chris had said he loved his wife and they had no wish to break up a happy home. For a while Ryan had suspected Chris of being a killer, until the truth came out, for which he would always feel guilty, especially as one of the Marsh’s own sons would have become a victim hadn’t a job offer taken him out of the area.
“I thought you’d gone away for the weekend,” said Rachel.
“We were supposed to but my sister’s not so good,” replied Angela, a small, round woman with short dark hair. “We’re looking after her kids,” she added, nodding at two little blond boys trailing behind them.
“Nothing serious I hope?” said Rachel.
“She broke her ankle and she’s struggling to get about so we said we’d help out. I believe your sister’s come to stay Ryan?”
“How did you know that?” he replied.
“It’s all over town about how she sorted out Tim Ladderbanks and his friends last night.”
Ryan sighed. “What did she do now?”
“They were hassling her and another girl in The Green Mango last night. They confronted them outside the club and Jules laid them all out,” exclaimed Angela happily. “About time someone sorted out those creeps, they’re always causing trouble. Maybe now they’ll think twice.”
“Don’t look at me, it must have happened after I’d gone home,” said Rachel when Ryan frowned her way.
“She shouldn’t be fighting in her condition,” he said.
“What condition?” said Chris. “Is she pregnant?”
“Yes,” said Ryan. “I told her not to go out clubbing, that was bad enough but now fighting too.”
“Oh dear, have we got her into trouble?” said Angela.
“It’s alright,” said Rachel. “Ryan’s just very protective of his little sister.”
“You and your mouth,” Chris told his wife.
Angela cleared her throat, embarrassed. “Well we’d better get on, lots to do,” she said, taking the hands of her nephews and practically dragging them away.
“Don’t be too hard on her,” said Rachel, hurrying to catch up as Ryan strode over to where Jules still played with the children.