Twisted Love and Money (27 page)

“Possibly.”

Kenny laughed
harshly. “Possibly, Ha… more than likely. I told you that you
suffer from naivety of approach.”

“Go fuck
yourself Kenny. You and your Knights of St. Columbanus.”

“How did you
know about the knights?” Kenny asked warily.

“Come on,
everyone in the old firm knows. The Knights are the catholic
version of the Freemasons and you are in it up to your neck.”

Kenny smiled.
“Makes a point, there are no real secrets in Ireland. Too small you
know. There are too few top people. Makes it too small for
secrets.”

“You do your
best.”
“Don’t we all?”

There was
another silence. John sensed they had almost quarrelled. Both
sipped their drinks.

“If?” Kenny
began again, looking sharply at John.

Before he added
another word he looked around again to make sure no one was
listening.

“If,” he
repeated. “If there was something afoot John?”

“Something
afoot?”

“Yes, if this
little bit of trouble is not just a straight forward cock up,”
Kenny began.

“Yes?” John
said encouragingly, fighting not to show his interest and
curiosity. He sensed Kenny was coming to the point of the
meeting.

“If there was
eh... Hanky panky there could be big money at stake.”

John looked at
him, feeling stupid; wondering was he missing the point.

“If the
customer with the problem, John, was creating the problem for other
reasons they could affect the valuation of O’Byrne’s by at least a
hundred million.”
“Monopoly numbers,” John said dismissively.

“Monopoly money
it may sound like, but the market is real John,” Kenny spat. “Real
money John, somewhere real money changes hands. It might just be a
pension fund shifting funds, but if you can get in on the act there
is big money.”

“I hope you go
to confession Kenny.”

“I do John.
Call me Andrew, John. I do, but when I heard of this little bit of
trouble my antenna went up.”

“Tell your
wife.”

“Don’t be crude
John. I want to know what you know. Is this a fishy piece of work?
The bank tells me they were nursing O’Byrne’s towards a stock
market quote. And Associated Finance, the holding company, they are
the most acquisitive company on the UK exchange, very predatory.
They would do internationally, about ten to twenty deals a year in
acquisitions and disposals. They are real live wires.”

“You think this
is a set up?” John asked quizzically.

Kenny sighed,
“I want to know what you think? Obviously you haven’t got a
clue.”

“Just a
straight dealer,” John joked spreading his hands in a nothing to
offer gesture.

Kenny sighed.
“John, opportunity comes only once. With you on the inside and me
on the outside calling the shots with the bank we could be
millionaires.” As Kenny said this he looked quizzically about him
and simultaneously threw back his drink. John signalled the
bargirl.

“Irish and a
bottle. None for me, I’ve had enough. I have to drive.”

“No more for
me,” Kenny added and the bar maid retreated.

“What do you
think?” Kenny said after a silence.

“There is
nothing,” John said and Kenny grunted. “But if there were
developments what would your part be Andrew?”

“We should
agree to help each other John.”

“Let me
consider,” John offered to buy time.

“Now, now or
never. I can’t let you loose on this one. What do you say?”

“If I say
no?”

“No hard
feelings, we go on as professionals. I can’t do anything on my own.
If you are not interested it is likely that there is no scope.”

John
considered. If he said no Kenny would look elsewhere. Kenny was too
greedy. John sighed; it looked like he had to go along for the
ride.

“I’m in,” John
said. “What do I do?”

Kenny smiled,
“John just confirm, straight up to me, that the Firm is sound,
except for the trouble with this one client.”

“Consider it
confirmed. The firm is sound and has good management. Excepting
maybe Peter, the boss’s son. He is a young shit.”

“Thank you
John, now do nothing. If you hear nothing, fine. Anything on the
grapevine and I need to know. And we will be in touch. You know
where to reach me. Mum’s the word about this conversation. I will
talk to some people through the firm’s contacts. Also to the banks
and the principle Debenture Holders with O’Byrne paper. I know the
Investment and Pensions Funds people well from other dealings.”

With that Kenny
threw back the remains of his whiskey and then emptied the Guinness
glass in two swallows. He smiled at John, picked up his coat and
departed.

Quietly John
finished the remains of his drink. Why did he have the feeling that
the vultures were circling? Suddenly in a hurry he stood up. Better
move, his wife Mary had tennis.

Chapter
thirty-one

Michael O’Byrne
drove slowly towards home, his mind preoccupied, going over his
last discussion with Peter.

“Dad you will
blow the deal if we try to delay, the fifty million was not the
first offer, don’t rock the boat. I had to negotiate to get the
price up from forty five million. If you back off now it will be
seen as bad faith. They will want to start negotiations again.”

Michael had
been doubtful and expressed the view that in his experience the
offer made on the first day could usually be bettered. “What we
need Peter is a white knight, someone to come in and create a
market for our shares. I’m sure AF could go higher if we can create
a market.”

“Leave off Dad,
you are just wriggling on the hook. They have us. Let’s not spoil
the deal or we could have nothing. I think we should get our timing
right, but we press on and then we take a stance, a final
negotiation to close the deal, and to force them to come up in
price, say a target to sixty million and be careful to see how it
goes.”

“A final
negotiation?”

“Yes Dad, if we
have a target of, say, sixty million and they have fifty maybe we
can land it in between. Your cut of the sale price is more than
enough to start up something else. A new business.”

“A new
O’Byrne’s?”

“Of course not
Dad, they are bound to ask you to sign something not to compete in
the same business for a number of years. It is standard
practice.”

“I don’t know
any other business Peter.”

“Together Dad,”
Peter smiled confidently at him. “Together we will get into
something new.”

Somehow that
had satisfied him. He wanted very much to be in business with his
son. He felt he had missed his son, first because Peter had been
sent as a boarder to Castleknock School for his education, and then
because he himself had spent so much time at the business,
travelling and hustling. Now Peter was grown up Michael did not
want to let him go. Somehow he had missed most of Peters growing up
years, or so it felt.

As he pulled
into the driveway Michael noticed the light on in the Gate House.
The Kitchen and living room lights were on. Michael frowned. Nana
was very economical and she would hardly leave two lights on at a
time, not if she could help it. Ann-Marie? Ann-Marie was spending a
lot of time with her Nana these days. It was as if she had rejected
her own mother after the row over the Biker.

Michael pulled
in and got out of the car.

It was a while
since he had said hello to Nana.

“Hello the
house,” he called, giving a rat-tat-tat on the stain glass window
in the hall door. He waited, knocked again, this time with the
doorknocker. Seconds later the door was opened. It was
Ann-Marie.

“Oh,” she
sounded surprised, and then she smiled. “Dad, come in.”

He followed her
in. Something about Ann-Marie’s surprise made him wary. But
everything was in order. Nana was watching the television, the nine
o’clock news. A one bar electric fire glowed in the grate. There
was a pot of tea and some cups and some cake on the table.

“Michael,” Nana
said, delighted to see him, and attempting to stand up.

“Don’t get up
Nana, just dropped in. How are things?”

“Get your
father a cup of tea Ann-Marie.”

Michael sat
himself. “Did you see the news?” Nana asked, “those farmers are
always looking for more money.”

Michael
laughed. Nana, for all her years still had a great interest in
economics and politics. Ann-Marie busied away the dirty dishes and
went into the kitchen. Five minutes later she bounced back with a
steaming mug of tea. “We have just had tea,” she explained why she
had brought only one mug. She offered Michael the remains of the
cake.

Both ladies,
both young and old fussed and mothered over Michael.

It was cosy and
warm and friendly in the small living room. They watched TV,
interspersed with conversation and an hour passed harmlessly and
pleasantly.

“Must get back
to the house,” Michael stretched and stood up. “Lift Ann-Marie?” he
offered.

“No thanks,
I’ll just help Nana to bed and then go up myself.”

“Its quite
dark.”

“Don’t worry I
am well used to running up the driveway. I won’t be scared. You go
ahead Dad.”

Michael took
his leave and they listened as his car pulled away.

“It put the
heart across me,” Nana said.

“Thanks for
saying nothing,” Ann-Marie said kissing her forehead.

“Where’s
Seamus?”

“I let him out
the back door when dad knocked on the front.”
“Quick thinking child .You will be the ruin of me yet.”

“Come on, I’ll
help you to bed.”

“I’m not that
helpless. By the way I did not hear the motorbike start up. So
Seamus is still out there?” Nana asked suspiciously.

“No Nana, he is
not an idiot. I told him to walk the bike to the main road before
he started it up. In case Dad would hear.”

Solicitously
Ann-Marie straightened out the living room and then went clattering
about in the kitchen with the dishes. Earlier she had nearly died
when she realized there were three mugs on the living room table.
Fortunately her dad had not noticed.

Nana went her
bedroom on the ground floor, and when she finished in the kitchen
Ann-Marie helped tuck her into bed and kissed her forehead. She
fussed until her Nana was settled with “Good child, you can go
now.”

“I’ll see you
soon,” Ann-Marie smiled and turned out the bedroom light.

“Put out all
the lights,” Nana called after her.

Ann-Marie put
the catch on the front door and then slammed it as if she was going
out. Quietly she crept to the upstairs bedroom.

“Ssshh,” she
whispered as Seamus swung off the bed and made to speak.

“I didn’t know
whether to come down or not when I heard the car go,” he
whispered.

“You were right
to be careful, I wanted to put Nana to bed.”

“Nana, I better
go and say goodnight to her.”

“No.”

“No?”

“She thinks you
are gone.”

Seamus looked
at Ann-Marie. It was a warm but appraising look.

“I bet she
thinks you are also gone Ann-Marie.”

Ann-Marie
giggled, “We’d better be quiet or she will think she has burglars
and call the police.”

“What if she
comes up?”

“Nana is killed
with the arthritis she hardly ever comes upstairs these days. It’s
the narrow turn at the top of the stairs, she is afraid she will
fall.”

Seamus smiled.
“Alone at last,” he said.

He put a gentle
finger to Ann-Marie’s cheek and drew her to him for a kiss. It was
a modest kiss and for devilment Ann-Marie licked the inside of his
lips. A passion gripped him and he pulled her onto the bed without
breaking the kiss. He rolled on top.

Ann-Marie
punched him in the ribs, and when he came up for air she weakly
said, “Stop it.” She could feel his muscular body all along the
line of hers. He plunged his head between her neck and shoulders in
a passionate kiss.

Ann-Marie hit
him a slap on top of his head. “Stop, you are making the bed creak,
Nana is not deaf.”

He grinned up
at her from where he had been nibbling her ear. She pushed and
Seamus rolled on to his side.

Button by
button he began to undo her blouse. Ann-Marie held back his hand
but gently he persisted and she watched as he slowly opened her
blouse. She could only dimly make out his face in the dark but she
sensed his voyage of discovery.

“How do I get
it off, I don’t want to hurt?” he said referring to her lacy black
bra.

She looked at
him wondering, “Have you never taken a woman’s bra off?” she asked
mockingly.

“I’ve never
been alone with a woman.”
“You have led a sheltered life.”

“I love you,”
he said simply.

Ann-Marie
arched her back and unclasped her bra at the rear. Slowly he lifted
each cup off. Her full soft rounded breasts flowed out. She smiled
at the wonder and pleasure in his face as he made each discovery
and then moaned as he kissed and licked her treasures.

“Stop…”

“Mmmm”

Seamus began to
unzip her skirt. Ann-Marie resisted the desire to lift her knees
and pull him into her.

“I suppose you
have never taken a girls knickers off either.”

“Never.”

“Well you’re
not going to tonight.”

She laughed and
wiggled until they nearly fell off the bed. “I love you Seamus,”
she whispered.

“I love you
too.”

“Seamus, you
should only take a girls knickers off if you are prepared to go all
the way. Its the point of no return.”

“Would you go
all the way with me Ann-Marie?”