to be told his grandchild had arrived and now he had come to a decision. The thought of Vinny Butler being anywhere near his beautiful daughter still made Johnny feel physically sick, but there was sod all he could do about it so long as he was stuck inside. He didn’t have that many links to the underworld and there were only two guys he’d have trusted enough to ask for help, but both were unfortunately dead now. ‘I want you to do something for me, Deb. I want you to make things right with Jo and visit her regularly.’
‘What! Are you mad? I can’t sit there playing happy families, Johnny. He makes my skin crawl.’
‘He makes mine crawl too, but this isn’t about Vinny, it’s about making sure our daughter is OK. It will drive me bonkers trying to get through the rest of my sentence not knowing how Jo is coping with that bastard and a kiddie. I’m just relieved she had a girl and not a boy. At least it won’t turn out like him. Please say you’ll do this for me, Deb. That girl will need you, you can bet your life on that.’
Deborah reluctantly nodded. She was still angry with Joanna, but all the same she missed her, and if it put Johnny’s mind at rest, it was the least she could do.
Johnny grinned. ‘That’s my girl.’
Ahmed Zane sat down opposite his cousin in their restaurant. He had a severe stiff neck today, a regular occurrence since the accident, but he knew he had been lucky over all.
‘Is your neck playing you up again?’ Burak asked.
‘Yes, but it’s nothing that tucking up Vinny won’t cure, which is the reason for my visit today. I have set the ball rolling already. Hakan and Bora Koç are coming to London to play our two Mr Bigs. They are perfect for the role, especially Hakan. I have agreed to pay them ten grand each for their trouble, and they will also get a two-week holiday, no expense spared. What do you think?’
Burak grinned. Hakan and Bora were old associates of his and Ahmed’s from Istanbul and were more than capable of pulling the wool over Vinny Butler’s eyes. ‘When will they arrive?’
‘I haven’t booked their flights yet. We need to make sure Vinny falls for my lies first. I’m sure he will though. And seeing as he hasn’t any contacts himself, he has no option but to trust me,’ Ahmed replied. Vinny had never met his supplier. The guy was Turkish and would only ever deal with his own kind. He didn’t trust the English.
‘When will you tell Vinny?’
‘This afternoon. I have a carload of presents for his baby and I am meeting him at his house at four.’
Chuckling, Burak poured them both a drink. He chinked glasses with his cousin. ‘Let payback begin.’
Nancy Butler eyed her husband suspiciously. He had been acting strange all week and had just handed her a big bouquet of flowers. ‘What you done wrong, Michael?’
Michael felt himself blush. ‘What you talking about? I ain’t done nothing wrong. Jesus, is it a crime to buy my wife flowers?’
Chuckling at his annoyance, Nancy put her arms around Michael’s neck and kissed him. He had been ever so patient with her and now Daniel was at school with Lee, and her mum looked after Adam a couple of mornings a week to give her a break, she felt much better in herself.
‘What you doing?’ Michael asked.
‘I think it’s about time we made some special time for ourselves, don’t you?’ Nancy replied, taking her husband’s hand and leading him up the stairs.
Michael felt a mixture of emotions as he stripped off and slipped into the bed beside her. He hadn’t used a condom when he’d slept with Bella, and even though he’d had the sense to withdraw in time so he didn’t get her pregnant, what if he’d caught a dose off her? There’d be hell to pay if he passed it on to his wife.
‘What’s up?’ Nancy asked when he tried to insert himself inside her but struggled to do so.
Michael had never suffered with impotence in his life and he knew it must be guilt that was stopping him from getting an erection. ‘I’m so sorry, Nance. I haven’t been sleeping well and I think I’m just tired.’
When he went to put his finger inside her vagina, Nancy pushed his hand away. If he couldn’t make love to her, then what was the point in staying in bed? Feeling as though she wanted to cry, she sat up and got dressed in silence.
Unlike the trendy café they had once owned in Whitechapel, the one that Mary and Donald ran now was just a clean, plainly furnished café. Donald had forbidden Mary to make it showy like their previous one. He insisted that they should learn by past mistakes and not bring any unwanted attention to themselves.
Donald was wiping the tables down and humming along to a song on the radio when there was a knock on the door. ‘We’re closed,’ he shouted out. On the two days a week that Mary looked after Adam, Donald couldn’t wait to tidy up and dash home to see the boy. Nancy would pick Daniel up from school and bring him to the house too. The café was deemed unsuitable by Donald for two young boys – there were far too many dangerous utensils lying around to have the grandchildren running in and out of the kitchen.
‘It’s me – Freda,’ Donald heard a voice shout out.
He opened the door. When they had first moved to Whitechapel, Freda was the woman who had warned them that the Butler family were bad news. At the time Donald had thought she was the local scaremonger, but he knew now she was far from it.
‘Hello, Freda. How are you? Recovered from your operation now, I hope?’ Donald asked politely. Freda had been in hospital when Nancy was admitted for depression the previous autumn. She had been very kind to Nancy, and Donald was grateful for that.
‘I’m doing fine, thank you. Take more than a bit of cancer to kill me off. How’s your Nancy now? It’s her I’ve come to see actually.’
‘She’s doing well, thanks, Freda. Back with Michael unfortunately, but Mary and I see our grandsons now. Wonderful lads they are. Very polite and loving.’
‘Well, they won’t stay that way. If they were girls they might have stood half a chance, but those boys will be forced into the same lifestyle as their father soon as they’re old enough, you mark my words. Vinny’s brat of a son is at it already. Robbed the Patels’ shop recently. Smokes like a chimney as well and he’s only ten. You wanna tell your Nancy all this, make her see sense before it’s too late.’
Feeling dizzy at the thought of his grandsons robbing shops at the age of ten, Donald sat down on a chair. Everything Freda had said about the Butlers thus far had been proved right, so he was not about to argue with her. Nancy insisted that Michael was a legit club owner, but Donald guessed there was more to his business than met the eye. You certainly did not get a reputation like that family had by being law-abiding citizens. ‘So is that what you come to tell Nancy?’
‘No. I came to give her a message from my Dean. Got himself sorted now with a job and a flat, and he asked me to give Nancy his phone number. Thinks the world of her, he does. Such a shame he got with that Brenda. I’d have loved to see him settle down with a decent girl like your Nancy. I’m not allowed to see Tara any more. I’m sure that old cow Queenie put the block on it. Just had a son as well, Brenda has. Fat Beryl said she’s called him Tommy. I’ll never be allowed to get to know him either – my own flesh and blood. Not right, is it, Donald?’
Seeing the tears
