Duality

by Heather Atkinson

  Mikey felt sorry for this little girl who had lost so many people, all of them to violence. “Yes he did but you have so many people around you who love you. Focus on them, they’re the ones you should be thinking about.”

  This actually made her smile. “I know, I’m so lucky.”

  “You certainly are. Take it from someone who knows, living too much in the past drags you down, turns you bitter. Look at what you’ve got now because you young lady are going to have an amazing life.”

  She smiled. “Thank you Uncle Mikey. You’re pretty sick.”

  “Is that good?”

  “Yeah, the best.”

  “Thank God for that,” he grinned, making her laugh. “And if you ever want to be a boxer, you just come to me.”

  “I don’t want to be a boxer. I want to be a vet.”

  “Probably for the best.”

  She removed the napkin and sighed. “I’ve got a bruise.”

  “Sorry, not much we can do about that. You’ll just have to wait for it to go.”

  “What do I tell Mum?”

  “The truth. She’ll figure it out anyway and if you lie it’ll only make things worse.”

  She sighed heavily. “I’d better go and tell her.” She got up and hesitated. “Are you okay Uncle Mikey?”

  “Me, yeah. Why?”

  “You look so sad today.”

  Mikey was horrified. If a twelve year old girl had picked up on that then everyone else certainly would, including Amber. “I’m fine honey, just tired. It’s been a busy few days.”

  “Good because I don’t want you to be unhappy.”

  She gave him a hug before heading back inside the marquee, leaving Mikey alone on the bench with his thoughts.

  “Am I interrupting?”

  He turned to see Amber making her way over to him, carefully picking her way over the lawn in her dress and heels.

  “Course not sweetheart,” he said with a small smile, hoping he sounded enthusiastic when he just wanted to be left alone.

  She sat beside him. “What was all that about with Leah?”

  “She decked Estelle.”

  “You’re kidding?”

  “Nope. She’s got a hell of a right hook on her too.”

  “Taking after her mum.”

  The distaste in Amber’s voice pissed him off. “If you’ve come out here to have a pop…”

  She held up her hands. “No, sorry. I didn’t mean it to sound like that. Must be the hormones.”

  “What do you mean, hormones? Is it your time of the month?” he said distractedly, gazing out at the view.

  “No. I mean it’s probably the baby.”

  “Probably,” he said, his mind elsewhere. He sat bolt upright. “Baby?”

  “I’m pregnant Mikey.”

  His mouth opened and closed like a fish’s. “But we hadn’t talked about having more kids yet.”

  “I know but sometimes these things happen. Well, aren’t you pleased?”

  Mikey managed to wipe the shell-shocked look off his face and replace it with a smile. “Yeah, course I am.” He hugged her simply so she wouldn’t see his expression of bewilderment. Only recently he’d been planning a new life with another woman. Now this. It felt like his world was spinning out of control and he was helpless to stop it, all he could do was hold on tight and hope he didn’t fall off.

  “We’ve been drifting apart,” she said. “I hope this will bring us back together.”

  He cleared his throat before replying. “I’m sure it will.”

  As Amber nestled into him happily Mikey felt as though he couldn’t breathe.

  CHAPTER 28

  Leah decided to be brave and tell her mum what she’d done. Uncle Mikey was right, she’d see her hand and figure it out anyway. She found her sitting at a table chatting with Aunty Cathy and Aunty Beth, a tired Aaron on her knee. The rest of the room had gone back to normal, Jules dancing with Jackson as though nothing had happened.

  Reluctantly Leah approached, cradling her aching hand. “Mum, can I have a word?”

  Rachel turned to look at her. “Course you can sweetie. What is it?”

  “I hurt my hand,” she said, holding it up.

  She passed Aaron over to Beth and gently took her hand. “It’s all bruised. What happened?”

  “I punched Estelle.”

  Rachel blinked at her. “What did you say?”

  Leah hung her head. “I punched Estelle.”

  “What?” exclaimed Beth. She broke into a smile. “Good on you. If anyone deserves it she does.”

  But Rachel didn’t find it at all amusing. “What did you do that for?”

  “She was saying some really horrible things.”

  “That’s what she does, it’s all she knows how to do.”

  “About you and Dad.”

  “Back in a minute,” Rachel told Cathy and Beth before getting up and leading Leah away to an empty table at the back of the marquee. They both sat and Rachel took her hand and studied it. “Can you move it?”

  “Yeah,” said Leah, flexing and unflexing her fingers. “It’s just a bit bruised.”

  Rachel sighed. “What were you thinking?”

  “I wasn’t thinking, she got me angry. What?” she added when her mum looked appalled.

  “You can’t just lash out at anyone who upsets you.”

  “I know and I’ve never done it before but she just…”

  Rachel’s eyes softened. “What did she say to get you so worked up?”

  Leah didn’t think she could bring herself to say it. “She…she said…”

  “It’s alright honey, you can tell me. Believe me, I’ve heard it all.”

  “She said you and Dad were…together when you were married to Danny. I thought that…”

  “You might be Ryan’s daughter?”

  Leah sighed and nodded. “But I know I’m not, I’m Danny’s.”

  “You are sweetheart and you should be pleased. Danny was a good man and he loved you so much. But you’re incredibly lucky because you have Ryan too who is also a good man and who also loves you loads. That couldn’t have been all she said, not to get you so angry.”

  Leah looked down at her hands, picking at her fingernails, a habit when nervous. “I don’t know if I can say it, it’s so horrible.”

  “It’s alright sweetheart, I won’t be angry. I know they’re not your words.”

  “She said it served you right Alex cutting your throat because you’re a slag.”

  Rachel inhaled sharply, wishing Estelle hadn’t been carted off because she was ready to kick the shit out of her herself, not for the insult but for exposing Leah to her bile.

  “That’s why I hit her,” ended Leah quietly.

  “You were defending me?”

  Leah nodded. “You’re not like that,” she said, eyes involuntarily flicking to her mum’s neck. As usual she wore a choker necklace to hide the scar but she knew it was there. It always would be.

  “No I’m not,” said Rachel. “Yes, something happened between me and your dad years ago but I wasn’t even with Danny then. I was entirely faithful to him and I’ve always been faithful to your dad.”

  Leah was surprised her mum was being so open with her but she didn’t speak, she didn’t want to interrupt her.

  “And Alex was mad sweetheart, you’ve got to understand that. The man who hurt me wasn’t your uncle. He was buried under all the insanity. I’ve forgiven him for what he did to me and you should too. You don’t want to hold onto bad feelings like that because in the end they only end up hurting you.”

  “I try Mum but I can’t help it sometimes.”

  “You’ve been put through a lot and I wish we’d done a better job of protecting you from it all but Alex is gone, Danny’s gone, the past is gone. We have a good life now, don’t we sweetheart?”

  Leah smiled. “Yeah, it’s great.”

  “Then let’s focus on that.”

  “I think that’s a great idea.”

&nbs
p; “What’s going on here?” said a deep voice.

  Leah felt warm inside when her mum’s eyes lit up at the sight of her dad.

  “Leah’s hurt her hand,” Rachel explained.

  “What did you do Cupcake?” said Ryan, taking the seat beside her.

  “Are you going to tell him or shall I?” Rachel asked her daughter.

  “I punched Estelle,” said Leah.

  To both their surprise Ryan burst out laughing.

  “I don’t think that’s appropriate Ryan,” said Rachel.

  His grin fell. “Yes, sorry, you’re right but I think I can understand why she did it. Estelle was mouthing off?”

  Leah nodded.

  “No surprise there then. Well, let’s hope it taught her a lesson.” When Rachel stared at him he realised he should say more. “But it isn’t good to hit people you know Leah, you can hurt them, badly. Don’t do it again.”

  “I won’t. Can I go now?”

  “Alright,” said Rachel.

  They watched her happily skip off.

  “Can you believe that?” said Ryan.

  “You’re proud of her, aren’t you?”

  “Yes I am and so are you. Don’t deny it.”

  “Alright, maybe a little,” she smiled. The smile fell. “Estelle said I deserved having my throat cut because I’m a slag for what we did when I was married to Danny.”

  Ryan’s eyes sharpened. “The evil hag. Fancy telling a twelve year old that.”

  “That’s why Leah hit her. That’s how I started, hitting people who said nasty things about my family, about me and it got worse from there. I was lucky I never killed anyone.”

  Ryan didn’t like to mention that she’d ordered people to be tortured and killed, he knew it wasn’t what she needed to hear. However his wife’s sheer ruthlessness never failed to turn him on. “Leah’s not going to go down that road. We live the quiet life in Devon…alright, maybe not so quiet,” he added when she looked doubtful. “But she’s not being raised on some rough estate and she’s a strong girl, she’ll be fine.”

  “I hope you’re right.” It reassured her a little when she saw Leah laughing and joking around with Alfie. Her eyes flicked to Jules, who was still swaying on the dance floor in her new husband’s arms. “Jules looks fully recovered too.”

  “Naturally,” replied Ryan. “I do believe not even an atomic bomb could disturb her equilibrium.”

  Rachel smiled mischievously. “Don’t forget we had a bet,” she purred. “And, seeing how we’re at Jules and Jax’s wedding, it appears I’ve won.”

  Ryan smiled and leaned in to whisper in her ear. “You’re quite right. I am your willing servant. Do with me what you will.”

  “Oh I will. Tonight,” she breathed.

  Their attention was drawn from each other when Mikey walked back inside, looking a little dazed, followed by Amber, who strode right into the middle of the dance floor.

  “What’s she doing?” said Rachel, afraid she was going to do something to spoil Jules’s day.

  “Excuse me everyone, can I have your attention?” called Amber.

  Mikey froze and whipped round to face her, confusion in his eyes.

  Jackson and Jules stopped dancing to listen curiously. Rachel thought Jules looked ever so slightly worried about something.

  “I do hope Jules and Jackson don’t mind me announcing this on their wedding day?” continued Amber.

  “Amber, come away,” Mikey hissed at her across the dance floor.

  But she ignored him. “Me and my wonderful husband Mikey have a little announcement. We’re expecting our second child.”

  There was a moment of silence, everyone confused as to why she was announcing this here and now but Amber didn’t seem at all concerned as she stood there smiling, seemingly radiant with happiness.

  A red-faced Mikey couldn’t help but glance Jules’s way to see she was staring back at him, expression inscrutable. She dragged her gaze off him and started to clap. Slowly everyone else joined in.

  “What the hell is she playing at?” said Ryan. “And that display just showed us that she’s actually a long way from the shy, retiring girl we all thought she was.”

  “You’re right,” said Rachel, eyes narrowing as she took in Amber standing in the centre of the room in triumph, hands on hips and head tilted back, enjoying the applause. When it ended she wandered off to sit with a puzzled Cathy and Beth. Jules and Jackson wrapped their arms around each other and started to gently sway together again. Pain filled Mikey’s eyes and he strode across the room and out the other door. Both Ryan and Rachel noticed Jules’s eyes follow him over Jackson’s shoulder.

  “I’ll go and talk to him,” said Rachel, getting to her feet.

  “I was hoping you’d say that,” said Ryan. “Discussing feelings isn’t my strong suit.”

  She smiled and kissed him before following Mikey outside, finding him perched on a bench that overlooked the lake, swigging a bottle of lager.

  “You okay?” she said, sitting next to him.

  “Yeah, just needed some fresh air, it’s so bloody hot in there.”

  “I don’t think that’s the only reason.”

  “Yeah, that display Amber put on was fucking embarrassing.”

  “True but it seemed she felt she needed to do it. I wonder why?”

  He shrugged. “Hormones have got her all messed up.”

  “I think it’s more than that. Maybe she’s picked up on your feelings for Jules?”

  “What feelings for Jules?”

  “Mikey, it’s me you’re talking to.”

  He smiled wryly. “There’s no hiding anything from you Rach.”

  “No there isn’t. I’m right aren’t I, about Jules?”

  He nodded. “I told her I loved her and that I’d leave Amber for her.”

  “Seriously?”

  “Yeah but she turned me down. She wanted to marry Jackson. But she said she does love me, I’m just the runner-up,” he said bitterly.

  “She told us she loved you when she was staying with us.”

  “She did?” he said, eyes lighting up.

  “Yep. Did she say why she turned you down?”

  “Because she thinks we’d be dangerous together. Apparently Saint Jackson calms her down while I rile her up.”

  “She might have a point.”

  “Not you too Rach.”

  “Think about it - Leighton, saving Ryan from the serial killers, the compound exploding, every milestone in your relationship has been violent. What would happen if the thrill was taken out of the equation? You might both get bored and resort to more and more extreme tactics to keep the magic alive.”

  “It’s not like that Rach, I love her for her, I love her huge gob, her confidence, the way she swaggers into a room and owns it. I also love how she can be incredibly violent then really sweet and tender. Alright, maybe not the sweet part but she can be tender,” he added when Rachel looked sceptical.

  “I don’t know what to say to that Mikey.”

  “There’s nothing you can say. She made her decision and I just have to live with it.”

  “How are things with you and Amber?”

  “The sweet, adorable little lady I thought I’d married is actually a greedy, avaricious harpy who is rapidly turning into her bitch of a mother.”

  “Uh-oh.”

  “Yeah, uh-oh and she’s pregnant again.”

  “So I heard. I didn’t realise you were trying for another.”

  “We weren’t,” he said flatly. “I’m pretty sure she decided on this alone.”

  “Maybe she wants to keep you together?”

  “Perhaps.”

  “Are you going to give it a try?”

  “Might as well now.”

  “I know you’re hurting but that’s not the attitude to take. You’re going to be a daddy again and you have to step up to the plate. Jules isn’t your future, accept that and move on.”

  “You’re right but I don’t know how to m
ove on.”

  “You’ll figure it out,” she said, sliding her arm around his shoulders. “You’re Mikey Maguire, the most powerful man in Manchester.”

  “Don’t let Jez hear you say that.”

  “Look where you are now and think back to who you were just a few years ago, that scared little boy who had been released from a mental health unit. It’s incredible what you’ve achieved in such a short space of time. Most people would have caved after what you’ve been through but you only get stronger and you’ll get over Jules.”

  “I hope you’re right.”

  “Course I am. And wouldn’t you love to be a daddy again?”

  He flashed a smile. “Yeah, I would actually.”

  “This baby could be just what’s needed to bring you and Amber closer again.”

  “Maybe,” he said doubtfully.

  Jared watched Mikey Maguire and Rachel Law talking together on the bench, unable to hear what was being said because of how far away they were. He was lurking in the bushes on the periphery of the estate with a pair of binoculars, unable to get any closer because of all the security which, unfortunately, he’d been unable to get past. If only he had a sniper rifle in his hands instead he could have taken some serious payback but he was a shit shot long distance so there was no chance that was happening. Anyway, he didn’t really care about them, all he was thinking about was Jules. She was married, he couldn’t believe it and it was amazing him how much pain it was causing him, she’d only been in his life for a matter of days. No one knew he was here, not even his mum, she’d have a major hissy fit if she found out he’d snuck into enemy territory just to catch a glimpse of Jules. It was only thanks to Estelle Law that he even knew she was getting married. He’d returned to Kent in triumph and taken everything over, including all of Isaac’s old businesses. The drunken wreck of a woman had turned up on his doorstep shortly after to tell him she had news that he really wanted to hear in exchange for cash and drugs, which he’d been more than happy to supply. Once he’d heard her devastating news he’d formulated a plan and come straight here.

  He soon forgot about Rachel and Mikey when Jules exited the marquee, holding the hand of her new husband. His first instinct had been to have the groom killed before the marriage could take place but after some research he’d discovered that Jackson Driscoll was a renowned cage fighter. As well as being a huge fan of the sport Jared was reluctant to kill someone who was so in the public eye, the last thing he needed was even more unwanted attention on him, especially after all the recent trouble. So he’d decided to let Jackson Driscoll live, for now anyway, until he was back at the top of his game, then he’d get him out of the way and convince Jules that she was meant to be with him. And next time he would not allow her to escape.