Tainted Love: The gritty new thriller from the #1 bestseller

by Kimberley Chambers

  ‘I will need to speak with both of your sons in person, Mrs Butler. This mess we all find ourselves in needs to be sorted out sooner rather than later for Antonio and Camila’s sake, wouldn’t you agree?’

  ‘Please, call me Queenie. And yes, I totally agree with you. Vinny has been denied a relationship with his son – and me with my grandson – for far too long. Both of us wish to play an active part in Antonio’s life from now on,’ Queenie replied, in her poshest voice.

  Mr D’Angelo was about to reply when a little girl bearing a strong resemblance to Antonio burst into the lounge with a small dog. ‘Fred did a big shit on Mrs Agg’s carpet, Nan,’ the child announced proudly.

  Queenie was mortified. ‘Take Fred into the garden and help your Auntie Viv in the kitchen, dear. Shut the door behind you, please.’

  As soon as her granddaughter departed, Queenie apologized. ‘She’s at that awkward age, is Ava. I don’t allow swearing in this house, but she has picked certain words up at school. Playground talk, I call it. Vinny wanted her to attend a private school like Antonio, but she didn’t like it. She’d lost her mum in a car accident and it was too much upheaval for her to be separated from her friends also. Now, where were we?’

  ‘Discussing a meeting with your sons. I have tried calling them, but neither of them seem to have their phones switched on at present. I wondered if you could give me an address where they could be reached?’

  ‘I can’t, I’m afraid. My Michael has been on the missing list since the truth came out. And Vinny is recuperating in hospital at present. If you give me your number, I will arrange for them to come here at some point. Not together though. You will need to visit them separately. Tensions are at an all-time high at the moment, as you can well imagine. Your daughter’s lies have split my family in two.’

  ‘My daughter’s behaviour has disappointed me, to say the least, Queenie. Bella made a mistake, one that has come back to haunt her. But Vinny has been untruthful also, to his own brother of all people. So has Michael. He has a son nobody knew about. Pointing fingers will not do us any favours, don’t you agree?’

  About to disagree, Queenie took one look at Giovanni’s sinister glare and instead found herself agreeing.

  ‘Daddy!’ Nathan Spencer screamed, joyfully throwing himself into his father’s arms. He’d been staring out the window for the past hour, could barely believe his father was going to be spending all of Christmas with him.

  Michael held his son close to his chest. He already missed Camila dreadfully and if he couldn’t spend time with her, being around Nathan was the next best thing.

  Thinking how attractive Michael looked in the black Crombie worn over his suit, Katy could not wipe the grin off her face. ‘Let Daddy breathe and take his coat off, Nathan. He’s been so excited that you’re staying with us, Michael. Woke me up at six this morning and has spoken of little else since, have you, son?’

  ‘No, Dad. And Mum has made us shepherd’s pie for dinner. She said it’s your favourite.’

  Quickly butting in before her son informed Michael she had never cooked a shepherd’s pie in her life and had spent hours poring over the recipe, Katy joked: ‘I know you loved your mum’s, and mine’s probably rancid in comparison.’

  Michael kissed Katy politely on the cheek. ‘Thanks. It’s the thought that counts. I need to make a few phone calls. You’ve no objection to me letting my family know I’m staying here, have you? It might mean a few visitors. OK to give your phone number to them as well?’

  Feeling like the cat that had finally got the cream, Katy nodded her head repeatedly. If Michael wanted to notify his family and give out her phone number it was obviously over between him and Bella and he planned on staying for longer than she’d anticipated.

  Michael stepped out into the garden and rang Daniel. There was no reply, so he tried Lee, who answered immediately. ‘So sorry I haven’t been in touch, son. I needed time to clear my head after all the drama.’

  ‘We’ve been worried sick about you, Dad. Dan and I have searched high and low. Dan, Dan! Dad’s on the blower.’

  Daniel Butler ran down the stairs and snatched at the phone. He and Lee couldn’t face being anywhere near Bella, so had decided to stay at the club for the time being. ‘You could have fucking rang us, Dad. I know you’ve had a shock, but so have we. Fancy not telling me and Lee we had a little bro. I’m glad you’re OK, but you’re still bang out of order. You must’ve known you could trust us and we’d never have told that slapper.’

  ‘I realize that now and I’m sorry. Why don’t you pop over to Katy’s on Boxing Day and get to meet your little brother properly? You and Lee’ll love him. He’s a good kid. Reminds me of Adam.’

  ‘I told you he’d be at Katy’s, didn’t I?’ Daniel said to his brother.

  Lee snatched the phone back. ‘You’d better ring Nan, she’s been worried sick an’ all. Oh, and Granddad’s perked up a bit. We rang the hospital, and me and Dan are gonna visit him later. He’s out of intensive care.’

  ‘I know. I visited your granddad this morning. I need you to do me a favour, boy. Give Bella Katy’s number and tell her to contact me here in case of an emergency. And tell her I’ll be in touch soon about seeing Camila. You got a pen and paper handy?’

  Lee jotted down Katy’s phone number and address, and then handed the phone back to Daniel. ‘What a fucking wrong ’un Bella turned out to be, eh Dad? And Vinny’s no better. I slated her in front of her parents yesterday. The look on her old man’s face was a picture. Lee and I want nothing more to do with Bella or Vinny, and we mean that. We wanna see Camila regularly, but not Antonio. He can fuck off an’ all.’

  ‘We’ll chat properly on Boxing Day when you come over, but don’t say too much in front of Nathan, and do not say anything else in front of Bella’s parents. Don’t even go back to Brentwood while they’re over – promise me that.’

  ‘Why? Me and Lee need to pick some clothes up.’

  ‘Let Lee pick the clothes up. There’s more to Bella’s old man than you think. Just ring her up, be polite, give her Katy’s phone number and tell her I’m staying here, OK?’

  ‘OK.’

  Michael ended the call. Imagining Bella’s face when she found out where he was, as heartbroken as he felt, he couldn’t help but smirk. Bella would surely be devastated and it served her fucking right. What goes around comes around.

  After leaving Queenie Butler’s, Giovanni D’Angelo drove straight to his daughter’s house. His wife was with friends in West London. She would not mention the drama, and Giovanni would deal with this mess alone. That was the way things worked in their marriage.

  Bella looked a shadow of her usual glamorous self. Her eyes and whole persona seemed lifeless. ‘Lee rung me about half an hour ago with a message from Michael. He’s staying with Katy and Nathan in Tunbridge Wells. How could he do this to me and Camila? I know I’ve hurt him terribly, but how can he move on so quickly? I can’t tell the kids where he is. It will break their hearts. I am devastated and so bloody angry. That’s it now. This spells the end of me and Michael, and it’s entirely my bloody fault. We were so happy. I truly hate myself and Vinny Butler. I rue the day I ever laid eyes on that evil bastard.’

  ‘Swearing does not become you, Bella, so please do not use such language in front of me. Do you have any contact details for where Michael is staying?’

  Bella handed her father a telephone number. ‘I don’t want anything bad to happen to Michael, but Vinny is a different story. Antonio is insistent on meeting him and I can’t allow that to happen. Can you make Vinny disappear for me? Please?’

  Unbeknown to Bella, Antonio had heard his grandfather arrive and was earwigging behind the door. He burst into the kitchen, a look of hatred on his face. ‘Don’t you dare make my dad disappear. I will ring the police and tell them if he does, and they will lock you up. I have always wanted a real father like my friends at school have, and you have no right to stop me, Bella. I’ve decided not to call you Mum
any more, by the way. You’re a lying, nasty cheat who is not worthy of being my mother.’

  ‘Enough, Antonio! Go to your room and I will speak with you shortly,’ Giovanni commanded.

  Tears streamed down Bella’s face. She had doted on her son from the moment she’d first held him in her arms and it was heartbreaking to see he now despised her with a passion.

  Checking that Antonio had complied with his order, Giovanni sat opposite Bella again. ‘Guzzling red wine is not the answer to your problems. Neither is letting your appearance go. I raised you to be stronger than that. Your mother and I are shattered by the lies you’ve told us and obviously Michael feels the same. But he’s hurt you too. It must have been a great shock, Katy turning up at your door with Nathan in tow.’

  ‘It was. But I would’ve forgiven Michael in time. Now he has moved in with her and knows who Antonio’s father is, there is no going back. I could never love another man like I loved Michael, so will spend the rest of my life alone, raising my children – who are both bound to hate me.’

  ‘Stop feeling sorry for yourself. Self-pity is an awful trait. I will contact Michael and speak with him. I visited his mother earlier today.’

  ‘You visited Queenie! What did she have to say? I used to get on so well with her before all this happened, and now she hates me too. Perhaps I should just move back to Italy with you and Mum. The children will settle there, given time.’

  Giovanni sighed. ‘Queenie is a tough woman who holds her family close to her heart. Running away is not an option this time, Bella. You have two children who are desperate for regular contact with their fathers. You must put them first.’

  ‘No way is Antonio spending time with Vinny. He has never even met him,’ Bella argued.

  There was currently a war going on back in Italy. An awful feud between his men and a rival famiglia who were trying to take control. Sons and grandsons had already been targeted and no way was Giovanni going to risk Antonio’s life. He had already lost a son, could not suffer such anguish again. ‘Every child has a right to meet their papa, Bella. Especially a boy. I will meet Vinny Butler and if he turns out not to be a good father to Antonio, I will deal with it in time. And that is the last word on the matter.’

  Back in Whitechapel, Tara and Tommy had just arrived at their grandmother’s house.

  ‘Where’s your decorations and tree, Nan?’ fourteen-year-old Tommy asked. Ever since he could remember, Christmas had meant baubles and tinsel galore in his grandmother’s front room.

  Vivian gave Tommy a hug. It must be a difficult time of year for him and Tara since their mother had been murdered. ‘We were waiting for you two to arrive. Me and your nan are knocking on a bit now. We need help climbing up ladders and getting the tree out the loft,’ she lied, not wanting the teenagers to know the ins and outs of the drama.

  ‘Oh, who cares about silly trees and decorations, Tommy. You’re fourteen, not four. Have you got any Malibu, Nan?’ Tara asked.

  ‘No, I have not. And you won’t be drinking alcohol in this house. Don’t want to end up with a problem like your mother had, do you?’ Queenie snapped.

  ‘But I’m legally old enough to drink alcohol. You let Daniel and Lee drink it and they’re the same age as me,’ Tara argued.

  ‘They’re male and haven’t got your mother’s genes like you have. Now let’s make a start with that tree. Your Uncle Vinny will be home soon. He got into a fight, so his face is a bit battered and bruised. Looks far worse than it is though. Viv, knock at Stinky Susan’s and tell Ava we’re about to decorate the house and her dad’ll be home soon. Destiny can help us too.’

  Vivian pursed her lips as she marched a few doors down the road. Queenie’d had no intention of putting the tree or any decorations up this year until Golden Bollocks had called to inform his mother he was being discharged. As bloody always, Queenie’s whole world revolved around her number one son.

  Daniel Butler was in a foul mood when Lee arrived back at the club with a boot full of their clothes. ‘Nan can go and fuck herself an’ all, bruv. She always sides with that cunt. We’ll take her present back to the shop and get our money back,’ Daniel exploded.

  ‘What’s happened?’

  ‘She’s got him staying there over Christmas. The hospital’ve discharged the no-good prick. Did she honestly think we were gonna sit round the dinner table playing happy families after what he did to Dad? I told her where to go and she weren’t happy at all when I told her Dad was stopping at Katy’s. Good! Serves her right.’

  Lee slumped on the sofa. Tonight was a sell-out and neither he nor Dan were in the mood for a club full of drunks celebrating what should be a happy time of year. Their nan had only invited them for Christmas dinner yesterday. Fancy her asking Vinny as well. ‘Bollocks to the lot of ’em, Dan. We’ll get tonight out the way, then go out to a restaurant for our grub tomorrow. Unless we ask Dad if we can go to Katy’s?’

  ‘Nah. Let’s not bother. He’ll be too busy with his new family to want us around for long. Oh well, good job we’ve got one another ’cause the rest of our family are truly wank.’

  Unable to stomach the hero’s welcome Vinny was receiving next door but one, Vivian had gone back to her own house for a bit of peace and quiet.

  Tears rolling down her cheeks as she sifted through photos of her wonderful son, Viv snatched at the phone as it rang. If it was Queenie asking her to go back, she would most certainly get a mouthful and a reminder of who killed Lenny.

  ‘Oh, it’s you, Michael. I thought it was your mother. How are you, love? Silly question, I know, but I hope you’re as well as can be expected.’

  ‘I’m up and down like a yo-yo, to be honest. Not sure it’s really sunk in yet, but what can you do? No option other than to pick meself up and dust meself down, eh? If I got through losing Adam, this is nothing in comparison and that’s what I keep telling myself.’

  ‘You’re worth more than those two put together, Michael, and don’t you ever forget that. Terrible, what they’ve done to you. I would never have expected that of Bella, but we live and learn. I feel sorry for the kids an’ all. Both innocent in all of this, and I bet they’re missing you.’

  ‘I want nothing more to do with Antonio. He’s not mine, he’s Vinny’s problem now. I obviously miss Camila dreadfully, but hopefully I’ll get to see her regularly soon. Bella better not try and move back to Italy with her, I’m telling ya.’

  ‘Her father visited your mum earlier. Looked a bit of a villain to us. Is he?’

  ‘Long story, Auntie Viv. I’ll tell you another time. Now I need a favour from you, if you don’t mind?’

  ‘You name it, boy.’

  ‘Dan and Lee have promised me they’ll visit me dad tomorrow morning. I can’t get there as I’m staying in Tunbridge Wells with Katy and Nathan. My dad thinks the world of you, Viv, and I swear on my boys’ lives that he never grabbed hold of that old slapper at Little Vinny’s wedding. If you could visit him later in the day it would really cheer him up and make his Christmas. You’d also be helping me out. I hate to think of him in that hospital all alone.’

  Vivian was so choked up she could barely answer. ‘Of course I’ll visit Albie for ya.’

  When Ava had proudly blurted out, ‘Antonio is my brother. My dad had sex with Bella,’ an embarrassed Queenie told Tara and Tommy in vague detail what had gone on. They were hardly little children any more, and too many people were discussing the love triangle to keep it a secret. Neither seemed bothered. They barely knew Bella or Antonio.

  ‘Look, Dad – Fred’s trying to open his stocking,’ Ava giggled.

  Vinny had bigger things on his mind than Fred. ‘Mum, give me Giovanni’s number. I’m gonna ring him now. No time like the present.’

  ‘I’ll ring him for you. I want to make sure he comes here,’ Queenie insisted.

  ‘No. This is my problem and I’ll sort it,’ Vinny retorted sharply, before grabbing the piece of paper out of his mother’s hand. As much as he loved her, she h
adn’t stopped fussing over him since he’d arrived and it was beginning to suffocate him.

  Vinny went upstairs. He still felt rough and had a headache, although he’d told the doctor otherwise. He punched the number into his phone. ‘Giovanni, this is Vinny Butler …’

  Katy Spencer’s mouth was wide open while Michael told her the story of Bella and Vinny. She could barely believe what she was hearing, but was elated at the same time. No way would Michael ever get back with Bella now, which meant he was there for the taking. ‘I am so sorry. What an awful shock for you. Let me pour you another drink, Michael. Antonio, Vinny’s son? I feel a bit lost for words, to be honest. I don’t know what to say to comfort you. There isn’t anything.’

  ‘Tell me about it. Gonna have to keep in contact with Bella to see Cami, but I’d prefer it if I never had to lay eyes on her again. What a pair of snides. Their lies make me want to vomit, and to think I raised that bastard’s son. Then again, Vinny didn’t know Antonio was his until last week. Bella told everybody the lad’s father was an American called Clint. She even lied to her own fucking parents, the wrong ’un.’

  Katy moved in for a hug. ‘I know me and Nathan are no replacement for Bella and Cami, but we both think the world of you and love having you around.’

  Prising Katy’s arms away before she went for a kiss, Michael forced a smile. ‘Thanks. It was lovely reading Nathan a bedtime story earlier. That cheered me up. I’m glad I’m staying here with yous two. Dan and Lee are looking forward to seeing you again and meeting Nathan on Boxing Day an’ all.’

  Katy beamed from ear to ear. Michael’s pain was her gain, and she knew it.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  ‘Mum, Dad, wake up. Santa’s been!’ yelled Regan Butler.

  ‘And the reindeer ate his carrot and milk you left out, Dad,’ Calum squealed with delight.