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

by Kimberley Chambers

  ‘How’s it going with Georgie and Harry?’ Vinny enquired.

  ‘Don’t even go there. My heart bleeds for what could’ve been and how they’ve actually turned out. Had to move Frankie into what can only be described as a safe house near me now. They keep trying to run back to their pikey loved ones, and the only way to stop ’em bolting is to keep ’em under lock and key and watch the pair like hawks. Let’s change the subject, eh? Depresses me, and after the deal we’ve just done I’d rather celebrate.’

  ‘Family, eh? Can’t live with ’em, can’t live without ’em. Thank fuck we can choose our friends in life.’

  Eddie raised his glass and clinked it against Vinny’s. ‘To us and our casino. Onwards and upwards, me ole mucker.’

  Daniel Butler felt choked up as he and Roxanne exchanged the vows they had made up themselves. ‘I knew you were the one the moment I first laid eyes on you, Roxanne, and I promise to look after you and treat you as a princess until my dying day.’

  ‘And I knew you were the one for me too, Daniel. My knight in shining armour, and I promise to be a faithful, loving wife to you for the rest of my life. You are my everything and my best friend.’

  ‘How moving. Bless ’em,’ Queenie mumbled, dabbing her eyes with a tissue.

  ‘I don’t remember that arsehole I married looking into my eyes like that. Bill couldn’t wait for the service to be over with, so he could drink himself senseless at the pub,’ Vivian whispered, wistfully glancing across at Albie.

  The registrar smiled at the clearly besotted couple, before continuing, ‘This place in which we are now met has been duly sanctioned, according to law, for the celebration of marriages. We are gathered here today, as you know, to witness the joining in matrimony of Daniel Butler and Roxanne Smith. If any person here present knows of any lawful impediment to this marriage, he or she should declare it now.’

  As the door burst open and a voice screamed, ‘Stop the wedding!’ heads turned in shock.

  ‘It’s Mary Walker! What’s she doing ’ere? And who’s that with her?’ Queenie nudged Viv, her mouth wide open.

  Michael stood up. Was it a ghost or was it her? His legs buckled. Her hair was now brunette, the large dark glasses hid her eyes, but there was no mistaking who it was. ‘Nancy!’ he said, in no more than a stunned whisper.

  ‘Gawd stone the crows! I’ve gone cold,’ Vivian shivered.

  Trembling like a leaf, Nancy blurted out the torrid truth: ‘You can’t marry him. It’s against the law,’ she sobbed. ‘He’s your brother.’

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

  ‘Brother! You’re lying! You just don’t want me to be happy. You never have,’ Roxanne screamed, tears mixed with black mascara running down her face.

  ‘Annie, let’s wait outside, love. Come on,’ Mary urged.

  Daniel stared at his bride in utter disbelief. ‘Annie! Who the fuck is Annie?’

  Finding her voice, Queenie leapt out of her seat. The rest of the family were dumbstruck, far whiter than the so-called ghost Queenie approached, forefinger wagging wildly. ‘What a wicked liar you are! First you leave your son and pretend to be dead. Then you have the cheek to turn up ’ere saying Roxanne is your child. She’s eighteen, for Christ’s sake! You were still with my Michael back then, you despicable woman.’

  ‘Her name’s Annie, not Roxanne. And she isn’t eighteen, she’s fifteen. That’s why I disappeared, to protect her. I didn’t want her growing up as a Butler, especially after what happened to Adam.’

  ‘You what!’ hissed Michael.

  Nancy burst into tears. Everybody was staring at her in horror and she truly could not blame them. ‘I’m so sorry, but she’s yours, Michael. Annie is your daughter.’

  Recoiling as Roxanne tried to grab his hand, Daniel Butler emptied the contents of his stomach all over the registrar’s feet. Running from the building was his next move.

  Vivian found Albie leaning against the wall outside. For once, there were no words of comfort she could offer. What had just happened was one of the most sickening scenes she’d ever witnessed. Brother and sister. It was just too awful for words.

  ‘Oh, Vivvy. That poor lad. We need to find him,’ Albie gasped.

  ‘There’s a bench over there. Let’s sit you down for a minute. Your skin looks grey. You got chest pains?’

  Knowing Viv would demand he go straight to the hospital, Albie lied. ‘No. I’m just in shock. How is Daniel ever going to live this down? She’s fifteen, his own sister, and bloody pregnant.’

  Vivian led Albie over to the bench, sat next to him and clasped her hand over his. ‘I know, lovey. I know.’

  Inside the registry office, Lee Butler was going ballistic and being held back by his wife. Little Vinny grabbed Lee’s arm to stop him from following and personally confronting Nancy and Roxanne. ‘Pair of lying cunts! I knew she was a wrong ’un and hiding something. I fucking knew it!’ he screamed, punching the wall in frustration.

  Calum Butler marched over to his father. ‘Mum wants to take us home, but I wanna stay here. It’s well weird, getting your own sister pregnant, ain’t it, Dad? Ollie reckons the kid will be born a div. You know, have something wrong with it.’

  Little Vinny clipped his son around the ear. ‘Shut it, mouth almighty. Sammi, take the boys home. Now!’ he bellowed. Like the rest of his family, he was stunned and distraught over the situation, but somebody had to keep a calm head. In the midst of this debacle was a heartbroken groom, who needed to be found, quickly.

  Queenie marched over to her grandsons. ‘Where’s Viv? And Michael? You’d better ring your father, Vin, let him know before he hears it from the gossipmongers. Be in their element, they will. How the hell we ever meant to live this one down, eh? That bastard who runs heaven must hate us, I’m telling ya.’

  Lee immediately switched his anger towards his grandmother. ‘That all you’re worried about, is it, Nan? The gossipmongers? Only if it is, fuck you and them.’

  Little Vinny shoved his cousin against the wall. ‘Don’t speak to Nan like that. It’s not her fault, is it? Apologize to her, now.’

  Michael Butler roughly grabbed hold of the woman’s arm who – in the eyes of the law – he was probably still bloody married to. ‘Ain’t trying to sneak away and disappear off the face of the earth again, are you? ’Cause let me tell ya, you’re going fucking nowhere this time, Nance. Have you any idea what you’ve caused? What harm you’ve done to our kids? You do know she’s pregnant, don’t you?’

  ‘Pregnant! Who is? Annie?’ Nancy gasped.

  Michael glared at the woman he had once walked up the aisle himself. ‘Yes, you stupid cow. Thanks to you and your evil fucking lies, I can proudly announce our fifteen-year-old daughter, who you conveniently forgot to tell me existed, has a bun in the oven by our twenty-eight-year-old son, who just happened to think you were dead. Happy now, are ya?’

  Unable to take any more shocking news, Nancy collapsed on the spot.

  ‘Where’s Michael, Queenie? Nathan can’t find him and Ellie’s distraught. Look at her,’ Katy urged.

  Queenie glanced at her least favourite grandchild. Ellie was lying face down across two chairs. ‘He’s not her daddy, he’s mine,’ she sobbed, referring to the bride.

  ‘Michael’s busy. Get yourself and the kids home, Katy. We’ve got a lot of important family stuff to sort out.’

  ‘But we’re family too, and Michael’s booked us a hotel in London tonight,’ Katy protested.

  Queenie was not a fan of Katy. She knew Katy had trapped her son when he was at his most vulnerable, and she knew Michael did not love the gold-digging tart. ‘You’re not a Butler. Your surname’s Spencer. Now do as I say and get the kids out of ’ere. Michael will ring you later, OK?’

  Roxanne Smith was confused, hysterical and totally devastated. When Daniel had run from the registry office, her instinct had been to chase after him. But Daniel had ignored her desperate cries, kept on running, and now Alex and her nan had caught up with her. ‘I’m not
going back. I need to see Daniel. You can’t stop me from seeing him. I love him and he isn’t my brother. There must be some mistake.’

  Aware that passers-by were gawping at her distressed friend, Alex put her arms around her. ‘You’re in shock and you have every right to be. Let’s get you back to mine, shall we? We can’t stay here.’

  ‘Annie’s coming with me and her mother. The car’s parked at the registry office,’ Mary mumbled. It had been the biggest bombshell ever, receiving a wedding invitation from Daniel with a photo of himself and his bride-to-be on the front. Annie had been missing since earlier this year, had run away from home while nobody was in, and the family had been worried sick about her ever since. They would have involved the police in her disappearance, had circumstances been different. But Nancy’s brother, Christopher, had forbidden them to. He said they’d all be locked up and he would do all he could to find Annie on the quiet. Christopher was a DI in the police force, so knew what he was talking about.

  ‘Stop calling me Annie! I hate that name. It’s boring, just like you and Mam, or so I thought. Nancy, that’s Mam’s old name, is it? And if me dad ain’t me dad, who the fuck is that bloke who brought me up?’ Roxanne screamed at her grandmother.

  Tears rolled down Mary’s cheeks. ‘Let’s go and find your mum and she will explain everything to you, sweetheart.’

  Roxanne pushed Mary away and walked backwards with fear in her eyes. ‘I’m not coming with you. I don’t even know who you are any more. Help me find Daniel, Alex. Come on,’ she begged.

  When the two girls ran off down the road, Mary had no chance of catching them. She struggled to walk these days, let alone run. ‘Annie – I mean, Roxanne, don’t do this to me. Come back,’ she shrieked.

  ‘My nan and aunt only live locally, but drive slowly, eh? Make sure you get ’em home safely and you can keep the change. Nan, I’ll ring you as soon as we have any news. We’ll find Dan, don’t worry,’ Little Vinny said.

  ‘I wanna know why your father ain’t answering his bleedin’ phone and where Michael’s gone. Ring me as soon as you get in touch with either of ’em. They’ll know what to do,’ Queenie ordered.

  Vivian took her hat off, placed it on her lap, and glanced at her watch. The chaos had continued for what seemed like hours, but was in fact only fifty minutes. The registrar had to be led away, in an unfit state to perform the next wedding ceremony. Nancy had collapsed. Nobody knew where Roxanne or Daniel were, but the worst thing for Viv had been seeing Albie carted off in that ambulance. He hadn’t exactly keeled over, but looked so grey, and when he’d admitted to having slight chest pains, Vivian had asked Little Vinny to dial 999. She had wanted to accompany him, but couldn’t leave Queenie with all the other drama going on around them. She had promised Albie that she would get to the hospital as soon as she could though, bless him.

  As if reading her sister’s mind, Queenie said, ‘I saw you fussing over that old tosspot earlier. What was wrong with him?’

  ‘Chest pains. And I wasn’t bloody fussing; I was only making sure the man was OK. Don’t you think Michael and Daniel have got enough on their plates without something happening to Albie?’

  Queenie looked contrite. ‘I’m sorry, you’re right. Oh, Viv, what a day. No way could I face the shame of arriving home in that limo. We’re never gonna live this one down, ya know. Laughing stocks, we’ll be – and them poor kids. How the hell can they ever be normal again?’

  Clocking that the obese, sweaty cabbie was glancing at them in his mirror and listening to every word, Vivian nudged her sister. ‘We’ll talk indoors, and get the change back. Nosy bastard,’ she hissed.

  Nancy hadn’t set foot in Whitechapel since 1985. That was the last time she’d laid eyes on what was then Michael’s club. That was when her whole world had collapsed around her. Firstly, her beloved son Adam had been hit by a train and killed. Then, she’d learned of Michael’s relationship with Bella.

  Having just found out she was pregnant with her and Michael’s third child, Nancy had felt like a rabbit in the headlights. Being a Butler meant you were constantly surrounded by death and drama, and no way did Nancy want to bring another child up in that environment. At the time, Daniel was a nightmare of a son, and Nancy could not help but blame him for Adam’s untimely death. He and Lee were meant to be looking after their younger sibling, not encouraging him to bunk train fares and run across tracks.

  It was Nancy’s brother Christopher who had come up with the idea of leaving her car on top of Beachy Head with a suicide note for Michael. Desperate to start a new life as far away from the Butlers as possible, Nancy had made contact with Dean Smart – Brenda’s ex-husband – and he had been instrumental in her escape. Having disappeared into thin air himself many years beforehand in order to escape the Butlers, Dean understood better than anyone. The pair of them had since lived a quiet life together. Initially they’d passed themselves off as Sue and David Smith, but Dean had been recognized by an old school pal in Glasgow so they’d been forced to up sticks and move to the North East. They were now formally known as Sue and David Jones.

  Annie had always been the one bugbear in their wish to live a quiet, uneventful life. She was a difficult child – a true Butler – and Nancy had put it down to her genes. You can take the girl away from the Butlers, but you can’t take the Butler out of the girl, so to speak. However, nothing could have prepared Nancy for the shock of her mother receiving that wedding invitation. She’d had a feeling all along that Annie had run away to London, as the East End was an area that her daughter had always been obsessed with. But to find out she was in a relationship and about to marry her own brother was the most sickening feeling in the whole wide world. Nancy and Dean had never told their children they had any links to London. They had explained away their accents to their kids and others by saying they’d been brought up in a small Essex village. How could fate be so cruel? Nancy could not help but wonder if God was paying her back for her own awful deceit.

  Michael Butler poured three brandies and pushed two glasses across the table towards Nancy and Mary. Daniel and Roxanne were still on the missing list and with the boys out searching for them, Michael had insisted that somebody should wait at the club in the hope that one if not both of their kids would return to where they’d been living, even if it was only to collect some belongings. ‘Right, start talking and I wanna know everything. If you lie to me, I swear I will involve the Old Bill. What you’ve done to this family is fucking despicable,’ he said, a menacing edge to his voice.

  ‘I want to talk to Michael alone, Mum. I owe him that much at least,’ Nancy wept.

  ‘I’ll go for a walk, see if I can find her. I’ve got my mobile with me. Ring me if you hear anything,’ Mary said.

  Michael let Mary out and stormed back to the table where Nancy was sitting, a stony expression on his face. ‘Take a look around, Nance. Go on! Look at the destruction you’ve caused,’ he yelled, pointing at the massive banner on the opposite wall that read CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR WEDDING DAY, DANIEL AND ROXANNE.

  Nancy took off her dark glasses, put her head in her hands and sobbed. ‘I’m so very sorry.’

  ‘Sorry don’t cut it this time. Tell me what was going through that sick, fucked-up head of yours the day you decided to fake your own death and leave your kid.’ Michael slammed his fist against the table. ‘Do you realize what you’ve done? Now cut the crocodile tears and start cunting-well talking.’

  ‘Oh, it’s you, Alex. Any sign of ’em, love? I’m so worried,’ Queenie said, glancing out the front door before she shut it. Judging by the number of neighbours hanging around outside, gossiping, the rumour mill was already in full swing. Big Stan had walked past the window looking in at least four times, and even that awful family of foreign gypsy types opposite seemed to be having a good old laugh over something when she and Viv had pulled up in the cab earlier. One of the men had shouted something in his own language, to which Queenie had replied ‘Fuck off’ before slamming the fron
t door.

  ‘No news yet, but I’m sure I’ll find Roxy,’ Alex lied. ‘I’ve come to pick my bag up. My phone’s in there and I need to start making some calls. Roxanne might’ve been in touch with some of our old friends we used to work with. OK to go upstairs, Queenie?’

  ‘Of course, love. Did Roxanne leave her phone here too? There might be some clues to her whereabouts on that.’

  ‘I don’t think she did. Probably back at the club,’ Alex lied again.

  Darting up the stairs, Alex grabbed her belongings and checked Roxanne’s purse and phone were still in her bag. ‘I’ll be off now, Queenie. As soon as I have any news, I’ll pop round and let you know, pet.’

  Having nipped back to her own house to change out of her wedding outfit, Vivian asked, ‘What did she want?’ as Alex ran down the road.

  ‘Left her bag ’ere. Is there people out there? Did anyone say anything?’

  ‘No. Calm down and stop being so paranoid, Queen. Today’s news is tomorrow’s chip wrapper, whichever way you look at it.’

  ‘Not in this case, Viv! My granddaughter – the one I never knew existed – is up the spout by my fucking grandson. Makes me sick to the stomach to even consider the pair of ’em, you know, cavorting and stuff. Can you imagine what people are saying about us? It’s incest – and Roxanne’s only a bloody child. We’ll never live it down, I’m telling ya. Never! The good name of this family will be tarnished forever.’