by Martina Cole
Lorna had allowed him his little peccadilloes here and there, because she had understood that those girls didn’t matter to him, only she mattered. He loved her, and he revered her as the mother of his children.
Lorna was a good girl. But, God forgive her, Diana had never trusted the good girls – not when they married men like her Angus. It was a recipe for disaster, because he would never change.
Now look what had happened. Now they had to try and sort out a mess that should never have been allowed to occur.
Chapter Eighty-seven
‘You could have avoided all this, Angus, and you know it.’
Angus didn’t answer. He didn’t know what he could say – after all, it was the truth. His mother was absolutely right, he should have nipped this in the bud.
Diana knew that Angus was about to go into one of his ‘Yes, you are right, I have been a cunt’ modes. Except she wasn’t Lorna, and that shit didn’t wash with her. She said as much.
‘Oh no you don’t, Angus, you are not wriggling out of this by agreeing with me. I’m not Lorna – and the sooner you remember that, the better. You should never have let that Jenny get so close. What were you thinking? I know that Lorna has been good, but no woman is so good that she would allow a trollop to threaten her life and her children’s lives. She was humiliated and that is down to you and your fucking drug-taking.
‘You are like a child lately – and that child that you were fucking proves it. She’s just a kid, for crying out loud. I have her in a private hospital, getting specialist treatment and plastic surgery, because your wife did a real number on her. I have promised her the fucking earth to keep this out of the courts. She picked my fucking pocket, and she had every right to. Even with forty stitches in her boat, she was still after the main chance. Oh, you certainly know how to pick them.’
Angus stayed silent. When his mum was like this it was pointless to argue. And what could he argue about? He had been a fool, and he had let the drugs and the excitement of being with young Jenny get the better of him.
Oh, he loved Lorna, but sometimes she bored him rigid. After a few days at home, he had to get away from her. But that had been the way since day one. Her sex drive was basically non-existent, and it always had been. She enjoyed him holding her, telling her how much he loved her, more than the actual physical side of marriage.
His problem was that he had allowed himself to get far too comfortable in the clubbing scene, and he should have taken himself in hand. He had enjoyed his dealings with the Cali Cartel – perhaps too much – but it had been a big fucking step forward as far as the drugs trade was concerned.
He had been a fool, because he had forgotten everything that had made his life so easy – forgotten that his Lorna was everything that he had ever aspired to have – and now he had caused her to attack Jenny. He had always known that Lorna wasn’t a woman who took anything she saw as an insult lying down. She had the same quirk as him; she wasn’t about to take shit off anyone without a fight.
He had felt like his life was boring because he had been home a lot more than usual. Lorna hadn’t been happy about that either. She didn’t like him interfering in the kids’ lives unless she asked him expressly. The kids were her territory, her domain, and that had suited him when they were young. But they were older now, and they interested him. He could converse with them, and they were all clever and on the ball. They were nice kids, and they were his kids. They were the Davis dynasty, after all – and one day he wanted them to follow in his footsteps. He had two strapping lads to bring into the business – and maybe even little Eilish one day; she was the spit of her grandmother already. But even if he intimated as much to Lorna she would launch him into outer space. And that did not make for a happy home life.
Jenny, as big a mug as she was, had shown him that there was more to life than just work and family. She genuinely enjoyed every single day, she laughed at everything and nothing, and just waited to see what the world might bring to her.
Lorna’s dedication to the house, the marriage and the family had become stale. He wanted to laugh with her, but it occurred to him that they had rarely laughed – unless it was about his mum, or someone close to them. His Lorna was a lot of things, but fun wasn’t one of them.
His three children rarely spent time with his mother, because Lorna made sure of that. Diana saw them in what could only be called a Lorna-controlled environment. She cooked the meal, she picked the times and she decided when it was all going to end. She regulated everything, and always had done.
Until lately that had never bothered him – it wasn’t something he had even thought about. Then his mum had asked him about Angus Junior’s birthday, and he had not known what to say to her. He knew that he would have to ask his wife what was happening, and suddenly that had irked him. His mum adored her grandchildren and yet she only saw them sporadically, and at his wife’s whim. She was just grateful to see them at all when she was allowed, and that knowledge had suddenly been like a red rag to a bull.
His mum was lovely, and his kids loved her as much as she loved them, especially Eilish, but he had allowed Lorna to dictate when, and if, they could see their grandmother. He had felt like this revelation gave him permission to do what he liked – because, in reality, he had swallowed that behaviour for years, rather than rock the boat, where his wife was concerned.
He wondered how he had ignored everything for so long. But deep down he knew why – it had made his life easier. This wasn’t his finest hour, but he was determined to change everything from now on.
‘Where’s Lorna, Mum?’
‘She’s been sectioned. The consultant reckons it’s best, in case this ever ends up in court.’
Angus nodded. He had guessed as much. She wasn’t the full shilling at the moment, and it was best if she was taken out of the ball game for a while.
Diana squeezed her son’s shoulder. ‘Don’t worry, son, Alexa is happy to stay with the kids – they are all right.’
He nodded. Alexa was their housekeeper, and the kids secretly loved her. Another one of Lorna’s foibles was that she didn’t like anyone around the kids – especially if the kids liked them more than her. It had taken a lot of persuasion to get her to agree to a housekeeper and God knew they’d been through more than their fair share over the years. But Angus felt better knowing there was someone there to keep an eye on things – namely Lorna. He sighed with tiredness. He really needed to sort his head out; he only wished he had done it sooner rather than later.
He saw Gabriel and his mother exchange the same look, and he knew it meant that they thought he couldn’t cope with what had happened. Well, only time would tell, he supposed.
He had to go and see Ramiro, and that was something he couldn’t cancel. This was a meeting that had to take place. It was the last thing he fucking needed, but work had to take precedence. That went without saying.
Work always came first in this family.
Chapter Eighty-eight
Sinead Connolly looked at her beautiful daughter and felt the sting of tears.
She believed that Lorna had been goaded into her actions, and she blamed Angus. It was his fault – it was always his fault, as far as she was concerned. Her daughter was besotted with that man, but that didn’t stop him fucking anything with a pulse, even though he knew that it broke her daughter’s heart.
She was holding her daughter’s hand in hers. They might have what the shrinks would term a ‘complicated relationship’ but seeing her daughter looking so bad had really affected her. Lorna was still covered in blood, and it was obvious it wasn’t hers. She didn’t have a mark on her, but she looked like a woman with problems. Her appearance was old and haggard, and that wasn’t her Lorna. Her Lorna had always taken good care of herself. This was what a man could do to you, if you weren’t careful.
Lorna opened her eyes, and Sinead smiled gently at her. ‘You’re OK, darling, you’re safe.’
Lorna looked around her at the hospital room an
d closed her eyes in distress as she realised where she was. She pulled her hand away from her mother’s aggressively, and Sinead had to use all her willpower not to lose her temper. She knew what Lorna was capable of when she was like this, so she held her tongue. Instead, she said brightly, ‘Shall we get you into the shower, lovely?’
Lorna was staring at her hands, and Sinead could see she was piecing together what had happened.
‘Am I being nicked?’
Sinead shook her head quickly. ‘Of course not, sweetheart, why would anyone want to nick you?’
Lorna closed her eyes in distress and, pulling herself up with difficulty, she looked at her mother and said seriously, ‘I’m drugged out of my box, Mum, but even I know I crossed the line again.’
Sinead forced herself to smile once more. She always pretended that there wasn’t really anything wrong. She expected the much-cursed Angus to sort it all out as usual.
‘Don’t be silly, darling, it’s nothing. It was all a misunderstanding.’
Lorna could feel the effects of the psychotropic drugs they had pumped into her. She wondered how long they would keep her, this time, before she was deemed ready to go back to her home once more. She wished her mother would leave her in peace, but she knew she needed her for the next few hours. She couldn’t wait to shower and get this blood off her. Every time she closed her eyes, she relived her anger at that fucking girl once more.
She wasn’t sorry for what she had done, far from it. She just hoped that Angus could buy them out of it, and she had a feeling that, as usual, he would do just that. What choice did he have? One thing was for sure, he wouldn’t be wanting that little whore in his bed any more. No one would. She had messed that bitch up to teach her a fucking lesson: leave other women’s men alone. That bitch had asked for all she got. It was the way of the world. Well, her world anyway. Once she had become a threat to Lorna and her kids, that girl had been living on borrowed time.
She allowed her mother to help her into the shower and she stood under the hot spray, enjoying the feel of the water running down her body. As she washed away the blood, she felt her mood lifting.
It had happened. It was over. And they would go on from here.
Angus would sort it, as he had before, and her actions would keep him close to home for a while, until she was back on her feet.
Guilt was a powerful emotion, and she knew that better than anyone.
Chapter Eighty-nine
Ramiro Rodriguez was impressed, and he wasn’t afraid to show it. As he looked around the Soho offices, he was smiling widely with absolute pleasure.
He had a wonderful set of teeth – they were brilliant white in his suntanned face, and he was proud of them. He had bought them in Miami, and they had not been cheap. He had fantastic bone structure, which he had inherited from his mother. She was a Colombian but her father had been a Brazilian, so Ramiro also had thick black hair. Coupled with his Irish grandfather’s blue eyes, he knew he was a one-off, and that suited him. Altogether, he was a very handsome man. He stood out from the crowd, and that had opened many doors for him. Men liked him, and women loved him.
He was built like the proverbial brick shithouse, and he stood head and shoulders above most of the men he dealt with. He looked intimidating enough, so he didn’t have to use his muscle. Consequently, he was always smiling and ready to see the good in any situation. It was a big part of his charm. As long as everything was going his way, he was a happy bunny, and he made a point of being friendly and amenable. It cost him nothing, and it brought him genuine friendships.
He liked Angus Davis, he respected and trusted him. He believed that Angus was a man who would never betray anyone. Angus was innately decent and Ramiro understood that, because he was the same. They were both cut from the same cloth, as his mother would have said.
But he had heard the whispers about Angus’s personal troubles, and he needed to know if they were going to affect him. One thing he had learned, over the years, was that troubles on the home front could cause a man to take his eye off the ball. Women and sex were the reason most men ended up in prison. It was a sad fact of life.
He had to find out what was going on, so he could decide where he needed to go from here. But he was willing to give Angus the benefit of the doubt, because this deal had been a year in the making, and he didn’t like to think what might happen if it turned out that he had been wasting his valuable time.
He poured himself a large whiskey and sat back down in the very comfortable chair. Either way, he would know the score this evening.
He glanced at his watch and sighed. He was early, as always, so that meant that Angus and his people weren’t yet late. He couldn’t abide lateness; he felt that it was rude and showed a lack of respect for the people you were dealing with. It was tantamount to saying that their time was far more precious than yours, and that was a mistake that others had made in the past – a mistake they never repeated. That was his only foible and, as foibles went, he thought it was a pretty good one.
Disrespect was something that he couldn’t, and wouldn’t, countenance from anyone, no matter who they were.
Chapter Ninety
Angus Davis arrived with time to spare because he knew that the Colombians were easily offended.
Angus smiled like a man who had just won the lottery and did exactly what was expected of him. Truth be told, he was pleased to have something to take his mind off his troubles. Plus he liked Ramiro – they always had a good time together. They were kindred spirits in many ways, and they always ended up in one of the clubs with a couple of birds and a few lines to open up the night.
He would see his wife tomorrow and make peace. But for the moment, he had other things to think about.
He had fucked up, and he was aware of that, but it wasn’t anything he couldn’t sort out, and that was what he had to concentrate on.
Nevertheless, Jenny’s destroyed face was not something he would forget in a hurry.
Or who was responsible for it.
Chapter Ninety-one
Sinead was with Diana and Gabriel as they waited for the consultant to join them.
The hospital was private, very expensive, and known for its discretion where certain patients were concerned. That was why they had used it over the years. Everyone knew that Lorna needed a ‘break’ sometimes – at least, that was how they explained it to themselves. But this latest episode had given them food for thought.
Mr Jeffrey Collins was a small man with a loud voice and a bad case of dandruff. He had an easy smile and a great bedside manner. He was also not frightened to say what he thought, and that was why Angus and Diana respected him so much.
He knew what he was talking about, and he didn’t sugar-coat anything. He understood that, where the mentally unbalanced were concerned, the people around them needed to know the truth. They relied on him to take care of any situation that might occur, and deal with it in the best way he could.
He came into the office with his usual swagger. He was a man who knew his worth and expected the people he dealt with to understand that he wouldn’t take any nonsense from anyone, least of all the patients he was dealing with. He charged the earth and he did what was needed for the family concerned; his price was high but worth it, because he kept his patients out of the system. They weren’t on any databases, and their privacy was guaranteed.
That he used the money to fund his gambling was accepted by everyone concerned. In fact, that was how Diana had found him – through a mutual friend who owned a casino and who was owed a fortune by the unlucky Jeffrey. She had bailed him out, and they had been good friends ever since.
Jeffrey Collins smiled at everyone and, pouring himself a port, he offered, ‘Anyone?’
He gave Diana and Gabriel large Scotches, but he ignored Sinead. She wasn’t of any importance where her daughter was concerned.
He lit a Marlboro Light and, sitting in his captain’s chair, he said curiously, ‘No Angus tonight?’
&nbs
p; Diana shook her head. ‘He’s working, but he will be here as soon as. How is she?’
Jeffrey steepled his fingers. ‘She’s calmed down now. We put her on anti-psychotics again. I think she will be back to normal in a few days, but this time you have to make sure that she takes the medication prescribed. She’s bipolar, and nothing is going to change that. If she kept taking her medication then these episodes wouldn’t happen. I’ve explained this to Angus over and over again. She thinks she’s OK and she stops taking her tablets, but that isn’t an option for her. When she tried to stab Sean, I told Angus—’
Diana almost leapt from her chair as she shouted, ‘What did you just say? She threatened Sean with a fucking blade? When the fuck did that happen?’
Jeffrey Collins sipped his port before answering her. ‘Calm down, it was a few weeks ago, and Angus was there to sort the situation. But I explained in great detail to him, once more, the importance of keeping her on her drug regime. She can go for months, years even, before she has an episode. But if she kept to her medication, these events wouldn’t happen at all.’
Diana was looking at Sinead. She had her head down, which was how Diana knew that she had been aware of her daughter’s actions.
She knew now what had been bothering her son these last few weeks. She understood that he had been under enormous pressure.
Gabriel pushed Diana back into her chair with gentle force, before saying sensibly, ‘I think we all now fully understand the importance of keeping Lorna on her medication, and we will ensure that happens, no matter what.’
Jeffrey gave a satisfied smile. He hoped they would keep to their promise, because Lorna was a loose cannon. He knew that Angus had made sure there was a housekeeper with a nursing degree on hand – but this latest escapade proved that she needed proper supervision and proper medication.
