Betrayal Page 22
As he walked into the main office, he smiled easily. He was a powerful-looking man − big and fit as a butcher’s dog. But then, so were the four O’Hara brothers − even the short red-haired one who it was rumoured was also a follower of Dorothy.
Aiden smiled widely and held out his hand. As they shook, Joshie noticed that Patsy, who he had always really liked, was pouring him a glass of Cockspur rum. It was the little things that really mattered sometimes. He took the glass and sipped his drink slowly; they had all the time in the world.
The offices were everything he expected them to be, from the black leather sofas to the huge antique desk that Aiden O’Hara was leaning against so nonchalantly. The windows faced the road and he could see the traffic and the pedestrians as they went about their busy little lives.
Joshie D sat on the sofa opposite Aiden and, grinning, he sipped his drink and said amiably, ‘My cousin Marvin, as you know, can provide as much product as you require from our connections in Colombia. The coke is pure − believe me, it can be cut as many times as necessary. It’s not the usual shit. It’s in keys as always, but it will be delivered in bulk and, once it arrives in the UK, it’s up to us to move the product wherever it’s required, OK? That is Marvin’s only stipulation. When it gets here it will be lodged in one of his safe houses. He will take the responsibility of delivering to the UK as part of his end. But, the truth is, he knows that the majority of gear gets captured because the people involved don’t do their homework. The Filth are on it from the off and that’s because too many people are involved. There is one thing that we all know: the main trouble with the UK is the same people are involved over and over again, and everyone knows who they are, including the Filth. So Marvin has set up a network of people and places to ensure that not just his product, but also his partners and the people who work for him, are protected. That means that he will bring the product into the UK and will make sure it is delivered to a safe haven before you have anything to do with it. He has seen the abortions that certain people have caused over the years − we all know what I am talking about, don’t we?’
Aiden and Patsy were smiling; they knew exactly what he was referring to. The biggest worry was getting the stuff from its initial point of contact − whether that was the docks or from a private airfield or from a fucking lorry driver. The more people were involved, the harder it was to keep things on the down-low.
‘That sounds perfectly logical to me, Joshie. For my end the money is in place and, once we know where the product can be accessed, we will guarantee that it will be removed with the minimum of fuss.’
Joshie D held his glass out for a refill. ‘I know that, Aiden, it is what I have guaranteed Marvin. He is OG you know − he’s been in this game for years. Not just here but the USA too. You will get on well with him, he is a straight arrow. But − and please don’t take this the wrong way, Aiden − he is what Jamaicans call a “bad man”. A bad man in Jamaica is completely different to a bad man here. It’s a different world in the Caribbean.’
Aiden nodded his agreement even though he thought it was a load of old fanny.
He knew and respected a lot of the Jamaicans, but he wondered how long they would last in London. Kingston was like a village in comparison, but he knew better than to say that. He wanted Joshie to feel that he trusted him, because he did. Plus, it was Joshie who he would be dealing with on a regular basis anyway and it never hurt to encourage good relations − Jade always preached that. He wondered briefly where she could have got to.
‘That is much appreciated, Aiden. By the way, how is Eric Palmer? I hear he’s not well.’
Aiden and Patsy deliberately didn’t make eye contact. ‘Oh, he’s all right. Hard old fucker, he is. I think we will have to shoot him!’
They all laughed.
‘Good to hear, Aiden. He is a nice old boy.’
Aiden overlooked the smugness in Joshie’s voice; he knew that old-timers like Eric were seen as also-rans and as old-style Moustache Petes. But, the truth was, Eric was still on board for all his pretence at retiring. And, in honesty, Aiden was glad of that because Eric Palmer had never once steered him wrong.
‘Where is Colin Clark? I assumed he would be here.’
‘Oh, don’t you worry, you will see him soon enough. Let’s just say I wanted to deal with this by myself. This is entirely my deal. Colin will only be involved when I begin moving the product to its final destinations.’
Aiden saw the pleasure on Joshie’s face and knew that he had boxed clever.
Colin Clark was his mate, but it suited Aiden that Colin didn’t feel comfortable around Joshie D because he could do what he wanted without having to explain himself. Colin Clark had made his opinion of Joshie perfectly clear, and Aiden had never once tried to contradict him. That was his fucking look-out, and it worked for everyone concerned, especially for Aiden, and that was all that really interested him.
Chapter Eighty
Jade was waiting for Aiden at the club on Charing Cross Road, in the small office she kept on the top floor of the building. She had had to talk him into purchasing this whole building; he had not wanted to at the time, but now he could see the sense in her reasoning. She lay back in the chair and relaxed her body. She had poured herself a rare Jack Daniel’s and Diet Coke − she needed a serious drink before she saw Aiden.
She glanced at the CCTV and saw that the club was filling up quickly. She noticed Aiden’s latest squeeze − a tall, blonde girl with natural breasts and long slim legs. The girl was pretty rather than beautiful, but she had something about her. She actually seemed nice − she wasn’t pushing herself forward. In fact, Jade felt sorry for her. She just hung around hoping that Aiden would turn up and notice her. It was depressing really.
She saw Aiden and his brothers as they came through the doors downstairs and she braced herself for what she knew she had to do. She waited patiently for him to come upstairs, and she felt a small sense of triumph as she saw Aiden walk past the pretty blonde without a second glance. She also saw the tragic look on the girl’s face and she could not help feeling a moment’s sorrow for her. Not because Aiden had blanked her, but because she didn’t get that she was worth so much more than him.
As the boys came into the room, Jade was smiling, as always; none of them would ever know what she really thought.
‘Sorry, Aiden, I got completely held up at your mum’s. Big drama. You all know the score, guys. Anyway it’s done. How did the meeting with Joshie go?’
Aiden shrugged. ‘Perfect.’
Jade smiled and Aiden felt the pull of her. She was beautiful, and he never once forgot that. As big a fucker as he could be, he knew that he would never love anyone like he did Jade.
‘No Colin?’ She said it very gently, but with a sarcasm that wasn’t lost on any of the men in the room.
Aiden opened his arms out as if in wonderment and said seriously, ‘No. No Colin. Why?’
Jade took a deep gulp of her drink before saying, ‘Agnes is pregnant, Aiden, and it seems that Colin is the fucking culprit.’
All four of the brothers seemed to suddenly stand to attention; they were looking at her as if she had just stabbed a new-born baby to death, they were that shocked at her words.
‘Our Agnes is pregnant?’
She looked at Eugene and nodded her head. Aiden was looking at her as if he had never seen her before; his whole demeanour was that of a man unable to comprehend what he was hearing.
‘It’s been going on for quite a while and, according to Agnes, they are in love, and getting married.’
Jade was watching Aiden and she was getting more and more frightened by the minute.
‘That snidey bastard! Sniffing round her and none of us had a clue!’ Porrick was red-faced once again, and his words seemed to spur the others into action.
‘He is fucking dead! Never once did he ever ask to take her out on a date . . .’ Eugene, like Porrick, was incensed with the sheer enormity of what they had been told.
Jade stood up and, going to Aiden, she held his hands in hers. Looking to Patsy for help, she said quietly, ‘She’s adamant she loves him, and that he loves her, Aiden.’
All the boys were looking at Aiden, waiting for him to decide what they were supposed to do.
‘I understand that you might be angry with them but, in all honesty, Aiden, you wouldn’t have given them your blessing, would you? Agnes isn’t a little girl any more, she is a grown woman. And I tell you now, she will fight for him, Aiden. I saw that myself tonight.’
Aiden was nodding his head in agreement, but they could see that he was trying his hardest to keep his temper.
‘Think about it, Aiden. You and Colin are good mates. He knew that you wouldn’t have countenanced him taking Aggs out. But, in fairness to him, he wants to marry her. He loves her and she loves him. And, whatever you lot might think, she is of an age to do what the fuck she likes. She doesn’t need anyone’s fucking permission. She can marry him if that is what she wants.’
Porrick pushed her away from his brother shouting, ‘He fucking snuck around her under our fucking noses! He knew what he was doing, Jade. He knew that it was out of fucking order, otherwise he would have courted her fair and square.’
Jade sighed heavily, aware that she needed to calm everyone down, especially Aiden. ‘Oh, really? Grow up, Porrick. So, you think if he had asked to take Agnes out, you lot would have been amenable? Agnes couldn’t go out with anyone! You lot made sure of that. Well, I’m sorry, but even though this was done underhanded, let’s be honest – it’s not like she had any fucking choice, is it? No more than Colin Clark did. On the upside, the marriage can only be a good thing.’
Aiden breathed in deeply, and he held the breath inside him for a long moment. Then he exhaled it slowly. They knew he was attempting to calm himself down, that he was trying to make sense of what Jade was saying to him.
‘Listen, Aiden. If you kick off, Agnes will go to him without a backward glance. They have made a child. And you know how powerful that can be.’
Aiden looked into her eyes and she could see him struggling to keep a lid on his emotions. Eventually he said calmly, ‘You are right, darling. These things happen.’
Patsy was looking at his two younger brothers with a warning that they were both aware of. Aiden was like a man demented inside, but he knew that Jade was right. He needed to box clever. He needed to calm down.
Chapter Eighty-One
Colin Clark was worried, but he was convinced that he could talk Aiden round. He had not intended to get Agnes pregnant − he had taken the necessary precautions. But he knew that he had no choice but to do the right thing. He wasn’t about to tell Aiden O’Hara or his brothers that he was not going to stand by their little sister. He wasn’t on a fucking death wish.
In all honesty, it wasn’t going to be that much of a hardship. Agnes was a beautiful-looking girl, and she was a good girl − that had been the attraction, coupled with the knowledge that she was Aiden’s little sister. She was the real forbidden fruit, and he had not been able to resist the temptation. It wasn’t like she had been an easy nut to crack either. She was a decent girl − something that was hard to find in these times when girls could basically live like a man and often fucking did.
Now, as he sat with his brother, Timmy, he understood the enormity of what he had actually done. He had never envisioned anything like this in a million years. Fucking hell, the days of unplanned pregnancies were well and truly over, or so he had believed, anyway. Now he was like a fucking teenager caught with his cock out, and he didn’t like this feeling one bit.
‘You have pulled some fucking stunts in your time, Colin, but this one takes the fucking biscuit. You have no choice but to marry that girl, and do you know what? I feel sorry for her, because she is worth fifty of you.’
Colin didn’t answer because his brother was right. He didn’t deserve Agnes, and Christ Himself knew she did not deserve to be tied to him. It would be a church do − a big Catholic marriage, he imagined. They all went to Mass, even fucking Aiden. They were practising Catholics; that didn’t mean anything to him, but Agnes would take it as seriously as she took everything else in her religion. All he could do now was make the best of a bad situation. The one good thing was that he did genuinely care about Agnes.
She’d been a virgin and he had taken his time to romance her but it had been more than worth the time and effort required of him. He had really pursued her, and he had done it with a vengeance − there was no way he wasn’t going to bust her cherry. Making sure that her brothers wouldn’t find out had only added to the excitement. They had sneaked around like fucking criminals, as Agnes had said on more than one occasion, to which he had answered, ‘Well, I am a criminal’ and they had both laughed. That had been the key − eventually he had laughed her into bed, along with a few wines. Just to relax her, of course. A bonus was that she had really liked it from the off. Sex with her was a revelation. She had taken to it immediately. Her mother’s daughter, he supposed. Everyone knew that Reeva was a connoisseur of the one-eyed snake! But he couldn’t deny Agnes had really gotten under his skin, something that he had not expected.
‘Come on, get your arse in gear. I told Aiden and his brothers that we would meet them at Reeva’s.’
Colin Clark followed Timmy without a word. True, he had really fucked up, but if he used his loaf he could smooth this over. The one thing that he kept reminding himself was, once he married Agnes, he would be related to Aiden. They were close friends, but this situation could really drive a wedge between them unless he could convince Aiden that this was actually a good thing.
He needed to make this work because his friendship with Aiden had given him a new life − he had actually enjoyed the relationship between the two of them more than he could ever have believed. He really did care about him.
Nevertheless Aiden scared him too. As mad as he could be − and he could really lose the plot − Aiden O’Hara was far ahead of him, mainly because Aiden didn’t even know how fucking crazy he really was. That had been a learning curve for Colin. He had always planned his next move with care and worked out just how he could create another little bit of his public persona so that people remembered him. Aiden, on the other hand, took no such care. There was no thought beforehand, no planning to make the big impression; Aiden just did whatever he wanted without fear or favour. Colin had learned to respect him for that over the years.
Now, because he had not been able to resist Agnes, everything was in jeopardy. Timmy Clark drove them to Reeva’s house with hate in his heart. Not for the O’Haras but for his own brother, who should have known better. Who should have thought about what he was doing, and how his stupidity was going to impact on the life they had worked so hard to achieve.
Chapter Eighty-Two
Reeva had cooked all morning − a nice beef casserole with mashed potatoes and roasted vegetables. She knew that there were going to be upsets; she had been there, fucking done that. The trouble with girls like her Agnes was that no one ever expected them to get in trouble, and when they did, it hit everybody concerned like a sack of shit.
She watched her boys as they waited for the Clarks to arrive. It amused her that her Porrick, her youngest son and the runt of the litter, really, was more annoyed about his sister’s predicament than anyone. He was such a strange lad because, as short as he was, he had something inside him that transcended size or bulk; he was what Aiden always called a ‘pocket rocket’. Porrick had a strength inside him that was far more dangerous than the others put together, including Aiden. Not that any of them had realised that, although she had known
from when he was a baby. His father had been the same − ‘little man syndrome’ she called it. Porrick had something inside him that was frightening in its intensity. Like Aiden, he didn’t possess a cut-off switch, but unlike Aiden, her youngest son didn’t have the sense to use his anger for his own good. Porrick had never learned how to harness it; that was why the others gave him a wide berth at times like these.
Agnes was waiting patiently for Colin and his brother to arrive. She wanted this out in the open and sorted as soon as possible. There was a steeliness in her daughter that Reeva had never appreciated before. Looking at her now, with her thick black hair tumbling down her back, and her blue eyes, framed by thick lashes, she looked her usual demure self. But she was different − she was alive now. She had always been such a Holy Joe and here she was − her mother’s daughter in more ways than one. Agnes was willing to fight for what she wanted and Reeva had a feeling that she would get it. Reeva was pleased for her girl, because if she ended marrying that fucker Colin she was going to need all the help she could get. He was a lot of things, but Mr Reliable wasn’t one of them.
As she set the table and watched the clock, Reeva hoped that Colin Clark would be good to her daughter. He had grown on her, and she thought that her daughter could look further and fare a lot worse. Colin had money, he was known to the family and he was very easy on the eye. That he would shag anything that took his fancy was a given but, as Aiden would be on the case, she had a good idea he wouldn’t rub her girl’s face in it. Whatever happened this day, one thing was guaranteed − the child would be a beauty; they were a good-looking pair.
Jade and Aiden walked into the kitchen and Jade smiled at her nervously. Reeva knew that Aiden had to be watched, no one knew how he was going to react. That was the only worry, really − the boys’ reactions.