Fatal

Incandescent with rage, Salvatore ran his arm along the breakfast bench, dragging and smashing the bowl of cut fruit along with bottles of olive oil and vinegar onto the marbled floor.

‘So Cab thought it was a good idea to play snow globe with my coke, like it was Santa’s fucking day out?’

‘It was a good job he did, otherwise the police might’ve been wanting to talk to you.’

‘Rat me out? That wouldn’t be a smart idea, he knows exactly what happens to rats and their families.’

‘No, he wouldn’t have, but it would’ve been pretty easy for the police to work out who it was they needed to come and talk to. He did you a favour.’

Salvatore burst into menacing laughter. ‘Some fucking favour. Do you know how much money I lost?’

‘Not exactly, but I’m willing to compensate you. Every dollar. So, what do you say?’

Salvatore stared out of the large window of his house, which looked out across the lawn towards the ornate water fountain. ‘I don’t think so.’

‘Problem is it’s not your decision to make, is it, Sal? We both know who’s really in charge.’

‘Where you’re concerned, I am in charge.’

‘No, but you’re not. I want to speak to your brother. I want to speak to Nico. Make it happen, otherwise the offer’s off and you’ll be out of pocket by about three million dollars.’

8 (#ulink_cb7701f0-3b64-5c49-85f2-d6868dcd8196)

Back in the heart of Essex, Lola Harding sat in Janine Jennings’ mansion worried sick. She’d had a sleepless night fretting about what she should do, about what she should think, and this morning she was still none the wiser.

Looking out of the bedroom window of the house, located just outside the pretty village of Wimbish, Lola groaned, the shot of rum she’d added to her morning coffee not helping. The problem was she classed herself as a close friend to both Alfie – Janine’s ex-husband – and Franny, knowing them both for as long as she could remember.

When she’d been a tom in Soho, they’d been kind and looked out for her, making sure none of the pimps gave her a hard time. And when eventually she’d turned her back on the street, becoming the proud owner of a café, Alfie, the number-one face at the time, had made it known that her café and her café alone was the only place to go. Consequently, customers flocked in, not wanting to get onto the wrong side of the irrepressible Alfie Jennings.

But time had passed and Soho had changed. Most of the faces, including Alfie, had moved away, leaving her alone. With business bad and it becoming too much to run the café, she’d closed up and the life she’d loved, had cherished, vanished overnight. It’d made her feel like there’d been a death. Loneliness had engulfed her, strangled her, and the days and weeks had been passed in her small flat, which soared high above the city, not speaking to a soul.

They’d been awful days and she’d sunk into a dark depression, but out of the blue she’d bumped into Janine at a supermarket, or rather she’d watched from one of the aisles as Janine gave the manager a tongue-lashing. It had made her laugh, reminding her that some things never changed.

Although she knew Janine well through Alfie, they’d never been particularly close, but that afternoon they’d had a cup of tea and a chat and reminisced for hours. By the end of the day a miracle happened: Janine, with her loud, coarse mouth, and her busybodying, troublemaking ways, had asked her to come and stay and she’d never looked back. Not once, and she loved Janine for that.

Despite being fraught with fights and quarrels, Alfie and Vaughn had recently moved into the house. They had come back from Spain to set up their business and Janine was allowing them to stay whilst they got back on their feet and re-established themselves as faces to be reckoned with.

But now there was trouble. Big trouble. Franny, who’d been so good for Alfie, made him grow up, had taken none of his bullshit or his womanising ways, had done what she thought Franny would never do – she’d taken his money and disappeared. Just like that.

She was supposed to have joined Alfie back in England, but instead she’d cheated him out of his money. And Lola had to admit it hurt to think that’s what Franny had done, because to her, Alfie and Fran were family, and family looked out for their own.

But the question she had to ask herself was why? Why would Franny do it?

Taking a sip of her coffee with the sun blazing through the window, Lola shook her head. She couldn’t stand to see Alfie – whom she loved like a son – so torn apart. She had to do something, somehow try to sort it out. Both Alfie and Franny were too important to her and, even though he’d told her to stay right out of it, telling her not to breathe a word to anyone, she needed to follow her instincts and do what was right.

Sliding out her phone from the pocket of her pink towelling dressing gown, Lola dialled a number. She moved across to her bed in the corner of the grey velvet room, listening to check no one was coming.

The phone rang several times before it was eventually answered by a sleepy voice.

‘Hello?’

‘Franny, it’s me, Lola.’

There was silence on the phone before Franny spoke again. ‘Hello, Lola. It’s good to hear your voice.’

‘You might not think that after I’ve said what I need to. I’ll get right down to the bones of it: I want to know what the hell’s going on. Alfie’s in a real state. His head’s all over the place. How could you do it to him? I thought you loved him. I thought you were different, and to tell you the truth, Fran, I’m shocked. I keep telling myself there must be a good explanation, a reason why you robbed him blind, but for the life of me I can’t think of one.’

Sighing, Franny quietly but firmly said, ‘Lola, I love you, you know I do, but this isn’t anything to do with you.’

Not remembering a time when she’d ever raised her voice to Franny, Lola, upset by her coldness, shrieked down the phone. ‘But that’s where you’re wrong, darlin’. It is to do with me, because I thought we were family and family don’t do this to each other. What is it? Have you met someone else? Want to set up shop on your own? Or is it some kind of payback that you’ve been planning all along?’

‘Lola, that’s not what happened. You’ve got it all wrong. Look, I’m tired, it’s the middle of the nigh—’

Franny stopped, realising what she was about to say.

Frowning, Lola asked, ‘What do you mean? You were going to say middle of the night, weren’t you? For God’s sake, Fran, tell me where you are. Are you in trouble? Is that it? Cos I know you, my Franny wouldn’t do anything like this.’

‘Lola, please, you trust me, don’t you?’

Lola sniffed, her body stiffening as she sat on the silky grey covers. ‘I did. I thought you were the most trustworthy person I ever met.’

‘I still am.’

Forcing back the tears, Lola closed her eyes. ‘Well, you’ve got a funny way of showing it. At least speak to Alfie, sort this out with him before it’s too late. He’s devastated, sweetheart, and not just because he needed that money for his business deal – which thanks to you looks like it’s now going to fall through – but because he loves you. He’d never loved anyone in his life before he met you. You’ve broken his heart, not to mention mine.’

‘Lola, I have to go. I’m sorry. Just know that if there was any other way, I would’ve chosen it. Look after Alfie for me, won’t you? I hope that one day I’ll be able to explain.’

‘Franny, listen to me—’

Lola sat looking at the phone as Franny cut it off.

‘Who was that?’

She jumped, not realising anybody had come into the room. It was Alfie. His handsome face stern and suspicious.

‘No one.’

Pushing back his black hair away from his eyes, Alfie walked across to Lola. Standing over her, his six-foot-plus muscular frame dwarfing her, he said, ‘You weren’t speaking to no one, you were speaking to someone and I want to know who that someone was.’

Fidgeting with the phone, Lola smiled, assuming innocence. ‘When I say no one, I mean it was no one important. You know, one of those cold calls.’

Alfie bent down towards her, his nose inches away from Lola’s. ‘You’re lying to me. I always know when you’re lying. Don’t go behind me back, Lola, otherwise you and I are going to fall out, big time.’

Feeling guilty, Lola looked Alfie straight in the eye. ‘And why would I want to do that, hey? Listen, I know you’re having a hard time, Alfie, but there’s no need to get paranoid. Look, lovely, why don’t I make us a coffee, this one’s gone cold. I’ll make you and Vaughn a bit of breakfast, what do you say? Look, darlin’, I am so sorry that you’re hurting. I hate to see you like this.’

Alfie shook his head, feeling the shame creeping over him. ‘No, I’m the one who’s sorry; I shouldn’t take it out on you. This thing with Franny is eating me up. If only I could get to speak to her, you know?’

Lola gave a tight smile but said nothing as she continued to listen to Alfie. ‘But I guess her message is loud and clear. It’s pretty obvious how she feels, cos she won’t even answer my calls, so I’m left here not knowing what I’ve fucking done. Have you any idea what that feels like? I should’ve known though, shouldn’t I? Look at her father and Cabhan: gangsters, faces, and they taught her everything she knows. What do they say? The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.’