“We need to put our thinking caps on Jay, and fast. If we let Billy do this to us, let him treat us like fucking mugs, we’re not coming back up from it. People will think they can treat us like fucking cunts, Jay, and I’m not having it.”
Taking the drink she offered him, Jay swallowed it down in one, enjoying the burn at the back of his throat and the warmness that seeped through him, slightly numbing his pain. He looked over at Tanya, now deep in thought; he had noticed how she hadn’t once asked him if he was okay, hadn’t once shown any compassion at all. Alright, it was only a kicking, he had been dealt worse in his time, he had a feeling that Ryan could and would have wiped the pavement with him had he wanted to, so he must have been under strict orders from Billy boy. Tanya was merciless, though, she was like a bloke in that respect; she knew what she wanted and she wouldn’t stop until she had it. Even though a kind word wouldn’t have gone a miss, he respected her for it; she was shrewd in that she was already thinking of ways out of this situation for them both. He had never had that before from someone; he had had to fend for himself. Even his dad had used him, they had never worked as a team; his dad had made money out of him and used his innocence for his own gains, playing the father-and-son card whenever possible to get Jay to do whatever he asked. Tanya didn’t look like she had taken any shit from anyone.
Pouring them both another drink, Tanya looked at him impatiently. “Do you need to go to hospital, or what?”
Rolling his eyes, he started laughing, really laughing; his ribs were so sore it made tears spring to his eyes, which made him laugh more.
“What? What’s so bloody funny?” Tanya demanded.
Jay was laughing so hard he couldn’t speak; good old Tanya; right on cue, just about as caring and sympathetic as she was going to get.
“Nothing, babe, just glad you’re on my side, because you’re fucking scary right now.”
She laughed, finally understanding his joke, and passed him his glass.
“A couple of them and you’ll feel a whole lot better, Jay, trust me.”
They sat in the bedroom for the rest of the afternoon, draining the mini-bar. As they drank, Jay told Tanya that he had the best part of fifty thousand pounds stashed away. She did her maths, and although she was very happy that she had been right all along and Jay did have a bit of cash stashed away somewhere, she also knew that it was peanuts in the grand scheme of things. They needed real money. If they were going to fuck off into the sunset, they needed a hell of a lot more than fifty grand.
Tanya sent down for a couple of bottles of champagne; she always managed to think better after a few drinks inside her, besides what she had on her mind was worth celebrating. Jay was gobsmacked at her little plan; he couldn’t believe Tanya could even think about something so… well, fucking brilliant. She knew better than anyone else how to hit Billy O’Conner where it fucking hurt.
37
The music was thumping; once again the DJ was playing the top tunes and had nearly every person in the place going mental for them. The dance floor was packed, as it was most nights. Kate couldn’t believe the length of the guest list: it was almost as long as her arm. Looking at the main bar, she saw Emma and was again astounded. In the three weeks that Emma had been out of hospital, Kate had witnessed such a change in her. It was amazing; like she had her old friend back. Emma had her moments, of course, but Kate would have been more worried if she hadn’t have had them. Emma occasionally got tearful or would want to talk things through, but Kate was there for her. She had even got her a job behind the bar, so they worked together too.
Emma had had a real heart-to-heart with her parents and it had been very emotional for them all, she was stunned when her parents had admitted that they had always thought something wasn’t quite right, but they just couldn’t put their finger on what. Emma hadn’t blamed them, as she had done her upmost to keep her dirty lifestyle a secret. They had promised to keep more of an eye on her in the future and told her they didn’t judge or blame her, that they loved her. They were such old-fashioned parents that she had been surprised when they hadn’t judged her. They had given her all the support she needed. She had sobbed when she heard that, imagining that they would both have been completely disgraced by her. Emma had had to try really hard to stop craving the drugs, but every time she needed something, to take the edge off, she pictured Jay Shaw’s disgusting face and to spite him, to beat him and his hold over her, she took deep breaths and got through it. She would show him, alright. However, no one had seen Jay for weeks, and Kate had told Emma that he had done a runner with Tanya. Emma didn’t care who he had buggered off with, as long as she didn’t have to set eyes on him again.
Catching Kate’s eye, Emma smiled. She loved working at Goldie’s, and now she had met Paul, she could see why Kate talked about him every five minutes: he was hot. Not that she would even be looking at a guy in that way for a very long time. But she was grateful to Kate for everything she was doing and she was determined to see if she could work her magic and get the pair together. Paul had it bad for Kate: that much was obvious. Kate wouldn’t admit it, but Emma was sure that even she had noticed how he always watched her; he was always laughing and joking with her. Kate, being Kate, swore he was just a friend and that they didn’t feel that way about each other. Smiling, Emma gave Kate a little wave before turning back to the ever-growing queue of thirsty clubbers.
Kate could see that Emma being here was doing her the world of good, she would have her confidence back in no time. Kate hadn’t heard a thing from Jay, but to be honest she didn’t really have much of a feeling about that. She felt numb about the whole Jay situation. You can’t really love someone when everything they do is behind your back and everything they stand for hurts you. He was a stranger, he felt like a figment of her imagination, because their relationship had never been reaclass="underline" everything about him had been fake. He was a coward of the worst kind; he couldn’t even stand by his actions, everything he did was in secret behind her back; as far as she was concerned, he was a poor excuse for a man. The Jay she thought she had loved was all in her head. He wasn’t the animal that she had found him out to be. She had changed her number, and Billy and Paul were watching out for her. She had called in to Sonia a few times, and promised that she would stay in touch.
“Of course I will, silly; you’re like a mum to me, Sonia,” she had said.
Sonia had let tears slide down her cheeks at the kind words; Kate knew she loved the bones of her. She was a decent honest girl, way too good for Jay. Sonia had cut Jay from her life like dead wood. He was nothing to her now. Sonia had felt stupid: she had constantly tried to gain his approval and love. He was bad through and through, just like his father; rotten to the core.
Kate just wanted life to get back to normal; surely it wasn’t too naïve to think that now that everything was out in the open they could all start again.
Turning back to her bar, Kate smiled at the local hot-shot sitting in front of her, lining up drinks like there was no tomorrow. She loved her job with a passion, and as she poured the next round of shots, she thought how intrigued she was to know what Paul wanted to talk to her about tomorrow. He had said earlier that he wanted to have a chat and asked if she could come in an hour or so before her shift. She wondered what it was about. Things at the club were going well; they were a fantastic team. Kate knew that he appreciated and used most of her ideas, and she had seen first-hand how busy the place had become. Goldie’s had made a real name for itself; this was the place everyone wanted to be and Kate was thrilled to be part of it. It helped keep her mind off everything that was going on, and that was a godsend.