My wonderful husband had been a tower of strength since Luca had been born. He’d sat with me in the middle of the night while I was breastfeeding to offer me his support, instead of snoring his head off on the pillow next to me like some men do. He was also doing the household chores so that I wouldn’t become overwhelmed by everything. Nathan had taken to fatherhood like a duck to water, and much as that delighted me, it also made me feel like a failure.
12
Gemma
‘How are you feeling, Gemma?’ Nathan asked when he came back into the bedroom.
I was lying on the bed, staring into space. At the mention of my name, I looked towards my husband and met his cheerful gaze with expressionless eyes.
‘I thought I’d give you some time alone. Dad and I have been catching up.’ Nathan crossed the room, leant forward and kissed the tip of my nose.
‘How’s everything going?’ I asked before swinging my legs around and perching on the edge of the bed.
‘Dad was telling me what it was like in prison.’
‘It sounds like he’s really opening up to you.’ I smiled. I knew how much Nathan wanted this, and I was genuinely happy for him.
‘I’d thought so too, but then all of a sudden, just as the conversation was getting interesting, Dad clamped his mouth shut. He literally stopped talking mid-sentence and changed the subject. There’s nothing more frustrating than somebody half telling you something, is there?’ Nathan walked over to the window and looked down at the small backyard before turning around to face me.
‘Give him a chance. You only came back into his life yesterday after a thirty-three-year absence. If Gareth isn’t ready to talk, you’ll have to respect that. There’s no point pushing it.’
‘You know what I’m like – I’m impatient. Now that I’ve finally got to meet him, I want to make up for lost time.’
‘I’m sure Gareth does too.’ The corners of my handsome husband’s mouth turned down, so I got off of the bed and walked towards him. ‘Don’t be sad,’ I said before I threw my arms around his waist and squeezed him tightly. ‘The three of us turning up out of the blue is probably a bit overwhelming for him.’
*
I offered to make dinner, so the two men could talk. They sat opposite each other at the small pine kitchen table while I rustled up spaghetti carbonara. It didn’t take long before the conversation got around to Jethro Watson. I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up at the mention of his name.
‘Revenge is long overdue. I had to rot inside because that bastard set me up,’ Gareth said.
‘We’ve both got scores to settle. What Jethro did changed the whole course of our lives,’ Nathan replied.
I couldn’t believe what my husband had just said, after everything we’d been through. My heartbeat quickened as I listened to their conversation almost in a trance. A suffocating feeling of helplessness came over me. I wanted to shout out and make them see sense. They were talking about Jethro Watson, not Phil Mitchell. What had got into Nathan? Had he forgotten this man had a reputation for being a prominent figure in one of the criminal underworld’s most powerful families? In the Watsons’ world, money and intimidation talked. How could my husband and father-in-law possibly make Jethro pay for anything? The idea was toxic to me, so my nervous system was on high alert.
I needed to talk to Nathan about Jethro and make him see sense before it was too late. I wanted to tell my husband to stop being ridiculous. Trying to get even would end up damaging our family, not his, but for some reason, I couldn’t find the right words. It was human nature to hold a grudge and want payback, but surely Nathan realised that would come at a high price. A price that I was not willing to pay. We all needed to learn to let go of the past and move on. My temples began pulsating the more I thought about it. I could feel a tension headache starting and was tempted to go and lie down, but I knew I’d have to stay until they finished their conversation.
‘I got sent down for twenty-four years. That’s a long time,’ Gareth continued.
‘I know it is, and because you went to prison, we all suffered.’
Rosa lost her husband, and Nathan grew up without ever meeting his father. He’d thought Gareth had abandoned them. Now that he knew the truth, he wanted Jethro to pay. Was I the only one who was thinking straight? Nathan’s judgement of the situation was seriously impaired if he thought he could do something awful to Jethro and get away with it. I wanted to stay as far away from the Watson family as possible. I knew I should never have let Nathan persuade me to come back to England.
All this talk of revenge was making me stressed. I wasn’t expecting either Nathan or Gareth to forgive Jethro for what he’d done, but two wrongs didn’t make a right. If they insisted on going after him, we’d be watching our backs for life. Men like Jethro had long memories and were happy to wait patiently for the right moment to present itself before they retaliated. That was the nature of the game, and nobody knew that better than Nathan.
When the people-tracing company located Gareth, and Nathan suggested going to London to meet his father, unannounced and uninvited, I didn’t know what to say. He could get the door slammed in his face if he turned up on Gareth’s doorstep without any warning. I was genuinely scared that Nathan might be rejected, and I wasn’t sure he’d be able to cope with that. For all we knew, his dad could have married again and have another family who didn’t know Nathan existed. It could have been a potential powder-keg situation, like a scene from a Jeremy Kyle show. Instead, the emotional reunion was like something out of a Hollywood movie. While I’d sat in the car and watched them come face to face, I’d had to fumble in my pocket for a tissue. Their meeting had brought a tear to my eye, and a lump had formed in my throat. I’d been so relieved they were off to a good start.
Although some people might have been suspicious of Nathan’s intentions, I knew he didn’t have an ulterior motive and wasn’t after anything, other than a chance to try and get to know his father. He wasn’t looking for money, a bone marrow transplant or an organ donation. He just wanted his father in his life, or at least that was what I’d thought. I hadn’t expected my husband and father-in-law to have this shared lust for revenge, and it made me question if that was what had been driving Nathan to find his father in the first place.
Naively, I’d thought they would spend this time catching up on the thirty years they’d missed out on. I hadn’t expected them to start plotting to bring down the gangster they held responsible for their forced separation. I wasn’t suggesting it would be easy watching someone get away with what they’d done to you, but in this case, it would be madness to try and do anything about it.
Jethro Watson was part of a notorious crime family, and only a fool would mess with a dangerous trigger-happy gangster like him. The phrase, let sleeping dogs lie, came to mind.
13
Gemma
Now that I knew Jethro was watching me, it suddenly crossed my mind that maybe he was the intruder outside our apartment the other night. Nathan said I was being ridiculous when I’d suggested that to him. But I didn’t care what he thought; somebody had been outside our door. Although he was adamant about it, Nathan couldn’t say for certain it wasn’t Jethro as he hadn’t seen the person. He’d been quick to dismiss the idea, but how could he be so sure? By the time he’d opened the front door, the person had disappeared into the night.
Nathan was convinced it was just kids outside our apartment. I found that hard to believe. Admittedly, groups of young people often congregated in the parks or down by the marina for want of having no better place to hang out. They weren’t up to anything dodgy; it was all perfectly innocent. But I’d never come across teenagers hanging about in our apartment complex in the time we’d lived there. The security guards would have moved them on if they’d tried to loiter in the grounds. Also, there had only been one set of footsteps, so Nathan’s theory seemed flawed. Whoever paid us a visit at three o’clock in the morning, was alone and had a sinister motive
.
‘I know you’ve had a fright, but there’s bound to be a perfectly logical explanation for what happened. You had a chance encounter with a stranger. Don’t let your imagination run away with you.’ Nathan squeezed my hands and looked into my eyes. ‘Jethro isn’t following you. It’s just a case of mistaken identity.’
That was easy for Nathan to say, but he hadn’t experienced the paralysing fear I had when I bumped into Alfie’s dad in the street. My husband might think I’d mistaken Jethro for someone else, but I knew I hadn’t. What I didn’t understand was why Jethro had come face to face with me? Maybe he had a message from Alfie. I had to stop panic from ripping through me. No good would come from trying to second-guess the situation.
I didn’t want to lie low inside the house, waiting for Jethro to make his next move. But, on the other hand, I felt so traumatised by the sight of him that now I was terrified to go outside. Peering tentatively out of the front window, I half expected to see Jethro’s face pressed against the glass. The thoughts inside my head were running riot, so I made a mental note to myself to stop watching horror films.
‘I’m scared, Nathan.’ I wrapped my arms around myself for comfort.
‘I know you are, but try not to worry.’ Nathan put his finger under my chin and tilted my face towards his.
Dread rose up inside me. ‘We should never have come back to England. The Watsons are going to come after us, aren’t they?’
I could tell Nathan had grown tired of this conversation from the tone of his voice. ‘Alfie runs the family business, not Jethro. He retired years ago. Alfie’s in prison, so how’s he going to come after us?’
An idea suddenly popped into my head. Maybe Jethro had come out of retirement while Alfie was behind bars. That was a feasible explanation. I couldn’t understand why Nathan was so relaxed about the situation. We’d experienced first-hand what these men were capable of. They were no strangers to violence. I’d have to try and put this out of my mind for now, or I’d end up overthinking the situation.
‘What are we going to do if Alfie wants the money we took from the yacht?’
Nathan frowned, then he began biting the skin at the side of his nail.
‘I can’t go through the stress of being in debt to Alfie again.’
My husband stared at me for a moment before he replied. ‘Has it occurred to you that you might have jumped to the wrong conclusion? Alfie told you to keep it, remember? Nobody’s mentioned the money, have they? You’ve got this idea in your head, and now you’re going into meltdown over it.’
I thought about what Nathan had said. He was right, Alfie hadn’t asked for the money back, but if he did, we wouldn’t be able to pay up, and then we were going to be in his debt again. That was something we’d promised ourselves would never happen after we broke free of him. How could we have done something so stupid?
‘Do you think Alfie knows we’ve spent some of the money?’
‘For God’s sake, Gemma, give it a rest,’ Nathan snapped.
But I couldn’t let it go. ‘Please, just answer the question.’
‘How could he possibly know?’ Nathan softened his tone.
‘What if he’s been having us watched? I told you I’d felt like I was being stalked for months now, but you dismissed my concerns. That could explain why Jethro turned up today. If Alfie wants the money back and we can’t pay, he could force us to work for him again. I can’t do it.’ Tears sprang from my eyes, and I began to tremble with fear.
‘Listen to me; nothing like that is going to happen. I promise you. You need to put these ideas out of your head, or you’ll end up making yourself sick. You’re worrying about nothing.’ Nathan put his arms around my waist, pulled me towards him and held me tightly.
14
Gemma
As I lifted my son’s carrycot into the car, I noticed a black Mercedes pull up in front of our Jeep and my pulse quickened at the sight of it. The back passenger door opened and Jethro stepped out onto the pavement.
‘Hello, Gemma,’ the tall blond man said.
I looked up at him with terror-filled eyes and willed myself not to cry. I didn’t want him to know I was scared, but that was easier said than done. Panic raced through my veins as he fixed me with his blue gaze. Why had I let Nathan convince me it was safe for me to go out without him?
‘There’s no need to be scared. I won’t hurt you as long as you do what I say.’ Jethro smiled. He used a gentle tone to deliver the threat.
I held my breath to try and stop myself from hyperventilating, as I attempted to process what was happening.
‘Don’t make a fuss, get in the back of my car and bring the baby with you.’
What the hell was I going to do? My mind went blank. I knew the last thing I should do was get in the car with Jethro. But there wasn’t a soul around on this usually busy street. Where were the Great British Public when you needed them the most? Whitechapel had suddenly become like a ghost town. I kept hoping Nathan would come bursting through the front door and help us, but he didn’t. Judging by the look on Jethro’s face, my stalling tactics weren’t working. I had just run out of time, and that gave me a sinking feeling.
‘I wouldn’t stand there for too much longer if I were you; patience is not my strong point.’
I knew that wasn’t true. Jethro had waited years to get back at Rosa, but I didn’t want to call his bluff.
‘Please don’t do this.’ I stood on the pavement staring at Jethro, hoping to appeal to his better nature.
‘Time to go, Gemma. Either you carry the baby, or I will.’
As Jethro’s words echoed in my head, I knew there was no point resisting any longer. I lifted the car seat with a trembling hand while grabbing Luca’s changing bag with the other.
‘Now that wasn’t so difficult, was it?’ Jethro smiled as he guided me away from the Jeep.
As we approached the Mercedes, the driver’s door opened, and the unmistakable frame of the bear-sized man climbed out. It was Knuckles. What was he doing here? He walked around the car and opened the passenger door. The huge man took the handle of Luca’s carrycot from me, placed my son on the front seat and fastened the seat belt around him. I didn’t want to be separated from my baby, but before I could protest, Jethro opened the back door and, placing his hand on the small of my back, he pushed me gently but firmly onto the leather chair.
The Watson family had a reputation for being violent and dangerous, and nobody in their right mind messed with them. Even though I was petrified, I had to stay strong. It wasn’t the right time to show weakness, so I forced myself to face my fears head-on. I took a deep breath to calm my nerves and then I spoke. ‘Where are we going?’
‘All will be revealed in good time.’
A shiver ran down my spine. Alfie used to say that.
As Knuckles started the engine, my mind began to race. I went cold like someone had walked over my grave and then panic set in. Adrenaline coursed through my body, sending my pulse racing and making the palms of my hands sweat. Fear washed over me when the Mercedes turned onto the high street and reality set in. Nathan wasn’t coming to rescue us; he didn’t know we’d been taken.
A knot formed in the pit of my stomach. I stared out the window with wide eyes when, after what must have been about three quarters of an hour, Knuckles turned off the main carriageway and drove the car along a quiet road, bordered by high hedges and spindly trees. We were in Epping Forest. This area had been the setting of many an unsolved grisly murder. It was the perfect place for a hit-man-style execution if that’s what Jethro had in mind for us. Any moment, I was expecting him to produce a hood and handcuffs and bundle me out of the car so that he could put a bullet through the back of my head.
There was something undeniably eerie about a quiet country lane in the fading afternoon light. Bare branches scraped at the blacked-out windows like ghostly fingers as we passed along the narrow track. I had to muster every ounce of strength I had to stop myself from crying out. I did
n’t want Jethro to know I was scared because that would only heighten his enjoyment of the situation. I’d learnt that lesson from Alfie, and it wasn’t one I’d forget easily.
As we travelled deeper into the forest, I wondered where Jethro was taking me. I knew there was no point asking; he wasn’t going to share the details of this white-knuckle ride with me. While I studied the scenery along the winding lane, hoping I’d see a recognisable landmark, my mind drifted to my husband. Had Nathan realised we were missing yet? Even if he had, he was never going to be able to do anything about it. He’d never be able to find us. My brain struggled to process that thought as a fresh surge of terror rose up within me, and once again I found myself wishing we had never come back to England.
Just when I thought the journey would never end, Knuckles pulled up next to a high ivy-clad wall that was so thickly covered with foliage it blended into its surroundings. He waited in front of a set of wrought-iron gates until they opened fully before he drove the Mercedes through them. At the end of the long gravel drive was a huge detached house. You could have easily missed its secluded location, nestled within the forest, if you hadn’t known the mansion was there. How could such an imposing building be invisible from the road?
‘Welcome to my home,’ Jethro said.
I jumped when the gates clinked behind us as they closed shut. The sound was like the cell door closing on an inmate. That was exactly how I felt. I was Jethro’s prisoner, and he wasn’t going to let me go until he was ready to. I knew I had to remain calm. Men like Jethro could smell your fear, and if he was anything like Alfie, the more terrified he thought you were, the more powerful it would make him feel.
Tangled Lives Page 4