Rival

by Jacqui Rose

  She really needed to speak to Ellie and Sasha. He was clearly playing them off against each other, making them hate each other so they were easier to manipulate. They were all vulnerable but it seemed like Ellie was especially vulnerable because behind that hard, bitchy exterior meant to push everyone away, there was a young girl hurting. A girl who was just desperate to hold on to love, or rather hold on to what she thought love was. And it was clear that Wan was going to continue to use and abuse these girls and many more like them.

  He was so good at it. So good at making them think it was all their choice when in fact he had groomed them, making them believe they couldn’t live without him. And it was for that reason he didn’t need to lock any of the girls up or watch or follow them because like the pied piper, Wan knew when he whistled, they would follow.

  Unlike all the other things in her life she’d been involved in, this was different. This had to stop and maybe, just maybe she needed help outside her usual world after all.

  Never ever did she think she’d even contemplate that, but never ever would she stand by and not do something about this.

  Angry with herself, she stood up and slipped the diary into her pocket, then pulled out her phone and began to text.

  She hit send and let out a sigh because she knew now there was no going back.

  36

  At the top of Oxford Street, Tia jumped out of a black cab, hurriedly paying the driver, and without waiting for her change she rushed across to Selfridges.

  Getting to the glass doors of the store, she saw a tall security guard stopping people entering. He glanced at her and in an uninterested tone said, ‘Sorry, love, we’re shut.’

  Glancing down at her gold Cartier watch, Tia shook her head. ‘You can’t be. It’s only eight forty-five; you close at ten.’

  ‘I know.’

  With the security guard not disclosing any more information, Tia pushed on. ‘Then if you know, why you saying you’re shut?’

  Sighing impatiently the security guard regarded Tia. His grey eyes looking watery. ‘There’s some kind of problem with the fire alarms.’

  With panic beginning to run through her, Tia looked distressed. ‘What do you mean? You can’t just shut the store now.’

  ‘Don’t ask me, I’m just doing my job.’

  ‘Look, I just need to get one thing. I’ll be back out in less than ten minutes, I promise.’

  ‘Sorry, love, more than my job’s worth.’

  With her panic turning to anger, Tia snapped, ‘I can see people still in there, so what difference does it make if I go in?’

  ‘The difference is, they’re in and coming out and you’re out wanting to go in.’

  Feeling like screaming at the security guard but knowing that it wouldn’t help, Tia changed tack and gave him her best smile. ‘Please, it’s really important. Really important. I wouldn’t ask otherwise.’

  ‘If I let you in, I’d have to let everyone in.’

  ‘But you wouldn’t though, I—’

  Cutting in, the security guard sniffed. ‘Sorry, sweetheart, no can do.’ And with that the guard jangled his keys and strode over to the other set of locked doors.

  Closing her eyes, Tia shook. The only other place she knew she could find the sort of make-up that would cover blemishes, moreover cover love bites, was Harrods and that would shut in less than ten minutes and there was no way she could get across to Knightsbridge now.

  She had no idea what to do, none whatsoever. She couldn’t start wearing a neck scarf, not in the house, not anywhere in fact. That would be ridiculous. She’d never worn one in her life and wearing one now was bound to draw attention. Maybe if the love bite hadn’t been so high up on her neck then perhaps a turtle-neck sweater would’ve covered it, but again, it wasn’t as if she could sleep in it, was it?

  So the only solution was concealer, which she couldn’t get until tomorrow. But the problem with tomorrow was, she had to get through tonight.

  Her phone rang in her hand and almost without thinking she answered it. ‘Yeah?’

  ‘Tia, it’s me. Where are you?’

  Tia closed her eyes as she heard Vaughn’s voice.

  ‘Tia, are you there? Tia … Look, I ain’t angry, I just need to know where you are. Harry will be pissed, and you can’t keep doing this and well … I’m sorry, I don’t know what come over me … Tia? Just talk to me, darlin’. Tell me where you are.’

  ‘I’m in Oxford Street. I’ll meet you in Dunraven Street. I can be there in a few minutes.’

  Then without waiting for Vaughn to answer, Tia put the phone down and pulled up her pink shirt collar, hoping that she could get through the next few hours.

  It was fifteen minutes later by the time Vaughn was able to get through the traffic on Park Lane to turn left into North Row before doing a sharp right into Dunraven Street where he saw Tia standing on the corner outside an Italian pizzeria.

  He beeped his horn and waved but in return he was greeted with a frown.

  Taking a deep breath and vowing to keep his patience, Vaughn pulled up by Tia’s side. He pressed one of the buttons on the driver’s door, causing the passenger side window to slowly lower. ‘All right?’

  Tia gave a tight smile and nodded but stayed silent.

  ‘You getting in?’

  She nodded again and opened the passenger door and was immediately hit with the blast of warm air from the car heater. She clicked on her seatbelt but turned away from Vaughn, facing the window.

  Not quite sure what to say, Vaughn decided saying nothing was probably easiest, after all, look how talking to her last time had turned out. Putting the car into drive, he set off without saying a word.

  ‘For God’s sake, what’s this geezer doing?’ Vaughn spoke out loud as he waited in the traffic queue, which hadn’t moved for the last twenty minutes. He could’ve walked there and back to Tia and Harry’s gaff by now but instead, having been diverted, he was not only stuck on the corner of Brick Street just off Piccadilly, but stuck in the car with Tia with the atmosphere getting tenser and tenser by the silent minute.

  Unable to keep it up any longer, Vaughn turned to Tia. ‘About earlier …’

  ‘I don’t want to talk about it.’

  Somewhat relieved, Vaughn nodded. ‘Fair enough.’

  To which Tia, irritated by his seemingly casual attitude, retorted, ‘But it ain’t fair enough, is it?’

  Annoyed with himself for not just being able to keep his mouth shut, Vaughn replied, ‘I don’t mean it like that. I mean, if you don’t want to talk about it, then that’s fine with me.’

  Tia’s face flushed red and even though she’d vowed to herself when she’d stepped inside the car that she wasn’t going to say a word, she found herself turning to stare at Vaughn.

  ‘Oh I bet it’s fine with you, anything to avoid something difficult. Tell me, Vaughn, how does it feel to be able to put a gun to someone’s head but not to be able to have a conversation?’

  Feeling like he was the one with the gun against his head, Vaughn shrugged, cursing the fact that there was no way he could get out of the car and walk away. ‘I’ve already said that I’m sorry, and I’ll say it again if it will help.’

  Knowing that she was taking her frustration of the whole day’s events out on him but not caring, Tia raised her voice. ‘No, it won’t help, cos you can’t take it back can you? So go on, why did you do it?’

  ‘Do what?’

  Tia slammed her hand on the dashboard, her voice filling the Range Rover as she shouted.

  ‘Kiss me! Kiss me! You know what I’m talking about. Why did you kiss me?’

  She stared at him, turning her whole body in the seat and he stared back at her. His eyes slowly darkened and his voice suddenly became hostile. ‘What’s that?’

  ‘What’s what?’

  ‘On your neck,’ Vaughn said, his voice dangerously quiet. ‘What the fuck is that?’

  37

  Harry grabbed hold of Tammy’s arm again and d
ragged her across the bedroom.

  ‘What the fuck are you on about?’

  ‘Nothing … nothing, it don’t matter.’

  ‘Oh it does. You best start talking.’

  Not looking Harry directly in the eyes and trying to push down the strange, unfamiliar feeling of doing wrong by Tia, Tammy spoke defiantly. ‘I saw Tia kissing Vaughn. I saw them.’

  Harry shook his head, his face turning red with anger. ‘You’re lying!’

  Terrified by the look in Harry’s eyes, Tammy, trembling, shouted back, ‘I ain’t, I followed them. I saw them, like they didn’t have a care in the world. I swear I’m not lying.’

  Harry pulled Tammy up off her feet and shook her. ‘You’ve always liked to cause trouble, always wanting to shit-stir, so how do I know if you’re telling me the truth?’

  ‘I wouldn’t make this up. I wouldn’t.’

  Grabbing Tammy again and slamming her hard against the wall Harry, fuelled by rage and jealousy, bellowed at Tammy as he slammed his fist into the wall, splitting open his knuckles. ‘She wouldn’t dare though. Tia wouldn’t dare … I ain’t having it. She’d never do that to me, not with him.’

  ‘But she would. She would, especially with him! Harry, you got to believe me.’

  With his eyes wild with fury, Harry paced about. ‘No, this is just you. This is just your way of taking the heat off the fact that you got yourself up the fucking duff. This is just you being a nasty cunt, but it ain’t going to work, Tammy. Not this time. You ain’t going to get me to fall for the bait. What did you think was going to happen if you told me? Did you think I’d chuck Tia out and then you and me would play happy families? Did you think that I was going to play daddy? You did, didn’t you?’

  Overwhelmed with emotion, Tammy blurted out, ‘And what’s so wrong about that? What’s so wrong about me wanting to have someone care about me? It ain’t a crime, you know, to want someone to love you.’

  Still enraged, Harry, with blood running onto the plush cream carpet from his hand, leant into Tammy’s face. ‘So you admit it, you were lying. You can’t help yourself, can you? Now if you don’t want me to put you through that wall, I’d get packed, get all your stuff and get yourself down to the clinic.’ He turned and walked away but as he got to the door, Tammy called after him, her hurt as usual turning to anger but this time tears streamed down her face.

  Hating being rejected, hating feeling so unloved, hating feeling second best to her sister, Tammy screamed after him, ‘Don’t you walk away from me, Harry! You might not want me, but that don’t mean I’m lying about Tia … I can prove it.’

  He spun around and his face was twisted in anger. ‘What?’

  ‘I said, I can prove it.’ She ran across to her red Givenchy bag and pulled out her phone, waving it in the air. ‘Here, look, if you don’t believe me. I’ve got proof, I’ve got a photo of them.’ She stopped and smirked. ‘So you see, Harry, Tia ain’t the virgin princess you like to think she is.’

  Harry’s face paled as he stared at the phone and then at Tammy who was standing there with a mocking sneer on her face, and with a mixture of humiliation and rage running through him, Harry spoke in a dangerous hush. ‘Is this a fucking joke to you, Tammy? Are you having a bubble at my expense? Do you think it’s funny that your sister is out there screwing around behind my back? That they’re making a mug of me? Well, do ya?’

  ‘No, that’s why I’m telling you.’

  ‘Oh don’t pretend, Tammy. You’re telling me cos you’re a nasty bitch who’s always out for herself, cos you ain’t much better. You think that I’m a mug as well, don’t ya?’

  ‘I never thought that, Harry,’ Tammy said warily and with all the energy having drained from her, she was suddenly left with a feeling of emptiness. Left with a feeling of loss. She realised that it wasn’t actually her sister she hated; all along it was herself.

  ‘Oh but I think you did. I think that you thought you’d be sitting pretty with me. You thought you could turn me over by getting pregnant, didn’t you? Well no one gets the upper hand of me. Not Tia, not Vaughn and certainly not you.’

  Before Tammy had time to say anything else, Harry flew across the room at her, raising his fist and slamming it into her shoulder, sending her flying. She screamed loudly and as he charged at her again she fought back, hitting him with all her strength.

  As he pulled her and dragged her and pushed her, she banged into the large chest of drawers, hitting her side hard. She fell to the floor, bending over double, cramping as Harry stood over her and stared, his eyes full of hatred. ‘I want you out of here. I want you gone.’

  Another shooting pain rushed through Tammy’s stomach, tight pains overwhelming her. Breathless, she tried to stand, pulling herself up on the chest of drawers. ‘My stomach … Harry, please, help me, I think something’s wrong.’

  Harry glared at her, his head full of thoughts of Vaughn and Tia, then he turned away and stormed out leaving Tammy to stagger to the door. Holding on to the rail, she tried to walk down after him, but suddenly the pain rushed through her again and the next moment Tammy Owens blacked out, falling forward and tumbling down the stairs.

  38

  Slamming her hand over the mark, Tia reddened and began to shake. ‘Nothing. It’s nothing.’

  Vaughn’s face contorted as he pulled down her shirt collar to expose the large love bite. Looking at her with disgust, he shook his head. ‘That ain’t nothing, sweetheart.’

  ‘It’s from Harry. He likes to …’ Tia trailed off as Vaughn shook his head.

  ‘Don’t lie to me, Tia,’ Vaughn yelled.

  ‘I’m not lying.’

  ‘That wasn’t there this morning.’

  Tia swallowed hard as she fought off her tears. ‘It was. You don’t know what you’re talking about …’

  ‘I ain’t a mug, Tia!’

  ‘How would you know?’

  Glaring, Vaughn toyed with the idea of telling Tia the truth: that he knew because he’d watched her this morning. He’d seen the way she’d tied her long blonde hair up in a ponytail, he’d seen her spray perfume on her neck, he’d watched the way she’d fastened her Messika diamond necklace, and he’d thought not for the first time how beautiful she was. So he did know. He knew that this afternoon when they’d set off from the house she hadn’t had it.

  Though he thought better of saying all that and instead he just made it simple. ‘Cos I fucking do know, Tia … And I suppose this was what you were doing this afternoon, was it? Was this why you were so desperate to have a couple of hours alone? So you could go and meet your fancy man?’

  Suddenly, without warning, Vaughn put the car into drive and mounted the pavement, cutting past the queue of traffic, and to the sound of horns he skidded into Piccadilly, weaving in and out of the bus lane, speeding down it before taking a left into Stratton Street and into Berkeley Square where he turned to Tia and yelled at the top of his voice, ‘What the fuck have you been doing? How long have you been going behind Harry’s back?’

  Upset as well as enraged by Vaughn, Tia yelled back, ‘I’ve been doing nothing, I already told you!’

  ‘That’s funny, cos when I do nothing, Tia, I don’t end up with a fucking love bite on my neck.’

  ‘And I already told you that I had it from last night. Harry came into the room like he always does. End of story. And anyway, I don’t know why I’m telling you my intimate details.’

  Furious, Vaughn leant towards Tia. ‘So when I take you home to face Harry – who is already after me fucking nuts for not answering his calls, yet again – he’ll take one look at that on your neck and just think, end of story, will he?’

  Tia blinked, trying to regain her cool. ‘Yeah, he will.’

  Vaughn held her stare. ‘I tell you what, I’ll put it to the test, shall I?’

  He pulled out his phone from his jeans pocket and scrolled through his contacts.

  ‘Who are you calling?’ Tia knew the panic in her voice and in her expression was pa
lpable.

  ‘Harry.’

  Without saying a word, Tia, panicking, knocked the phone out of Vaughn’s hands. She opened the car door and jumped out, rushing over to the park in the middle of the square.

  Under the street lights she leant on the railings trying to get her breath as her chest tightened. Resting her head on the cool, steel bars she began to cry angry tears.

  ‘Who the hell do you think you are? What gives you the right to come into my life and try to mess it up?’ she snarled as Vaughn caught up with her.

  ‘I’ve been asked to.’

  Tia turned to look at him. ‘And when have you ever done what you’ve been asked?’

  Vaughn licked his lips, trying to keep his already triggered temper from exploding. ‘Don’t fucking start, Tia.’

  ‘Me?’

  ‘Yeah, you and I want some answers. So you better start to talk cos I’ve got to report back to Harry,’ Vaughn said as he grabbed her.

  ‘To Harry?’

  ‘Am I speaking double Dutch again? Cos you seem to have a bee in that bonnet of yours about Harry. If you haven’t forgotten, he’s got my back and because he has, I’ve got his, which means when his missus goes and opens her legs for lover boy, I’ve got a problem.’

  For the second time that day, Vaughn’s cheek stung with a slap that Tia dished out. She pointed her finger at him. ‘How dare you. You don’t know anything. You think you’ve got all the answers. Well let me tell you that you don’t know anything. The truth is staring you in the face and you can’t even see it.’

  Feeling like she was having a panic attack and wanting to get away from Vaughn, Tia, seeing a resident come out of the park, rushed into the gardens of the square.