Nathan and I glanced at each other. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly as he tried to remain calm.
‘What do you want, Alfie? I’m sure you didn’t come here to analyse my personality, did you?’
‘There you go again.’ Alfie shook his head and locked eyes with Nathan. ‘Maybe your mother should have spent less time waiting tables and more time teaching you some manners.’
Nathan’s nostrils flared, and his face reddened. Alfie had dared to insult his beloved Rosa, and it was all he could do to control his temper. After his dad left, she’d had no choice but to work long hours to try and keep a roof over their heads. Alfie smirked, delighted that he’d been able to get under Nathan’s skin. They stared at one another as if trying to look deep into each other’s subconscious mind.
Alfie turned towards me. ‘You haven’t offered me a drink, Gemma. The service isn’t very good in here tonight.’
I got up from the table and went to get him a Jack Daniel’s. Nathan pushed his chair back and suddenly stood up. He dug his fingers into the table as a surge of anger washed over him. He couldn’t take any more. Alfie had now been offensive to both the women in his life in the same visit.
‘Don’t speak to my wife like that.’
Alfie leered, lifting his eyes to meet mine when I handed him the glass.
‘Here you go.’
‘Thank you, Gemma.’ Alfie flashed me a smile.
‘You’re welcome.’ I wanted to add: I hope you choke on it, but thought better of it.
‘Now, why don’t you take a seat? We’ve got business to discuss.’ Alfie patted the chair with his free hand. When he saw the look of horror on my face, he threw his head back and roared with laughter.
‘What business?’ Nathan asked as we exchanged looks.
‘This doesn’t involve you,’ Alfie said, before fixing his blue eyes on me.
‘I want you to switch a watch for me. Just do the same as you did last time. The simple plans always work the best.’ Alfie beamed.
I began digging my nails into my palms as I looked at Alfie without any emotion. I forced my fingers to unclench, then started knotting them into my dress instead. ‘You must think I’ve got nerves of steel…’
Alfie interrupted me before I could protest any further. ‘Terry’s made an impressive replica. The only difference between the two is the price. The fake is worth about ten quid, whereas the real one retails at one hundred and thirty-five thousand pounds.’
I stared at Alfie with eyes like saucers. He looked away and stared down at his drink, mesmerised by the moving liquid as he swirled the contents around the glass.
‘Gemma’s not working for you again. It’s too dangerous,’ Nathan said.
Lifting his head up, Alfie narrowed his eyes. ‘That’s not your decision to make.’
‘I’ve had enough of this shit,’ Nathan yelled, squaring up to Alfie. Lunging forward, he grabbed him by the throat with one hand while the other balled into a fist.
I was shocked by Nathan’s outburst. ‘For God’s sake, calm down,’ I said, yanking his hand away and stepping between them.
‘You shouldn’t have done that,’ Alfie said. Smoothing down his charcoal grey suit, he opened the single button.
I didn’t know what had come over Nathan, but there was no telling what Alfie would do to him now. He was not the sort of man you wanted to fall out with. Alfie didn’t try to hide his anger – Nathan had well and truly pissed him off. Fixing Nathan with an icy stare, he pulled back the front of his jacket just enough to reveal the end of a gun, sitting in the waistband of his trousers.
I held my breath, but panic tore through me when Alfie calmly pulled the gun out and pointed it at Nathan. My heart raced. What would Alfie do next? Would he shoot Nathan, or was he just making a point? Fear gripped me, but I knew if I didn’t intervene, things weren’t going to end well.
‘Please don’t do this,’ I said, looking into Alfie’s eyes.
‘Give me one reason why I shouldn’t,’ Alfie replied.
My mind went blank, and I couldn’t think of anything to say. I’d never felt so scared in my entire life and hoped Alfie wouldn’t pull the trigger while we were making eye contact. I wouldn’t wish this experience on my worst enemy. Resisting the urge to fall to pieces, I tried to think logically instead. Forcing myself to face my fear head-on, I took a deep breath to calm my nerves and stepped closer to Alfie. Reaching up, I put my hand on the barrel of the gun to stop him from shooting.
‘Please, put the gun away.’
Alfie laughed. He had a reputation for being cold-hearted and took pleasure from other people’s suffering. I wanted to drop to my knees and beg, but this wasn’t the right time to show weakness.
‘If you ever pull a stunt like that again, I’ll jam this barrel so far down your fucking throat, I’ll be able to see what you had for breakfast. Do you understand me?’ Alfie said before he lowered the gun.
Nathan nodded.
‘I’m sorry, I didn’t hear what you said?’ Alfie cupped his hand to his ear.
‘Yes, I understand,’ Nathan said through clenched teeth.
‘You should count yourself lucky; I’m not in the habit of giving people second chances,’ Alfie said, putting the gun back in his waistband and fastening his jacket. ‘Be ready at two o’clock tomorrow, Gemma.’
Tossing his cigarette onto the floor, Alfie crushed it under his shoe before heading to the door. I waited until he was out of earshot before I gave Nathan a piece of my mind.
‘What the hell were you thinking of?’ I shouted, throwing my hands in the air. Nathan held his hands out in front of him as he tried to pacify me. ‘I thought he was going to shoot you.’
My emotions finally got the better of me, and I covered my eyes with the palms of my hands as I tried to stop the tears running down my cheeks. It was no use, and I began weeping like a baby.
‘I’m sorry, Gemma. Please don’t cry.’ Nathan reached out to me.
14
Nathan
I knew I shouldn’t have lost my head with Alfie, but something inside me snapped. I couldn’t help myself. I hated the sense of being controlled. Alfie had taken over mine and Gemma’s lives, and there was nothing I could do to stop him. The frustration I was feeling boiled over into anger. I didn’t care what Alfie did to me, but Gemma’s safety had to come first. She was the most important person in the world to me, and I would protect her with my life, but right now, Alfie wouldn’t let me, and that was eating me up inside.
Being the product of a broken home, I’d had to grow up fast and learn to be independent. Nobody would be there to pick me up and kiss me better if I fell. That was a tough lesson for a child to learn, but it was the way things were, so I had to get over it.
There was never a good time for your parents to divorce, but knowing my dad left my mum for another woman when I was a baby had a profound effect on me. It wasn’t so much the fact that they’d split up, but the fact that he didn’t have any contact with me since the day he left that I found hard to accept. I felt that he’d abandoned me and I hated him for that.
It was a sad fact of life that low-income children had a hard time getting ahead. Believing that the past determines your future was something I found hard to shake off. Nothing knocked your confidence more than having to wear cheap, ill-fitting clothes when everyone else in your class had designer gear. The other kids used to tease me about it. That psychologically scarred me. There was no better driving force than poverty. I developed an overwhelming desire to be rich, but look where that had got me.
There had to be a way to get us out of this situation. It wasn’t fair that Gemma had become involved in the mess I’d created. I was the one who had borrowed the money.
15
Gemma
When the Mercedes pulled up at the kerb, I breathed a sigh of relief. I couldn’t wait to put some space between myself and Alfie. Slipping his hand inside his suit jacket, he took out a velvet pouch containing the replica
watch and gave it to me.
As I made my way towards Harrods, my heels clicked on the pavement. Concentrating on the rhythmic sound, I tried desperately to encourage a sense of calm to wash over me. Holding my head high, I walked into the entrance and made my way to The Fine Watch Room, located on the ground floor of the seven-storey building. Black marble, glass and minimalist display cabinets stretched out before me.
As I casually began browsing, I could see this wasn’t going to be an easy job. The shop’s centrepiece, made up of a trio of counters, displayed the best watches. The diamond-encrusted lion that Alfie wanted was beneath the glass. How was I going to get away with this? There were highly visible security devices located immediately overhead. I’d have to try and make the switch while the cameras were rolling.
‘Good afternoon,’ the sales assistant said.
‘Good afternoon,’ I replied.
‘My name is Susan. Is there anything, in particular, you’re looking for?’
Aware that I only had one opportunity to get Alfie’s lion out of the cabinet, I couldn’t afford to mess this up. ‘I’d like a new watch; I’m bored of this one.’ I gestured to the platinum Rolex on my wrist, feeling myself cringe as I acted out the part of a woman with a bottomless bank balance.
Although Susan smiled politely, I got the distinct impression she wasn’t too keen on me. Realising charm alone was unlikely to work on Susan, I’d have to try a different approach, and think of another way to get her onside. That in itself was going to be challenging; she didn’t look like she’d be prepared to bend the rules for anyone.
‘Do you only wear platinum?’ Susan asked, scanning her eyes over my jewellery.
‘No, I’m a bit of a magpie really. I like anything that glitters.’ I smiled, hoping to break down the barrier between us.
‘Do you have a budget in mind?’ Susan looked at me with a blank, expressionless face.
‘Not really. I’m lucky enough to be married to a very wealthy man who also happens to be incredibly generous. So, if I see something I like, he’ll let me buy it,’ I said, hoping I hadn’t gone overboard.
This mature lady had no doubt seen it all before. I was just another one of those annoying customers, with more money than sense. ‘Would you like to try some of the watches on?’
‘Yes, please.’
After unlocking the cabinet, Susan took out a small, elegant ladies’ watch with delicate flowers on its face. ‘This is a beautiful timepiece from Boodles. It’s made from eighteen-carat white gold,’ she said, holding it out for me to take.
‘Ooh, it’s stunning, isn’t it?’ I removed my Rolex and slipped the other watch onto my wrist.
‘It’s part of their new range, the Blossom collection. I don’t know whether you are familiar with it.’
‘Yes, I am.’ I’d never heard of it before in my life, but Susan didn’t need to know that, I decided.
‘The bezel and blossoms are made up of round brilliant-cut diamonds totalling almost two carats,’ Susan pointed out. As a rare smile spread across her face, it softened her stern features.
‘It is a beautiful watch.’ Holding it away from my body, I began admiring it from every angle. The mobile inside my Hermès bag started ringing. ‘Please, excuse me a moment.’
Susan forced out a strained smile and waited impatiently for me to finish my call. Her attitude was starting to irritate me. While I spoke to Alfie, I wondered if she treated all her customers this way or only the ones who were about to spend thousands of pounds. She didn’t have a nice way about her, and if I had genuinely been about to buy something, I would have taken my custom elsewhere.
‘It has an alligator strap, and the dial is made of white mother of pearl.’ Susan continued with her sales pitch the moment my call ended.
‘How much is it?’
‘It’s twenty-two thousand five hundred pounds.’ Susan’s steely grey eyes bored into mine, to judge my reaction.
My upper lip beaded with perspiration, so I willed myself to focus on the job in hand. ‘I thought it would be more than that,’ I replied in as light a tone as I could manage, hoping to convince the human lie detector in front of me, that money wasn’t an object.
Spurred on by the fact that the price was of no concern to me, and thinking only of the commission she was about to earn, Susan began selecting increasingly more expensive items for me to try on.
Eventually, she took Alfie’s watch out of the display cabinet. ‘If you want something unusual, this is an exquisite timepiece made by Chanel.’
She demonstrated how the diamond-encrusted head of the lion slid to one side, to reveal the hidden dial, before handing it to me.
‘That’s incredible.’
‘The Lion Vénitien is a very clever design, incorporating a watch and a bracelet in one piece.’
Susan’s miserable face stopped puckering for a moment when I slipped the feline bracelet onto my wrist.
‘I’ve never seen anything like this before.’ That wasn’t strictly true. The one Terry had made looked remarkably similar to the untrained eye.
‘The watch is crafted from white gold, with a mother-of-pearl dial and adorned with five hundred brilliant-cut diamonds.’ Susan looked delighted, and she beamed from ear to ear, thinking she’d hit the jackpot.
I’d left my bag on the floor, so when my mobile began ringing again, I ducked down below the cabinet to answer it. I pretended I was having trouble locating my phone, in my cavernous bag, to give myself some time. Sliding the black satin strap over my hand, I switched the watches. Turning my back on Susan, I walked away from the counter briefly.
Holding the mobile in my hand, I went back to where Susan was waiting. ‘I’m sorry about that; my husband wanted to know what was taking me so long! Men are so impatient, aren’t they?’
Susan nodded in agreement. But I could tell by her hostile body language that she’d like nothing better than to see the back of me. After she’d persuaded me to part with a huge sum of money, that is.
‘I’m finding it difficult to choose between them. They’re all beautiful. How much is this one?’ I asked, with the fake on my wrist.
Susan didn’t seem to notice the fact that I’d switched the watches. She was distracted by the pound signs that were rolling around her eyes.
‘Let me just check.’
Who was she trying to kid? Susan knew exactly how much it cost. I thought my acting had been good, but she was giving me a run for my money with her Oscar-winning performance.
‘It’s slightly more expensive. It’s one hundred and thirty-five thousand pounds.’ The words rolled off Susan’s tongue with ease.
I jumped when the mobile vibrated in my hand. ‘Oh no, it’s my husband again, he’s waiting for me at the Oyster Bar,’ I said, switching the phone off. ‘I’ll have to come back after we’ve had lunch.’
Slipping the watch off my hand, I handed it back to Susan, who looked at me with thinly veiled contempt in her eyes.
‘Enjoy your meal,’ she said in a sarcastic tone, and only just managed not to snarl her lip when she spoke.
*
As I made my way out of the exit, each breath was a struggle. My heart was pounding so hard and loud it felt as though it was going to beat its way out of my chest. Overcome with emotion, I battled to keep my unquenchable tears within when I took a seat in the car.
For a moment, Alfie didn’t speak but stared at me while he lit a cigarette. ‘Are you all right?’
I nodded my head and tried to regain composure, but I lost the fight. The floodgates opened, and I began weeping bitter, angry tears.
Alfie adjusted his tie, shifted in his seat, then threw me an uncomfortable look. ‘What’s up, Gemma? Did something go wrong?’
Embarrassed by my behaviour, my eyes darted everywhere and anywhere. I wanted to avoid looking directly at Alfie until I could take a tissue out of my bag and dry my eyes. ‘No, everything went to plan.’ My voice sounded breathless.
Glancing sideways, I could s
ee Alfie had fixed me with a steely glare, so I forced myself to look up from my lap. When I did, I met Tommy’s eyes. He was watching me in the rear-view mirror.
‘Have you got the watch?’ Alfie turned towards me in his seat.
‘Yes.’
‘So what are you wailing about?’
‘I was terrified I was going to get caught. There were cameras everywhere.’
‘Of course there were, it’s a high-profile store, Gemma. But nothing’s missing, is it? As long as the staff weren’t suspicious of you, they won’t bother checking the footage or, more importantly, their stock. Don’t stress about it; companies don’t keep the images long before the system automatically overwrites them.’ Alfie turned away and looked out of the blacked-out window.
‘I hope you’re right about that.’
‘I am. That’s the beauty of the switch. We get to steal things right under the store’s nose without them noticing. They won’t even realise they’ve been hit.’ Alfie brought his eyes back to mine. ‘You’re an excellent thief, Gemma,’ Alfie said, after an uncomfortable pause.
‘Is that meant to be a compliment?’
‘Of course. Sleight of hand is not an easy thing to master. You should be proud of yourself.’
How could I be? I’d been pushed way past my comfort zone. Stealing wasn’t exciting; it scared me to death. I suddenly felt drained, and my body began to tremble, as I experienced the after-effects of the adrenaline rush. I attempted to shake off my fatigue, but my strength had been sapped. I couldn’t seem to lose the feeling of exhaustion.
I’m the type of person who listens carefully to their conscience, and it was telling me that stealing was wrong whatever the circumstances. Slumping in my seat, I paused for a moment, trying to find a response. But I couldn’t think of anything appropriate to say. Alfie’s words played over and over in my mind. Taking the watch from my bag, I handed it to him. It was exquisite, and I watched him as he held it up to the light. Suddenly he began to laugh.
Risking It All Page 6