The Goldsworth Series Box Set

by Davie J Toothill

  The light was extinguished as Bolton went into the bathroom and closed the door behind him. Charley sat up in bed as the shower creaked into life.

  She lay back down on the pillows and tried to get back to sleep. Her heart was racing and she tried not to think why Bolton would need a shower before getting into bed with her. He had been acting strange recently, but she had put it down to their recent argument. Other thoughts entered her mind but she refused to entertain them.

  Bolton loved her. He wouldn’t do anything to hurt her.

  The sound of the shower formed a steady rhythm in her head and she felt herself drifting into sleep. She thought about Bolton and decided that he had probably been out drinking and stunk of beer. She considered waiting for him to towel off and then tell him about the letter from her father but decided against it.

  She wasn’t sure why she didn’t want to tell him, but it felt too private. She wanted to establish a relationship with her father before she let Bolton know. If things went badly and they fell out of contact, then Bolton would never need to know.

  After leaving her mother’s flat, she had gone to a cafe and spent hours writing out a reply to Nathaniel’s letter. He had included a return address in his letter, so she knew where to get in touch with him. When she had been satisfied with her reply, she had posted it. She wasn’t sure how long it would take before he would get her response, but the thought excited her. She had asked to meet him and she couldn’t help but picture him in her mind.

  The shower was turned off and Charley battled to clear her mind. The bathroom door opened a few minutes later and Bolton tiptoed across the room and slid into bed next to her. She felt him stretch out and fought to keep her breathing even.

  Within minutes, Bolton was asleep and Charley snuggled against him, his arm automatically closing around her. No matter what happened with her father, she thought to herself, she would always have Bolton at her side.

  * * *

  Chris Germaine lay on his bunk bed and looked up at the ceiling, counting the bricks above him like he had done for the past ten months. Sometimes it helped him get to sleep, the sheer monotony of the action shutting down his mind, but tonight he was wired.

  Ten months in prison and he had adjusted well to the routine of life behind bars. He had spent time in juvenile halls as a teenager, so he was used to the confinement and the way things happened in a system filled with angry young men all out to prove themselves.

  He had a mobile phone and the men had a television in the common room, so the stay this time hadn’t been as frustrating as he had found it the first few times he had served time.

  The one thing he missed was his girlfriend. She visited him every chance she got, but sitting across a table with the minimum of contact allowed was not much. Before he’d been sent down, he and Sapphire’s sex life had been phenomenal. She knew how to please him and he knew how to satisfy her. They were a match made in heaven.

  He felt himself stirring at the thought of her and tried to control himself.

  He was excited, not just at the thought of her, but of being free. His release date had been brought forward for good behaviour. At least, the prison warden thought he had been well behaved. He didn’t know about the beatings he had dished out and the fact that he had dealt whatever he could when the officers’ backs were turned.

  Now he was scheduled for release next week and the knowledge that this would be one of his last nights in the cell was like ecstasy to him. His roommate snored loudly and turned over in the bunk beneath him. No more cell mates, either, he reflected.

  Instead he would be sharing a bed with Sapphire and he knew they would get no sleep on the night he got out. He could go for hours, the way he was feeling right now, and he knew that Sapphire would be feeling the same, having been apart from him for months without a man’s touch.

  He could picture the look of surprise on her face when he turned up at the house. He had not told her that he was eligible for early release. He couldn’t bear to get her hopes up and then have them dashed if he was refused the application.

  Now that it was a sure thing, he had considered calling her with the mobile and giving her the good news, but he had stopped himself. The look of surprise on her face, her loving embrace and hot kisses were enough to keep him going until he saw her.

  He closed his eyes and began to drift into sleep, his mind filled with thoughts of Sapphire and how grateful she would be to him when he surprised her.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  Charley walked into the cafe and looked around, trying to fight her nerves, her heart beating hard in her chest.

  A man in a dark suit, with a tangled black beard and dark skin, caught her eye and they looked at each other for a long moment, drinking in each other’s appearance. Charley knew that this was Nathaniel Okoro, her father. They had the same thin figure and Charley recognised that they shared the same facial structure, with high cheekbones and delicate noses. She smiled and sat down across from him.

  They sat in silence for a moment. A lifetime of questions that Charley had thought of had disappeared and she wasn’t sure what to say. She felt awkward, wondering whether she had a mistake in meeting him so soon after they had made contact.

  “I’m glad you came,” Nathaniel said, looking at her closely. His voice was deep and smooth, and Charley felt at ease. “I thought perhaps you’d get cold feet and decide you didn’t want to see me at all.”

  “I was nervous,” Charley admitted. “But I’m glad I came too.”

  Nathaniel nodded and they fell quiet again. Charley shifted in her seat, until the waitress came over.

  “I’ll have a tea,” Nathaniel said, before looking at Charley. “What about you?”

  “The same, please.”

  The waitress nodded and left the table, leaving them in silence again.

  “We both drink tea, then,” Nathaniel said.

  “Yeah.”

  Charley fidgeted and caught Nathaniel watching. She stopped, flattening her hands against the wooden table and looked away.

  “I wasn’t sure if you would want to see me,” Nathaniel said, breaking the silence. “When I wrote you the letter, I mean.”

  “It was a surprise,” Charley said, still not looking at him.

  “After such a long time,” Nathaniel said, sighing. “I’m sorry I haven’t gotten in touch before.”

  Charley looked at him and though he looked sincere.

  “You said you just got back to London,” she said, trying to keep the conversation going. Nathaniel nodded. “Where were you before?”

  “I went home to Jamaica,” he answered.

  “Why did you come back here?”

  “My mother died and I realised how important family was to me,” Nathaniel said, his voice cracking with emotion. Charley averted her gaze, worried that he might start to cry, but he coughed and continued. “I wanted to see you, before it was too late to do anything about it.”

  Charley looked at him and nodded, willing him to go on, but he seemed to be lost in his own thoughts, his eyes clear and looking into hers.

  “Your grandmother looked a lot like you, when she was your age,” he said, taking in her face, and a wistful smile crossed his face. “Such a beauty.”

  Charley swallowed down her own emotions and wondered how her life might have been if she’d had a grandmother to look out for her. She imagined a fierce Jamaican woman standing up for her against her mother.

  “Did she know about me?” she asked.

  “Yeah,” Nathaniel nodded. “She was furious with me for not being a father to you.”

  He fell quiet as the waitress returned with their tea. Charley tipped a packet of sugar into hers and fought a smile when Nathaniel did the same. He realised she was watching him and smiled at her.

  “This is harder than I thought it would be,” he said quietly.

  “Yeah,” Charley agreed.

  “You probably have a lot of questions for me.”

  “I guess,�
� Charley said, thinking of all the questions she had thought about on the bus here, which had evaporated when she had walked through the door. “I had a long list of them, but now I don’t know.”

  Nathaniel nodded in understanding. Charley looked at him and felt a question on the tip of her tongue.

  “I guess I just want to know, erm, why you never stuck around?”

  Nathaniel sighed, and Charley guessed he had expected the question.

  “It was your mother’s decision,” he said, leaning forward. Charley was surprised, and Nathaniel shook his head. “Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t have to listen to her. I’m at fault here, not your mother. We broke up, and I guess the hurt ran so deep between us that it just seemed easier to walk away than try and make it work for your sake. I’m sorry for that, and I wish I’d been stronger, but my only excuse is that I was young and stupid.”

  “My boyfriend’s still young, and he isn’t walking away from his responsibilities,” Charley said, before she could stop herself.

  Nathaniel looked up in surprise and Charley saw understanding dawn in his eyes.

  “You mean, you’re pregnant?”

  “Yeah,” Charley said, squaring her shoulders, gesturing to her large bump. “Seven months now.”

  “I thought, perhaps, when you walked in,” Nathaniel said, “But I didn’t want to ask.”

  He looked down at his tea, and Charley wondered whether she should say something as the silence stretched out again.

  “I’m going to be a grandfather,” Nathaniel said, smiling at her.

  “Yeah.”

  “So you live with him?” he asked, “Your boyfriend?”

  “Yeah,” she said. “His name’s Bolton. He’s great. We have our own flat.”

  “That’s good. What does he do?”

  Charley thought about it for a moment.

  “Just some temporary work,” she said, hoping Nathaniel wouldn’t pick up on her hesitation. “Until we get settled, you know.”

  “I’d like to meet him,” Nathaniel said, “If that’s all right with you, of course.”

  “Yeah,” Charley said, feeling uncomfortable again. “It’s just –”

  “Right,” Nathaniel said, nodding. “You didn’t tell him you were coming to see me.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “It’s understandable, there’s no need to apologize,” Nathaniel sighed, offering her a smile. “Of course you weren’t going to tell everyone you were meeting me. I haven’t exactly given you good reason to trust me.”

  “I told mum, though.”

  Nathaniel looked surprised.

  “How did she take it?” he asked.

  “Not well,” Charley admitted. “But there’s no change there.”

  “Still the same woman I knew all those years ago,” Nathaniel nodded.

  “Did you love her?” Charley asked.

  “Yes,” Nathaniel said, “Very much.”

  “Did she love you?”

  “You’d have to ask her that,” he replied. Charley sighed, and Nathaniel smiled at her, sensing her frustration. “I think she did, but it’s hard to tell with your mum sometimes.”

  “Tell me about it,” Charley said, shaking her head.

  “You don’t have a good relationship with her?”

  “We have our moments.”

  Nathaniel considered her answer for a moment. Charley took a drink of tea, conscious of Nathaniel looking at her intently.

  “I hear she went on to get married and have more kids?” he asked.

  “Yeah, but they got divorced years ago,” Charley shrugged. “I’ve got a younger brother and sister.”

  “And you’re older brother, of course.”

  Charley looked at him, surprised.

  “You know about Ash?”

  “Yeah, I know about him,” Nathaniel said, his eyes fading as if he were remembering things. Charley watched him, expectant, and Nathaniel smiled. “It’s complicated.”

  Charley nodded. She couldn’t expect him to answer all her questions, she reasoned. He had a history with Toni and it clearly hadn’t ended well between them, so some questions were bound to bring back bad memories and painful emotions.

  She was stirred from her thoughts when Nathaniel’s phone rang in his pocket. He groaned, clearly unsure over whether to answer or not.

  “You should answer that,” Charley said.

  “I’m sorry,” Nathaniel said, pulling his phone out and checking the number. “It’s my brother, I have to take it. I’ll only be a minute.”

  Charley nodded and Nathaniel answered the phone, crossing the restaurant. She looked through the plate glass window as he spoke down the phone for a few minutes, clearly frustrated by the conversation.

  When he returned to the table, he put the phone back in his pocket and took a drink.

  “You have a brother?” Charley asked.

  “Yes, and I’m sure he’d love to meet you at some point.”

  Charley thought of meeting the rest of her family, perhaps cousins, that she had never known she had.

  “Yeah, that would be good,” she said.

  “I have to go,” Nathaniel said, shaking his head. “But I’d like to do this again.”

  Charley nodded.

  “I would to.”

  “Like I said, I’m sorry about not getting in touch before,” he said, clasping her hands in his. Charley was touched by the gesture. “I just hope I’m not too late to try and have a relationship with you.”

  “You’re not.” Charley said, fighting to control her emotions. “I’ll call you, if you like?”

  “Yeah,” Nathaniel said, pulling his coat on and dropping money onto the table for the teas. “I would invite you home for dinner, but I’m in between places and I don’t think it would give off the right impression.”

  Charley smiled and Nathaniel squeezed her hand.

  “Until next time, then,” he said, standing up.

  She rose to her feet and he pulled her into a hug. She smelt his cologne and felt tears sting at her eyes and blinked them away. He released her after a few moments and smiled down at her.

  When he had gone, Charley pulled her coat on and went out into the street. She looked around, but her father had gone, disappeared into the crowd. She inhaled cold air and felt a fresh spring in her step. It had been an unusual morning, but she was pleased that she had swallowed her nerves and met him.

  Her handbag felt heavy and she thought about the twenty pound notes that Bolton had given her this morning to do some shopping whilst he went to work. She rang him, but there was no answer and she didn’t bother leaving a message.

  Things still weren’t back to normal and she was beginning to feel frustrated at their inability to resolve their problems with shouting and arguing. She called Leigh-Ann and made arrangements to meet her for a shopping spree.

  Whatever Bolton was doing, she hoped he was having fun, because she was going to have a great time spending his money down Oxford Street.

  * * *

  Bolton groaned with pleasure as he lay back against the pillows. Sapphire smiled up at him and went back to work on him.

  His phone rang from the bedside table, but Bolton ignored it, too lost in pleasure. He knew it would be Charley, and he didn’t want to think about her right now. He had given her a wad of cash to go shopping with earlier, and he’d hoped that the gesture would have kept her busy for the day, but evidently not.

  He felt his frustration building with her and began to see what Dante meant when he had called her clingy. He couldn’t do anything without Charley ringing him to check up on him or ask him to come home. She was getting on his nerves now. Pregnant or not, she still had to respect his own feelings and he didn’t want to spend every waking moment in her company.

  His body felt tense and he shifted his body. Sapphire looked up at him, eyebrow raised in question.

  “Don’t you like it?” she asked, “’Cos you ain’t never complained before.”

  His body fe
lt tense and every muscle was straining in frustration. He reached for her arm and pulled her up. She straddled him, her hands running over his chest, her fingernails leaving faint marks on his skin. He cupped her breasts in his hands and rubbed them, eliciting a moan from her.

  She leant her head back, her hair falling down her back and her eyes closed in pleasure. He moved his arms from her breasts, sliding them down her body to the curves of her hips. She fumbled for a condom on the bedside table and slid it over him with ease, her practised hands quick and efficient. He thrust forward and she stifled a cry as he entered her.

  Bolton closed his eyes and thrust his hips back and forth. Sapphire continued to moan in pleasure, and Bolton could feel her body bucking as his hands held firm to her hips.

  He heard the door swing open and Sapphire let out a cry. Bolton’s eyes snapped open and he saw a tall man in a vest and jogging bottoms standing in the doorway, his eyes wide in surprise. Sapphire clambered off the bed, pulling the sheets up over her breasts, looking horrified.

  “What the fuck’s going on here?” the man said, his voice loud and his fists clenched at his sides. “Sapphire?”

  Sapphire moved forward, arm outstretched to him, but he slapped her hand away and glared at Bolton.

  “I’m sorry, Chris,” Sapphire was saying, her eyes wet with tears. “I didn’t know you were getting out, I wouldn’t have –”

  “I was going to fucking surprise you,” he shouted, turning on her. “And this is what I get back to? Find you riding some other guy in my own bed.”

  Bolton jumped off the bed and began pulling on his clothes. He could guess who this was. Sapphire’s boyfriend. And Dante had told him he was a mean motherfucker when he wanted to be, and Bolton didn’t like his chances if they got into a fight.

  Chris turned to face him, furious, and took a step forward.

  “Let’s talk about this,” Sapphire said, sobbing, clinging to his arm. “Please, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know you were getting out, and I had needs.”

  “You think I didn’t have needs?” Chris shouted, leaning inches from her face, making her cry harder. “But I couldn’t do anything when I was locked up, could I? I thought I’d get some action when I got out, but I find you’ve been getting it from someone else.”