He looked puzzled. “Belle, seriously?”
“Seriously.” At that moment Bruiser walked into the office, who broke into a smile when he saw Rachel. “Bruiser, do you think Belle fancies Battler?” she asked him.
He grinned and nodded. Bruiser rarely spoke.
“See,” said Rachel.
“You’re both wrong,” said Battler before nervously clearing his throat. “Anyway, is this just a flying visit or can we do something for you?”
“Trying to change the subject?”
He hesitated before slowly saying, “no.”
She smiled and glanced at Bruiser, who grinned and shook his head.
Realising Battler was getting uncomfortable with the conversation she decided it was time to let it go. “I wondered if you had any information about the local gangs?”
“Any particular reason?”
She explained what had happened on her drive back from Bristol, both of them looking increasingly angry the more she went on.
“Any idea who could be behind it?” she ended.
“No one local,” glowered Battler. “These little wanks come in from the cities. We can look into it if you want?”
“No need,” she replied. “You’re busy and the police are investigating.”
“Police,” he snorted. “Fucking useless. If you want a job done you get us to do it.”
“I didn’t come here to get you started on this case, I just wanted your opinion.”
“We’ll look into it, won’t we Bruiser? No one attacks you,” said Battler. Bruiser nodded firmly in response. “We’ll track down this shower of arseholes and give them a really good hiding.”
“There’s no need to go that far.”
“After everything you’ve been through there’s no way we’re letting a group of little shites bother you. They saw your licence plate, they could think you’re unfinished business. I just hope they’ve done some research and found out who you are and decided to let it go. But losers like them don’t usually have any sense so you might not have seen the last of them.”
“You’re right,” she said. “I should warn Samantha, the other woman.”
“Might be a good idea.”
She nodded and got to her feet. “Thanks lads, I appreciate that. Right, I’m off to the salon.”
“You’re going alone?” said Battler disapprovingly.
Rachel didn’t like this comment, it frightened her. This was how it had been when Alex had turned on them, when Ryan had been abducted and when Jared Slattery and the Jordans had threatened them. She hadn’t been allowed to go anywhere without a bodyguard and this was starting to feel the same way. “Yes,” she said determinedly. “I’m not in any danger.”
Realising what she was thinking Battler hastily added, “yeah, it’ll be fine. You’ll see.”
She nodded. “Anyway, I’m not strictly alone. We’ve got a visitor, she just needed to use the bathroom.”
As if on cue the door burst open and Jules entered. “Alright boys? Up for a threesome?”
“Oh great,” sighed Battler while Bruiser rolled his eyes.
“I missed you too,” smiled Jules. “Been pining for me you big sexy men?”
“No,” said Battler flatly. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m on holiday and getting to know my big brother and his family.”
“So Mikey and Jez haven’t got fed up of you?”
“No,” she said sunnily, ignoring the insult. “And I bring exciting news. I’m pregnant.”
Battler and Bruiser blinked at her with surprise. “With a baby?” Battler eventually said, making Rachel snigger.
“Course with a baby. What the hell else could it be?” frowned Jules.
“I have no idea.”
“And Jax proposed to me.”
“Jackson Driscoll?” spluttered Bruiser, causing them all to turn his way.
“Yes,” said Jules proudly. “Magnificent, isn’t he?”
“Jared Slattery’s the father of Jules’s baby,” said Rachel. “You can trust them,” she added when Jules’s eyebrow arched.
“Suppose,” she mumbled.
“Oh hell,” said Battler. “You couldn’t have picked a worse dad unless you’d gate-crashed Wakefield Prison.”
“Yeah, I know,” she snapped. “It wasn’t exactly planned, accidents do happen.”
“Accident? This is a bleedin’ catastrophe.”
“Right, come on,” said Rachel, steering Jules to the door. “You’ve said hello.”
“Wish I hadn’t bothered now. Miserable bastards,” she yelled over her shoulder.
Battler and Bruiser listened to her voice die away.
“Jesus, she’s breeding,” said Battler when everything went silent.
Bruiser’s look was grim.
Jules muttered angrily to herself the whole journey to the salon Rachel owned. Clearly she’d expected the brothers to be more appreciative of her surprise appearance.
“Like they’re so perfect,” she said to herself as Rachel drove. “Fucking big bald bastards. You know what they say about men with no hair?”
“What?”
“I don’t know but it must be bad.”
“Take it easy, you shouldn’t get stressed in your condition.”
“It’s hard not to when I can’t have a fag.” She shoved the e-cigarette in her mouth. “This plastic shite just isn’t the same,” she said before desperately sucking on the empty tube. As they weren’t recommended for pregnant women she wasn’t about to take the risk but she found she needed something to hold in her hand and put in her mouth as a substitute to help with the cravings. “No drinking or gymnastic sex either. The next six months are going to be crap.”
“It goes by quicker than you think.”
“God I hope so. So, where are we going?”
“To the salon. I want to get my hair done for our girls’ night out tonight and I think you could use some relaxation. You could have a pamper, get your nails done…” She glanced at Jules’s bitten down stumps and said, “maybe not. Or you could have a makeover…maybe that’s a bad idea too. How about an Indian head massage? It’s really relaxing.”
“Yeah, sounds good,” she replied distractedly.
“What’s bothering you?”
“Oh just the fact that I’m going to be a mum and that I might be marrying Jax and that I can’t do anything fun anymore.”
“There’s something else on your mind.”
“No there isn’t,” she said quickly.
“Yes there is.”
“What are you, psychic?”
“No, I’m just good at reading people. So come on, what is it?”
“It’s nothing,” she said defensively,
“Fine, you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to but you’re my sister-in-law. You can confide in me if you want.”
Jules looked down at her hands, unsure what to do. She wanted to tell someone that her feelings for Mikey were driving her up the wall but she knew Rachel was close to him, he was like a little brother to her and that fact was putting her off. “I’ll think about it.”
“Okay,” said Rachel, in a way that indicated she was done talking about it, which was fine by Jules.
Rachel was careful to park right outside the salon in full view of the windows. After Battler’s warning her old instincts were kicking in. Normally Jules would make the perfect bodyguard but in her condition she could not expect her to fight. Rachel shook thoughts like that out of her head. She was sure the gang wouldn’t seek any sort of retribution. So why had a feeling of dread settled in the pit of her stomach?
Daina was at the salon, who was four months pregnant. Rachel noticed Jules stare at her stomach curiously.
“Rachel,” exclaimed Daina, throwing her arms around her. Ryan had freed her and her best friend Sabine from a brothel after they were trafficked into the country from Latvia. Sabine’s older sister had helped Rachel escape after she was kidnapped by Alex and then was murd
ered for her trouble. Rachel had sworn to always keep these two safely under her wing in gratitude. As both women wanted to be beauticians she had given them jobs in her salon and intended to give them their very own business to run together once they were fully qualified. She had no worries about Daina, who would be marrying Bruiser soon. She was also one of the most outgoing and bubbly personalities she had ever met and she enjoyed her new life. But she did worry about Sabine, who had recently been struggling with the fact that she was gay. It had taken her a long time to admit it to her friends, terrified they would disapprove but naturally they hadn’t bothered and now she was doing better, but for a while she had been quite depressed.
Tracey - the manager of the salon - was present too, the mother hen to them all.
Rachel introduced Jules to them all, who nodded back a little sullenly - until she cast her eyes on Sabine.
“Hello,” she purred.
“Hello,” replied Sabine shyly, the corner of her mouth lifting into a smile.
“And what’s your name?”
“Sabine.”
“You’re not from round here?”
“No I am Latvian.”
“I love your accent.”
Rachel, Daina and Tracey all looked on in astonishment as Sabine and Jules began to blatantly flirt with each other.
“You know I think I’ll change my mind about that massage,” said Jules. She winked at Sabine. “Do you do full body?”
“No she doesn’t, she does nails,” interrupted Tracey, who was very protective of Sabine. “But I do.”
Jules’s smile fell. “Oh. In that case, I’ll have my nails done, if you can do anything with these stumps?” she smiled, holding her hands out for Sabine to see.
“I’m sure I can. This way,” smiled Sabine, leading her to a chair, Jules’s eyes fixed on her backside as she followed her.
“Were they just…?” began Daina.
“Yes,” replied Tracey and Rachel in unison.
“I wonder what Ryan will say about it?”
“Probably good luck Sabine, you’ll need it,” replied Rachel.
Mikey and Jez had gathered together the core team of their empire to the bungalow for a meeting - Declan, who was Mikey’s cousin from Ireland, Mark Cameron, who acted as their primary bodyguard, Grant Stokes, who was in charge of security and Shane Wyles, who was only eighteen. They’d brought him up from Nottingham after he’d helped them out during the Jared Slattery incident. He was very smart and naturally business-minded and he’d kept their secret well when Mikey had pretended to be dead after the compound was blown up. For that reason alone they trusted him implicitly and they brought him in on all their business dealings. After seeing their way of life kill so many of their family members Mikey and Jez weren’t sure they wanted their sons to come in on the business with them and in Shane they saw a possible prince to take everything over once they were too old.
They’d just related to their inner circle their meeting with Toni McVay and the fact that they were both heading up to Glasgow.
“I don’t like it,” said Grant. “Could be a trap.”
“I don’t think so,” said Jez. “Like Toni said, why go to the trouble of luring us up there and landing herself with two bodies to dispose of when she could easily have us executed down here, well away from her?”
“The McVays can’t be trusted.”
“True,” said Mikey. “But our arrangement with them brings in an enormous amount of money. I could understand it if things were going badly but they’re not.”
“She could have someone wanting to take things over, someone offering a bigger slice of the pie,” countered Grant.
“She knows full well the third parties involved in our arrangement will only do business with us and without those third parties the whole chain falls through. We’ve put some feelers out and apparently things haven’t been right in the McVay clan for a while. A lot of people don’t like a woman in charge and Uncle Tam is an old hand at this game, they think he’d be better at running things than Toni.”
“And Uncle Tam doesn’t like us,” said Jez. “If he’s put in charge then there’s a good chance he’d attack us. By supporting Toni we’re protecting ourselves.”
“I’ve got to admit I’d rather have her running things rather than that crazy, tubby little bastard,” said Mark. “I’ve heard about Tam, he likes cutting people up with a machete.”
“And Toni likes scooping out people’s eyeballs and keeping them in glasses cases,” said Grant.
Shane stood in the corner, practically overloading with excitement at the mention of the McVays. He knew all about them, they’d taken up a big spot in his gangster scrapbook. He hoped he went to Glasgow, he’d love to meet Toni McVay, who was a legend.
“So what does everyone think?” said Jez, addressing the room.
After Alex had turned into a dictator Mikey and Jez were always careful to ask their employees’ opinions as well as each other’s.
“I think we should go for it and support Toni,” said Mark.
“Me too,” added Declan.
“Yeah, Glasgow. Definitely,” said an excited Shane.
“Looks like I’m outvoted,” sighed Grant.
“We’ve not much choice in this mate,” said Mikey. “If we don’t go and Toni wins then she’ll see our lack of support as a huge slight and it’ll be war again.”
“Yeah, I know,” he said, looking troubled. “But if you support Toni and she loses, Tam will see it as a huge slight too.”
“Then we’ll just have to make sure Tam loses,” said Jez. “Now, we need to decide who’s coming with us and who’s staying.”
“I’ll come,” said Shane.
Jez smiled indulgently. “I like your enthusiasm. You’re in. Declan, we think you should stay, we want someone with the Maguire name still here.”
“Fine by me,” he shrugged.
Jez’s eyes flicked between Mark and Grant. “We want one of you to stay and one of you to come with us. Choose between the two of you.”
“Hold on,” said Grant. “What about Jules?”
“Jules is down in Devon with Ryan and Rachel,” said Jez.
“What does she think about all this?”
“She doesn’t know and she’s not getting involved. She’s pregnant.”
“Pregnant?” said Grant with surprise. “Who’s the culprit?”
“Jackson Driscoll. They might be getting married. So I’ve ordered Jules to stay well out of things until after the baby’s born. That’s why Declan will be in charge here while we’re away.”
“If you don’t mind Grant I’d like to go to Glasgow,” said Mark. “I’ve got an uncle up there I wouldn’t mind saying hi to if we get time.”
“Fair enough,” said Mikey. He looked to Grant. “That means you’re staying here.”
“Okay but I want it put on record that I don’t like this.”
“Objection noted.”
“When do we leave?” said Shane eagerly.
“Tomorrow morning,” said Mikey. “Mark, you can drive.”
He nodded.
“Great, everyone go home and pack,” smiled Jez.
When they’d gone Mikey got up and shut the office door behind them. “Grant has a point.”
“I know,” sighed Jez. “But what choice do we have? We need to make sure the person we want to work with wins.”
Mikey nodded. “You’re right and if we change our minds we’ll be in the prime position to take out Toni.”
Jez looked more cheerful. “We can’t lose.”
CHAPTER 10
Rachel returned home with a much more upbeat Jules, her nails nicely painted black.
“Have fun?” said Ryan, kissing Rachel.
“Yeah, it was good. We went to the salon.”
He looked amused. “Jules, in a salon?”
“I’m not completely unfeminine,” she sniffed. “Besides, there’s this really hot girl who works there with the sexiest accent.”
“She means Sabine,” said Rachel.
Ryan’s eyes narrowed. Just like Rachel he was very protective of Daina and Sabine. “I suggest you stay away from her. She’s been through so much, the last thing she needs is to be…Julesed.” Ryan, along with Jez and Riley, had rescued Daina and Sabine from the horrific brothel they’d been trafficked to. He’d seen first hand what they’d been subjected to and he would not allow anyone to hurt either of them again.
“I’ll be gentle, promise,” she smiled.
Ryan’s expression was stony. “Aren’t you supposed to be getting married?”
“Correction. I’m considering getting married and if I’m going to be chained to the same man for the rest of my life I’m entitled to a little fun first. Jax would understand.”
“That man must be a saint,” said Ryan. “You do not hurt Sabine. She’s just coming to terms with her sexuality. She’s already been scared off men, I don’t want you scaring her off women too.”
“Seems to me she’s come to terms with her sexuality pretty well, she was flirting her arse off with me. She’s invited me to go on your girl’s night out tonight,” she said, looking to Rachel. “You invited me anyway but it’s nice to be wanted.”
“I’ll keep an eye on them,” Rachel told Ryan.
“I hope you mean that sweetheart.” He looked to Jules. “None of your extreme Venom high jinks please.”
“Did I just hear Ryan Law say high jinks?” she laughed.
He pursed his lips. “No tying her up, no spanking and absolutely, definitely no choking her.”
“Hey, I don’t need all that anymore since Leighton died.” Her smile was sultry. “Well, except the spanking. And the tying up. Oh, and there’s the whipped cream and ten volt battery.”
Ryan held up a hand. “Please, no more.” He went rigid, jaw tensing when he felt something brush against his legs. He looked down at his feet and scowled. “What is that doing back?”
The ginger cat looked up at him expectantly and meowed.
“He never left,” said Rachel. “I’ve not managed to track down his owner yet. No one seems to know where he came from.”
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