by June Tate
‘Let’s just stay at home in my flat. You can take me there when I finish on Saturday night and we can have a really lazy day.’ She smiled mischievously. ‘We could spend the day in bed if we wanted to!’
He laughed. ‘Are you trying to seduce me?’
‘Absolutely!’ She snuggled into him. ‘I just want to be close to you always. You see, a few days ago, I thought I’d never see you again.’
He tipped her chin upwards so she had to look at him.
‘We will always be together! Nothing or no one is ever going to come between us . . . and that includes your sailor boyfriend!’
She chuckled. ‘I spoke to Bruce yesterday and told him what had happened. He’d been so worried about helping me get home and felt so guilty about doing so. As he said, if he’d been firmer, I wouldn’t have been in so much trouble.’
‘Well, you can’t twist me round your little finger like you can him and you’d better know that now. I will be the one who wears the trousers in this relationship, not you!’
She burst out laughing. ‘Oh, Johnny darling, you have so much to learn.’
On Sunday morning, after a night of passion, the two of them were curled up in bed. Johnny stretched and yawned. ‘Tea I think,’ he said and, climbing out of bed, went into the kitchen.
Victoria lay, languid from sleep and sex. How lucky they had been after all, she mused. Things could have been so much worse. Now they had a future free from threat and harm. Of course the court case was before them, which would be unpleasant. Both of them would have to appear as witnesses. Then they could get on with their lives.
Johnny returned carrying a tray with tea and toast on it and Victoria sat up, pulling the sheet around her to cover her nakedness. But Johnny put the tray down and sat beside her.
‘It’s quite obvious to me, Miss Teglia, that you need a strong man in your life to keep you out of trouble and there is no one better equipped to do that than me!’
She looked somewhat puzzled at his outburst until he held out a small box and, taking her hand, he opened the box to reveal a diamond solitaire.
She looked at him in complete surprise.
‘Will you marry me, Victoria?’
For a moment she was stunned. Then she threw her arms around him. ‘Oh yes, Johnny, I will, I certainly will!’
When Victoria rang her mother later that morning and told her the news, Lily congratulated her. As Lily said to Luke later, ‘At least she has a man who can control her!’
Luke laughed. ‘Are you sure about that?’
‘To a point, anyway. He’s not the man I’d have chosen for her; I thought Bruce would have given her a better life.’
Luke smiled benignly. ‘In your opinion! But Victoria is the woman who has to live with him. He seems all right to me. He’s ambitious, doing well in the construction business and, to be honest, I like him.’
George and Sandy were delighted with the news.
‘You two were made for each other,’ Sandy declared. ‘I always had faith in the lad.’
Three months later, Mendelssohn’s Wedding March rang out from the organ of St Michael’s church and Johnny, with George Coleman as his best man, turned to watch Victoria, on Luke’s arm, walk down the aisle.
As she stopped beside him he gazed at her. ‘You look beautiful,’ he said.
Lily, sitting beside Luke, watched Victoria take her vows. How strange the world was, she thought. The bride was the daughter of Vittorio, a local villain and was marrying the son of one. But thankfully their life would be different. Johnny wanted no part of the world he’d known as a child. He had a thriving business which was totally legitimate and wanted to live a good life with a wife and a family. This he had assured Lily of before the wedding day.
Luke squeezed her hand. ‘They’ll be fine,’ he whispered. You’ve only got to look at them to know that.’
The wedding reception was held at the Langford Hotel. At Victoria’s insistence it had been a quiet affair with just family and friends. Sandy was there, delighted to be witness to the occasion.
‘I was honoured to give your mother away the day she and Luke were married,’ he told Victoria. ‘You were very young then and now look, here you are – all grown up.’ He kissed her. ‘Be happy, darling. I always knew that Johnny would come good. He’ll take care of you.’
‘I know he will, Sandy, now you make sure you keep out of trouble!’
‘Don’t be silly, darling!’ He laughed and walked away.
George Coleman watched the proceedings. Vittorio, his old boss, would be so proud of his daughter if he could see her now, he thought. Johnny Daniels looked so happy after all he’d been through with his tyrant of a father. Pat was the one person who still worried Coleman. He was such a devious man and a man who held a grudge. He had that gut feeling about him which was a worry and he never dismissed such a feeling because it had never let him down. He frowned and was lost in thought.
After the speeches and the cutting of the cake, the guests then danced until the bride and groom changed into clothes for travelling.
Victoria hugged her mother and stepfather and kissed them goodbye. ‘Thanks for everything,’ said Victoria.
‘Be happy, darling,’ her mother said and kissed her.
The guests watched and waved as the couple left to spend their honeymoon in Devon. The tin cans, tied on to the back of the car, rattled as the newlyweds drove away.
Two weeks later, Pat Daniels walked into the toilets at Wandsworth Prison. The man beside him standing at the urinal zipped up his trousers, washed his hands and left. Two other men entered, standing either side of Daniels. They suddenly lunged at him, both plunging a knife into the villain.
‘This is with George Coleman’s compliments,’ one said.
Daniels slumped to the floor in a pool of blood. The men walked out, closing the door behind them.