by Martina Cole
Now, she had to confront her husband not only about money, but about many other things she had been unaware of for years. She wished fervently that she was still unaware of them. This was the hardest thing she had ever had to do, mainly because Georgio was now a captive audience, being forced into listening to her talk about something they would never normally discuss. She felt the sensation of being in charge once more, being the one in control, and all because she could walk out of this prison and he couldn’t.
‘Last night the car lot was destroyed - at least, the cars were destroyed,’ she began. ‘When you were first sentenced, I took an interest in your businesses. The car lot, and the sites, were all hopelessly under-insured.’ Her voice faltered as she saw Georgio’s face harden. She cleared her throat before continuing, telling herself that this was her husband, not a stranger she was talking to. This was the man she had slept with, loved and partnered for a long time. She had no need to be frightened of him, yet she knew that for some unaccountable reason she was.
‘The money we had in our joint account I have used to bring the insurances up to date. I also used it to pay off the building suppliers, as they were not going to allow us any more credit. I also know that for the car lot, you and Davey have two sets of books. One I assume for yourselves, and one for the taxman. Davey doesn’t know I found this out, so please don’t blame him. I had to shut down some of the sites. The houses on the Essex site were up to the damp-proof level - they will be finished once we have the money. I am depending on the Ilford site to get us out of this mess. We stand to make a little over one hundred thousand off that. But then, you already know all this, don’t you?’
She sipped her coffee once more as she looked into his stony face. ‘The XJS you owned has been taken back. We couldn’t meet the payments. I might add that the separate bank account you paid the leasehire from is now closed. I explained your circumstances to the bank, paid off your overdraft, and after talking to the leasehire company, everything was OK. My car I paid for by taking some of my jewellery, including my gold Rolex, to pawn. I now own the car.’
Georgio laughed nastily. ‘All right, so you found out about my business practices. They’re no better or worse than anyone else’s in this recession, Donna. So don’t make snap judgements.’
It was Donna’s turn to lose her temper. ‘Snap judgements! In four months you make a bit more than a snap judgement. I have been gradually finding all this out. I am your wife, Georgio, not some silly harebrained little girl who isn’t capable of taking the simplest thing on board. I have been effectively running your businesses, have got you out of the shit, and all the while I’ve been working in the dark! Everyone kept saying to me “You should look after his interests, he’s your husband.” Well, that’s exactly what I’ve been doing, in case it’s escaped your notice. And quite frankly, it would have been a lot easier if I had known the score from day one. For instance, I own the house outright - well, I never knew that. I also own the sites outright - you’re only a director. I own the car lot as well, and you’re a director again. What the hell is going on, Georgio? I’m dragged out of bed by two policemen in the middle of the night to be told that vandals have wrecked the motors on a whim! Do I look that stupid? Also, who the hell rang your brother Stephen up? He arrived all knowing and it didn’t occur to me until I was sitting on the blasted ferry today that no one from the police could have got in touch with him. I asked Davey last night if he had contacted anyone and he said no. So what I want to know now is, what else am I in the dark about?’
Georgio was stunned. Donna watched the different expressions flitting across his face and felt the urge to take him in her arms and love him until everything was forgotten. Instead she sat fast in her seat, knowing that this was make or break time.
Georgio dropped his eyes to the table in front of him and finally spoke.
‘Look, love, I never wanted you to know about the trouble with the businesses. It’s been a hard old slog the last few years. The building craze died overnight, house prices dropped. I don’t need to paint a picture, do I? I had invested in a lot of land and property, and when I realised I was overreaching myself I placed everything in your name in case they ever foreclosed on me. Lots of blokes did it. If they bankrupted me, they couldn’t touch your assets. You didn’t own the sites or the car lot until I was near my court date. Then I was hoping that somehow Stephen would run the businesses and bring them back out on top. When you began running them, I was frightened of this happening, but you were so happy to do it, my love, you were so pleased to be helping me, helping us, I couldn’t deny you that pleasure. Also, I must admit you have done a fine job. I never realised what a good brain you had in that pretty little head, I suppose. I’m sorry you had to find out like this, but it was bound to come out at some time.’
Georgio’s voice was broken, his whole demeanour crushed. Donna felt her heart break for him, knowing what it had taken for him to have to tell her that. Big Georgio Brunos whose wife had never had to worry about anything from the day they married. She knew he was proud of that fact. Georgio Brunos’s wife had never worked and never wanted. He was so chauvinistic in that way, and she had gone along with it. Even when she had taken her OU degree, he had treated it like her little hobby.
She had deliberately played up to his ego, had acted how he wanted her to act. It occurred to Donna now that she had been living a lie for so long it had almost become a truth. She pushed that thought from her mind. She had wanted Georgio desperately, and had taken him on his terms. This was all her fault in a way. If she had spoken up before now she would have been more aware of what was going on and it wouldn’t have been such a shock finding it all out. Carol Jackson and Davey had more of a partnership than she had ever had with Georgio. This knowledge hurt her deeply. Suddenly she knew that Carol Jackson would have insisted on knowing exactly what was going on. Her respect for the woman went up one hundredfold in that split second.
‘It still doesn’t explain away what happened at the car lot. That seemed to me to be more sinister than everyone’s making out. If I hadn’t sorted the insurance we would have been in big trouble. As it stands, thank God, we’ll be pounds better off. Did you and Davey arrange for that to happen, Georgio? Did you arrange for the car lot to be destroyed? I want to know the truth and I swear before God, I won’t hold it against you if you did.’
Georgio felt an urge to laugh; he relaxed instantly. She thought he had trashed the car lot! She was willing to stand by him if he had. It was laughable. All the things she had found out, and guessed, she wasn’t holding against him. She was telling him that it didn’t matter, that she would sort it out. All she wanted was the truth. She had saved all their bacon by reinsuring the lot and the sites. It was his biggest nightmare that something would happen, a man would have an accident on the site and his insurance would barely cover the costs. Now his little wife, his little Donna, had taken his businesses and in four months had straightened them out. But before he got sentenced he had had other fish to fry, bigger fish, and he knew instinctively that he couldn’t ever tell her about those. He had stopped worrying about the sites, the lot, everything legit, because the other businesses would have given him the earth. He had ploughed a lot of money into them, which was why he’d wanted Lewis’s money. He had stripped his own assets to the bone. But then Stephen had helped him, good old Stephen, so there was no way Donna would find out about that.
He stared into her trusting face and felt a flicker of sorrow. It was so long since he had really looked at her. The strain was beginning to tell on her face. Little lines were appearing around her eyes. Her cheeks were not as firm and rounded as they had once been. Even her hair didn’t look quite as lustrous. She looked good, though, as good as a woman nearing forty could look.
Georgio’s tastes had always been for youth. It was her youth that had attracted him to her. She had stayed a child in his eyes for many years. Now the changes were becoming apparent. He was sorry to have been responsible for those
changes. Even sorrier that she loved him more than he could ever love her. She always had: his ego had needed her to, and Donna had always done exactly what he wanted. He was sure enough of himself to know that she still would.
Her eyes stayed on him, the message in them clear.
Georgio ran his fingers through his thick black hair then, taking a deep breath, he said: ‘I’m sorry, Donna.’ He paused for a few seconds. ‘What do you want me to say? That I’m sorry? Well, I am, believe me, I’m heart sorry. All my life I spent building up those businesses, and I made them work, you know that yourself. But, Donna, I made a few mistakes.’
She ran her tongue over her lips to moisten them. ‘What kind of mistakes, Georgio? I know you stripped the businesses of money, I guessed that much. What I want to know is where it went.’
Georgio had the grace to look ashamed and Donna felt the pull of him as his dark eyes searched hers for a glimmer of understanding.
‘I suppose I had better start at the beginning. Remember a few years ago when I was seeing a lot of Joseph Bronski?’
Donna shook her head. ‘I can’t say I do.’
Georgio was impatient. ‘Remember when I went to Thailand? I was over there on and off for a year, you must remember that!’
Donna smiled faintly. ‘I remember that all right.’
‘Well, while I was out there, I did a few deals. I effectively bought a half share in two hotels. One in Bangkok, one in Sri Lanka. The hotels were built, I saw to that myself, albeit from a distance. It was a good move at the time. Thailand was ripe for me, it was full of tourists, people were killing themselves to get out there. The same with Sri Lanka, though that was more for the German and American market. Still, the point is I stripped everything here, took from everywhere I could, to finance this operation.’
Donna was puzzled. ‘So what went wrong?’
Georgio smiled sadly. ‘What went wrong? I’ll tell you what went wrong. Bronski tucked me up. Not just me either but a few others. The hotels were built all right, I can’t deny that, but they were worthless. The Thai government wouldn’t give us house room. The hotels are sitting out there derelict, we can’t even sell them.’
Donna shook her head in consternation. ‘I don’t understand. ’
Georgio smiled once more. ‘Bronski bought the land off an agent, or so he told us anyway. We had to believe him; he had always come up trumps before so we had no reason to doubt him. We were furnished with copies of the plans, I even went out there as you know to look at the progress on the building. Everything was going fine. Except the guy Bronski bought the land from was arrested for a large-scale land fraud. The government took back everything he owned, and it turned out he still owned fifty percent of the hotels. The one in Sri Lanka was only at the foundation stage. All our money was still in Bangkok. We were wiped out, Donna. Every one of us.’
She was dumbstruck. ‘But surely our government can help . . .’
At this, Georgio laughed outright. ‘Sure they can, and pigs can fly and little fairies live at the bottom of our garden! We could only build providing we were in partnership with a Thai, and we were. Only he was a risky bugger but we didn’t know that at the time. The guy had milked the money from us, we were giving him hundreds of thousands of pounds at a time. The worst of it all is, I helped to recruit the partners, and that’s why the car lot was vandalised last night.’
Donna wasn’t sure she had heard right. ‘What has all this got to do with what happened last night?’
Georgio opened a Mars bar and bit into it. He chewed for a while before he carried on with his story.
‘I encouraged a partnership with a man called Lewis. Ask anyone about Lewis, and they’ll tell you all about him. He is one of the most dangerous men in England - in the British Isles, in fact. He is at the moment residing here with me on fraud charges, though he could be held accountable for more murders than the Third Reich. I never dreamt we were into a dodgy situation, I swear that to you. I heard through the grapevine that Lewis wanted to sink money into legitimate businesses. A lot of money. I approached him and he was very interested in the deal. I set it all up for him, and well, you know the rest now.’
Donna swallowed the lump in her throat. ‘No, I don’t. Tell me the rest, Georgio. I think I have a right to know.’
Georgio looked into his wife’s face; it was a beautiful face even now, when it was drawn with worry. Weighed down with troubles.
‘In short, Lewis thinks I tucked him up. He then decided to make sure I was out of the ball-game. Wilson gave evidence against me, and now I’m stuck in here. I have it on good authority that Lewis will make sure I never get parole. Wilson died a while ago . . .’
‘I know that. He hanged himself.’
Georgio laughed low. ‘I knew he was going to hang himself before he did. Lewis told me. The only person who could have got me out of here is dead.’
‘But Wilson committed suicide - your barrister told me that himself!’
Georgio shook his head slowly. ‘Wilson was helped on his way, my love. Take it from me, I know. Lewis told me he was going to commit suicide, hours before he was found. Lewis was behind it all, I know that for a fact. Now Lewis wants me, or to get to me. He thinks I can give him his money back, and nothing I say will convince him I can’t. He owns the Wing I’m on, he also owns the screws who are supposed to be looking after us. He even had me striped across the arse in the Scrubs. Sort of a taster before I arrived here.’
Georgio looked her straight in the eyes. ‘I know all about Lewis and about why I’m here. I’m only sorry I never told you all this before. I have to get out of here, my darling, and I have to get out soon, or I’ll be coming home to you in a box. Lewis saw to it that the car lot was trashed; it was a small warning to me. I didn’t want to tell you any of this because I felt I had got us into it and I had to get us out. Well, I can’t. I’ve tried, and I just can’t.’
Georgio’s voice broke and Donna grasped his hand across the table. They resembled any other prisoner and his wife; both had the aching look of loneliness on their face, both had the hopeless look of people separated too long. Both loved each other from a distance, and it was getting harder with each passing day.
‘Oh, Georgio. What are we going to do? How the hell did you get involved with all this? What on earth possessed you to get caught up with people like Lewis?’
Georgio stared into her white face and said simply, ‘Greed, Donna. Pure and simple greed.’
He kissed the hand that held his so tightly.
‘If I had pulled it off, I would have been as rich as Croesus. We would have had everything we ever wanted in the world . . .’
Donna pulled her hand from his, an expression of utter contempt on her face.
‘We had everything, Georgio, remember? I mean, how much do you want, eh? We had a home, money in the bank, and we had each other. What more could we really have wanted? Or, more precisely, what more could you have wanted? It’s always been about what you want, hasn’t it? Everything was always what you wanted, needed, cared about. I just came along for the ride. God! I must have been so stupid. So bloody stupid.’
Georgio was amazed at Donna’s words. His Donna who had always been so pliant - that was the exact word to describe her, pliant. She had fitted in with whatever he wanted, and now she was sitting across the table from him, telling him exactly what she should have told him years before. He was honest enough to admit that to himself.
‘Don’t be upset, Don Don.’
Donna flinched. ‘Don’t call me Don Don! It sounds puerile. Nothing you can do at this moment in time will make me feel any better. Christ Almighty, Georgio, can’t you see what you’ve done? You used everything we had to further your own aims and now where are we? You are stuck in here, a man is dead, and our last chance of earning a livelihood is in danger. Well, I hope you’re pleased with yourself, I really do, because you’ve pulled some bloody stunts in your time but this one takes the biscuit!’
Georgio was sh
ocked at her voice, at the contempt in it. At the utter frustration.
‘I suppose I am in danger as well, am I?’ she went on furiously. ‘Is that why Big Paddy seems to be joined to my hip these days? Is that how your brother Stephen knew about the car lot so quickly? Is that why I am being treated like a child by all and sundry? I suppose even Carol Jackson was brought in on the big secret! Georgio has pulled a fast one again. This time it’s all blown up in his face and now he’s got a maniac after him. What do you want me to do about all this trouble now you’ve told me? I assume that’s why I’ve been invited into your confidence, only you never deigned to tell me anything before.’
Georgio had waited for that last question. He answered her immediately. ‘I want you to help me get out of here.’
Donna licked her dry lips twice before she could summon the strength to reply. ‘I beg your pardon!’
Georgio smiled, that little grin that had always made her heart lurch inside her breast. ‘I want you to get me out of here.’
Donna stared at her husband’s face. It was full of hope, full of longing, and she saw his mouth quiver slightly as he watched her. She noticed for the first time the lines around his mouth, the grey in his thick hair, and the worry etched deeply across his forehead as he frowned.
Georgio looked suddenly old and this knowledge shocked her.
Then, as she thought about what he had said, she began to laugh. It was a low laugh at first, gradually building into a high-pitched giggle. People at tables near them turned and watched the pretty woman guffawing loudly. They smiled at her, joining in with the non-existent joke.
Donna could hear the laughter emanating from her body. It worked its way up and exploded from her mouth in long waves and she couldn’t do anything to stop it. Helplessly she roared, the laughter painful now, her ribs and stomach aching from the force of it.
Georgio watched her in disbelief, his face a comic study in dismay as she screeched with laughter at him.