Jay knew it would only be a matter of time until he got something out of it: whether it was given to him, or he had to take it, he was going to get something out of Billy, no matter what. He was kept in the dark about the ins and outs of the business, but he would bide his time.

Placing a plate in front of Jay, Kate smiled.

              “This is nice, isn’t it, babes? We hardly ever get to sit and have breakfast together.” She was curious as to why Jay was up early, and why he seemed to be so happy, but she knew better than to quiz him: a bit of gentle prodding should do the trick.

              “Yeah, well, I’ve got lots to do today, you know, thought I’d make an early start.” He saw the smile fade on her face, as she realised that he would be off out shortly, and yet again they wouldn’t be spending time together. Changing the subject, before Kate could start whining on about living separate lives, he quickly asked, “So, how was last night, was the club busy?”

He only half-listened to her answer, whilst chomping on his food, then his ears pricked up at the sound of Paul Goldie’s name. When he was mentioned, Jay noticed that Kate spoke fondly of him; knowing that Kate was not the type to do the dirty on him should have made him feel a bit better but it niggled at Jay that maybe Paul would try to muscle in on her just to piss him off. Kate babbled on and on, loving that Jay was asking about her job, oblivious to his staring.

              “Paul this, Paul that, anyone would think you’d been screwing the fucking bloke,” Jay said, his joking tone not hiding the spite behind it.

              “Don’t be silly, Jay, Paul’s a lovely man, but it’s nothing like that. I’m with you, I wouldn’t even look at another man, babes.” She was hurt that he would even think like that: what did he take her for?

              “Yeah, but that doesn’t stop them from looking at you, though, does it?” He looked at her accusingly. “A club is no place for someone like you, Kate; I should know, I worked there too, you know. All those leering drunks trying it on, seeing if they’re in with a chance….” He did know; he had been one of them.

              “It’s not like that, though, Jay, really; I go in, do my job, and then come home.”

              “Yeah, well, that Paul better not try his luck with you, or he’ll have me to deal with, and he better not be taking the piss out of you either, making you work all hours.”

              “Paul’s not like that; he’s very professional, and he thinks I’m a great worker. Not all men perv, you know!”

Angrily, Kate began clearing the table, her appetite gone. Why couldn’t her boyfriend just be happy for her: she was doing a job she enjoyed and he wasn’t interested in the slightest, all he seemed to care about was his bloody ego: typical. Turning her back on him, she began to wash up the plates, splashing water all over the place and clanging the cups; she knew her stropping about the place was petty, but she was so angry. Jay noticed her mood change, and rolled his eyes, he was glad he was going out as he couldn’t be arsed with Kate’s tantrums. He had better things to do.

Sitting in his car, Billy tapped his fingers on the steering wheel. He felt sick, not in a gut-churning jealous way, which had initially surprised him. He had assumed that would be how he would feel; he had always thought if Tanya ever thought about cheating on him, he would kill her and whoever the bloke with a death wish that was cheating with her was. Billy hadn’t expected to feel like this, it was a different kind of feeling, more of a realisation. He had now come to the conclusion that he didn’t give a toss about her anymore, they had just been ‘going through the motions’, he realised.

Billy had been outside Tanya’s flat for over forty minutes; he was supposed to be sorting out some business at the warehouse, but had nipped back to get some paperwork he needed just in time to see Jay going into the flat. No need to be Albert Einstein to work out what was going on. He waited and tried to get his head together.

He could have gone in and caused merry hell, but something made him wait. God knows how he had managed to sit so calmly for so long, all the while guessing what was going on behind the curtains in the bedroom. Tanya must be crazy if she thought she could do this to him, he had paid for the roof over her head, given her everything she wanted and this was her repayment, and with that skank of all people.

Thinking back to the night he had walked in on Jay in their bedroom, his intuition had told him something was up, Jay had looked shifty – but then, thought Billy, when didn’t he? He wondered if it had started then or if it had been going on for longer. How had he not noticed before?

Tanya was easily sorted. Billy frowned: Jay was another matter. First his sister, now his missus; Jay was proving to be a fucking piss-taker. If this got out, Billy would look like a mug, and his poor sister’s heart would be broken, God knows why, but she loved Jay, and after everything that happened with her losing the baby, she didn’t need any more problems.

Jay didn’t give a shit about Kate. Realising this, Billy could feel his blood boiling, he was fucking raging, but he knew that he would deal with it once and for all. He was no-one’s mug. He was done with Tanya, and it was the excuse he had been looking for, if he was honest.

Jay, on the other hand, deserved something a bit special, he needed to be shown the error of his ways. Billy had kept the peace for his sister, but now he would do what he should have done in the first place. Kate might not thank him for it, but he would be doing her a bigger favour than she would ever know, he thought. Picking up his mobile, he couldn’t believe it when he heard Tanya’s voice.

              “Alright, Tan, you sound out of breath? Didn’t make you run for the phone, did I?”

              “Oh hi, Billy; yeah, you did, actually, I was… downstairs, sorting out the kitchen, I must have left the phone upstairs… had to leg it up here.”

Billy could picture Jay, looking like the smug slimy bastard he was, lying next to Tanya as she lied out of her skinny arse; Billy betted he loved every minute of this.

              “Oh well, best you run back downstairs and put the kettle on then, Tan, ‘cause I’m going to be home in five.”

              “Oh… okay, babe; see you in five.”

Billy hung up. He had noted the panic in Tanya’s voice that she had tried to hide and could imagine the pair of them were running about like headless chickens, trying to get dressed so Jay could leave before Billy got home and found out about their dirty little secret. Two minutes later a very worried-looking Jay left the flat, looking as if someone had just shoved a rocket up his arse.

As Jay drove off, Billy started his own engine, and picking up his phone once more rang Tanya.

              “Change of plan, Tan, I’ve got a bit of business to attend to, looks like you’ll just be making tea for one.”

Not waiting for her reply, Billy hung up. Tanya looked at the dead handset wondering what the hell that was all about.

Although Tanya was relieved that Jay hadn’t been caught, she was a little bit put out that they had been rudely interrupted, especially as she had been almost at the point of no return when Billy had called her. Smiling to herself as she put the phone down on the side she was blissfully unaware that Billy was on to her and at that particular moment was following Jay’s beamer down the road.

Billy had decided that he would tail Jay for a bit, check out what the guy was up to; he wanted to get all the pieces in place before making his move.

27

Looking around, Paul was pleased to see that again they were in for a busy night. The club was packed and he had heard from a few little birdies that Goldie’s was becoming more and more well-known, and because of the great DJ line-ups that they put on, people were coming from all over. There were a lot of celebrity faces about most weekends, which of course was great for business, in one way, but in the beginning had been hard work, Paul had had to extend his security and hired a PR girl. It had been manic trying to calm down punter’s reactions to certain celebs. He wanted them to have a great night out, not to be pestered by mad drunken fans. Kate had suggested cordoning off an area for VIPs near the DJ box, and that had proved a success. Paul hadn’t originally thought about a VIP area as such, he had figured at first that the private members’ lounge upstairs would be enough. But this way, people could hear the latest tunes whilst checking out celebs from afar, which suited everyone. He had decided that because it was Kate’s idea and because she was proving to be an asset, that she would be in charge of the VIP bar, it would be her baby. He had pretty much let her set it up and run it however she wished, although he had made sure that she had another member of staff with her at all times to ensure the quickest service. Paul continued to run the members’ lounge upstairs; it made sense, as Paul could keep all the big wigs happy and keep an eye on the entire club as the security room was up there too; he often checked out the monitors to make sure everyone was happy and doing their jobs. The rest of the staff ran the other main bars, and everyone seemed to be happy, and it was just the way Paul liked it: smooth and controlled.