“Yeah, of course I can, go and get dressed, love, and we’ll go now.”

As she left the room, Kate looked like she had had the wind knocked right out of her.

              “What do you think will happen to Jay now, Billy?” Sonia asked.

              “My bet is he will try and come back here, Sonia, and knowing him, if you don’t let him in, he will try and force his way in.”

Sonia knew Billy was right. Jay would always do whatever he was told not to, a trait he had had from when he was a boy. Seeing the anguished look on Sonia’s face and as if reading her mind, Billy reassured her:

              “Ryan’s on his way over, he’s going to be staying here with you for a few days, just until Jay gets the message, okay?”

              “Okay.” Right now, Jay wasn’t on her mind; her only thoughts were of Kate: that poor, poor girl, how did she ever go falling for someone like Jay? Right now, more than anything in the world, Sonia would have swapped a million Jays for one Kate. She had grown to love the girl like her own, and hoped that after all this was over Kate and she would remain close friends. Sonia would be there for Kate, no matter what.

32

As he put Tanya’s heavy suitcase down in the hallway of Emma’s flat, he wished he had been given more notice before he had brought her here. She had been crying her eyes out when she first got in the car, but Jay soon realised they were tears of pure anger. Tanya was angry about the fact she had had to leave her home. In fact, she was seething.

Jay was pleased that when the shit hit the fan, Tanya didn’t have any love for Billy, he had never been really sure of her feelings for him until now. Some birds would say anything to get one over on their old man, especially if they were after money or a bunk up. He had heard every line possible in the past from every bird he had known. But Tanya was different. She was high maintenance, that was true, but most women were these days, they wanted everything they were entitled to and then some more. He loved the way that Tanya wouldn’t take any shit; he could see how angry she was, and he had no doubt that she would get her own back on Billy for the way he had treated her.

There was something else he felt too; something he couldn’t put his finger on. He had never been in love, so he was sure that it wasn’t that. But he did feel something: some sort of need for her. He thought about her all the time that he was away from her; he couldn’t get enough of her smell, her taste, or the way she was in bed with him. He could tell that she was a bit damaged, though, like himself, she had her issues. He could see that she had that strength inside her, like he had, no one fucked with her; that’s why he felt he knew her so well: she was the same as him.

Emma’s place was a shithole, and the stench that had hit him as he opened the door nearly made him gag. The curtains were shut, and there obviously hadn’t been a window opened for months as the air was stale. Emma was a filthy bitch, and getting her to tidy up every now and again was too much for her by the looks of it. The smell and mess didn’t bothered him normally, it was only now as he looked around and saw the flies buzzing around the sink, which was overflowing with dishes covered with dried-on food, and the fag ash all over the carpet, that he realised how filthy the place actually was.

Seeing Tanya’s disappointed face and knowing that she deserved better, and that she clearly thought she did too, he decided that he would take her out for something to eat, and get that trampy cow to clean while they were gone.

              “Hang on here a minute, babe,” he said, leaving Tanya in the grubby hallway, obviously unaware that under no circumstances did she have any intention of stepping another foot forward in this stinking pigsty. She was desperately trying to hold her breath, and only took short breaths through her mouth when she had to. Tanya convinced herself that she was only here because she had nowhere else to go, and she was desperate. Looking at the dirty, stained carpet and the mould growing up the wall, she tried not to start crying again at the realisation of how bloody desperate things were for her now.

Billy would not take her back; she knew that for a fact. He had always said that if she ever cheated she was gone and picking his arch-rival would have just about put the final, rusty nail in the coffin. She had lost it all. Her beautiful house, her designer clothes: everything. She knew she hadn’t been happy with Billy for a long time, but her things meant more to her than anything, and she had plodded on in the comfort that at least she would always have a roof over her head. Now her roof was over some little slag’s head. Tanya fought to hold back her tears as she thought of that scrubber in her bed, under her Egyptian cotton sheets, using her Jo Malone toiletries; it made her blood boil.

Jay must be rolling in cash, she thought, although looking about it didn’t seem like it. Tanya was far from stupid; even though he had never discussed his business dealings with her she had an idea what he was involved in. He would be making a fortune with the drugs side alone, and then there were the debt collecting and the girls. Tanya had made it her business to know what she was getting into. It hadn’t made her judge him; at the end of the day, Billy was dodgy, but she had realised early on that Jay must be making some serious wedge, although judging by this dive the question was: where was he hiding it? He lived at home with his bleeding mother, for God’s sake; from what she could work out, he had plenty of incomings and fuck all outgoings. Tanya was a cold-hearted bitch: she knew that more than anyone. Money made the world go round; if someone had no money, they were nothing: simple as. Tanya was surprised at the feelings she had begun to have for Jay. She normally went for men with a hard reputation, someone who had all the pieces on the board and who knew how to play the game. At first she had loved having Jay at her beck and call, loved having him come over and fuck her as soon as Billy was out of the house, on the floor that Billy had paid for. He was her bit of rough. She had had her most intense orgasms with Jay grinding on top of her, thinking about Billy catching her.

Something had changed, though, and it had shocked her when she realised it wasn’t all about getting back at Billy for not being the man she had wanted him to be and for not giving her the attention she needed; she realised that she liked Jay, and that they could go far together. Jay didn’t have the clout but she reckoned with a bit of guidance from her they could be good together, make real money. Tanya had seen enough of Billy’s business dealings to recognise that it wasn’t what you knew, it was who.

Opening Emma’s bedroom door, Jay was surprised to realise that she wasn’t at home. The last few times that he had been back to collect his money the place had been empty too, although it didn’t look as though anything had been touched and he didn’t think she would have the balls to do a runner, so she couldn’t have gone far. He was starting to get a bit pissed off now though, and if it wasn’t for Tanya standing in the hallway, he would probably have gone looking for her. Thinking that Emma had probably nipped out for some gear, and was probably doing God knows what to pay for it; he tried to put her out of his mind. She didn’t have any friends anymore; he had seen to that; her confidence was at an all-time low, too, so she wouldn’t speak to anyone even if she did bump into them. He would have to take Tanya to the cafe in the high street and then come back and clean the mess up: he would fucking kill Emma when she finally turned up. Tanya would not be happy about staying there, full stop, but it was all he could do for now. He would have to stop Emma’s visitors for the time being for the few days that Tanya was there. His mind was in a whirl, there were so many things all at once to think about. He wondered what was going on: did Billy know that Tanya had been with him? Did Kate know, too? What would happen to his work for Billy? There were too many questions in around his head. He decided to call Kate. Her phone was diverted to her answerphone; he figured she was probably still in bed.