Fractured (Dividing Line #4) (11 page)

“What have you two been up to?” Riley smiled.

“We just went for a walk,” replied Rachel.

“Funny how that walk made your flies come down. Got ya,” he laughed when they both looked.

“Yes, very witty,” replied Ryan. “I need another drink. Rachel?”

“Orange juice please.”

“Riley?”

“The same thanks.”

While he wandered off to get the drinks, Rachel plonked herself down at the picnic table opposite Riley.

“How’s the shoulder?” she said.

“Much better since you redressed it.”

“I keep meaning to ask, do you have a girlfriend?”

His smile fell. “No.”

“Have I said something wrong?”

“No, sorry. I lost someone, it’s still raw.”

She recalled what he’d said about losing his own child when he visited them just after Thomas’s death. “Did you lose your child at the same time?”

He nodded. “I’m not ready to talk about it.”

“That’s okay but I’m here if you want to.”

“Thanks. You’ve been so good to me.”

“That’s what sisters-in-laws are for.”

He couldn’t resist another smile, but it was tainted with sadness as he was thinking of Zoe.

Ryan returned with the drinks and set them down on the table. “I’m glad to see you managed to keep your clothes on this time Riley.”

“You’re one to talk after your little jaunt into the woods.”

Rachel was relieved when Riley grinned, dispelling the shadow that had settled over him when talking about his past.

They chatted about nothing of importance while finishing their drinks then climbed back onto the bikes. The sun was just starting to set by the time they picked the kids up from Rick and Gill’s. Once again Rachel went to bed early, giving Ryan and Riley some time together. This time her husband didn’t need any coaxing.

CHAPTER 12

Beth moaned into Nick’s mouth as he kissed her. They were tucked up in bed together at his flat. Every day they came here when Nick was supposed to be driving her about and they both looked forward to their time together.

“There’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you,” said Nick, kissing her neck.

“What’s that?” she breathed, letting her fingers play through his hair.

“I’m in love with you.”

He kept his gaze off her face, unable to summon up the courage to look her in the eyes, so terrified of rejection. She stiffened in his arms and he experienced a long drawn out moment of dread.

“I love you too,” she replied.

He exhaled with relief into her neck. “Thank God for that. You were quiet for so long I thought you were going to tell me to piss off.”

“Sorry, it was just a surprise, but a lovely one.”

Emboldened by her words he stroked her hair back off her face. “I fell in love with you the second I saw you. I knew you were the one Beth.”

She beamed with joy. “I wish I’d met you before I met Alex. We would have been so happy together.”

“Yes we would but it’s probably best we didn’t meet sooner. You would have hated my family.”

“Robbie seems nice.”

“He is but you wouldn’t have got along with my mum or my cousins.”

“What are they like? Have I said something wrong?” she said with concern, sitting up when she saw the pain in his eyes.

He wondered if he should tell her then thought it was only fair she knew who she was getting involved with. “They’re dead.”

“All of them?”

He slowly nodded. “My mum, five cousins, dad and older brother. Robbie’s all I have left.”

“How have you lost so many people?”

“They were all killed. My mum was having an affair with Chris, my cousin and her own nephew. She got him to murder my dad and brother.”

“Oh my God, that’s horrible.”

“Mum was power-hungry, she wanted to run the family.”

“So your family was just like the Maguires?” she said, her heart sinking. She’d entertained dreams of him having nice law-abiding parents.

“Yeah, only Mum wasn’t up to the job. She let us get run out of Essex by a rival family so we came here.”

“And?” she said when he abruptly stopped talking.

“Sure you want to know?”

“Alex had them all killed, didn’t he?”

“Yes but it was our own fault.”

“Why?”

Nick couldn’t bring himself to say it, afraid she’d run out on him and wishing he’d kept his big trap shut. Honesty suddenly didn’t seem such a good policy.

“Tell me,” she said firmly, sitting upright and staring at him hard.

“They kidnapped Rachel.”

Her mouth fell open. “What?”

“I tried to stop them but they wouldn’t listen.”

Fury bubbled up inside her. “What happened? Tell me everything,” she yelled.

“Chris and his brothers did it. They snatched her from the car park of the spa she owns and took her to a remote farmhouse to hold her to ransom. Her life in exchange for Alex’s. Of course he didn’t come.”

“That doesn’t surprise me, he’s a complete bastard.”

“Actually it was the sensible thing to do, they were going to kill him and then they would have killed Rachel anyway. They wanted rid of her as much as him.”

“Why?”

“Because they wanted to eliminate all the Maguire’s leaders and they were convinced she was still a power in the family. She tried telling them she wasn’t but they wouldn’t listen.”

Beth thought back to that terrible night when Rachel was supposed to turn up for dinner at Martina’s and failed to arrive. No wonder Ryan had been so angry at Alex.

“Ryan went in alone and offered himself in exchange for Rachel but Mum wanted him dead too because she knew he was capable of taking over the family if Alex and Rachel were gone. She didn’t want to fight him, she knew how dangerous he was. They nearly beat him to death.”

“Did you join in?” she scowled.

“No, I never joined in any of the violence. In fact I tried to protect Rachel, my cousins threatened to rape her.”

Beth paled. “They didn’t?”

“No, I made sure of it,” he said desperately.

“Yeah, right. I bet you joined in with the rest of them you animal,” she shouted, jumping to her feet and pulling on her clothes. “I can’t believe I let you touch me, I thought you were different Nick.”

“I am. How do you think they got Rachel and Ryan out of there? Because I knocked out our security and let them in.”

“My best friend could have died because of you.”

“Not me, my family. I kept trying to stop them but they were out of control. They were doing what the hell they wanted and believe me when I say they enjoyed hurting people but me and Robbie are different. Mum was pure evil, she and Chris murdered my dad and older brother.”

Beth paused dressing. “Yet still you supported her, you came down here with her and tried to take over everything.”

“I didn’t have any proof at the time, it was just a feeling. Mum finally admitted it was true just before…”

“Before what?” When he remained silent she threw a shoe at him, which bounced off his left upper arm. “If you don’t tell me right now I’ll walk out that door and never come back.”

“Just before I shot her in the face,” he rasped.

There was a moment of horrified silence from Beth. She felt sick and when her knees went weak she sank onto the edge of the bed.

“I’m sorry, I know you’re not used to hearing things like this,” he said, sitting beside her.

“Don’t touch me,” she said when he tried to take her hand.

“I’m so sorry Beth, I wanted to protect you from this.”

“You mean you wanted to hide what you really are from me.”

“No, I wanted to tell you so you know what sort of person you’re getting involved with but I was afraid to tell you sooner in case you left me.”

“How could you do that to your own mum? I want to know exactly how it happened.”

“Okay,” he sighed in defeat. “The Maguires stormed the place and killed everyone. Mum, me and Robbie were the only ones left alive but I’d already brokered a deal with the Maguires. It was the only thing I could do to keep me and my little brother alive. Don’t feel sorry for my cousins, they were monsters. They tortured Rachel and threatened to rape her. Rachel beat the crap out of my mum, which was no less than she deserved. She would have killed her too if my brother hadn’t stopped her. Mum was a bloody mess on the floor after Rachel had finished with her. Alex said I had to prove my loyalty to him by killing her.”

Beth closed her eyes and shook her head in despair at her husband’s depravity. She’d always known what he was capable of but actually hearing it described was chilling.

“Mum admitted to having my dad and brother murdered and she was going to do the same to me and Robbie, so I shot her,” he ended, a single tear rolling down his cheek. “If I hadn’t then me and Robbie would have been dead too. I couldn’t allow our entirely family to be wiped out. We’re the only two left.”

“How could you do that to your own mum?”

“It’s amazing what you can do when you’ve no choice.” He looked anxiously at Beth, who couldn’t even meet his eyes. “If you want to know everything there’s still one more thing I haven’t told you.”

“What’s that?” she said, exhausted.

“My cousin Chris was the one who drove the van into Rachel, causing her to lose her baby.”

Beth stared at him, all the colour draining from her face before her fury boiled over. She slapped Nick then just kept hitting him as hard as she could. He grabbed her wrists and held her arms, not enough to hurt her, just enough to stop her.

“You fucking bastard I hate you.”

“It wasn’t me, I had no idea. Mum and Chris cooked it up between them. If I’d known I would have stopped it.”

“Why?” she sobbed.

“It was a kidnap attempt gone wrong.”

“Did she know Rachel was pregnant?”

“Yes.”

She snatched her arms from his grip and hit him again. “Rachel and Ryan were nearly destroyed because of you. Have you any idea how much that hurt them? That baby was a boy called Thomas. He was buried in a tiny white coffin, Rachel collapsed at the graveside. You’ve no idea what you’ve done,” she screamed at him before hitting him again.

“Please Beth, just listen,” he said, getting a fresh grip on her wrists. “Think about it. If Ryan and Rachel thought I was in any way responsible I wouldn’t be sitting here talking to you now, would I?”

Beth hesitated. She had no doubt Ryan would have killed him. She also recalled the smile and nod Rachel had given Nick at Martina’s funeral. There was no way she could have done that if he’d been responsible for Thomas’s death. Her friend’s reaction told her he was telling the truth, he’d tried to protect her.

“You know I’m being honest, don’t you?” he said, gently cupping her face in his hands.

Beth considered all the thought and tenderness he’d shown her, how good he was with her children. “Yes, I do.”

He pulled her into his chest and kissed the top of her head. “Thank you.”

“Wait, there’s something I don’t understand.”

He was just so relieved she was still here with him that he was willing to answer anything. “What’s that?”

“Why did your mum want to kidnap Rachel? Surely if she was trying to get to Alex I would have been a more logical choice.”

“Because she wanted to eliminate all the leaders at once,” he replied, knowing exactly where this was going and hating it because it was going to hurt her.

“But Rachel wasn’t involved in that life anymore, so why did she think she was?”

“Mum was obsessed with her. She was jealous because Rachel used to have so much power in a man’s world and she wanted the same. She was desperate to meet her so Alex set it up.” He hoped she’d leave it at that but she was smart and was slowly getting to the heart of the matter and there was no stopping her.

“Wait a minute, are you telling me Rachel and your mum met before she was kidnapped?”

“Yes.”

“Why would she do that? She didn’t want to be involved anymore.”

“Because Alex asked her to help.”

“But…” She trailed off as her brain made the right connections, recalling how Ryan had asked her if Rachel had visited her the day of the accident. He’d known Alex had been something to do with it. Obviously Ryan hadn’t realised just how involved he had been otherwise Alex wouldn’t still be breathing. “Did Alex tell you she was still a leader in the family?”

“Yes. We thought he was telling the truth at the time. I only realised exactly what he’d done when he told me and Robbie never to mention what he’d said to anyone. He said he’d kill us if we told. I’ve never spoken about it, until now.”

Beth picked up her shoe again but this time she hurled it at the wall and not at Nick. “The bastard, it’s Alex’s fault she lost the baby. If he’d told you she was nothing to do with it anymore would you have left her alone?”

“It‘s hard to say, Mum was a bit deranged,” he replied, hating how much pain this was causing her.

“But he lied to your family and Rachel. If she hadn’t gone to that meeting, if Alex had told you all the truth, that she was nothing to do with the business anymore, she would have been left alone and Thomas would still be alive.” She buried her face in her hands and started to cry. “Rachel did that to help him and all the time he secretly hated her. I still don’t know why. She’s such a good person, she’ll do anything to help anyone but he played on that and her kindness cost her her son and almost her husband. God I hate Alex. Now I know about this I don’t even want to look at him. How am I supposed to live with him now? It was hard enough before.”

“Leave him.”

“He’d see me dead first. He doesn’t want me but he doesn’t want anyone else to have me either.”

“I’ll protect you.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I want you to leave Alex for me.”

She brushed his offer away as reparation for the horrible things he’d told her. “Don’t be silly, he’d kill us both and are you forgetting I’ve got three kids?”

“How could I forget? They’re great kids. Bring them with you.”

“Don’t put this on me now Nick, please. I need time to come to terms with what you’ve just told me.”

She looked exhausted and a bit sick and he thought he’d given her enough to think about for one day but he had no intention of letting the idea go. The prospect of being with her on a permanent basis was an appealing one.

“So, are you okay?” he said.

Beth thought if Rachel could forgive him then she certainly could. “Yes. Apart from the kids you’re the best thing in my life.”

“You still love me?”

“Yes.”

“Thank God,” he whispered, the relief washing over him. “I don’t want to lose you Beth.”

“If what you’ve just told me can’t drive me away then nothing will. As long as you haven’t got any other skeletons lurking in the closet?”