Get Even (45 page)

Young Lenny liked that he had said ‘the world we live in’. That seemed to seal their relationship. He liked that Ray thought he was worthy of being included in his life. His work life. It was what he wanted more than anything else.

‘He was a liar, Dad. To my mum and to us, and I hate him for it.’

Ray didn’t answer the boy; he didn’t know what to say. He was certain of one thing though: young Lenny had what it took – of that there was no doubt whatsoever. He hugged the lad again. Liam had come looking for them; noticing him, Ray opened his left arm widely and the boy walked into the embrace without hesitation.

That was how Sharon found them, and, far from being happy about it, she felt for a few seconds that she was looking at an unholy alliance. Her two handsome sons and Ray Donovan together seemed sinister somehow and she wondered once more what she was doing. Then Ray motioned for her to join them and, shifting Kathy on to her hip, she did. Years later she would come to realise that by then the damage had already been done. But she gave herself up to the love of her new husband and her sons because she felt that she had no choice. The decision had been made and she had to fulfil her destiny, whatever that might be. One thing was for sure: there was no going back now.

A man’s foes shall be they of his own household.

Matthew 10:36

‘Sixteen years! Who would have thought it?’

Sharon laughed at the incredulity in her friend’s voice. Gerry Dornan had not aged well; her lifestyle had taken its toll and she looked what she was: a good-time girl. She had systematically worked her way through every Face or wannabe-Face in London but she had never found the happiness she hoped she would. Gerry’s trouble was she thought that everyone she met had the same capacity for loving that she had. The repercussions she was confronted with when the people she took up with were liars and thieves never occurred to her – she believed every word they said and then she was disappointed. It was always the same: she gave them her heart overnight and the passion was gone as quickly as it had arrived. Reggie had once said to Sharon that his sister was in love with the idea of being in love. Sharon had a feeling that he was right. She wished, in some ways, the same could be said for her.

She had spent the last years living a complete and utter lie. Nothing had been the same since the wedding; the fears she’d tried so hard to ignore had only multiplied. Oh, she loved Ray, especially when he was making love to her. That would never change – he was the only man to ever ring her bells. But it was their day-to-day existence that frightened her with her husband. Because she didn’t trust him as far as she could throw him. She had come to terms with the fact that he took a flier now and again these days. But then she wasn’t exactly in the first flush of youth and she was well aware that men like Ray had women throwing themselves at him all the time. He seemed to have a penchant for young blondes – he always liked the fair-haired women. She supposed it was because he was so dark himself – dark-skinned, dark-eyed and dark-haired, though his lovely, thick hair was streaked with grey these days. But, wouldn’t you know it, it just made him look more distinguished. Sod’s law, she supposed.

As for Sharon, she was rattling around in her big house – there was plenty to keep her busy. At weekends she cooked for the family and they sat and ate together as usual. She still washed their clothes and ironed for them all. She knew that even Ray felt she should have a hobby or something, but she wasn’t sure there was anything she really wanted to do. She couldn’t see herself going to flower-arranging classes or learning French, it just all seemed pretty pointless to her. She was knocking on fifty, her sons were grown men now, and her daughter was nearly eighteen. She didn’t think she was going to stagnate just because she no longer had them to look after constantly.

‘Why don’t you come out with me one night? Have a girlie one, Sharon?’

Sharon was laughing, imagining Ray’s face if she told him she was going clubbing. She said as much to Gerry and when Gerry didn’t laugh with her, Sharon understood that it actually wasn’t funny at all. She rarely went out without Ray, and that was something that had just occurred to her.

‘Do you know what, Gerry? Let’s do it.’

Gerry was grinning now as she said saucily, ‘Might find yourself a bloke!’

Sharon flapped her hand in embarrassment and said sadly, ‘Who would fucking want me at my age?’

Gerry shook her head as she answered her seriously, ‘You would be surprised, girl. It’s a different world out there now and women have as much right as men to do what they want.’

Sharon had moved from Lenny straight to Ray and she had never really ‘gone out’ as such. She had been in a relationship since she was thirteen years old. It was a sobering thought.

Chrissie Jennings was twenty-two and built like a Playboy model. Although she was not the most intelligent girl that had ever walked the earth, she possessed a shrewdness that belied her years, and she saw herself and Ray Donovan as the lovers of the century. She liked his foreign good looks and his big cock; and it was big, there was no doubting that. He was hung like a fucking horse and she was relishing that fact.

She climbed off him and lay beside him, happy that she had given him the fuck of a lifetime. She knew exactly how to fuck; it was second nature to her. Great sex was what would get her what she wanted. It didn’t occur to her that the women men fantasised about and the women they married were two different things. She was, after all, as thick as paint.

Ray lit a joint and toked on it deeply. Now he had fucked Chrissie she held no real interest for him any more.

Chrissie snuggled into him and did her usual little-girl laugh and baby talk as she said happily, ‘That was the best ever!’

Ray extricated himself from her arms expertly as he said, ‘I’m sure you have said that on more than one occasion, Chrissie. But it won’t wash with me, sweetheart.’

Chrissie might not have been the Brain of Britain but she knew when she was being mugged off. After all, this would not be the first time she had been unceremoniously dumped by a man she was fucking. She stood up, naked and sure of her allure. She did have a killer body – no one could dispute that – and she knew how to use it as well.

‘You can’t treat me like shit!’

Ray Donovan laughed then – a real, genuine laugh at her antics.

‘Oh, but I can, Chrissie. You are just a fuck – a
good
fuck, I’ll give you that – but that is it, lady. I have a beautiful wife and I will never leave her for a skank like you.’

Chrissie could hear the viciousness in his voice now and she was hurt. She really thought this was it for her. She believed she had hit the jackpot.

‘You can’t talk to me like this! I love you, Ray.’

He grabbed her arms as she went to fight him, and pinned her to the bed.

‘I think I’m pregnant, Ray. You have to look after me now.’

Ray registered her words, but he could not believe what he was hearing. Was she really that fucking stupid? Chrissie thought he was going to fuck her again and tell her what she wanted to hear. Instead he put his face close to hers and said nastily, ‘I would not love you or allow you to have my child if you were the last fucking female on earth, Chrissie. You are a fuck, pure and simple. My wife is getting on a bit, I admit that, but she is worth a million of you. You’re a whore, and that is all you will ever be to me or any man you take up with. Get over it.’

Chrissie knew then that she had lost not just the battle but the whole war. ‘Get out.’

Ray Donovan held her down and fucked her once again before he got up and, as he dressed, he said quietly, ‘I will go. No man in his right mind would even consider you as a mate of any kind. You were born to be a mistress, darling.’

Chrissie had been putting it about since she was sixteen years old, and this was not the first time a married man had said as much to her. She felt an enormous anger welling up inside her and she shouted, ‘Well, let’s see how your precious wife feels when I tell her what we have been up to the last few months, shall we?’

That was when the beating started, which was what she liked, if she was honest – at least it proved they cared. But when he grabbed her throat and started to squeeze, it dawned on her that she had picked on the wrong man this time.

Ray choked her to death. When he realised what he had done, he was annoyed with himself. This was the last thing he needed right now. He rang Elton – he would sort out what needed doing. Ray knew that he needed to calm himself down. It wasn’t the first time this had happened – he should have been prepared for the girl’s threats. At the end of the day, that is all they were – girls. Sharon was the love of his life, his wife, and, as such, she
would
be afforded respect. Even by the women he fucked. What kind of husband would he be if he allowed them to bad-mouth the mother of his daughter? He fucked them but they were never going to be contenders to Sharon’s crown. What made them think they ever could be?

He smiled as he waited for Elton Mills to arrive; he was good, was Elton. He always made everything go away. Ray was relying on him more and more.

Elton Mills had been in bed with his girlfriend, a good-looking Jamaican girl called Abigail, when the phone rang. She was stunning, with big brown eyes and a shaved head. She really embraced the African look – it suited her and she knew it. She believed that Elton Mills was going places so, when he took the call, she was sensible enough to smile and act like she thought it was perfectly normal for a man to leave her halfway through making love to her.

‘I need to leave, baby.’

She kissed him deeply, using her tongue to its best advantage. ‘Come back soon. I will be waiting for you, baby boy.’

He knew she meant every word, well aware that she was after the main chance, but he did not say that, of course. Instead he got dressed and left as quickly as humanly possible.

Ray was starting to bother him. He respected the man – in truth, he was the reason he had such a fabulous life. Elton was his number two and everyone knew that. But lately, Ray had been like a loose cannon. Now he had taken out that silly Chrissie. She was a fucking prat, but she was only twenty-two and had been used by everyone in their orbit, so her disappearance would be noticed by all and sundry. It wasn’t as though Ray had hid his relationship with her either; he was pretty fucking blatant. Elton wondered if he wanted Sharon to find out, if he was trying to get some kind of reaction from her. That was just speculation, of course.