The Club (33 page)

‘I wish I could believe that,’ Jenna murmured wearily. ‘These last few weeks have been horrible. I just want to get things back to normal.’

‘I hate to say it,’ Tony said. ‘But I did warn you. Men like that prey on women like you, trying to run a business on your own. There’s too much money for them to resist.’

‘But that’s just it – there isn’t,’ Jenna said, glancing up with desperation in her eyes. ‘If there was, I’d probably pay them to keep them off my back. But there’s barely enough coming in now to pay the wages, never mind anything else.’

‘That bad?’ Tony asked.

‘Worse.’ Shaking her head, Jenna ran her hands through her hair. ‘God, I don’t know what I did to deserve this, but I’m in such a mess. I’ll be okay for another few weeks, but only because we did so well at the beginning. After that . . .’ She shrugged. ‘I’m seriously thinking of closing down.’

‘Oh, no, you mustn’t,’ Leonard chipped in. ‘Your dad wouldn’t want you to.’

‘I know.’ She sighed despondently. ‘But he wouldn’t want me to go through this, either.’

‘You don’t have to,’ Tony said. ‘Not now, because we’re going to help you.’

Glancing up at him, Jenna gave him a defeated smile. ‘I hope you can.’

‘You
know
I can, or you wouldn’t have called me,’ Tony reminded her. ‘So, now I’m here, you’ve got to trust me enough to do what I say. And that means going back to work as if everything’s hunkydory, yeah?’

‘All right,’ Jenna agreed. ‘But can I call you if anything happens? Only I really don’t want to involve the police.’

‘Smart decision,’ Tony said, slipping one of his cigars out of the pack. ‘D’yuh mind?’

Jenna would have preferred that he didn’t smoke in her lounge because the smell would linger for days. But if the alternative was the smell of her own blood when those men came round to ‘visit’, so be it.

‘I’ll get you an ashtray,’ she said, getting up. ‘Can I get anybody a drink?’

‘Scotch all round, if you’ve got it,’ Tony said, following her into the kitchen.

Closing the door when they got there, he said, ‘You do know I’m going to sort this, don’t you?’ Holding on to her hand now when she passed him a saucer for his cigar ash, he added, ‘And there won’t be no comeback, ’cos when I deal with something it stays dealt with.’

Looking into his eyes, Jenna saw the same dark intensity that she had seen when she’d first met him. She had sensed then that he would be deeply loyal to his chosen few, and deeply dangerous to many others. She was getting a taste of what that actually meant now, because he must consider her a friend or he wouldn’t be there.

‘Hey, what’s the matter?’ Tony asked when her eyes suddenly filled with tears. ‘Is there something you haven’t told me?’ Anger in his voice now, he said, ‘They didn’t touch you, did they? ’Cos if they did, they won’t just be dealt with, they’ll be—’

‘No.’ Shaking her head, Jenna bit her lip to bring herself under control. ‘I’m just glad you’re here,’ she said, aware that her chin was quivering. ‘I didn’t know who else to turn to.’

Pulling her to him, Tony held her, saying quietly. ‘Well, I’m glad you chose me, ’cos I got a lot of time for you. You know that, right?’

Feeling safe for the first time in weeks, Jenna rested her head against his broad chest and nodded.

‘I told you a while back that you and me would make a good team,’ he told her then. ‘And I offered to be your partner. Do you remember that?’

Sniffing softly, Jenna gave another nod.

‘Well, I’m offering the same thing now,’ Tony went on. ‘Only I want you to really think about it this time, ’cos I can stop
these
men coming near you again, but what’s gonna happen when the next lot decide to try it on and I’m not here to protect you?’ Feeling Jenna tense in his arms, he rubbed her back soothingly. ‘Hey, I’m not trying to scare you, but you gotta be realistic. You got more than just these guys to worry about, by the sound of it, and I can help you all round. We can help each other, in fact, ’cos I got the money you need, and you got what I need to be able to stay over here.’

Jenna’s mind was whirling. She hadn’t wanted a partner. Her dad had done without help for twenty-odd years, and she’d wanted to do the same. But the thought of going through more of what she’d been through recently just sapped all the fight out of her. And Tony was right – what would she do if this happened again and he wasn’t here to help her? And, as he’d said, he needed her just as much as she needed him. Could she really deny him the chance to make a go of it over here when he was putting himself out for her like this?

‘Okay,’ she murmured, feeling a rush of relief as soon as the word was out.

‘Okay?’ Easing her away from him, Tony gazed down at her. ‘You said that, right?’

Looking up at him, Jenna smiled. ‘Yeah, I said it. I’ll let you buy into the club. On one condition.’

‘Name it.’

‘I keep fifty-one per cent. It might seem petty, but the extra one is for my dad.’

Mulling it over for a second, Tony nodded. ‘You got a deal. But I’ve got a condition of my own.’

‘What’s that?’ Jenna reached behind her for the kitchen roll. Ripping a piece off, she blew her nose.

‘That you draw the contracts up in Lenny’s name,’ Tony said, perching on the back of one of the kitchen chairs now. ‘It’s my money, and I’ll be your actual partner, but that’s the way I want it.’

‘It’s not illegal, is it?’ Jenna asked worriedly.

‘Hey, come on, now.’ Tony drew his head back. ‘Do I look like a dodgy guy to you?’

‘No, but . . .’ Pausing, Jenna shrugged. ‘It just seems weird.’

‘Granted it ain’t the most conventional way to do business,’ Tony said. ‘But if you knew what I’ve been through since I got here, you’d understand. I was walking around with a million dollars in my pocket and nowhere to put it before Lenny offered me a helping hand. That’s why I want to do this for him now. We both know how bad he wants to be part of the whole club scene, and this is my way of thanking him for everything he’s done. With the added benefit of me getting my feet through the door, without the hassle of having to produce papers I ain’t got and can’t get.’

‘Are you sure Leonard
wants
to be involved?’ Jenna asked. ‘And are you really sure
you
want to do it like this? It’s a massive risk handing over that much money and letting him put
his
name to
your
business. What if he decides to cut you out? You’d have no proof that it’s got anything to do with you.’

‘You kidding me?’ Tony chuckled. ‘Lenny’s a diamond. I’d trust him with my life. You must know how decent he is, what with him and your dad being friends and all.’

‘I suppose so,’ Jenna murmured. Then, ‘Well, I guess if you’re both okay with it, there’s no reason for me to object, is there?’

‘Partners, then?’ Tony held out his hand.

‘Partners.’ Jenna shook it.

‘And no one knows about our arrangement, but me, you, Ed and Len. Agreed?’

‘Agreed.’ Laughing softly now, Jenna shook her head, wondering what on earth she’d let herself in for.

PART TWO

15

Unlocking the door, Tony walked into the larger of the club’s two storerooms. It was a vast space, with rough brick walls and a dirty cement floor, situated behind the wall housing the DJ’s booth. It spanned the entire width of the club, and had several sub-rooms and alcoved sections. It was also freezing, stank of damp, and was too far away from the back yard and the bars to make it practical for storing alcohol, so all it was used for was storing the cleaning supplies and equipment.

Switching on the light now, Tony held the door open for Jenna to precede him in.

‘I was thinking that if we moved all this out,’ he said, waving at the boxes of toilet rolls, kitchen towels, soaps and disinfectants that were stacked floor to ceiling along one wall, ‘we’d have room for a small bar. And if we take these down –’ he indicated the ancient built-in shelves that lined the opposite wall ‘– we could put in seating. Then we could lay down a small dance floor over here,’ he went on, walking across to the back wall. ‘Toilets in that section, and a small kitchen in that, where we can get us a chef to do special-occasion dinner parties, and what have you. The rest is just cosmetics – change the overheads to wall lights, give it a good paint job, and it’ll be perfect. What do you think?’

‘I think we don’t need another VIP area,’ Jenna told him, repeating what she’d already said before he’d insisted on dragging her in here to take a look. ‘The celebrities like to be separated from the general public, but that doesn’t mean they don’t get a kick out of flaunting themselves in front of them. They
want
to be seen up there in the lounge. It’s like a “you can look at me in my castle, but you ain’t getting in” kind of thing.’

‘Yeah, maybe some of them
do
like being visible,’ Tony conceded. ‘But there’s plenty more who’d rather keep their leisure activities hidden.’

‘If we’re talking
illegal
activities,’ Jenna said, folding her arms now. ‘I don’t want any of that in my club.’

‘
Our
club,’ Tony reminded her softly. ‘And, no, I’m not talking illegal, I’m talking
private
. Take it from someone who knows, Jenna, there’s stars out there who don’t want to risk having pictures of them falling over drunk, or taking their mistresses out for dinner and a dance sold to the papers. They’re the real stars – the real money. And there’s no one in town accommodating them at the moment, so if we got this off the ground we’d have us some real kudos.’

‘I don’t know,’ Jenna murmured. ‘I just think it’s a waste of money for something we don’t really need – because it would cost a fortune to get it up to scratch. And we’d need permission to open it up as a public area, and that means being inspected by the Planning Department – which I’d really rather not have to get into,’ she added, remembering why she hadn’t sold the club in the first place.

‘Believe me, it won’t be wasted money,’ Tony assured her. ‘And the planning aspect won’t be a problem, because Lenny’s still got friends in high places.’

‘I’m sure he has,’ Jenna muttered. ‘But I doubt even they could pass this without raising eyebrows.’

‘Aw, quit worrying,’ Tony said, flapping his hand as if he weren’t concerned in the slightest. ‘Lenny’s already worded up a couple of his guys, and it’s practically a done deal, so that ain’t a problem. And there’s a shit-load of politicians chomping at the bit to get at it. We won’t even have to advertise, ’cos these people got an inbuilt radar for safe places to play. All I need is for you to say yes.’

‘I’ll think about it,’ Jenna lied, hoping that he would be satisfied with that for now. And, knowing him, by the time she got around to telling him no, he’d have already moved on to something else. Glancing at her watch now, she said, ‘Right, I’d better get home or I’ll never be ready in time. You staying here?’

‘For a while,’ Tony said, still gazing around, envisaging the private members’ club that he
would
set up – with or without Jenna’s approval. He liked her, so he’d let her believe that her thinking about it meant something, but he would go ahead regardless.

Jenna was frowning as she made her way across the club floor. She’d been desperate when she’d phoned Tony that day, but he had taken immediate control, telling her that he would sort it all out. And he had done exactly that. She didn’t know
how
, and she didn’t
want
to know: she was just grateful that it had been so effective. The men who had threatened her hadn’t shown their faces again, and there hadn’t been a single worrying incident at the club since, apart from the odd little scuffle – which was totally normal and which the security guys were more than able to handle. Now, almost two months into the partnership, the club was well and truly back on its feet, with a full customer turnout and a full VIP lounge every night.

Jenna couldn’t have been happier about that, but she was finding the transition from sole owner to partner a little harder than she’d anticipated. She felt dwarfed by Tony’s larger-than-life personality, and she had to admit that it peeved her that certain members of staff had jumped so fast onto his side of the new ship. Maurice, in particular, was thrilled to have a male boss again, and Jenna had to battle not to jump down his throat when she saw him sucking up to Tony after he, Maurice, had treated her with barely concealed contempt for so long.

The major problem that she had with the new situation was the way Tony walked around as if it was
his
club.
His
club,
his
rules,
his
way or the highway. Some of his ideas had worked really well, like throwing a party for all of the original New Year’s Eve guests, to bring them back into the fold. And the advertising campaign he’d organised, comprising posters being put up all around town, adverts in the press, radio plugs, and even back-of-bus ads, to let the public know they were back on track. But others were just plain annoying. Putting Eddie in charge of security a week after coming on board without even consulting her, for example. That had
really
pissed her off, but by the time she’d heard about it Jacko had already walked out in protest, taking three of the doormen with him. Fortunately, Bobby and Flex stayed and brought in a few of their friends to fill the spaces, so everything was pretty much back to normal on the security front. But it still annoyed her when she thought about it.

Still, Tony was here now and there was nothing she could do about it, so she tried not to let it get to her too much. Jenna reminded herself – frequently – that Tony could think he was in control, but that didn’t make it true. She still had the extra one per cent, and everybody knew it was her club really. And, generally speaking, things
were
going pretty well, so she supposed she shouldn’t complain.

Letting herself out into the yard now, she forced herself to smile when she saw Leonard manoeuvring his Jag in beside her car. He was here all the time these days, but he wasn’t too bad when you cut through the pretentiousness. The only problem Jenna actually had with him was that he was so far up Tony’s backside it was difficult to know where the one ended and the other began. And with Eddie completing the triangle of power, she felt a little overwhelmed at times.