The Life (50 page)

As she came back into the small office with two mugs of tea,
he said nonchalantly, ‘You can have this, but you keep me in the loop, OK?’

Tania grinned happily; like him, once she decided on something there wasn’t a lot anyone could do to persuade her otherwise. She had taken to the Life like a duck to water. She was a natural really – even her brothers treated her as an equal now. But there was a small part of him that was sad because his Lena would be mortified to know that her efforts to keep her daughter away from the Life had been in vain. ‘You look pensive, Dad. You OK?’

He smiled and nodded. ‘You’ve done a good job, Tania. I’m proud of you.’

Tania Bailey didn’t answer her father, but she knew he was right – she
had
done a good job, and she was looking forward to doing an even better job now he was willing to finance it. She had quickly adapted to earning serious money and had slipped easily into the family network. She was determined to make her mark, and prove to everyone just how much of a Bailey she really was.

She had a child who was more Bailey than anyone knew, and she wanted him to have that legacy. Without a father, the only legacy she could eventually leave to him was her own. So she would work night and day if necessary to make sure that he would be seen to be as much a Bailey as any of them.

Stephen Doyle was a big man whose size could intimidate people, so he made a point of always having a cheerful countenance
– he had learned at a young age that it put people at their ease. At school he had been the class giant, and his family’s name had not helped either. The Doyles were well known as a family to be wary of. His father was a powerful man, prone to drunken rages if he was thwarted, who could smash their home up on a whim. He also, however, had a reputation for being more than capable of orchestrating a good earn for anyone who requested it.

His old man had always been a broker, and Stephen Doyle had inherited his father’s knack for finding out everything about everyone, and using that knowledge to his advantage. He put people in contact with each other – people who were looking for a partner in certain enterprises, or who had a product needing a viable distributor or backer. These were people willing to pay a percentage of their earnings to the broker who had found them a perfect match. It was a lucrative earn and one of the few specialist occupations in the Life.

The Doyles were approached by anyone who needed a partner; they brokered deals for new business ventures by marrying up the money-people with the ideas-people. The real
knack lay in being able to create partnerships between those who could actually work together. It was important to understand who you were dealing with and to ensure that they could get along. In their game, that was imperative – especially as so many of the people he dealt with settled any differences with a firearm.

Now that Europe had opened up, Stephen was more in demand than ever, regularly approached to broker international deals. He was respected because he never underestimated the people he dealt with, and he would always ensure that everyone concerned received an accurate assessment. There could be no hidden surprises that might cause problems down the line.

Stephen Doyle was thirty-seven years old and, for the first time in his life, he was falling in love. From the moment he had laid eyes on Tania Bailey he had been smitten – until then he had always been happy to play the field. Now he was actually courting a girl of twenty, whose father was a man only a raving fucking lunatic would cross.

But he didn’t care. She was like him – intent on living the Life to its fullest. He understood even better than her exactly what that meant. Together they had the potential to be the dream partnership – they could pool their resources and eventually they could own this fucking town.

He could sense the same ambition and desire in her that he had. She had a child and she wanted the best for him. Like him, Tania Bailey had an instinct for achieving what she wanted and, like him, she knew that they were destined to be together. She was so young and so lovely, and he had never wanted anybody as much as he wanted her.

Tania saw him standing by the bar of the new club the Baileys had just opened in Soho. She stood in the doorway watching him for a few moments; he was a lot older than her, but that
didn’t bother her as much as it did him. She really liked him, and she was confident that he felt the same way.

Her son’s birth had brought home to her the Bailey need to earn and make sure that you were capable of keeping yourself and your own. She was a Bailey all right, she had realised that when she had held her son in her arms.

She had been the victim of so much heartache, but it had made her stronger, she could see that now. You had to toughen up, and learn how to deal with whatever life threw at you. Her mother’s death had catapulted her into the Bailey world overnight and, from that moment, she had walked into the Life with her eyes wide open. She was so different now; the young girl she had been three years ago was long gone. Her mum had paid the ultimate price, and her uncle had paid a high price as well –
he had lost two sons. Her Auntie Ria had never got over Petey’s death, and her cousin Imelda spent her life watching her son’s submersion into the Bailey franchise. They were all fucking full of regrets.

But Tania wasn’t going to end up like them. She wouldn’t live off the proceeds of the Bailey name, while distancing herself from what the Bailey name really stood for. She knew better.

Her brothers had grown up in the Life, they had known the pitfalls from an early age but they had never been given a choice. Her mum had tried to protect her from it, but Tania had seen glimpses from a very early age, and when her mother had been taken from her she accepted it could not go unavenged. She had learned there was no getting away from the Life, not for a Bailey. And when she had given birth to her boy, she had sworn to herself that he would never go without.

The Bailey name was her ticket to independence, and the Bailey name would ensure that never again would anyone take advantage of her. In the future
she
would be the one using other
people,
she
would be the one to exploit other people’s weaknesses. Tania had embraced the Life and thrown herself into it wholeheartedly.

Now she had Stephen Doyle. He was a very dangerous man – she knew that about him, but she didn’t care. She wasn’t frightened of what the Life had to offer her – for her, the Life offered its own attractions. She had chosen this, and she had no qualms about it whatsoever. Furthermore, she would stop at nothing to get what she wanted. And she wanted
everything
that the Life had to offer, starting with Stephen Doyle.

He smiled as he saw her walking towards him. Tania Bailey had the aura of a woman with power. She looked for all the world like a woman who knew exactly what she wanted from the Life, and who knew
exactly
how to get it.

‘Woke Up This Morning’

Music and lyrics by Jake Black/Chester Burnett/Simon Edwards/Piers Marsh/Robert Spragg

Published by Chrysalis Music Ltd/BMG Rights Management (UK)

Ltd © 1996

Used with permission. All Rights reserved.

‘Mansion On The Hill’

Music and lyrics by Made Hamilton/Odie Hawkins/E. Evans/Ed Bereal/Piers Marsh/Simon Edwards/Jon Delafons/Robert Spragg

Published by Chrysalis Music Ltd © 2003

Used with permission. All Rights reserved.

‘Keep Your Shades On’

Music and lyrics by Jake Black/Piers Marsh/Robert Spragg/Jon Delafons/John Jennings

Published by Chrysalis Music Ltd © 2005

Used with permission. All Rights reserved.

‘You Don’t Dance To Techno Anymore’

Music and lyrics by Jake Black/Simon Edwards/Piers Marsh/Robert Spragg/Charles Harrison/Brian O’Horain

Published by Chrysalis Music Ltd © 1997

Used with permission. All Rights reserved.

‘Hypo Full Of Love’

Music and lyrics by Jake Black/Simon Edwards/Piers Marsh/Robert Spragg

Published by Chrysalis Music Ltd © 1996

Used with permission. All Rights reserved.

‘The Night We Nearly Got Busted’

Music and lyrics by Simon Edwards/Piers Marsh/Robert Spragg/Charles Harrison

Published by Chrysalis Music Ltd © 1997

Used with permission. All Rights reserved.

‘Power In The Blood’

Music and lyrics by Jake Black/Simon Edwards/Piers Marsh/Robert Spragg/Charles Harrison/Mark Sams/Jon Delafons/John Jennings/Alexis Worrell

Published by Chrysalis Music Ltd © 2003

Used with permission. All Rights reserved.

‘Come On Home’

Music and lyrics by Jake Black/Robert Spragg/Jon Delafons/John Jennings

Published by Chrysalis Music Ltd © 2003

Used with permission. All Rights reserved.

‘How Can I Protect You’

Music and lyrics by Piers Marsh/Robert Spragg/Jon Delafons/Alan Downey/Anthony McGuinness/Christopher Dignam/Joseph Jewel/William McGuinness

Published by Chrysalis Music Ltd/Copyright Control © 2005

Used with permission. All Rights reserved.

‘Crazy World’

(Dignam/McGuinnes/McGuiness/Jewell/Downey)

Published by Elevate Music Limited

Lyrics reprinted by permission.