A Family Divided (Dividing Line #3) (21 page)

“
Like I said, I’ve got a meeting.”

“
Please Alex, I hardly see you anymore.” She moved Holly onto one shoulder and reached out to take his hand. “I’m worried I’m losing you.”

“
Look, I’m a bit busy at the moment, I’ve got a lot on.”

Beth took a deep breath, determined to keep her temper.
“I understand that but surely you can spare me just a couple of hours of your time?”

She
’d made an effort with her appearance, straightened her blond hair, which was shiny and glossy and put on make-up. She even wore a dress. She looked so pretty he softened to her slightly. “Alright, I can be back by eight. Would that be okay?”

She went up on her tiptoes to kiss him.
“Yes it would. Your tea’s ready if you are?”

“
I am.”

The grin he gave her reminded her of the Alex she fell in love with and she smiled back.
“Take a seat, I’ll get it out the oven.”

Alex ate quickly and went out again. Beth took the kids to Martina
’s then returned home to anxiously await him, touching up her make-up, enjoying a large glass of white wine to steady her nerves. She had no idea which way this would go, she half-expected him not to return at all, but he did, right on eight o’clock.

“
Drink?” she said, the moment he entered the room.

But he didn
’t reply. Instead he swept her into a kiss and pushed her back onto the couch. Beth was astounded by his passion, he hadn’t touched her like this in ages and she welcomed it. What she didn’t know was that the entire time he was inside her he was thinking of a tall blond prostitute with keen blue eyes.

Beth woke the next morning with a sense of harmony. Alex had stayed with her the whole night and they’d made love three times. He was still there when she went downstairs for breakfast, reading the newspaper. She sighed when his mobile phone rang, it was a constant in their lives.

“
What? I’ll be there as soon as I can,” he said before hanging up. He got to his feet. “Sorry Babe, I’ve got to go. Some business.”

“
But you promised Alfie you’d watch his football match.”

“
Shit.” He glanced at his watch. “It’s only half eight. I can go and get back in time. Is it at the school?”

“
Yes.”

“
I’ll be there, promise but I have to leave now.”

“
Can’t it wait till after? It’s only a couple of hours,” she said, knowing that if he left now there was a good chance he wouldn’t be back at all.

“
No it can’t, it’s urgent. Bye Babe,” he said, planting a kiss on her lips before rushing out, not giving her time to object.

Alex sped over to his gentleman
’s club after collecting Col and entered via the back way, Katia opening the door to him. When he saw her he was drawn back into the fantasies that had filled his head, pretending it had been her lying under him instead of his wife, it was the only reason they’d done it three times last night. He was excited to the extreme not only by Katia’s presence but by what was to come.

“
Where is she?” he demanded.

“
She’s in her office but the man she brought in is in room three with Jovana. He is a disgusting smelly pig.”

“
How much is Patti charging him?”

“
Five hundred to be with Jovana.”

“
Five hundred? She brings in over a thousand. She’s going to ruin all the girls.”

“
I think he’s hurting her, I could hear her crying.”

“
Wait by Patti’s door. Don’t let her leave,” he told her before rushing inside and downstairs.

Alex burst into room number three to find a pot bellied, unshaven middle aged man pinning Jovana face down to the floor and brutally raping her. Alex dragged him off and proceeded to beat seven bells out of him while Col picked the sobbing girl up off the floor, her thighs streaked with blood, skinny legs threatening to buckle.
“He’s not touched her face,” he told Alex.

“
Course not because if he did I might find out.” Alex punched the fat man in the gut then rammed his head into the wall. “Take her back to the room and call the doctor.” Alex had a man who worked for him on the side, checking the girls regularly for STD’s and patching them up when required. “Then throw this piece of shit out,” he said, gesturing to the unconscious naked fat man on the floor. “I’m going to sort out Patti.”

Alex went back upstairs to the first floor. Patti, ensconced in her office, hadn
’t heard a thing.

“
Is she still in there?” he whispered to Katia.

“
Yes.”

“
Good. Are you with me on this?”

“
Of course.”

“
It won’t be pleasant.”

“
I didn’t think it would be.”

He smiled and touched her face.
“Good girl. You go in first so she doesn’t realise anything is wrong.”

Patti was sat in her flowery armchair with a cup of tea.
“Hello Katia Love. You can take the tray, I’ve finished,” she said, waving to the empty plate. She didn’t so much as flinch when Alex entered behind her. “Alright Alex, what can I do for you?”

“
I think you know Patti,” he replied, closing the door.

“
No I don’t, unless you’re here for a bit of fun.”

“
Why did you do it Patti? I was making you a wealthy woman, but then again you always were a greedy bitch. No matter how much I gave you, it would never be enough.”

“
I’ve not a fucking clue what you’re talking about,” she said calmly, putting down her cup.

“
You’ve been sneaking men in here during the day to use the girls and pocketing the cash, cheap sleazy men who can’t pay the full whack.”

“
No I haven’t. It must have been her,” she said, gesturing to Katia.

“
You lying cow. It was all you,” yelled Katia and Patti appeared shocked by how clearly she spoke English.

“
Don’t make me laugh. Katia’s been in the country five minutes and that fat ugly bastard who was abusing Jovana downstairs is a mate of yours. You’ve been rumbled Patti. Don’t make it worse for yourself.”

“
Fine, it’s a fair cop,” she sighed, getting to her feet. “Out with it. What’s my punishment?”

“
I think you know,” he said coldly. “No one steals off me.”

“
Oh I see. You’re going to make me disappear, are you?” she chuckled. “Let’s get it over with then.”

With staggering speed she drew a small knife from the sleeve of her dress and lashed out at Alex. He shoved Katia out of harm
’s way, grabbed Patti’s wrist, twisted it and punched her hard in the face, knocking her out. Katia looked from Patti to him and back again in surprise.

“
I had no idea she carried a knife,” she breathed.

“
She has done since she was fifteen and started flogging her arse. Patti might look old and harmless but she’s a dangerous cow.”

Col entered the room and groaned when he saw Patti spark out on the carpet.
“Oh great, am I going to have to carry her out too?”

“
Afraid so Mate,” grinned Alex.

He helped him get her to her feet, Col staggering beneath her weight as he hauled her to the door.

“Wait here. I’ll be back soon,” Alex told Katia. Then he was gone.

Triumphantly Katia took the chair recently vacated by Patti as though it were a throne. Never again would she have to make the tea.

Alex returned to the club an hour later alone to find Katia tidying up Patti’s office. She didn’t hear him arrive and he leaned against the doorway to watch her, admiring her figure. Those fantasies came surging back and he wondered how real life would compare to his imagination.

“
You like tidying up, don’t you?” he said.

She straightened up and smiled.
“It helps clear my head.”

“
You can do what you want with this room now. It’s yours. From now on, you’re in charge here.”

Katia was too smart to ask if Patti was coming back. Of course she wasn
’t.

“
I hope you won’t make the same mistakes as your predecessor?”

“
No. You have given me everything. You have my loyalty.”

“
Good. That’s all I ask. Do your job, don’t take the piss and you’ll be well rewarded. Come on, there’s something I want to show you.”

She followed him upstairs, perplexed when he walked past Patti
’s old bedroom, she’d assumed she’d be in there. Instead he took her to the room at the end, which she’d never been in before because it was always locked. He opened it with a key he took from his pocket to reveal a spacious elegant room with a bay window, white walls and luxurious furnishings. The dark wood floorboards were bare and beautifully finished.

“
This is yours now,” he said.

“
Mine, why?”

“
Because you deserve it. I didn’t want Patti in here because she’d have put up flowery wallpaper and ruined it but I think it will suit you. Look,” he said, opening the wardrobe to reveal a rack of expensive clothes. “They’re yours.”

“
They’re beautiful,” she breathed, astonished, letting her fingers trail over the silks and satins. There was even a cashmere scarf and everything was in her size. It seemed he’d been planning Patti’s downfall for a while, a lesson she would never forget.

“
You’re to wear these clothes at all times when you’re here. Throw away your old ones. You’ve got an image to project. The girls answer to you and you alone and if they step out of line you can discipline them any way you see fit. And you don’t sleep with the customers.” he said, taking a step towards her, his gaze intense.

“
I don’t?” she said, delighted. “Why is that?”

“
Because you’re above all that. No one else is to touch you.”

“
I don’t understand why,” she purred.

“
Because I said so. That’s all you need to know,” he said, all too aware of the large white bed behind him, welcoming, inviting.

“
Did you tell Patti the same thing?”

“
No because no one would want to touch her.”

“
Do you want to touch me?”

“
I’d be lying if I said no but I’m not going to.”

She smiled confidently.
“You will one day.”

“
I have very strong willpower, certainly strong enough to resist the delights you have to offer.”

“
How do you know, unless you’ve tasted them?”

The word
taste
evoked a wild set of images in his mind, just as she’d intended. “I have to go, I’m late for my lad’s football match,” he said, taking a step back. “Do as I say and me and you will get along fine.”

“
I do hope so,” she said softly as he left.

CHAPTER 17

The doorbell rang and Rachel dragged herself to the door, melancholy draining her of her energy. Her spirits soared when she opened the door because the man standing before her with the bunch of flowers looked so much like her husband she thought it was him. Then she noticed the subtle differences; his narrow eyes brown instead of grey, shoulders not quite as broad, mouth a different shape.

“
Hello?” she frowned, her exhausted brain attempting to puzzle out who he was and failing.

“
Hello,” he replied uncertainly. She got the impression he was a man not used to being so unsure of himself, he looked like very capable, or that could just be because he reminded her so much of Ryan. “Are you Rachel Law?”

“
I am.”

He thrust the bouquet of flowers at her.
“I heard about your car accident, I wanted to say how sorry I am for your loss.”

“
Thank you, that’s very kind,” she said, accepting them. Then it struck her. “Is your last name Cutter by any chance?”

“
Yes. I’m Riley Cutter.”

Another of Stuart Cutter
’s sons. She opened the door wider. “Would you like to come in?”

“
Err, I’m not sure I should.”

“
Ryan’s not here right now but you can wait for him if you like?”

He appeared even more hesitant.
“I don’t want to intrude, I understand you must have a lot on at the moment.”

“
It’s okay.”

“
No, I don’t think I should. I’ve got a bit of leave to visit Neil, but I have to be back at the barracks in a couple of days then I don’t know where I’ll be sent.”

“
I believe you’re in the army?”

“
Yes. I’ve heard there’s a possibility Ryan’s my brother but until that time it’s probably best if I keep away. I just wanted to say how sorry I am. I lost a child too a couple of years ago, I know how hard it is.”

“
I’m sorry to hear that,” she said gently.

His lips tightened and he nodded.

“Do you want to leave your phone number for Ryan?”

“
I don’t think it would be right until we’ve had the DNA results back. I’ll be off then. Nice to meet you Rachel.”

“
You too Riley.”

She watched him walk away, the resemblance to Ryan unnerving. Any doubt as to the truth of Neil
’s claims evaporated. He and Riley could have been twins.

When she tried calling Ryan, she was surprised when he actually answered.

“I’ve just had an unexpected visitor.”

“
Who?” he said, voice heavy with disinterest.

“
Riley Cutter.”

“
What did he want?”

“
He brought me a bunch of flowers, said how sorry he was about Thomas.”

“
What the fuck has it got to do with him?”

“
He was just being nice, he said he lost a child himself. Ryan, he was the spitting image of you. When I opened the door at first I thought it was you.”

“
It was your imagination.”

“
No it wasn’t, you should have seen him. He’s only in the city for a couple of days before he has to go back to the army. Why don’t you track him down and have a chat with him?”

“
I’ve got too much on my plate at the moment.”

“
He might be able to tell you more than Neil can, he’s the older brother.”

“
I’m not interested, let it drop.”

“
Fine. When are you going to be home?”

But he
’d already hung up.

Beth’s fury steadily built as the minutes ticked by. Alfie was playing well but his concentration was only half on the game and he kept glancing her way to see if his dad had joined her.

“
Come on Alex,” she muttered, glancing at her watch. He was already fifteen minutes late. She switched Holly to her other arm and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw him hurrying across the school playing fields towards her. As he stood beside her she prepared herself to admonish him then thought of last night and held her tongue. Her son’s face lit up when he spotted his dad and Alex gave him a big thumb’s up.

“
Thank God you made it,” said Beth, trying to sound light-hearted. “I was getting worried.”

“
I’m here now. What’s the score?”

“
Two one to Alfie’s side. He scored the first goal.”

“
Oh, I can’t believe I missed it,” he said, genuinely upset.

“
You should have got here sooner.”

“
Don’t start Beth.”

“
I’m not starting, I’m only saying.” She didn’t want to undo all the progress they’d recently made so she took his hand. “Let’s not fall out, this is our son’s big moment.”

“
You’re right,” he replied, giving her hand a gentle squeeze. When one of the other dad’s standing in front of them turned to give him a black look, Alex scowled. “What the fuck are you looking at?”

The man hastily turned back round.

“Alex,” chided Beth.

But he ignored her and tapped the man on the shoulder.
“If you’ve got a problem then come out with it.”

The man refused to reply, keeping his gaze fixed on the match. Alex
’s blood boiled, fed up of all the other parents looking down their noses at him because of who he was when he could buy and sell the lot of them. Rachel had the same problem when Leah started nursery, but ever since she’d gone legitimate that problem had gone away. Everything worked out for Little Miss Fucking Perfect. Just the thought of her caused his temper to spike and he shoved the man roughly in the shoulder. “Come on then coward. You’re brave enough to give me the shit eye when you think I’m not looking but you’ve not got the balls to tell me to my face.”

“
You…you’ve got the wrong idea,” the man stammered. “I wasn’t looking at you, I was seeing if my wife has arrived yet, she’s late.”

“
Bollocks.”

“
Alex, stop it, please,” said Beth, panicking when she saw the headmistress hurrying over to them.

“
Please gentlemen, we can’t have language like that here,” she admonished.

“
It wasn’t me,” stammered the man. “I didn’t use any bad language.”

“
No, you’re too much of a fucking coward.”

“
Mr Maguire, I must ask you to refrain from using language like that,” scowled the headmistress.

“
Alex stop it, you’re ruining this for Alfie,” said Beth, cheeks burning with shame. All the parents had stopped watching the game to watch them instead. Her heart almost broke when she saw the same embarrassment she was feeling in her son’s eyes.

“
Perhaps it would be best if you left?” suggested the headmistress.

“Me?” said Alex incredulously.

“Yes. I’m sorry but this is about the children and I will not have such behaviour on school grounds.”

The headmistress tilted her chin proudly, making it clear she wasn
’t going to back down.

“
This is because of who I am, isn’t it?”

“
No Mr Maguire, it’s because of the bad language and aggressive tone. My concern is for the children, not the parents.”

“
I’ve just given ten grand to this school and you’re chucking me out?”

“
We appreciate the donation Mr Maguire, but that doesn’t mean you get a free pass to behave badly on school grounds.”

For one horrible moment, Beth thought he was going to punch her.

“Fucking fine,” he snarled before stomping off, leaving Beth stammering an apology and Alfie on the verge of tears.

Rachel tried to get on with her life, wanting to return to normality as soon as possible for her kids. The pain was still present but two weeks after Thomas’s funeral she woke up feeling like she could breathe again and she could actually get out of bed without it being a monumental effort. Seeing she was coping much better, Gill and Rick decided to return to Devon.

“
Why don’t you come and stay with us for a bit? It did you the power of good after Danny died,” coaxed Gill before they left.

Rachel knew Ryan would never agree to leave Manchester until he
’d found whoever had killed Thomas and she couldn’t bear to leave him behind. “Not just yet. I want to get back to normal first, but we’ll visit during the school holidays, promise.”

“
Alright, you know what’s best for you.”

Rachel turned her attention back to the businesses, which she had neglected recently. Fortunately they had good people working for them who had taken up the slack on their behalf and nothing had suffered. Even the casino was raking it in, Dolores throwing herself into her new role. It made Rachel turn back to her idea about seeking a fresh challenge. She found it in the form of a hotel on the outskirts of the city that had once been a very grand place but had been allowed to slip into neglect and was now up for sale. After a little digging she discovered Strang was interested in purchasing it too but it was going up for auction.

“It’s got a hundred and fifty bedrooms, a restaurant, bar and nightclub,” Rachel explained to Ryan excitedly. “It’s a massive complex, bigger than any hotel we’ve taken on yet. It even has twelve acres of land that’s not been developed. It’s perfect for that project I was thinking of before we bought the casino. I was thinking we could sculpt the grounds into a golf course and set up a small spa to attract the golf widows. What do you think?”

He shrugged.

“Do you think we should buy it? If we don’t then Strang will and he’ll make a mint off it. We can’t have that,” she smiled, knowing Ryan loved to thwart Stephen Strang.

“
If you want,” he said as though it didn’t really matter.

“
We’re not talking about buying a new car or a holiday, this is a huge investment. We need to talk it through properly.”

“
I’ve said go for it if you want.”

“
It’s what
we
want,” she insisted. “The other businesses don’t need our input anymore, we need something to take our minds off everything.”

He gave that weary sigh of his that had almost become his trademark and was seriously starting to piss her off. It sounded self-pitying, which wasn
’t like her husband at all. The man she loved was pulling away from her and she was starting to panic. But she knew it was because he hadn’t been able to find who had caused the accident. If he had then he might have been able to move on but he hadn’t and the frustration was killing him.

She squeezed his hand.
“Come on, let’s start planning it. We can make this so much more than a hotel.”

“
Look, I’ve said go for it. You can handle it on your own, can’t you?”

“
I don’t want to handle it alone, I want us to do it together, like all our other businesses. We’re a team.”

“
It doesn’t interest me Rachel.”

“
Nothing does anymore, not even me. You haven’t touched me for ages.”

Ryan was filled with shame and wished he knew why he couldn
’t bring himself to make love to her. They hadn’t had sex since before Thomas’s death. He still desired her but he couldn’t face the prospect of getting intimate, which he couldn’t explain because it had never happened to him before. He was so humiliated he couldn’t bring himself to talk about it, not even to Rachel. It pained him to see her hurt expression whenever he pulled away from her. He’d even started going to bed very late, wanting her to be asleep before he climbed in. He’d been suffering bouts of insomnia too and he spent most of the night lying awake watching her sleep, wanting to touch her but not daring to in case she woke up and wanted more. He knew he needed help, he was completely screwed up inside but he couldn’t show such weakness by going to a counsellor, it was the way he was wired. Keep it all in, put on a front and get on with things. Only he was crumbling inside.

“
I don’t have time to talk about this now, I’m meeting Jez.”

“
Why?”

“
Just a bit of business, nothing important.”

“
You’re still trying to find who caused the accident, aren’t you?”

He didn
’t respond and walked through the house to the porch and started pulling on his jacket.

“
I thought we could spend the day together, you’re hardly ever home,” she continued, gently cajoling.

“
I’ve got things to do.”