Chapter Sixteen
Bully
My mobile buzzes across the dresser, bringing me from my sleep. I grab it blindly, not bothering to open my eyes. “Huh?”
“Bully, it’s Mark Taylor.” I frown, pushing to sit up. He’s a police officer my uncle had on the payroll for years. I glance at my phone to check the time. One a.m. “I thought you should know The Woodthorpe was shot up tonight.” He pauses a beat before adding, “Your old lady was there.”
I dive from the bed, holding the phone between my ear and shoulder as I tug my jeans on. “Is she okay?”
“She’s fine, just a bit shook up. Said she didn’t see anything cos she was inside. There were casualties, Bully. Too many.”
“Do you know who was behind it?”
“No. There’re turf wars kicking off every damn day at the minute.”
“Yeah?”
“You wouldn’t know anything about coke flooding in?”
I pause, running my fingers through my hair. “I can tell you there’s been a chink in the chain of supply, so you’ll see it drying up for a short time. Longer if I have my way.”
“Good to know, Bully. Keep up the good work.” And he disconnects.
Taz and Smiler are less than impressed when I drag their arses out of bed.
Taz joins us in my office still rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
“The one night I decide to get my head down early and you wake me at,” he checks his watch, “quarter past one in the morning.” He yawns as he sits beside Smiler.
“The Woodthorpe was shot up tonight. Liv was there.” Taz mutters a string of curses, and I hold up my hand to stop him. “She’s fine. Just shaken up.”
“Those fuckers,” hisses Smiler.
“It would’ve been around the time of our own little destruction job, which means at that point they didn’t know anything.”
“So, it wasn’t a retaliation for that,” Taz states. “Meaning they’re coming back at us daily, not bothering if we retaliate or not.”
“I need to see Liv. Check she’s okay for myself. I want you to get Whizz outta bed too and see what you can find out about tonight.”
“Pres, you can’t go out alone. He’ll be waiting,” says Taz firmly.
“I can’t not go and see my old lady,” I snap.
“It’s obvious they knew she was there. And it’s obvious your next move would be to rush to her side. A job you’d do alone, with no protection.” I think over his words. “Take Smiler. Go in the back. They’ll expect you to have your guard down, so they’ll be watching the front.”
I head over to the safe and put in the code then take out a set of keys and a new mobile phone. “I’m gonna try to send her to the safe house.”
Taz smirks. “Good luck with that.”
Getting around the back of Liv’s apartment block isn’t an easy task. We have to park the bikes three streets away and climb over fences, trailing through back gardens until we come to the six-foot wall. Smiler gives me a foot up. “I’ll wait out here, I’ll call if I see anything,” he mutters.
I tap on the service door, and the security opens it. I slip him the hundred Taz promised him when he called ahead to get me access.
Using the stairs to get to her apartment, I lightly tap on the door. When she doesn’t answer, I take out the key I had cut for emergencies like this and let myself in.
The first door I come to is already slightly ajar, and I peek in to see Bria sleeping soundly.
I move to the next, carefully opening it and stepping inside.
Liv is wearing one of my shirts, curled in a ball in the centre of the bed with her sheets screwed up at her feet.
I smile, looking around the room at the girly décor.
I remember her telling me about it when she came to visit me.
She was so excited when she got this place.
I notice a card laying face down beside her phone, and I pick it up.
‘Mama, I hear you like white because red reminds you of blood. I’m sorry for losing it yesterday. It’s a tense time. Forgive me. D x’
I stare at the words. They don’t make sense, so I read them again slower.
They burn a new kind of rage deep in my gut.
Mama. He calls my old lady ‘mama’. My jaw is tense as I read it a third time, each word slapping a little harder than before.
Forgive him for what? This card implies he’s a lot fucking closer than she let on.
How else would he know about her hatred for red roses?
These are things I share with her, things only I should know.
Heat floods my chest. It’s not just anger burning away anymore but jealousy, sour and hot, threatening to bubble over and burn Liv if I don’t rein it in.
I drop the card on the side and pick up her mobile phone, taking it and heading back into the living room. I take a seat on the couch and open it.
The only messages in her phone are from him. And he’s not saved under Dagger or even Darren. D. Fucking D. Nicknames for one another like it’s a fucking love story.
I read through the first couple of him checking in on her. Another thanking her for meeting him and reiterating what he said on the card, that he’s sorry for losing it.
Then the ones from tonight. More urgent. More desperate.
D: Mama, are you okay? Just let me know you’re safe.
Within the same minute she replies.
Liv: I’m fine.
D: Did you talk to the police?
Liv: I’m not stupid.
D: You wouldn’t want to drop your old man in the shit.
I frown. He can’t be referring to himself, which means he’s blaming the gunfire on me.
Liv: It’s not that. I told you, I’m not getting involved in your war.
D: He could’ve killed you tonight, mama. Meet me.
Liv: I can’t. Bria is on one.
D: I need to see you’re okay.
Liv: I told you, I’m fine. Goodnight. And thanks for saving me tonight . . . again.
D: Having you beneath me like that . . . got me thinking shit I shouldn’t. Until next time xx
I stare at the exchange. The fire in my chest seems lighter, dimmer. Her words take away all hope I had of ever sorting things out between us.
I go back into her bedroom. She’s turned on her back now, her hands laying either side of her head, relaxed, calm.
I put the mobile back and shrug from my kutte, placing it carefully on the end of her bed.
Then I lean close to her ear. “Wake up,” I whisper coldly, and she stirs.
“Olivia,” I snap more harshly, and her eyes shoot open.
I slam my hand over her mouth before she can scream and force her to look at me.
“You’ve been lying to me.” Her eyes are wide with fear as they search my face for answers.
I shove her away, standing and putting distance between us.
She scrambles back until she’s over the other side of the bed, where she brings her knees to her chest and watches me through guarded eyes. “What do you want?”
I pick the card up and throw it at her feet.
She makes no move to grab it. “Mama?” I ask, arching a brow.
“He has a nickname for you.” I take a seat by the window, keeping my eyes fixed to hers.
“And now you think I’m here to hurt you.
” The realisation hits me hard, and I fight the urge to hold her, to reassure her.
“How did you get in here?” I don’t bother to reply, even though it’s on the tip of my tongue to remind her I will always be able to get to her.
“I assume there were flowers attached to that card?”
She glances at the card. “You’re making something out of nothing.” Her voice is quiet but steady. “He left a card. I didn’t ask for it.”
“And does he call you ‘mama’ to your face or just when he leaves you love notes?”
She glances at her phone, which instantly annoys me. “Call him,” I say coldly. “Get him here.”
She waits a beat before sighing heavily, like this entire conversation is an inconvenience to her. “You wanna ask me something, ask me.”
“Are you screwing him?”
“No.”
“Why are you meeting up with him?”
“Because you screwed his old lady and put me in danger. It was damage limitation, trying to stop it bleeding into me and Bria.”
My eyes narrow in irritation. “So, you’re befriending him? You feel sorry for him?”
“No,” she snaps. “I needed to know if me leaving you, leaving the club, means I’m safe.”
I smirk. “And what was his answer?”
She looks away briefly. “He didn’t really give me one.”
I laugh. “Let me get this straight, Liv. You willingly arranged to meet a dangerous man, one who wants to get to me by using you, and you told him you were no longer under my protection.” She fidgets uncomfortably, and I imagine the blush burning her cheeks, one I can’t see in the dimness of the moonlight. “Clever.”
“I’m still here, aren’t I?” she snaps. “No thanks to your bloody club.”
I frown. “Now, you trust his word?” My voice drops to a dangerous level. “He tells you my club was responsible for that shitshow, and you believe him?”
“He was there—”
I push to my feet, and she slams her lips closed. “Yes, I know. Protecting you from a threat he arranged.”
I let my words sink in, and she shakes her head. “Why would he—”
“Oh, Jesus, Liv, wake up. What better way to get at me than to take what’s mine? He gets you to trust him, and then he’ll parade you around on his arm just to piss me off.”
“Only I’m not yours.”
“The result will still be the same,” I mutter bitterly.
She buries her face in her hands. “You realise none of this would be happening if you just kept your dick in your pants for once.”
Her words twist my already aching heart. “Yes,” I whisper. “But it’s done. I can’t change it now. You need to stay away from him, Liv.”
“I can’t,” she mutters. I brace myself for her next words, like she’s about to confess her undying love for my enemy. “I think he’s stalking me.”
It’s not what I expected, and I sit back down, my brow furrowed. “What?”
“He knows where I am. He knows things about me that he shouldn’t . . . like the roses. How does he know that?”
“Maybe you told him?” I suggest.
“I didn’t. We haven’t been having meaningful chats, Bully.”
“Maybe he’s tracking your phone?” My mind races for an explanation.
She shakes her head. “You smashed the old one. This one’s new.”