Chapter 21 #7
“It’s actually Daniel, not sunshine, Dicky, or Princess. Although Queen might work,” Daniel says. “Even Dan will do. It’s nice to meet you, Mr and Mrs Layton. My apologies if I caused offence. It was never my intention.”
“Ignore my husband. Nice to meet you, Daniel.” My mum raises her glass his way.
“That remains to be seen,” my dad mumbles.
I turn back towards the cameras. Leaning forward, I make eye contact with Marley, who’s grinning like The Cheshire fucking Cat!
“I haven’t said a fucking word,” he says, attempting not to laugh.
“Let’s keep it that way, shall we?” I suggest. “Otherwise, the whole lot of us are going to be portrayed as bigoted psychopaths.”
“They wouldn’t be far wrong on the second part, but they’ve only gotta look at the charities the foundation supports to know we’re far from fucking bigoted, and I’ll fight anyone who says so,” Marley argues.
I let out a long exhale but say no more because I suddenly feel exhausted, and it’s not even lunchtime yet.
“Okay,” Daniel says. “I’m a little worried now about showing you what we have next. It’s security vision from something that happened later that night.”
My heart literally falls out of my arsehole.
Please don’t let there be footage of Cam and me fucking against his office door. Not in front of my kids.
And parents.
And brothers.
“How the fuck did you get security footage from my club?” Cam’s voice booms across the room, and in a few long strides, he’s standing behind me.
“I’m not sure. It’s something one of our researchers came across,” Daniel says.
“You know anything about this?” Cam asks Len, the person in charge of clearing up after any members of the band or their associates fuck ups.
“Nope. Definitely not something doing the rounds back then,” Len says. “What’s it of?”
“It’s the altercation between Georgia and Haley White,” Daniel explains.
I get an instant headache as relief washes through me.
“Yes! Yes!” Marley claps his hands. “Heard it was brutal. Let’s see it.”
“Really?” I lean around Ash and ask my brother.
“Really. I don’t condone violence… usually. Don’t do this at home, kids.” He points to the camera. “But fuck me, I wanna see the bitch take a beating.”
“You all right with this?” Cam puts his hand on my shoulder.
I tilt my head back and look up at him, wide-eyed, hoping he reads my silent message of: what the actual fuck? I thought we’d been busted and filmed fucking there for a minute!
His lips twitch, and he gives a slight nod, which means he knows exactly what that look meant.
“Why the fuck not?” I tell him. “Roll it,” I tell Daniel. “Kids, Mum and Dad, I’m sorry. This is not my finest behaviour.”
The security camera footage is in black and white, but considering it’s from the nineties, the quality is really good, and the image clear.
The camera’s pointed towards the roped-off entryway to the VIP area, and Haley White can be clearly seen arguing with the two bouncers.
I’m assuming because they’re not letting her in.
“If it was invite only, what the fuck was she doing there?” Ash questions.
“How did she get anywhere?” Len asks. “Whatever you think of her, she was resourceful.”
Conversation carries on around me, but I can’t take my eyes off the woman on the screen.
She’s wearing a really tight, white, button-up, cropped shirt, a tartan mini skirt, and ballet flats.
Her hair is cut short on one side and spiky on top, with a long fringe hanging over one eye.
I don’t know why my brain is taking in all these details regarding her appearance.
The woman’s been dead a number of years, yet I still feel the anger bubbling away inside me at what her actions did to change the course of my life—what she did to Sean.
Hate is a strong word that we were never allowed to use growing up, and that’s something I’ve instilled in my kids.
I used to believe hate was the opposite of love.
I love fiercely, and the only two people I can honestly say I’ve had fierce feelings for that aren’t love are Haley White and Rocco Taylor.
As I’ve got older, I’ve learned the opposite of hate is indifference, and I’m disappointed that’s still not what I feel towards those two.
I wish it was. I wish I was the bigger person.
But even now, especially with what I’ve just learned they did to Sean, if they weren’t already dead, I’d be talking to my husband or dad to make it so, and I do not have a single fuck to give as to what that says about me.
Maybe Marley’s right. Maybe I am a psychopath.
And then, right on cue, his point is proved.
I appear from somewhere behind the camera.
I’m not running, but I’m taking long strides in my heeled boots and tight dress.
Taking the bouncers by surprise, I push straight through them and reach for the bleached blonde in front of me.
I grab the long side of her horrible, asymmetrical hair with my left hand, and punch her with my right.
Her head falls back with the force, and the image is clear enough that you can see her eyes roll.
“Oh, shit!” Harry shouts.
“Fucking hell, George,” Marley says with a loud hand clap.
I watch as she goes down to the floor, and I jump right on top of her.
The anger I feel now is nothing compared to the anger I felt back then, but it’s still there, bubbling away, and I don’t regret a thing I’m watching myself do.
I can honestly say, hand on heart, if I bumped into her on the street tomorrow, I’d do the exact same thing.
Except she’s dead, and I can’t, and maybe I wouldn’t, anyway. Who knows?
Like back then when it happened, I’m aware of the noises and the voices around me, but I can’t hear them as I watch myself punch her over and over.
“Georgia?” My mum’s voice manages to break through. “My goodness.”
“Girl deserved it, Bern, after what she put them boys through. The trouble she caused with her lies… she deserved it,” my dad says.
I watch as she puts her hands up to defend herself, to block me, so I grip her hair instead and bang her head against the floor.
The whole scene plays out in less than a minute, and then Cam’s there, with his arms around my waist as he pulls me off her.
I continue to lunge, kicking at Cam in my heels, pulling forward to escape him and get back at her.
Soon, Dave’s there, and they’re both holding me back, restraining me.
She’s still on the floor, not moving. I’m still trying to fight Cam, especially when she moves, and I realise I haven’t killed the cunt.
I lunge again. This time, Cam goes to the floor and pulls me down with him, wraps me in his arms, and holds me in a way that means I can’t move. If Daniel thought that last photo was incriminating, what must he think of these scenes?
Jimmie appears, kneeling in front of me, brushing my hair, which was barely out of place, away from my face. Ash is hovering in the background, and as they get Haley White to her feet, Ash makes her own move towards Haley, but is blocked by the bouncers.
“Fucking bouncers. I wanted to get to her so badly,” Ash says.
Haley’s bleeding from her nose and mouth. Her face is a mess; both eyes already swollen.
“Should I feel some kind of remorse?” I ask the room. “Because I don’t. And if the bitch weren’t already dead, and I bumped into her tomorrow, I’d do it all again,” I admit. “And I don’t care if you include that.”
“What was going through your head? You saw her, and then what?” Daniel asks.
I shrug. “You know when people say a red mist comes down, and they just lose it? Well, my mist was beyond red. The rage I felt inside was beyond red. It was white hot, and I just wanted to hurt her the way she’d hurt me.”
“You know she was attacked multiple times by Carnage fans over the years?” he asks.
“Good,” Ash gets in before I can say anything. “Wish I’d been one of them.”
I give another shrug. “No more than she deserved,” I say.
“Remind me to never borrow your shampoo again without asking,” Lu calls out.
“I warned you she was a weapon,” Cam says from behind me.
I reach up and cover the hand he has resting on my shoulder. He leans down and kisses the top of my head, instantly calming me, because that’s what he does.
“Mum, you annihilated her,” Harry says. “I don’t think I’ve ever been angry enough to want to do that to someone.”
“Good,” I say. “I hope you never are.”
“Did you ever see her again after that?” Daniel asks.
“No, never. Look, don’t get me wrong. My actions that night are not something I’m proud of, but I also don’t regret them.
I don’t know what the public will think of me for feeling that way.
All I ask is that they try to remember that she made false rape allegations against my boyfriend and brother, and there are other things I’m not prepared to go public with that she did to make sure me and Sean were kept apart for as long as we were.
The woman was a compulsive liar who didn’t care who she hurt to get her own way. ”
“Tell me, then. How did it all go down when your niece became involved with Rocco and Haley’s son, RJ?”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Lennon says, sitting up straight, holding his palm up.
“No,” I say. “Nice try, but I told you that wasn’t something I was prepared to talk about.
This is about me and my relationship with Sean.
It doesn’t involve Paige and RJ. Sean was dead before he was ever even on the scene.
If Paige wants to add something to be included, that’s fine, but you won’t be getting anything from me. ”
“Fair enough,” Daniel says. “On that note, shall we stop for lunch? Shelli, my amazing assistant, put an order in with Full Bifta just up the road. They should be delivering in about ten minutes.”
“Lovely jubbly.” My dad claps his hands. “Love a bit of Bifta.”