Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 128585 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 643(@200wpm)___ 514(@250wpm)___ 429(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 128585 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 643(@200wpm)___ 514(@250wpm)___ 429(@300wpm)
I stayed by Arthur’s side as he poured out two gins at the bar, my hand on his lower back. He passed one gin to me, then sat down on his usual armchair, heading up the casual circle that made up his family meetings. Arthur pulled me onto his lap and placed a kiss on the back of my neck.
“We can get Ches her own chair, you know?” Eric said, a smirk on his face. It was the first bit of levity the day had brought.
“She stays right fucking here.” Arthur put his arm around my waist and kept my back flush to his chest. I settled against his warmth, his scent of tobacco and musk seeping into my lungs. Arthur opened his mouth to speak, but Gene came through the doorway.
“Gene?” Eric shifted forward in his seat, no more laughter in his tone. “What’s wrong? You okay?”
Gene nodded. He pointed at a spare chair—the chair Freddie used to occupy. “Is it alright if I sit?”
I gaped at him. Gene wanted to sit in on the family meeting. He had never sat in one before. He had never made any attempt to be included in the family business. Arthur and the others had always accepted that he had no desire to join the firm. I could tell by the bright eyes and hidden smiles shining Gene’s way, they were more than okay with him taking the newly vacant seat.
“You belong here,” Arthur said, and Gene sat down, his cheeks reddening under everyone’s attention. But Arthur’s words seemed to sink into his ears, and he sat straighter on the chair, as if he had finally found a purpose, a path out of the labyrinth he’d confessed to me he felt he lived in.
Gene met my eyes, and I winked at him. His lip curled up in a soft smirk. Then his eyes shyly drifted to Charlie. Charlie, who was already watching Gene, an unreadable expression on his face.
Charlie only tore his gaze away when Arthur spoke to him. Feeling warmth sprout in my chest, I leaned my head on Arthur’s shoulder, looking at my battle-worn family with utter love and respect in my heart.
My family. I had a real family now.
As if he sensed my thoughts, Arthur’s thumb moved up and down on my stomach, a gesture of comfort, of love.
“All the cells were wiped out. Not one fucker was left,” Charlie said. He put his pipe back in his mouth. “Tip-offs were made to the bobbies about the whereabouts of the trafficked girls and where the Lawsons were holding them. As well as a list of addresses of people who have one or more of them in their homes.”
Charlie met my eyes. “We’ve found a holding cell in Ollie’s flat where he would keep the girls that looked like you. The ones he kept for his personal use.” My stomach fell, my blood cooling to freezing temperatures. “When you’re ready, we’ll take you there, and the Old Bill will get a tip-off that Cheska Harlow-Wright was kidnapped by Ollie Lawson and has been held at his home all this time.” Charlie flicked his hand in the air. “We’ll let them find you, create a story for you to stick to, then lay all the blame at Lawson’s feet. You can claim he ran when he got in bother with someone, leaving you there. Then you can put all this shite behind you and finally become one of us.” Charlie winked at me and smiled.
“She already fucking is one of us,” Arthur said, no argument in his voice.
“Hear, hear,” Betsy said, holding up her drink.
Arthur turned to Eric. “Anything on Freddie?” Eric had got one of the soldiers to keep one of the Lawson men alive. The soldier had stayed behind at the garage when we left and got answers before disposing of him too.
“Just what the rat fucker had told us,” Eric said. “His old man infiltrated your old man’s circle years ago. He was one of old Lawson’s right-hand men, from being a kid. He sent him into our firm to get them intel. When Freddie grew up, he was raised to do the same job. They fed information back to the Lawsons.
“When his old man died, Freddie was crushed, blamed us, and sought out his revenge. For years, he planned with Lawson how they would take us down.”
Eric nodded at me. “Lawson’s plan to kidnap Cheska was separate to the one meant for us.” He shrugged. “But then that all changed.” I took a deep breath to keep calm. “They never expected Cheska to come here. Ollie’s stupid fucking mind was blown when Cheska turned up at The Sparrow Room after his attack on her had failed—Freddie had told him you hadn’t seen each other for over a year, believed that you’d tossed Cheska aside.