Hearts of Blue
Page 76
“Tony’s forty. He’s not old,” I told him grumpily. Lee slid his arm around my shoulders, and I bristled at his touch.
“You took my jacket. The least you can do is let me snuggle close for warmth,” he flirted, trying to charm me.
Letting out a long sigh, I finally explained, “He didn’t take it well, but he’s not going to report me.” I paused, cocking my head and sliding my eyes to his. “On the condition that I stop seeing you.”
Lee’s expression gave nothing away. “I thought you already had.”
“So did I. But you seem to keep turning up like a bad penny,” I elbowed him in the side.
“Ouch,” said Lee, putting his hand to his chest like he’d just been wounded. A quiet passed.
“Why did you drink so much yesterday? I’ve never seen you like that before.”
His breath came out in a heavy whoosh. “A combination of reasons.”
“Such as?”
Rubbing at his jaw, he answered, “It was the anniversary of Mum’s death. It’s always been a shit day, but it was shittier than usual this year.” With his arm still around my shoulders, he picked up a strand of my hair and rubbed it between his fingers. “For one, I was missing you, and for two, I was dealing with the fallout from discovering who beat Liam.”
I let out a quiet gasp. “Who was it?”
Lee looked away and into the distance. “My boss.”
I gaped at him in disbelief. His boss was Tommy McGregor. Lee made a lot of money for the man, so why on earth would he do such a thing? As though he could read my thoughts, Lee continued, “He got an inkling I was fixing to get out, didn’t like that, didn’t like the money he’d lose if I left. So he decided to send a message, showed how he’d hurt my family if I ever fucked him over.”
“Lee,” I whispered, trying to absorb the fact that he was planning to go clean, wondering what his brothers thought of it all. “I know who you work for.”
He exhaled. “I thought you might.”
“So, he won’t let you out of your…arrangement?”
“He wouldn’t at first, but we spoke this morning, made a deal. He’s gonna let me and all my brothers make a clean break.”
“If?” I probed.
“If what?”
“There’s got to be a catch.”
“You don’t need to worry about the catch, Karla. Just know that in a couple weeks’ time, I’ll be a free man.”
I didn’t like the sound of that, not at all. Nobody got out of working for a gangster like McGregor without losing something. You had to pay your way, and often money wasn’t the only currency. I wanted to ask more questions, but I knew I wouldn’t get anything out of him. Instead, I asked what my heart wanted to know.
“Are you doing this for me?”
“For you, and for my family. I never wanted this life for my brothers, but it was the only option in front of me at one time.”
Allowing my body to settle into his, I asked gently, “Will you tell me about it? The life you’ve lived.” I paused before adding humorously, “How you learned to jump through the air like Batman, etcetera.”
Lee emitted a soft chuckle, his hand moving to my stomach and feeling up toward my chest. “You wearing a wire, Snap?”
“Oh, shut up, you know I’m not,” I said, laughing when he tickled me.
His hand paused, his thumb brushing softly over my belly, as his smile turned contemplative. “The first time I met him was a couple months after Mum passed.” Instinctively, I knew he was talking about McGregor. “I’d just nicked some old geezer’s wallet, was halfway down the street when he came out from around a corner. I’d never seen anyone so flash — he had all these gold rings, designer suit, the works. Anyway, I thought I’d been caught, but then he started talking me up, telling me I thieved like a pro, said he had work for me if I wanted it.”
“How old were you?”
“Fourteen. Sounds young, but I know people who started earlier. He asked me where I lived and then began coming around all the time. In the end, I didn’t have a choice but to work for him. Stu got in on it, too, and before we knew it, we were turning over four or five cars a night. London’s a big place, ripe for the picking. The money started to roll in, and it felt good. Being able to feed Liam, Trev, and Sophie, put clothes on their backs and send them to school gave me a high. I could give them something our parents never did.
“There were other perks, too. I could buy nice things, go places, have fun. In the end, supply wasn’t meeting demand, so I had to recruit others. I couldn’t hide what I did from Liam and Trev, and I told them point blank they didn’t have to do what I do. They could go to college, get normal jobs, whatever they wanted. Stubbornness runs in the family, though, and they wanted to do their bit. Before I knew it, we were all fully embroiled in the life, no inclination of ever changing.”
“And the Batman stuff?”
Lee laughed softly. “It’s called parkour, you nerd. I suppose I picked it up sort of randomly. Saw a bunch of Spanish students doing it in Hyde Park when I was about fifteen and thought it looked cool as fuck. So I approached the one who seemed like he knew what he was doing the most and asked him to teach me.”
“Clearly, he agreed.”
“Clearly. His name was Alejandro,” said Lee, camping it by putting an accent on the name. I giggled. “Good bloke. I helped him with his conversational English, and he helped me learn how to drop twenty feet without breaking a leg.”
“You took my jacket. The least you can do is let me snuggle close for warmth,” he flirted, trying to charm me.
Letting out a long sigh, I finally explained, “He didn’t take it well, but he’s not going to report me.” I paused, cocking my head and sliding my eyes to his. “On the condition that I stop seeing you.”
Lee’s expression gave nothing away. “I thought you already had.”
“So did I. But you seem to keep turning up like a bad penny,” I elbowed him in the side.
“Ouch,” said Lee, putting his hand to his chest like he’d just been wounded. A quiet passed.
“Why did you drink so much yesterday? I’ve never seen you like that before.”
His breath came out in a heavy whoosh. “A combination of reasons.”
“Such as?”
Rubbing at his jaw, he answered, “It was the anniversary of Mum’s death. It’s always been a shit day, but it was shittier than usual this year.” With his arm still around my shoulders, he picked up a strand of my hair and rubbed it between his fingers. “For one, I was missing you, and for two, I was dealing with the fallout from discovering who beat Liam.”
I let out a quiet gasp. “Who was it?”
Lee looked away and into the distance. “My boss.”
I gaped at him in disbelief. His boss was Tommy McGregor. Lee made a lot of money for the man, so why on earth would he do such a thing? As though he could read my thoughts, Lee continued, “He got an inkling I was fixing to get out, didn’t like that, didn’t like the money he’d lose if I left. So he decided to send a message, showed how he’d hurt my family if I ever fucked him over.”
“Lee,” I whispered, trying to absorb the fact that he was planning to go clean, wondering what his brothers thought of it all. “I know who you work for.”
He exhaled. “I thought you might.”
“So, he won’t let you out of your…arrangement?”
“He wouldn’t at first, but we spoke this morning, made a deal. He’s gonna let me and all my brothers make a clean break.”
“If?” I probed.
“If what?”
“There’s got to be a catch.”
“You don’t need to worry about the catch, Karla. Just know that in a couple weeks’ time, I’ll be a free man.”
I didn’t like the sound of that, not at all. Nobody got out of working for a gangster like McGregor without losing something. You had to pay your way, and often money wasn’t the only currency. I wanted to ask more questions, but I knew I wouldn’t get anything out of him. Instead, I asked what my heart wanted to know.
“Are you doing this for me?”
“For you, and for my family. I never wanted this life for my brothers, but it was the only option in front of me at one time.”
Allowing my body to settle into his, I asked gently, “Will you tell me about it? The life you’ve lived.” I paused before adding humorously, “How you learned to jump through the air like Batman, etcetera.”
Lee emitted a soft chuckle, his hand moving to my stomach and feeling up toward my chest. “You wearing a wire, Snap?”
“Oh, shut up, you know I’m not,” I said, laughing when he tickled me.
His hand paused, his thumb brushing softly over my belly, as his smile turned contemplative. “The first time I met him was a couple months after Mum passed.” Instinctively, I knew he was talking about McGregor. “I’d just nicked some old geezer’s wallet, was halfway down the street when he came out from around a corner. I’d never seen anyone so flash — he had all these gold rings, designer suit, the works. Anyway, I thought I’d been caught, but then he started talking me up, telling me I thieved like a pro, said he had work for me if I wanted it.”
“How old were you?”
“Fourteen. Sounds young, but I know people who started earlier. He asked me where I lived and then began coming around all the time. In the end, I didn’t have a choice but to work for him. Stu got in on it, too, and before we knew it, we were turning over four or five cars a night. London’s a big place, ripe for the picking. The money started to roll in, and it felt good. Being able to feed Liam, Trev, and Sophie, put clothes on their backs and send them to school gave me a high. I could give them something our parents never did.
“There were other perks, too. I could buy nice things, go places, have fun. In the end, supply wasn’t meeting demand, so I had to recruit others. I couldn’t hide what I did from Liam and Trev, and I told them point blank they didn’t have to do what I do. They could go to college, get normal jobs, whatever they wanted. Stubbornness runs in the family, though, and they wanted to do their bit. Before I knew it, we were all fully embroiled in the life, no inclination of ever changing.”
“And the Batman stuff?”
Lee laughed softly. “It’s called parkour, you nerd. I suppose I picked it up sort of randomly. Saw a bunch of Spanish students doing it in Hyde Park when I was about fifteen and thought it looked cool as fuck. So I approached the one who seemed like he knew what he was doing the most and asked him to teach me.”
“Clearly, he agreed.”
“Clearly. His name was Alejandro,” said Lee, camping it by putting an accent on the name. I giggled. “Good bloke. I helped him with his conversational English, and he helped me learn how to drop twenty feet without breaking a leg.”
