Freda grabbed hold of her grandson’s arm. ‘Let me go and find him. He’s probably in the Grave Maurice, or the Prince Regent in Salmon Lane.’
Dean gently removed his nan’s hand. ‘No. This is my mess and I am quite capable of sorting it out myself.’
Even though she was close to all three of her boys, Queenie Butler now saw far less of Roy than the other two. Since he had met Colleen, any spare time Roy had he liked to spend with her, so it had been a nice surprise when he turned up on his own today. ‘Want some spotted dick with syrup, boy? I’ve only just steamed it.’
‘No thanks, Mum. I’d love a cup of tea though. Where’s Vinny and Brenda? Champ’s still at the club with Michael. Doing OK he is, you know.’
Queenie chuckled. ‘I knew he’d be an asset to yous boys. Vivvy’s knackered, Roy, gone indoors for a lie-down she has, and Brenda has popped out with Susan. Never seen your sister so happy before. Perhaps having a sprog and getting hitched is all she ever wanted in life.’
‘Well, I hope it works out between her and Dean for all our sakes. Actually, it was my wedding that I came here to talk to you about. Neither me nor Colleen want to rush into things, but I would like to organize a surprise engagement party for her in the near future and wondered if you would help me? I was thinking of arranging it on the weekend that Colleen’s birthday falls at the end of August. I want to get all her family over from Ireland for it, and I was hoping you would do all the ringing around for me. You know how crap I am on the old rag and bone.’
Queenie’s heart lurched. If Roy was planning a big event where he was going to surprise Colleen by inviting all her family, then he wasn’t going to be too thrilled with Vinny’s bright idea of holding a joint engagement party as early as next week.
Vinny Butler was a very private man; therefore when he did participate in the occasional sexual encounter, he told nobody, and would rather pay for it than have any emotional involvement whatsoever.
Soho was Vinny’s preferred destination. He had found a tasteful, discreet whorehouse there, with a quiet little bar nearby.
‘Another large Scotch, Sir?’ the barmaid asked.
Vinny nodded. He had earlier followed Michael’s girlfriend back to what looked like a newsagent’s or general store, but the shop had been closed and the girl had then used a side door. Vinny had managed to get a closer look at her as she had entered the building, and he had a strong feeling that she was in fact Nancy Walker. The shop must belong to her parents, and he would find out for sure tomorrow when he paid another visit to see who was running it. He would recognize that pretentious bastard Donald in an instant.
‘Would you like another?’ the barmaid asked again a couple of minutes later.
Slamming the glass on the bar, Vinny shook his head. He was stressed out, angry, and the quicker he released his pent-up frustration on whatever slag took his fancy, the better.
Dean Smart felt the atmosphere in the Grave Maurice change as soon as he walked in. His father was standing with the usual half a dozen cronies he drank with, and when a few of them spotted his presence, there was a deathly silence. ‘Dad, can I have a word with you in private, please?’ Dean asked, politely.
Terry Smart was extremely drunk. He was also very aware that the pals he was currently standing with were the same mates he had been drinking with the day Vinny Butler had strolled in the pub, dragged him outside, then smashed his boat race to smithereens. Desperate to save face, Terry picked up his pint glass, and lunged at his only son. ‘You Judas little cunt. You’re no son of mine.’
Lucy Brown was quite new to the wonderful world of prostitution, so when Vinny Butler began to shag her violently up the arse, she wondered if she had stumbled into the wrong profession. ‘Can you please slow down? You’re hurting me,’ she gasped. Lucy had experienced anal sex with one or two of her previous clients, but Vinny’s penis was over double the width of theirs.
‘Just deal with it, you slag. I am fucking paying you for this pleasure,’ Vinny panted, as he grasped the back of Lucy’s neck and shoved her face against the pillow to shut her up. Vinny loved inflicting pain on people, especially women, and as he rammed himself even harder into Lucy’s backside, her muffled cries of agony only added to his pleasure.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Brenda was gobsmacked when she opened the front door and saw the state of her handsome fiancé. ‘Oh my God, Dean! What happened to you?’ she exclaimed.
‘My dad glassed me. Me and him are finished now, Bren, for good.’
Queenie ran down the hallway and ushered her future son-in-law into the lounge. ‘Right, that’s it. I want you to go home and pack your stuff and you can move in here with Bren,’ Queenie insisted, when Dean finished explaining.
‘I will be fine staying at my nan’s house. Honest, I will. But, thanks for the offer anyway, Queenie.’
Queenie shook her head vehemently. ‘No, you bloody well won’t. I’m not having the father of my Bren’s baby living with a thug like Terry Smart. Go and get your bits and bobs now. You’re moving in here, and that’s final.’
Vinny Butler waited until the people walked away from the shop with their groceries, then casually approached it himself. As luck would have it, there was an Articles for Sale board in the shop window, so Vinny pretended to be engrossed in that while he tried to get a better look inside. Recognizing Donald Walker, Vinny felt an element of fury surge though his veins. How dare Michael disobey him in such a way? And how could he put their relationship in such jeopardy over some stupid tart?
Walking away, Vinny kicked a nearby wall in pure frustration. Michael might be about to open the biggest can of worms ever and he needed to put a stop to their tainted affair as soon as he possibly could.
Freda Smart was distraught as her grandson walked up the path with his suitcase in his hand. Twenty-two stitches the poor little sod had, and Freda would give her Terry what for when he finally showed his drunken face.
‘Don’t cry, Nan. You’re making me upset. I promise I will ring you every day and we can meet whenever. I just don’t wanna come back here any more because of Dad.’
Freda nodded miserably. She had been more of a mother than a nan to Dean, and now he was leaving her. When he waved one last time before he traipsed off down the road, Freda knew she had lost him for good. Once that vulgar Butler mob got their evil claws in him, Dean’s life would be all but bloody over.
Vinny was still livid when he popped into his mother’s house.
‘You won’t believe what our Michael has gone and done, Mum. He’s heading for a good fucking hiding, I’m telling ya.’ Aware that Lenny and his son were both ear-wigging, he handed his cousin a crisp pound note. ‘Take Little Vinny round the shops, Champ, and get yourselves some of them Jamboree Bags, eh? I need to talk to your Auntie Queenie about a few things.’
When Lenny and his son had left the house, Vinny explained to his mum about Michael’s secret relationship.
‘Well, it ain’t ideal, but I don’t think you should worry too much, Vinny. That unfortunate incident with Dave Phillips happened years ago, and if that Nancy’s brother was ever going to retract his original statement and blab, he’d have done it long before now. You know what our Michael is like for chopping and changing his birds. Give it a month, it will have fizzled out with Nancy and he’ll be onto his next victim,’ Queenie chuckled.
‘Well, I really ain’t happy about it, Mum. That family fled the area because of what happened and I just don’t want them to be reminded of it. If the brother finds out that Nancy is involved with Michael, I bet he fucking tells her and his parents the truth. The police re-opening the murder case is grief I really don’t need.’
‘’Ere, before I forget, I’ve been meaning to tell you, Roy is organizing