Del scowled. ‘Who did you hear this from?’
Bunny shrugged her shoulders. ‘Just one of the girls who covers the Berwick Street area. I use to work with her. She’s a good un; don’t cause trouble or go looking for it, but she’s worried. Business is down because of it, so she asked me to have a little word in your ear. She said she thought it was the Russian lot. You know anything about it?’
Without answering, Del walked over and kissed Bunny on her head, before turning to Star and doing the same. It was all well and good letting the Russians come onto his patch and doing deals with them, but when they took the piss that was something else entirely. He turned and walked out, waving goodbye, then grabbing his car keys off the side.
Deep in thought, Del marched out into Brewer Street, not noticing Teddy Davies watching him.
11
Del Williams sat in Whispers club waiting for Milo Burkov to arrive. He didn’t mind waiting for people – shit went down sometimes – but he knew Milo was late just to prove a point, and the point was to make Del sit waiting like a fucking muppet.
There’d been lots of times Del had tried to turn up later for their meetings than Milo; hovering outside or driving round Soho a couple of times, even having an unwanted brew in Lola’s Cafe, all in an attempt to make Milo wait for him. But somehow Milo Burkov always got the upper hand, walking in a few minutes after Del did, a cheesy grin on his pocked Russian face.
It was an ongoing stand-off between the two of them, even though they both knew it was childish.
Sitting drinking neat malt whisky and trying to ignore the fact that he’d been waiting now for the past twenty minutes, Del thought of Bunny. There wasn’t really any time he didn’t think of her. It was all consuming. Each waking moment he wasn’t with her he wondered what she was doing, where she was going and who she was with. It was like an obsession. This thought had crossed his mind before and he’d quickly dismissed it, not wanting to think of himself as some pathetic cunt, but if he were truthful, that was exactly what it was. Obsession.
So many times he’d snuck past the formidable presence of Claudia to break in and see Bunny, wanting to catch a punter with her so he could take out his frustration and batter him senseless. There were times when the red mist descended and he could’ve quite easily squeezed the life out of them – and if it wasn’t for Bunny stopping him, he would’ve done.
It tortured him. Bunny fucking other men had almost broken him. Him. Del Williams. A man most men would be terrified of was broken by his woman.
Knocking back the rest of the whisky, Del sighed. He knew what he had to do if he wanted it all to stop. He had to leave Edith. But how could he? Edith would talk like a jack fucking rabbit. The only thing that would stop that mouth of hers was a bullet in her head.
The thought jolted Del. He sat straight up in the chair, putting down his glass carefully on the sticky table. He stared ahead at the velvet walls, replaying his words. A bullet in her head.
He’d often joked about doing away with Edith to his mates, but could he really do it? Really get rid of her once and for all? Of course he’d killed loads of people and had had loads of people killed, it wasn’t the actual practicality of killing that bothered him. Once you’d done it once then the other times were never a big deal, not even when they begged and cried, wetting themselves like a baby. Business was business.
No, with Edith it was different. It was more about sweeping away any last bits of loyalty he still had for her. But it would be the solution. He could be with Bunny properly. More to the point, Bunny would give up work and he could get back to form, properly concentrate on the big deals he had coming up with the Russians. Not worry about Edith opening her big trap. He could feel like he was number one again.
Just as quickly as the idea began to form, it petered away again. He shook his head to himself. What the fuck was he thinking? Of course he couldn’t do it. Though it was a nice thought.
Turning his head at a sound, Del saw Milo walk into the empty club. He was tall and skinny with blonde, almost white hair, which looked startling against his dark brown eyes and olive skin.
Del nodded, raising his hand, but his mind was far from the business he had to attend to, it was on Edith – or rather, the disposal of her.
‘Del. My friend. I’m sorry I’m late. You know how things are. Have you been sitting here long?’ Milo Burkov spread his arms, embracing Del. His thick Russian accent cut mockingly through the air.
‘No, not really. I got here late. Only just arrived myself.’
Milo slapped Del on the back and laughed, fully aware, thanks to his informant sitting in the far corner of the club, that Del had been waiting for him for almost forty minutes.
‘Well, I’m pleased to hear it. I couldn’t have you waiting for a Russian peasant like me.’
Trying to keep the annoyance out of his voice, Del spoke. ‘Can I get you a drink? Vodka perhaps?’
Milo grinned again. ‘Ah, the English stereotyping of the Russians. I’m good. I like to keep a clear head when I do business.’
As Milo pulled up a chair, Del began to talk.
‘Let’s get straight to it then. There’s been problems with your girls. They’ve been chasing some of the regular Toms away. People aren’t happy with it. There’s been a lot of unrest.’
Milo shrugged his shoulders. ‘And what would you like me to do about it? You know what women are like. Very territorial. I can’t control what the girls do.’
Del leaned in. ‘Bullshit Milo, you run those girls with an iron bar. We both know that. Don’t play games. I let you come onto this patch as a favour for supplying the powder, not to let your girls crawl all over the place like fucking cockroaches.’
‘I don’t think your memory’s serving you so well these days, my friend. You need to get your nose out of the pussy, too much can be bad for the old grey cells.’ Milo winked at Del who gritted his teeth, listening to what else Milo had to say. ‘The way I remember it, you didn’t have a choice.’
Del bit his lip. ‘You know that ain’t fucking true. I saw a good deal and decided to run with it. I cut Teddy Davies out of the picture so we could do business directly and now you’re mugging me off with the girls. Taking the piss. You need to back off Milo, or the powder deal’s off. I’ll find another supplier for both here and the Costa.’
Milo Burkov’s face scrunched up into a sneer. ‘Both you and I know there’s no backing out. The shipment’s already underway. Don’t bring trouble on yourself, Del, not for a few whores.’
‘Then don’t fucking play me for a mug mate. Get your girls to back off and there won’t be any problem.’
Milo shrugged his shoulders. ‘You need to relax. The girls are small fry; they’re not worth worrying about. But if it makes you happy, I’ll see what I can do.’
‘Don’t see. Just do it.’
Milo clicked his fingers, gesturing the barman to come over. ‘Fine. It’s not good for women to come between us, especially when they’re only whores. How is Bunny by the way?’
It was all too much for Del; he sprang up from his chair, knocking the barman who was standing nervously beside Milo out of the way. He bellowed, feeling the vein in his neck pulsate.
‘Don’t push it, Milo. If you don’t want to bang me up the wrong way, some things are well and truly off limits and Bunny is one of them.’
From the far corner Milo’s sidekick came running up. It was Del’s cue. From the inside of his jacket he quickly pulled out a knuckleduster, aiming it at the sidekick. It struck the man’s face