The Faithless - Martina Cole [117]
She made the tea and carried it through to her husband; he took the proffered mug and sipped on it without a care in the world. She admired him in many ways, nothing really fazed him. He saw everything in black and white, did her Jack. No grey spots for him.
Chapter One Hundred and Fifteen
Bertie Warner decided to have the party for young Vincent at his pub on the Bow Road. He had arranged all the food and drink himself and it promised to be a great night. He couldn’t wait to bring that young lad back into the fold.
As he looked at young Gabriella, who had come over to discuss the music for the party, he saw what had attracted the boy to her. She was exquisite, and she had waited for him – that was always a good sign in a bird as far as he was concerned. She reminded him of his old woman, sensible and calm, which were good traits in a villain’s wife. If the Filth kicked the door in at three in the morning with a search warrant in one hand and a sniffer dog in the other, it was always handy to have a wife who took it in her stride, and kept the kids away from it. Occupational hazards and all that – every job had them.
‘You must be looking forward to seeing him back on the outside, love.’
Gabby nodded happily. ‘It will be great! And I’d like to thank you, Mr Warner, for your help, it’s really appreciated.’
He felt choked, and was surprised that he could still be touched like that after all these years. Most women in her position would be complaining they couldn’t manage on what they were getting; after all, they owed the girl’s old man a huge debt of gratitude. But this little lovely was actually grateful. Wonders would never cease.
‘You’re welcome, love. It doesn’t even begin to cover it. You got a good one there in Vince.’
She beamed at the praise and said honestly, ‘You don’t need to tell me that, Mr Warner. I’ve always known my Vince was special. But I have missed him. I was only sixteen when he got banged up, we’ve never even spent the night together! And now he’s finally coming home to live in our house! How mad is that?’
Bertie Warner felt the urge to actually break down and cry. This lovely little girl had shown him that no one was ever so hard they couldn’t appreciate a real sob story when they heard one. She wasn’t even after a bit of sympathy, she was just being honest.
‘He’s a lucky man to have you, darling – I wish you both a long life of happiness.’ She was smiling with excitement and he thought again how lovely she was. He envied young Vincent coming home to her. ‘You book a DJ or whatever it is you have these days, and just bill it to the pub, all right, love?’
She nodded; this was like a dream to her, one she had been having for four very long years. And it was finally coming true.
Chapter One Hundred and Sixteen
‘Mum, listen to me. Vincent wants his daughter at home and, no matter what you tell the social workers, they are already putting in place a residential order for her to come back home full time. Now, if you push me on this, I will leave it to Vincent to sort you out.’
Cynthia knew that she was on the losing side. She had to take this well because if she kicked off now she would lose all contact with little Cherie and that must never happen. She just had to bide her time. This pair of fucking muppets would ruin it all by themselves and when that happened she would make sure she was there to pick up the pieces. So she plastered a fake smile on her face and said, ‘I know, love, and I was going to say that now you are back together, you should be a proper family. The social worker has already explained that you are on track, and that they are confident that you will be able to cope with motherhood in an adult and confident way.’
She had mimicked Miss Byrne so well that even Gabby had to laugh at her.
‘That is exactly what she said to me as well! In that exact voice!’ She was so happy that Vincent was coming home she could even be nice to her mother.
‘Look, Gabriella, it wasn’t anything personal, you know, me