The door slams bringing my mind back into the room and a girl around my age heads inside and looks at me with curiosity. Aunt Kim says happily, “Trace, come and say hello to Summer. It’s been years since you last saw each other, goodness where did that time go?”
Tracey smiles tentatively and I see a girl not dissimilar to me. Fairly tall and slim with long dark hair where mine is blonde. She has beautiful brown eyes that are looking at me with compassion.
She says softly, “Hey, Summer. Good to see you.”
I smile warmly and she drags a chair beside me and shakes her head. “I was sorry to hear about your family.”
I nod feeling my heart weighing me down again. To my surprise, she reaches out and grasps my hand tightly. “Don’t worry, babe. I’ll look after you. You’re not on your own here.”
Such simple words that mean more than any I’ve ever heard. My Aunt sets a plate of food before her and I see Tracey wince. “Sorry, mum. I think I can only manage coffee this early.”
Her mother shrieks, “Don’t think I haven’t noticed the time young lady. The fact you’re still wearing the clothes you left here in last night is also a bit of a giveaway. Haven’t I warned you about staying out all night a million times before? You’re heading for trouble if you carry on this way, mark my words.”
Tracey shrugs and winks at me before taking a sip of coffee and sighs. “Just what I needed.”
My Aunt glares at her and Tracey shrugs. “It’s no big deal. I stayed at Mandy’s. It got late, and I didn’t want to get the train. You knew I was with her.”
My Aunt shakes her head. “It’s not right. I don’t like the thought of you out all night. There are all sorts out there and these people prey on beautiful young girls and if I had any hair, it would have left of its own accord by now.”
Tracey rolls her eyes and I smile slightly. Then uncle Jimmy jumps up and says loudly, “Anyway, I should be getting to work. I’ve got a job in Kent today and may be late.”
Tracey whispers, “He’s a delivery driver and travels all over the country, it must be so boring.”
Aunt Kim hears her and frowns. “He does an honest day’s work for a pittance.”
She turns to me and says angrily, “That’s the trouble with this country. Honest people get the rough deal. We pay our taxes and keep ourselves to ourselves with no handouts and get looked down on by those who have no right to.”
I watch as my uncle moves across and hugs her gently, kissing her softly on the cheek. She hands him a lunch box and says sadly, “Drive safely, love. Let me know when you’re on the way home and I’ll have your tea waiting.”
He smiles as he heads outside and Tracey says loudly, “Anyway, let me show you to our room, Summer. I’m sorry but we have to share. I’ll try to keep out of your way if you prefer, otherwise consider me your British tour guide.”
My Aunt looks at her sharply. “You keep Summer away from that rough crowd otherwise you’ll have me to answer to.”
Tracey just smiles and drags me by the hand from the room.
Tracey’s room is a mess. It appears that she’s averse to hanging clothes on rails and the drawers are open and messy. Make-up litters every surface and her bed is unmade with several objects littering the foot of it.
She looks at me apologetically. “I’m sorry, I forgot to tidy up.”
I watch as she sweeps everything off another bed adjacent to hers onto the floor and smiles sweetly. “There you go, your very own sanctuary.”
The bed is tiny compared to what I’m used to and yet looks comfortable and clean. Tracey looks around and frowns.
“I’ll clear some room for your clothes later and try to make this nicer for you. I knew I should have stayed in last night but you know…”
She grins wickedly and I smile as I sit on the bed. “Know what?”
Sitting beside me, she giggles. “What can I say, we live in London. The nightlife is wild and there’s no time to waste by lying in bed all night.”
She grins and then looks at me with concern.
“Listen, mum said you were here to find your father. She wouldn’t tell me anything else, do you know where he is?”
Shaking my head, I sigh heavily. “No. I only have a name.”
Tracey looks excited as she grabs her phone. “Give it to me and I’ll check him out on Facebook. It’s a long shot but you never know.”
Shrugging, I say, “Joseph Carter.”
The phone drops from Tracey’s hand and she looks at me with her eyes wide in shock. “What the fuck?”
I stare at her in surprise. “Do you know him?”
She jumps up and closes the door quietly and then sits beside me on the bed and whispers, “Not personally, but if it’s the Joey Carter I think it is, that’s heavy.”
“Why?”
She looks at me through frightened eyes. “Joseph Carter is the closest thing to mafia we have here. He runs the Honey Club in town along with other bars and restaurants. Word is, he’s heavily into all sorts and nobody messes with the Carters. If he is your dad then god help you because I wouldn’t want to get involved with that family.”
Her words strike a fear in my heart that threatens to overwhelm me. Mafia. Really? Surely my mom wouldn’t fall for a guy like that.
Then my Aunt’s words come back to me as she told me he’d been arrested. She spoke of a crazy life and the pieces fall into place. Tracey starts backtracking and says, “Well, it’s a common name. I suppose there are hundreds of Joey Carters around London. We’ll start a list and look up every one until we find him.”
In my heart I know we have. Joseph Carter is my father, I can feel it in my bones. Do I want to meet him, hell yeah!
3
Maxwell
“Baby, you haven’t called me in days. What’s the matter, you know I was hoping to spend some time with you, one on one?”
Her stupid giggle grates on my nerves and I push her away. Fucking, Jessica. She just won’t take a hint and thought a few fucks made us married. I relish the hurt in her eyes as she whines, “What’s going on?”
Standing up, I nod toward the door, “What’s going is you. Fuck off, Jessica, it was fun but then it got boring really fast.”
She gasps and shakes her head. “Max, no. You don’t mean that. I thought…”
I laugh darkly. “You thought what, Jess? That I can’t live without your fucking well-used pussy. That I want a woman who had half of London inside her? A woman that thinks it’s ok to come on to my brother behind my back. Did you really think he wouldn’t share that information with me? Did you?”
I watch the blood drain from her face as the penny drops. She gasps, “No, it wasn’t like that.”
She starts to back away from me as I slowly advance. I can feel the fear she generates from here and I love it. I thrive on my victim’s fear. I relish that look in their eyes as they cower down before me waiting for the inevitable. I would never strike a woman though. It’s the unwritten rule. Never lay a hand on a woman in anger and I’m not one to break it. No, my words are far more destructive and I crowd her space and snarl, “Slags like you are good for only one thing. Parking a hard dick inside. Now run along and find some other poor bastard to run rings around. Consider your services terminated as of immediate effect. If I see your heavily made-up face in any of my establishments, you’ll see how angry I am. Now fuck off and crawl back to the gutter where you belong.”