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your infatuation with Nick bloody O’Rourke, did you? So can you really wonder that he looked elsewhere?’
    You didn’t even love him, thought Lily.
    ‘You know I’m telling the truth,’ said Adrienne, pushing home her advantage when she saw Lily’s sudden uncertainty. ‘And it’s not as if I was the only one.’
    Now Lily stood frozen in shock.
    There was a long, long silence.
    Then she said: ‘ What did you say?’
    ‘I wanted to be the only one.’ Adrienne swiped irritably at her cheeks, leaving blotchy streaks in her make-up and mascara stains under her eyes. ‘I wanted him to love me like I loved him. But he didn’t. There were others… ’
    Others, thought Lily in a daze. What the fuck…?
    ‘What are you talking about? There were no others,’ she said, drawing back, looking at Adrienne incredulously.
    And suddenly Adrienne was laughing. ‘Oh, Jesus,’ she gasped.
    ‘If you’re getting fucking hysterical I’m going to give you another belt round the chops,’ Lily warned her. ‘Now shut it. And tell me what you’re on about.’
    ‘Oh Lily, and you talk about Matt being a fool. You were so innocent, so bloody little-wifey-indoors that you didn’t even know what time of day it was, did you? You still don’t. You seriously believe it, don’t you? You seriously think I was the only one.’
    ‘You’re telling me you weren’t? Straight up?’
    ‘No way was I the only one,’ said Adrienne, and she wasn’t laughing now – in fact she looked sad. ‘Sodding Leo.’
    ‘Tell me about the other one, then,’ said Lily flatly. She felt as though she’d just stepped into a new nightmare.
    ‘Other one ?’ Adrienne shook her head and let out a guffaw. ‘God’s sakes, Lily! Other one ! That’s priceless!’
    So Adrienne went on to tell her about the rest of Leo’s ‘girls’, and how she’d hated that there’d been others.
    ‘I tracked them down,’ she said, and there was a glint of triumph in her eyes as she said that. ‘I tracked them all down. I even had a list of their names and addresses.’

7
    Freddy King was in the pub with his brother Si. There was an empty place at the table they always occupied in their local. It was Leo’s place, and Freddy nearly choked with emotion every time he saw it. No one sat there, unless they wanted to start wearing their arse as a neck ornament.
    ‘She’s out,’ he said to Si.
    ‘I heard,’ said Si, who was older than Freddy, and wiser. He watched Freddy, who was now tapping a beer mat on the table, tap tap tap. He was on edge, and who could blame him? She was out.
    ‘So what we gonna do?’ asked Freddy.
    ‘Do?’ Si lifted a finger and caught the barman’s eye. He indicated their table. The barman nodded. ‘What do you mean?’
    Freddy leaned forward. ‘You know fucking well.’ Tap tap tap. ‘That cunt wants sorting.’
    The barman came hurrying over and put two more pints on the table.
    Si nodded his thanks. Took a leisurely mouthful of beer. Looked at his brother. ‘She’s done her time,’ he shrugged.
    ‘She ain’t anywhere near paying for what she done, and you know it,’ spat Freddy angrily. He threw the beer mat down and it skidded off the wet table. ‘Twelve years? What the fuck is that? – it’s taking the piss! Our brother’s dead ; he ain’t coming back and walking free like that bitch is.’
    ‘All in good time,’ said Si. He leaned in and lowered his voice. ‘What, you want to get yourself banged up? Do anything right now and the Old Bill won’t have far to look, will they, you tosser? You’re always in a fucking rush, that’s your trouble.’
    Freddy’s face worked, his jaw clenching and unclenching. He knew Si was right, but that made it worse. Like he had no control over any of this. Like that cow was in charge, not him, not the King boys.
    Si reached out and clasped Freddy’s meaty forearm.
    ‘ Look, Fred,’ he said urgently. ‘Wait a bit. That’s all I’m asking. Give it a year, two years; you