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‘Three years, me,’ Hannah said. ‘I’m going to get married and have a family one day. Perhaps start my own business.’ Hope shone from her face.
‘Dream on,’ Vanessa said, taking another drag of the joint. She closed her eyes and pursed her lips, eventually blowing out. She held it out to Molly, thrusting her arm a couple of times.
Molly shook her head, staring down at her feet. She didn’t like the boots.
‘Here,’ Vanessa said, taking a long, deep draw on the joint. Then she came over to Molly, tilted up her chin and put her lips against Molly’s, prising them open with her tongue. Then she exhaled.
Molly coughed and pulled away, wide-eyed.
‘Breathe in. Hold it and enjoy.’ Vanessa laughed, staring at herself in the full-length mirror. ‘I’m so tired,’ she said, smoothing a hand over her belly. She wasn’t as slim as Hannah or Lilly, and the tight dress showed off the bulges at her hips. Vanessa adjusted her breasts in her bra, then shoved her feet into grubby white stilettos.
‘Have you met Vaughn yet, then?’ Hannah said, dishing out more vodka.
‘Vaughn?’
‘Older guy. Moustache and a maggot cock.’
Molly nodded, trying to hide a smile. The other girls laughed.
‘Audition?’ Vanessa said in a mocking voice.
‘I guess.’ Molly knocked back her vodka, feeling light-headed from the joint.
‘He’s the boss,’ Hannah explained. ‘Like, he owns this place. And a nightclub and a corner shop. He’s got some pubs, too. And a Chinese restaurant and loads of other stuff. He’s a businessman.’
Molly thought about the way Darren had acted with him. All smarmy and grovelling. She thought about the audition, the way Vaughn had closely examined the photos Darren’s mate had taken. Then the unfamiliar smells as she’d had to lay down with him – stale sweat and desperation. Was it what death smelt like, she’d wondered? She remembered his dry skin, how it flaked all over her. His rough hands. How she’d gagged.
‘Here,’ Molly said, reaching out. ‘Give us a drag.’
CHAPTER ELEVEN
HANNAH – NOW
I stare at Jack across the roof of the car. His eyes have narrowed to buttonholes and his lips are tight around the cigarette. ‘What do you want?’
He doesn’t speak.
‘Stay away from my daughter,’ I say, my voice wavering.
He blows smoke at me, but a breeze carries it sideways.
Feeling brave, I venture around the front of the car and go up to him. Surely he won’t try anything here. If I’m gone too long, Rob will come out looking for me. Thing is, I don’twantRob to come out. I need to deal with this alone.
‘Answer me. What do you want?’ I try to hide it but I’m shaking, terrified and out of my depth.
‘Still full of it, then,’ he says in his old voice, the one I recognise. Not the one he’s been using in front of Belle.
‘Howdareyou go anywhere near my daughter.’
‘You know why I’m here.’
I stare at him, my thoughts racing. Everything that I’ve kept buried for so long. None of it has a place in my life now.
‘You’ve got something I want,’ he says.
I eye his cigarette, which makes his thin lips stretch into a smile. He’s changed over the years – become a man. Beneath his smart clothes, he looks like he works out. If I didn’t know who he was, what he’d done, then I’d say he was good-looking.
‘You’re older thanme, you disgusting piece of shit. Like I said, leave my daughter alone, or else—’
