Charlie had arranged to pick Terry up at one of the houses he kept as boltholes in the old manor, take him along for a meet with one of the ten-kilo guys. As Charlie drove, he told Terry about the adopting dilemma, just as he told Terry about everything. Well, nearly everything. Some things were a bit too near the knuckle for open discussion.
Like – for instance, and he felt really bad about it – the fact that he’d once fucked Terry’s old lady Jill, years back. He wished he could talk to Terry about that, apologize, say that it had been a one-off, which it had, but Terry was his mate and he . . . nah, he wouldn’t understand. No way, no chance. Now Charlie regretted that he had been weak, that he’d given in to the impulse.
He’d been down in the gatehouse kitchen with Jill and Terry had been away somewhere, on drugs business. Jill had made him a cup of tea and they’d talked. Jesus, she was pretty. And she was uncomplicated, steady – unlike Nula. Jill had always seemed wary of him, a bit nervous. He sort of liked that. He liked her clear blue eyes and her blonde hair and he had often wondered how she’d look naked.
Charlie was annoyed that Terry had always been such a cunt over their sex parties. If Terry and Jill had joined in, they would have enjoyed it, he knew they would. He’d invited Terry time and again, but Terry had always refused.
Standing there in Jill’s kitchen when it happened, Charlie knew damned well that his invites to Terry had not so much been to include his mate in the fun, but to have a crack at his mate’s missus.
And why not?
After all, Charlie reasoned to himself, he kept her, didn’t he? Her and her husband? It was him who paid for the roof over their heads, he was the boss here, wasn’t he?
Yes. He fucking well was.
He remembered it so well. Felt bad about it. Of course he did. But turned on by it too. He’d put his cup down, crossed the kitchen. Her eyes had flared with fear as he moved, and he liked that, he loved it when people when scared of him. Then he’d pulled her into his arms. She’d put her fists against his chest, but he was far too strong for her.
‘Please,’ she said, turning her head away.
‘Come on,’ he’d said, and kissed her.
‘No.’
‘Come on,’ he said against her mouth. Then he put the boot right in. ‘Or I’ll tell Terry you started it.’
Her eyes widened. ‘He wouldn’t . . .’
‘Don’t kid yourself. He’d believe me. Me, his mate since we first started crawling, or some woman who’s come late on the scene? No contest. I could tell him the sun was pulled up on a fucking rope and he’d believe me.’
‘No . . .’ It was a plea.
‘Yes. Now come on.’
She’d been delicious. She’d cried a bit, but what choice did she have? She let him do the deed.
And what the hell, what was her problem? All cats were grey in the dark and a cock was a cock. It wasn’t as if she was a virgin or anything.
He had to keep it to himself. He knew Jill would, too. Neither of them would want to distress Terry or cause him pain, upset the bloody applecart.
‘So you’ve cancelled the adoption plans,’ said Terry.
‘Yeah,’ said Charlie, snapping back to the here and now.
‘Probably for the best.’
‘I know that.’
‘But Nula don’t know.’
‘Nah.’
‘She’ll be pissed when she finds out,’ warned Terry.
‘I know that too.’