But in the meantime she was going to take Connor’s advice and calm down, get control of herself. Let them all think it was business as usual. She’d arranged to meet Chloe to discuss the seating plan for the Heart Foundation dinner on Friday, so that’s what she’d do: get on with things, be on the outside the smiling society hostess she was born to be – even though inside she felt as if she was cracking apart like a clay riverbed in the baking summer heat.

151

151

Shauna got into her car and was backing out of the gates when someone rapped hard on her window. She saw Jeb Cleaver standing there, that bastard. She pulled on the handbrake, ready for this fucker right now, and was about to let down the window and give him the hairdryer treatment when he yanked her door open, leaned in, unclipped her seat belt and dragged her out of the car.

‘You arsehole!’ she spat. ‘Get the fuck off me, you shit.’

‘Is that any way to speak to the bloke that’s helped you so much?’ said Jeb, shaking her like a dog would a rat. ‘Don’t try coming the posh bird with me, Shauna – I know you, remember? I know all your dirty secrets. Have you forgotten the time I helped you with that bitch neighbour of yours, held her under the water while she struggled? And all those other favours you wanted doing, people you wanted sorted.’

‘Yeah? Well, I’ve been hearing some things about you. You son of a bitch, you came at my boy with a fucking axe in your hand.’ Shauna glanced back at the car. The engine was still running. Her bag was there on the passenger seat. The gun was inside it. If she could only reach it . . . but she couldn’t. He held her in a grip hard as iron. Jeb was dangerous, she was realizing that now; she’d had a tiger by the tail for so long, she’d stopped being aware of it.

‘Oh, you didn’t like that?’ He was grinning at her now. ‘Listen, you upset me. Hurt me bad. So this is me getting even, OK? You’re a real keen mother, right? You drool over those kids so much it’s sickening to see. And trust me, I seen it. You organize their love lives – telling me to sort out that hairdresser girl who got a bit too friendly with your boy Connor. You told me to see to it she didn’t make you a grandmother – and I did. Now, you don’t want to know me. Want to push me aside. Well, I got news for you, Shauna Flynn – I ain’t going to let that happen.’

‘You come near my kids again and I’ll kill you,’ hissed Shauna, right in his face.