Now, of course, she realised she should have told Jack Johnson when it started. He would have discreetly sorted it out for her, she was sure. Jack Johnson was a good man, and he had her best interests at heart. But it had been hard to tell anyone what was going on. She had felt so ashamed, as if she was somehow at fault and, because of what had happened to Lenny, she had assured herself that his father was suffering from some kind of stress over his son’s death. She had tried to sort it herself and where had it got her?

It was strange what you did for the people you cared about – like keeping Lenny and Reggie’s secret because of her sons. Like allowing Big Lenny to terrorise her – because that is exactly what he had done – and all for family unity. Fucking family was overrated in so many ways. Her husband had preferred another man to her and her father-in-law seemed to think that she was willing to enter into some kind of sexual relationship with him. Because that is basically what he had wanted from her, no matter how he tried to justify it. Using her sons as an excuse to try and have sex with her. It would be laughable if it wasn’t so fucking sad.

She knew that, despite the secrecy surrounding everything, the cat would well and truly be out of the bag and she would have to face everyone: her mother and father and, worst of all, Lenny’s mother, who she knew would blame her. Lesley Scott had a blind spot when it came to her son and her husband. They were, and always would be, beyond reproach. Sharon wondered how long it would be before she had Lesley swooping down on her like the Avenging Angel, and how she was going to handle it.

Chapter One Hundred and Thirteen

Del Conway was like the Antichrist – that was the only way that Ivy could describe him. It took both Reggie and Ray Donovan to keep him from going out and killing Big Lenny. No one wanted him to go after the man more than Ivy did, but she could see the logic in stopping him doing something he would be banged up for. Jack had assured them that it would be dealt with and that was enough for her.

As she looked at her poor daughter, she wondered at a world where one girl could be given so much grief in such a short time. Ivy had great hopes for her daughter and Ray. She liked him, and she could see that he adored Sharon and the boys.