At six months pregnant, Sharon Scott had just a tiny bump; but, according to the midwife, the baby was fine and a fair size. Sharon felt she had been short-changed; she hardly even looked in the club. She was full of energy and she looked amazing. Her skin was glowing, and her hair was thick and shining. She had not had any morning sickness after the first two months and she had never felt better in her life.

She and Lenny were building a lovely home for themselves, and she was delighted that they were managing to save as well, thanks to her new job. They both wanted to buy a property – it was their dream. She was working in a small betting office in Green Lane and she loved it. The hours were perfect and she knew most of the clientele now. The owner, an old Jewish man called Isaac Templeton, was a dote. He thought the world of her and he trusted her implicitly. She was good with numbers and could work out a bet in her head – something that had surprised her. She had taken to the job like the proverbial duck to water.

She cashed up the till and locked the money in the safe in the office, then she went through the slips and sorted out who would need to be paid out the following day. This was her kingdom, and she loved it here. It was a good little gig for her; Isaac pretty much left her to her own devices and she enjoyed her days.

She was aware she had been offered the job through Jack Johnson and she was grateful to him. Since that terrible night before the wedding it was clear that Lenny had been doing everything in his power to show Jack that he could be trusted.

She pushed those events from her mind – she hated to think about any of it, and she knew that, without Jack Johnson fighting their corner, Lenny could have gone away for a few years.

Even though she was relieved that the charges had been dropped, she still couldn’t quite get it out of her head. That Lenny was capable of such a brutal attack frightened her. Of course she knew his job was not without violence, but the debt collecting was controlled violence, more about the threat of it really – or so Lenny assured her on a daily basis. She knew he would never hurt her, but it lingered there between them, and that bothered her. She guessed that Lenny sometimes sensed her reticence with him now, and he was heartbroken to have caused that.

She locked up the betting office and made her way home, wondering what to cook for dinner and whether to start painting the bathroom. Anything so she didn’t have to think of the one thing that plagued her at all times of the day and night – especially the nights.

Chapter Twelve