Lenny had been murdered, there was no doubt about that. Someone had beaten him to death. The question was: why? Was it business or personal? If she was honest with herself, she didn’t want to know. There was a tiny part of her that was glad he was dead. She was glad that she didn’t have to question her marriage or the man she had married any more. But that didn’t mean that her heart wasn’t completely broken because, when all was said and done, she had loved him, loved the very bones of him. She would honour him, as his wife and the mother of his children. That was all that was left to her now. She cried, but anger lingered and it was growing by the minute.

Chapter Seventy-Nine

Ivy Conway was worried. She knew there was something seriously wrong with her daughter and she had no idea what to do about it. Sharon had worshipped her husband. Now it was as if she was on autopilot, even refusing to speak at his wake and leaving the funeral preparations to his family. It was like she didn’t want any part of it at all.

On one level her daughter was devastated, of course, and Ivy understood that. But she knew her girl better than anyone else and she felt there was a break somewhere along the line. Lenny had hurt Sharon somehow and she couldn’t get to the bottom of it. All she could tell for sure was that her daughter seemed almost relieved at the turn of events. Her husband murdered, and she didn’t seem to want to know any more than that. Ivy kept quiet about her misgivings, but she sensed there was something she didn’t understand. One thing she knew for certain, though, was that everything came out in the wash eventually. She would help her arrange the funeral; what else could she do?

Chapter Eighty

Reggie was devastated. It was as if he had died himself. He felt the man’s death more acutely than anyone else in their world could. It was unbelievable to him that Lenny had really gone, that he would not walk in as he always had, with that half-smile on his face and that look in his eyes that was only for Reggie. He had genuinely loved Lenny, and that was something no one could ever know. He had to grieve alone. But it was a hard road and Lenny’s death had taken away everything Reggie had ever really cared about. He had loved him with a passion he never believed possible. Lenny Scott had been the man of his dreams and he had been taken away from him by some vicious fucker. No matter where he looked, who he asked, he couldn’t find a trace of him.