Josephine laughed despite herself. ‘Your mum turned up today. You know her – she’s like a bloodhound. I had her out the door in record time though. She sussed that there was something going on.’

He finished his sandwich, not bothering to answer. The fact that someone like Jack Cornel had managed to get so close to him had really thrown him. It had shown him just how vulnerable he was, even now when he was such a major player. He had been foolish to think that his name was enough to guarantee his safety, but he had not allowed for nutters like the Cornels. The last few days had shown him the cracks in his armour, had forced him to re-evaluate everything he had believed in. Patrick Costello had once said to him that there was nothing lonelier than being a success. How true that was.

Chapter Eighty-Seven

Chapter Eighty-Seven

Natalie Childs was looking at her oldest and best friend in abject amazement. ‘You can’t be serious, Jessie!’ Her voice had risen until it was almost a screech, she was so shocked at her friend’s words.

‘Oh, yes! I’m very serious, Nat.’

Natalie was still reeling from the shock of Jessie’s latest revelations. Jessie Flynn had become a completely different person recently. The girl she had known and loved was long gone. This girl – the new Jessie – was not just without shame, she was brazen. This new Jessie was already getting a name as a whore, and she seemed to relish it.

‘If you don’t watch it, Jessie, you are going to end up in so much trouble.’

Jessie just shrugged nonchalantly. ‘I don’t care, Natalie.’

Natalie was scared for her friend; she couldn’t understand what had happened to Jessie or why she was suddenly acting so strangely. ‘Your mum and dad will go apeshit if they find out.’

Jessie could hear the bewilderment in Natalie’s voice, and she felt a moment’s sorrow for her friend. But Natalie could never understand her life, no one could. Unless they lived in her family’s chosen world, it was impossible for anyone to understand. She looked at her friend’s lovely face, so full of concern for her, and she wanted so much to set her mind at rest, but she couldn’t do that.

‘How the fuck will they find out? If you do what I ask, and say I am with you, nothing can go wrong, can it?’

Natalie wasn’t sure. She didn’t like all this lying and scheming. It wasn’t a part of her life and, up until a few months previously, it hadn’t been a part of Jessie’s life either. Now Jessie lied about everything.

‘What if your mum rings the house to talk to you? She’s friends with my mum, remember? Have you thought of that?’