Mary Callahan knew that if she had her elder daughter in front of her now she would take her out without a moment’s hesitation. Cynthia had always been trouble and she knew she had always been jealous of this sister of hers despite the fact that Celeste was a watered-down version of her in every respect. Where Cynthia was beautiful, Celeste was pretty; where Cynthia had the body of an Amazon, Celeste, bless her, was only half the woman her sister had ever been. Yet, where it really counted, Celeste was worth a hundred of Cynthia, a thousand of her, because Celeste was a good girl, a decent, kind girl.

She rued the day Jonny Parker had met both her daughters. He had brought them nothing but trouble and heartache.

Chapter Fifty-Nine

Left alone after Gabby had followed Jack, Jonny Parker looked at Cynthia and it was as if he was really seeing her for the first time ever. She looked awful, and he could see the lines around her eyes and mouth, see the bitterness and ugliness that was inside her. He shook his head and turned to go.

‘You’re not walking away from me, Jonny. No one walks away from me,’ Cynthia spat. Even now, after all this, she still couldn’t bow her head in shame and hold her hand up to what they had done.

‘No one walks away from you! Who the fuck do you think you are?’

‘I’m the woman who took out fucking Bryant, that’s who I am, mate – and don’t you ever forget it.’

Jonny grinned. ‘Who the fuck cares, eh? Can’t you just once in your miserable life admit to being in the wrong? I would give anything for this not to have happened. My Celeste is everything to me and between us we’ve destroyed her. Could you honestly see her dragged down even further?’

Cynthia nodded, and said with her usual arrogant honesty, ‘Yeah, why not? Pity is no basis for a marriage. You need a woman who is as strong as you, you need a woman who knows the score . . .’

Jonny looked at her for long moments before saying, ‘You’re off your fucking head if you think I would ever contemplate throwing my hat in the ring for you. Celeste means the world to me, and I thought you were sensible enough to know that. I have fucked you for years, but that’s it, Cynth. We fucked. If Celeste outs me, and I wouldn’t blame her if she did, I still wouldn’t want you and all you entail.’

That was when she attacked him, when he knew the sooner he got away from her, and sorted out his life, the better it would be for them all.