Linford liked his women clean and uncomplicated; he also liked them living at a separate address so they never got too big for their boots. Once they started cleaning his drum up after a night of revelry they were out the door and gone from his life. He had too many things to do, places to see, and strangers to bed for one woman to do anything for him. He looked after any kids of his that arrived, and he saw that they were looked after very well, but there was no way he was tying himself to one woman. That, as far as he could see, was a mug’s game.

It was cut and dried to him; he saw, he conquered, and he came. Then he went home. Unlike Jonny, he liked to keep his life as uncomplicated as possible.

Chapter Thirty-Five

‘Come on, Celeste, have a bit of lunch – you’ll feel better for it.’

Celeste smiled gratefully, and dutifully ate her salad sandwich. She liked it at Cynthia’s house; it was clean, and it was orderly, and best of all she couldn’t smell the blood here. She couldn’t get that smell out of her nostrils and she couldn’t get the picture of Kevin Bryant out of her mind. The fact that her sister had killed him didn’t bother her one bit; she knew Cynthia had done it to save her life, and that she could brutally kill a man wasn’t something she thought about. Cynthia was her saviour and that was that.

Today, with her mum there too, and the kids squabbling on the kitchen floor, she felt the best she had felt since it had happened. Gabby got on to her lap and Celeste hugged the child to her tightly. She needed the warmth of these children to make her believe that life was normal once more, even though inside herself she knew it could never be normal again.

Jonny was looking for a new house for them because she refused to ever set foot in that other one again as long as she lived. She knew that Jonny was annoyed with her, not that he said anything of course, but she could feel his impatience with her. But she wasn’t like him, she couldn’t shrug this off as if it was an occupational hazard – it might be for him, but for her it was a nightmare he had brought on her and she didn’t know if she could ever forgive him. She hoped so, because she loved him with all her being. But his actions had caused this turmoil and upset, and she couldn’t quite get over that yet.