Chapters (48)
- Cover
- THEFEUD
- Dedication
- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
- PROLOGUE
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- TWELVE
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- TWENTY-SIX
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- THIRTY-THREE
- THIRTY-FOUR
- THIRTY-FIVE
- THIRTY-SIX
- THIRTY-SEVEN
- THIRTY-EIGHT
- THIRTY-NINE
- FORTY
- FORTY-ONE
- FORTY-TWO
- FORTY-THREE
As the front door slammed, Jessica resumed her housework duties. Eddie had always tried to convince her to let him hire a cleaner, but she was having none of it. ‘I like doing the housework myself, Ed. Anyway, I don’t want a stranger poking around in my home. Vicki and Doug had to sack their cleaner, she was thieving off of them. We’re OK as we are,’ Jessica insisted.
Happy with the cleanliness of her kitchen, Jessica decided she had done more than enough to earn herself a brew and a biscuit. Dunking the chocolate digestive into her cup, she savoured its flavour and her thoughts returned to her husband. Eddie’s job worried the life out of her sometimes. She knew he was still loan-sharking and even though he’d done very well out it, she wished he could find a profession that was less dangerous.
Over the years, Eddie’s business had grown, but the risks had grown with it. Ronny had been shot and was now confined to a wheelchair. He’d been blasted through the lower back and the doctors had since – unsuccessfully – carried out three operations to try to repair his spine.
The one thing that did please Jessica was that Gary and Ricky were now both working with their father. Twenty-three and twenty-one respectively, Gary and Ricky were into bodybuilding and Jessica worried a lot less knowing that they were with Eddie.
Paulie and Raymond were still in the firm, so there were five of them in all. The accident had made Ronny very miserable and bitter and, according to Eddie, he now spent his days drowning his sorrows in numerous pubs. The last time Jessica had seen Ronny was when she had been to visit him in hospital with Eddie. He had been really nasty towards her and she had run from the ward, crying.
‘Take no notice. He’s one bitter and twisted cunt. He’s always been jealous of our relationship,’ Eddie said soothingly.
Even though Ronny spoke to Eddie like shit, Eddie still included him in the family business and looked after him financially. Ronny still lived with Sharon, and Eddie did all he could for her sake.
Neither Jess nor the twins had a great deal to do with any of Eddie’s family. In Jessica’s heart, she knew what they were and she had never felt particularly comfortable or wanted the twins around them. Eddie wasn’t like his brothers. He was the odd one out, the good guy. Eddie’s family rarely bothered to come to their house in Rainham and that suited Jessica down to the ground. The odd cup of tea and a sandwich around Auntie Joan’s or an occasional meal out with Harry was the only contact she and the kids really had with them now.
‘All right, Mum? What’s for breakfast?’