The Boss

The change in him was instant, his handsome face distorted with rage. He took hold of her face with his hand, his fingers squeezing her cheeks. ‘You are playing a dangerous fucking game,’ he spat. ‘Be careful, Grace.’

And then he was gone.

She sat in the chair before her legs gave way beneath her. How had she once loved that man with every fibre of her being?

But that was a lifetime ago. Grace Sumner was no longer the naive little girl who’d fallen in love with the man of her dreams. She was a woman with a past of her own. Nathan thought he knew her. He had no idea.

Chapter Two (#ulink_9b6ef631-26b7-5b6a-b163-0e2462d44a68)

Replaying the events of the previous night over and over in her head, Grace pondered what a fool she’d been thinking Nathan might have changed. He’d made Grace’s life hell for the first couple of years he’d been in prison. First it was the constant phone calls, then there were the visits. Always someone sitting at the end of the bar glaring at her, watching her every move. Always someone to deliver a message that she’d better watch her back, because apparently, the only thing that kept her safe was being Mrs Conlon. What a laugh!

John Brennan was okay, though. She’d met him once before when he’d come to their flat one night when Nathan had almost died from an overdose of ketamine. He used to call in on his way home, go through the motions and reiterate the same tired threat. Then Grace would pull him a pint and make him a sandwich.

‘Can’t you just put up with being his missus, Grace?’ he’d ask her. ‘Isn’t it easier than all this?’

‘No, John. It’s not,’ she’d tell him.

It was a price worth paying for her freedom. After all, she’d endured much worse than the occasional threat and menacing glare.

Then one day it all stopped. No more threatening phone calls. No more visits from his henchmen to try and scare her. He’d signed the divorce papers she’d sent him and, except for the occasional phone call when he felt lonely, he’d left her in relative peace.

Then shortly before Jake’s sixteenth birthday, she asked him what he’d like for a present, thinking he’d ask for a new computer or some sort of gadget. Her head had almost popped off her shoulders when Jake had revealed that what he wanted more than anything was to visit his dad in prison. She couldn’t have been more shocked if he’d asked for a trip to the moon.

Of course, she’d told him no. It was then that Jake revealed he’d been in almost daily phone contact with his father for nearly two years. How had she not noticed? How had Jake been able to lie to her all that time? He said he was sorry, that he hadn’t wanted to hide it from her, but he knew she’d go crazy and try to put a stop to it. And how could Grace argue with that? He was right.

Grace had always tried to prevent Jake from discovering the full extent of Nathan’s violent temper. He’d been so young when Nathan had been sent to prison and, given Nathan’s propensity to remain on the missing list for a lot of the time, the two of them had never developed a close bond.

After Nathan had been sent to prison, Grace had never told Jake much about him. She thought the less he knew, the better. She certainly didn’t want him to know what a monster his father truly was. In hindsight, she realized that pretending Nathan never existed was a huge mistake. With no other information to go on, Nathan became some enigmatic, mythical figure in Jake’s mind. By the time Grace learned of their contact, Nathan had cemented himself in Jake’s life as the most incredible father in the world; a legend, who was only doing time because he was trying to provide for his family.

Despite having to endure a year of Jake’s moody teenage stroppiness and his constant declarations that his father was a changed man, Grace would never agree to let him visit Nathan in prison. She confiscated his mobile phone, but Nathan procured him another one and then another. Jake told her there was nothing she could do to prevent him from contacting his dad, and as much as that aggravated and, if she was honest, scared the hell out of her, she knew he was right. So, in the end she’d relented. She realized that he’d only keep speaking with Nathan in secret and if she at least pretended to accept their communication he could be open with her about it. She thought that would allow her at least some insight into their relationship, and thereby give her some modicum of control.

For Nathan’s part, he seemed to adore Jake and appeared to have accepted that he and Grace were long over. According to Jake, he only ever asked if Grace was doing okay and nothing more.

Shortly after Jake turned seventeen, Nathan was transferred to an open prison and started having home leave. Release on temporary licence they called it. Jake would sneak off to meet him, much to Grace’s annoyance. But short of locking her son in his room, she could see no way of preventing the two of them meeting up. Thankfully, Nathan always stayed away from the pub, and well away from her, and from what Jake told her, his dad seemed to have become an entirely different person.

Jake almost had her convinced for a while, but Grace didn’t buy it. Nathan was incapable of behaving like a decent human being for any length of time. He could be the most charming man on the planet when he wanted to be, but it never lasted. He was a master manipulator, earning himself super-dad status from the confines of a prison cell. God knew what kind of influence he could exert now that he was out. If Jake followed in his father’s footsteps, she didn’t know what she would do. It pained her to even think about it, making her stomach contract and her throat feel like it was closing over. She would never let Nathan taint him. Not her sweet, precious boy.

Jake looked so much like his father, from the smile to the same blue eyes. He had the same confidence, too. Fortunately, that was where the similarities ended. Jake had always been a sweet and caring child. There was many a time he would come home from school with some stray or injured animal he’d found, and he would plead with his mum to keep it. The flat, and then the house, sometimes resembled a menagerie.

Providing he passed all of his exams, Jake would be off to university in a few months to study business and economics. Grace had worked hard to provide him with the best opportunities in life; sent him to the best private schools, made sure he always had everything he wanted. She would have been proud of him no matter what path he chose, but she was so pleased that he’d decided to go to university. Her heart could almost burst with pride whenever she looked at him. He was the most precious thing in the world to her.

Despite her hatred for Nathan, he had at least given her Jake, and because of that a part of her would always be connected to him. Grace knew that she would never escape him entirely, so she’d had to figure out a way to protect herself from him instead. And she had, making sure that she would never again be at the mercy of the monster she’d married.

Grace had no doubt that Nathan believed he’d made the decision to stop harassing her entirely on his own. He would never have done so otherwise. She knew him too well; knew exactly how to play him. Smiling to herself, she recalled the night she’d met a man named Patrick Carter. An encounter that would change her life beyond all recognition and lead to the realization that she could play Nathan Conlon at his own game – and win.

Chapter Three (#ulink_4a92a83f-3e77-5660-8638-7bcc62124776)

Ten Years Earlier

Grace watched as the attractive man in the suit threaded his way through the crowd towards the bar. He looked vaguely familiar to her, and she was sure she’d met him before but couldn’t place him.

‘Pint of Stella please, love,’ he said.

‘Coming right up,’ she smiled as she set about pulling his pint.

‘Grace Sumner, isn’t it?’ he asked.

She nodded, surprised that he knew her maiden name. Most people knew her as Conlon now, much to her annoyance. ‘Do I know you?’ she asked.

‘You used to,’ he smiled. ‘But I’ve not seen you since you were a dot.’

‘I thought I knew your face.’

‘Patrick Carter.’ He extended his hand to shake. ‘You can call me Pat. I knew your dad. We went way back.’

Grace knew his name. Patrick Carter was a Liverpool legend. He’d worked for Nathan’s old boss, Tommy McNulty, and she wondered briefly if he’d worked for Nathan too. Carter had a reputation for being as hard as nails. Rumour had it he’d once been jumped by a rival firm. Six of them had taken him on and all six had ended up in intensive care, while Patrick had escaped with nothing more than a cut lip.

‘Oh, you were one of those friends, were you?’ she teased him.

‘What’s that supposed to mean?’ he laughed.

‘I know all about my dad’s colourful past, Pat. And no offence, but you look just the type.’

‘I wasn’t aware we all looked the same,’ he chuckled.

‘Yes.’ She nodded as she passed him his drink. ‘Trust me. I used to be married to one of you lot.’

Patrick nodded. ‘Yeah, I know. Nathan Conlon.’

Grace bristled. Mentally checking that her mobile phone was in her trouser pocket should she need to call someone to escort Mr Carter from the premises. Nathan’s former colleagues, John or Ben would do that for her if she asked.

‘Look, if you’re here to settle old scores with Nathan then you’d better think again. I have nothing to do with him anymore. This place is sod all to do with him.’

Patrick shook his head. ‘Not at all. I’ve just got out after a long stretch. Only got out a couple of months ago. I was sorry to hear about your dad,’ he said. ‘I just wanted to pay my respects and see what the old place looked like. I spent a lot of my early twenties in here.’ Taking a sip of his pint, he looked around him. ‘It looks exactly the same.’

Grace smiled. She’d worked hard over the past two years to ensure that the pub was restored to its former glory. Nathan had almost ruined the place. Milking it for every penny, allowing the place to become run down and letting his mates have free rein. As a result, they had lost all of their regular custom.

‘I appreciate your condolences, Pat.’

Grace watched him drinking his pint for a moment. He looked a little younger than her dad would have been. He was tall, with dark hair, greying at the temples and brown eyes. He must have been a hit with the ladies in his younger days. Probably still was.

‘So what are you up to now that you’re out?’ she asked him. By the looks of his suit, he was doing well for himself.

‘This and that.’ He shrugged. ‘And how about you? Is that husband of yours behaving himself in the nick?’

Grace laughed. ‘I doubt that. And I told you, I have no idea what he’s doing in there. I have nothing to do with him now. At least I try not to. If only he would bloody leave me alone.’

‘Oh?’ Patrick raised an eyebrow at her. ‘Giving you a hard time, is he?’