Hidden Sin: Part 1 of 3: When the past comes back to haunt you

Hidden Sin: Part 1 of 3: When the past comes back to haunt you
Julie Shaw

The explosive sequel to #1 Sunday Times bestseller Bad Blood.Set 18 years later, Hidden Sin is the story of Joey, his girlfriend Paula and Rasta Mo, the man he is to discover is his dad.Joey Parker is a young man with big dreams. Almost eighteen, he’s desperate to escape the shackles of his window cleaning round, so when’s offered the chance to try out as a drummer in a local Blondie tribute band he jumps at the chance. But it isn’t just the music that moves him. It’s also the fact that Paula Foster is the lead singer. The daughter of his mum’s old mate, Josie, she was once a childhood friend. They’ve not seen each other in years, and their mutual attraction is immediate.Meanwhile, notorious local drug overlord, Rasta Mo, has recently returned to Bradford after a spell inside and years in Marbella. He is instantly enamored with the good-looking drummer he discovers is his son. He decides that his new club is in need of a house band – and so begins his attempts to woo him.This book charts a journey between two men into a future neither visualized. And, in Joey’s case, into a dangerous criminal world he’s never known. And, while his mother and step-father can only look on in horror as Joey potentially becomes the one thing she’s always dreaded – his father’s son.Joey is oblivious to who Mo is. The truth has always been hidden from him. All he cares about is that his and Paula’s dreams are all starting to come true. But will the cost of achieving them be too high to pay?

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Copyright (#u1e83414b-3498-5120-8a8c-50af1fca7a61)

Certain details in this book, including names, places and dates, have been changed to protect the family’s privacy.

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First published by HarperElement 2018

FIRST EDITION

© Julie Shaw and Lynne Barrett-Lee 2018

Cover layout design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2018

Cover photographs © plainpicture/Valery Skurydin (young woman); © Romany WG/Trevillion Images (figure)

A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library

Julie Shaw and Lynne Barrett-Lee assert the moral right to be identified as the authors of this work

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Source ISBN: 9780008228484

Ebook Edition © May 2018 ISBN: 9780008228521

Version: 2018-04-03

Dedication (#u1e83414b-3498-5120-8a8c-50af1fca7a61)

This book is simply dedicated to our Alan Taylor. Rest in peace, Alan – you fought with every last breath to stay as long as you could with my lovely little cousin, Sue, AKA our Nipper, and your girls, Penny, Lou and Lindsay. They all did you proud, Alan, and always will do. You were everything a man should be and you’ll be sadly missed. x

Epigraph (#u1e83414b-3498-5120-8a8c-50af1fca7a61)

‘Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother did conceive me.’

Psalm 51:5

Contents

Cover (#u243a005c-c50e-5a5a-bc79-e0d2a3e166a6)

Title Page (#u2be35d42-a68a-5e75-9244-1852eb651a1b)

Copyright (#u13be6d14-ad18-56c1-a74f-e51072e85795)

Dedication (#ue5aac9a8-3ad1-5607-9236-5e4d1d962403)

Epigraph (#u52ba7075-c4fe-55e6-930d-5bb54a03f132)

Prologue (#u6be7a064-f08c-5d7d-b837-9250e273b701)

Chapter 1 (#u0f5316bf-7c67-5416-983e-719f8dd57c22)

Chapter 2 (#u57ad6a3d-2092-54bb-9cfe-19c71d272503)

Chapter 3 (#u1b2a705e-9bd5-5fe1-8497-2d356432ed8f)

Chapter 4 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 5 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 6 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 7 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 8 (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 9 (#litres_trial_promo)

Moving Memoirs eNewsletter (#litres_trial_promo)

About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)

Prologue (#u1e83414b-3498-5120-8a8c-50af1fca7a61)

Bradford, June 1997

Mo took a slow look around him and sniffed the air. Nothing had changed, he realised. The Sun Inn still delivered: its familiar cocktail of stale beer, cheap perfume and sweat. Did it feel good to be back? He wasn’t sure yet.

On balance, though, yes. Because he knew he still had it. Knew from the ripples of reaction that seemed to flow out when he moved. The odd stare. The covert nudge. The inevitable whispered conversations. Conversations that he knew were taking place in his wake. So on balance, yes. Yes, the weather was shit, obviously, but for the most part it felt good to be home.