Fatal. Jacqui Rose

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       10

      Ten minutes later, with the prison officers having been left to stand outside on Nico’s orders, Franny and Cabhan sat opposite him. Franny spoke calmly and firmly, showing great respect towards Nico, despite feeling none. She knew that this might be their best opportunity to get Cabhan back home to England.

      ‘Both Cab and I are extremely saddened about Ally.’

      Cabhan nodded, his expression of remorse genuine. ‘I keep going over it in my head, Nico. The car, it just—’

      Nico put up his hand to stop him from saying any more. ‘No more talk of it, please. Salvatore tells me there isn’t anyone to blame, it was just an accident. Tragic things happen … Which reminds me, how is your daughter …?’ Nico paused to feign ignorance as Cabhan shuffled uncomfortably in his seat. ‘I’m sorry, her name escapes me.’

      Cabhan’s voice was strained. ‘Alice. Alice Rose.’

      ‘Ah, that’s right … Is she well?’

      ‘She’s very well, thank you.’

      Nico smiled, his eyes darkening. ‘Bene. Good. We need to look after our families. Hold them close. You never know when something may happen. Life’s too short, wouldn’t you agree, Cab?’

      ‘I would.’

      There was a tense silence before Nico clapped his hands. ‘Enough of this talk. Why don’t we just get on with business?’

      Giving a quick side glance to Cabhan, Franny, knowing he wanted to get this over and done with as much as she did, took Nico’s cue, her voice cold and hard. ‘Okay. So how much are we talking about, Nico? How much did you lose?’

      Nico watched Franny evenly. He’d forgotten how much like an Italian goddess she looked, but that didn’t stop him having an aversion to her. Mouthy broads who thought they were men, in his experience, always came to a very bad end.

      ‘About two and a half million dollars.’

      Franny nodded calmly, rivalling the outwardly composed Nico. ‘Which is about one point eight million pounds, but as a goodwill gesture, to show there’s no hard feelings between us, I’m willing to give you two million in British sterling, that’s as long as we can draw a line under it all.’

      Nico Russo chewed down hard on the inside of his cheek, tasting blood, his expression once again not giving away any kind of emotion as he turned to Cabhan. ‘You let women do men’s business now?’

      ‘It’s not for me to let her, Franny does what she wants. She is her own woman and her own boss.’

      ‘Then it’s a shame it wasn’t Franny who came to work for us instead of you. It seems like she’s the one with the balls. Tell me something, Franny, where did you get the money from?’

      Franny gave a smile, pushing Alfie out from the back of her mind, focusing only on the matter at hand. ‘Nico, I get my money from the same place you do.’

      Nico smiled back, genuine amusement in his eye. He put his hand out for Franny to shake.

      ‘Okay, Franny, it seems we have a deal.’

      Franny held Nico’s hand as well as his stare just as hard, the Doyle strength pushing through. ‘And you’ll speak to the rest of the family about Cabhan coming home?’

      ‘Yes.’

      ‘So that’s it, we’re even?’

      Nico nodded and smiled.

      When Franny and Cabhan had left the visitors’ room, Salvatore turned to Nico.

      ‘I’ll arrange for her to transfer the money today to one of our accounts in India, and then it’s done.’

      Nico’s eyes turned dark and cold. ‘No, Salvatore, it’s only just beginning. Never forget that in life there’s always somebody to blame and there’s always a way to get revenge … An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth … a daughter for a daughter. Let’s go and wish Cabhan a happy birthday with the sweet Alice Rose.’