“We don't have a nanny and he is at home with his auntie.” Tasha wondered why she still felt obliged to explain herself, but chose to ignore his disparaging comments about children, presumably her and her siblings if not Connor.
“Pippa is out here too?” Suddenly his interest seemed genuinely piqued as he shifted forward in his seat slightly.
“No, Jim's sister-in-law.”
“Ah. How are Dan and Pippa?”
“Good, really good.” Tasha smiled, then remembering the life she and her siblings had been subjected to, the danger, threats and constant fear, she suddenly hardened. “What do you want? Why did you ask me to visit, really?”
“There she is, hard faced, blunt, argumentative, Natasha. Ready to start a row with the person she's supposed to respect most.” It was debatable whether her father was goading or accusing.
“You're kidding me? Respect? You?” she asked with a heavy shake of her head. “Dad, just spit it out, whatever you want from me. Let's not piss about anymore.”
“Watch your mouth. Still got a vile, poisonous, toxic and too fucking clever for its own good mouth on you I see!” Sam snapped angrily as his bound hands flew up making Tasha flinch at the memories that movement evoked. Seeing her recoiling, her father just laughed.
“Still think these things are unnecessary?” asked one of the guards, stepping closer to his prisoner.
“Mr Bailey,” intervened Jim, unsure what to say to end this hideous charade. “My son is at home being looked after by someone other than Tasha for the first time and this is the last place I want me or my wife to be, but we agreed she would do this, for her, so if you are just yanking her chain and playing stupid mind fuck games then this meeting is over.”
“Why do you do that?” Sam turned his attention to Jim. “That wholemy wifething. Your wife is my daughter. Mine!” he almost growled. “She was my daughter before she met you and will be my daughter after you tire of her petty, insolent, whorish ways and whilst you may be related legally, it's my blood running through her veins, her veins and your son’s,” he claimed victoriously as though he had just scored some major point. “My blood, my DNA and I doubt the apple will fall far from the tree, so you just think on when you look atyour wifeandyour son,” he told Jim triumphantly. “If you knew the things she'd done...” He smirked smarmily making Tasha's blood run cold through her whole body causing her to shudder.
“My wife ceased to be your daughter the moment you first called her an inexcusable name or raised a hand to her or sold her off for your own benefit. There is nothing you can tell me that I don't already know, and I wouldn't recommend you telling anyone else or you would certainly be incriminating yourself and this meeting just ended. Tasha, baby.” Jim turned as he got to his feet to find a white and shaken looking Tasha looking up at him with the haunted expression he hadn't seen for a while.
Taking Jim's hand, Tasha stood and prepared to leave.
“Natasha.” Her father’s call caused her to turn and face him. “I asked you here nearly a year ago. To see me. To help me. And yet again you let me down, and now, well I thought we should draw a line beneath things, but you should see your mother. She doesn't deserve the treatment she has endured at your hands.”
Tasha shook her head and tried to think of something, anything to say as her father smiled and spoke again.
“Oh, and I should congratulate you. You accused me of prostituting you, but never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined a coup like the one you've bagged for yourself; a rich, older man to provide you with everything money can buy, and in return all you have to do is what you've always done best, lie on your back and open your legs.”
Tasha felt sick and repulsed by his accusations, and then scared that Jim may believe anything he was saying. Jim's grip tightened on his wife's hand and was glad when she turned away without even attempting to discuss or defend herself against this evil man's ridiculous accusations, however his parting shot gained Tasha's attention fully.
“But your piece de resistance has to be the genius stroke of getting him to knock you up.”
Standing no more than six feet from him and pushing her shoulders back to stand at her full height, Tasha shook her head, tears brimming her eyes.
“Oh, come on, Natasha, it can't have been coincidence that you were knocked up before the ink on the marriage certificate had dried according to my maths and it's not a criticism, far from it. I wish I'd thought of it. Liam's child would have been like the goose that laid a golden egg for me.”
“You are disgusting,” she accused, beginning to lose the battle with her tears. “The twenty-five years they gave you are nowhere near enough for a bastard like you. I hope you die behind bars for everything you've done to me, Dan and Pippa and Liam's child?” she asked with a slightly maniacal laugh that shocked her father and her husband. “I had it flushed away.” Her father’s expression of disbelief as he stared at her made her laugh more erratically. “Yup. He got me pregnant and Gerry paid for me to get rid of it. I would have topped myself before I’d have allowed anything that belonged to him to grow inside me, and the idea of providing you with another pawn to fuck up, well it was never going to happen.” Tears ran freely down her face as she stood shaking.
Suddenly, the table was flying across the room towards her and her father was following it, but before he could reach her Jim had covered her and turned her towards the door, out of harm’s way. Sam Bailey was still powering towards his end goal, Tasha, but there was no way Jim was going to allow him to reach her. He had told her many times since the attempt on her life that he wouldn’t allow this man to get close again and he wouldn’t. Jim sensed the older man’s presence behind him and instinctively thrust his elbow back and hearing the crunch of bone was happy he had made sufficient contact as the two prison guards wrestled Tasha’s father to the ground, restraining him as a siren sounded. The door flew open and Jim pushed Tasha through it towards a member of prison staff who received them to lead them back the way they'd come, leaving her father far behind her.
Chapter 22
Tasha was unsure whether she’d spoken a single word after the five-word sentence she'd managed to string together as they got out of the room where her father had been. The five words she knew Jim had misunderstood.
“I want to go home,” she'd said.
“We're going home, baby.” Jim assumed she meant her home with him, not her home where she was born and raised, not London.
Since that point she had said nothing and was relieved to be getting out of the car. She headed through the front door where she was greeted by the sound of Connor crying and Abby attempting to sing at him while Sandra was reeling off a list ofhe likes it when Tashasuggestions. Fighting the urge to run to him she quickened her pace, but stuck to a walk until she reached his side.
“Let me.” She couldn’t risk more words, scared that any more than those two would allow her to physically and emotionally fall apart and she wasn't prepared to do that yet, especially not with an audience.
Taking her son from Abby, she stroked his face, brushed away his tears then kissed him, first his fingers, his hands, followed by his face and head where she inhaled the unique scent of him. She filled her nose with his aroma and could feel her need to cry growing as her young baby's tears and distress subsided.
“Hey, magic momma's arms,” said Bobby, who Tasha had failed to notice was even there.
