Jimmy's Game (Ruthless) (15 page)

Standing in the bathroom he wrapped a towel around her and for the first time, he could see clearly the terrible bruises and bites that Nick had inflicted upon her. He’d believed her when she said she loved him, but he couldn’t help but wonder if it was because he was being kind to her. Although she was an adult it was clear to him that she was extremely naïve about the real world. However, considering what she had endured she was remarkably normal. At first he thought she was offering to do sexual things to him simply because it was the only way she could repay him for his kindness; yet despite those thoughts, he knew that when she touched him it just felt so right, even allowing himself to think that like him, she was getting some degree of pleasure from their sexual encounters. In a strange way he felt relieved that her injuries prevented him from having full sex with her, simply because he knew that once he could, he wouldn’t want to stop. Never before in his life could he ever remember wanting a woman the way he wanted her. Gently he dried her back as he kissed her neck.

They retired to the lounge, his borrowed robe almost wrapping round her body twice. Minutes later they were sitting on the sofa, with her half lying with her legs tucked up under her body and her head resting on his chest.

“Shall we watch a bit of TV, there might be a film on,” he suggested. “Ok, whatever you want to do is fine by me.” “Ok then, but before we get too comfortable I think I’ll make us a sandwich or something; what do you fancy babe?” “Shall I do it while you see what films are on?”
“Ok” Having gone along with her suggestion, he flicked through the TV channels. Several minutes later she returned from the kitchen with their sandwiches.

“Well, there’s fuck all on telly, so I’ve picked a DVD; it’s the Shawshank Redemption, have you seen it?” Shaking her head she said, “Nick didn’t let me watch television, he said it would corrupt me.” “Fuck me babe, you mean you haven’t seen anything for three years?” “Not exactly, there was the odd program he allowed me to watch, but it was rare.”  “You must have gone stir crazy?” “Not really; he did give me books to read.” Sarcastically he replied, “Oh that was very fucking decent of him I must say! Can we not mention him again tonight? I don’t want to ruin what has otherwise been a great time.” “
Sorry.” Noticing that she looked a bit upset by his remark, he squeezed her hand and said, “Sorry babe, I know it’s not your fault, it’s just I fucking despise him that’s all.” Having eaten their snack they settled down to watch the film. They were about thirty minutes into it when he pressed the pause button and turning to look at her he said, “Maria there’s something I need to ask you.” When she nodded he continued, “There’s something bothering me babe, I just want to say, I don’t want you to feel you owe me anything. You don’t have to have sex with me, not that I’m complaining it’s just I don’t want you to feel I’m using you.” Sitting up to face him she replied; “I do it because I want to, Nick made me feel dirty; there were times when I thought he was right and I was a whore. Many times I did things to him which I hated, but I thought it might make him like me; or at least make him stop hurting me. I used to ask God for forgiveness when I had seduced him, but believe me Jimmy, I want to share my body with you, for the first time I know what it feels like when your body actually wants someone. In my heart I know no matter how much you say everything will be ok, he will make me go back, but no matter what he does to me, he can never take away from me the love I have experienced with you. At least now if he kills me, I will have known what it was like.” “Don’t talk like that babe, you’re not going back, I want you here with me and don’t think for one minute that without you here everything would be ok, because it wouldn’t. Nick has got too big for his boots, for a long time we’ve thought he was doing things that could get us all killed, what you’ve told us has confirmed that. So you see we want to break away from him. It’s just that when you said you loved me, I believed you Maria. What I’m trying to say is you don’t have to say you love me, just to feel safe with me.” Tears were rolling down her cheeks as she replied, “I do love you Jimmy, it’s funny really; he would beat me until I said I loved him and then make me thank him for raping me.” “That’s enough babe now I really don’t want to talk about him anymore because it makes me so fucking evil!” Gently gripping her head in his hands he kissed her, it was a long lingering kiss, stopping only when he jokingly said, “I’d better put the film back on before you use your womanly charms to seduce me again!” Giving him a playful slap she snuggled her head back on his chest.

As he watched the film, she slowly ran her hands up and down his bare chest. Through the gap in his robe she could see that she was arousing him; so she slowly moved her hand down towards his cock. Gently squeezing her hand he whispered, “You don’t have to do that.” Pulling her legs round, she lowered herself onto the floor
and kneeling in front of him she slowly began opening his robe before moving her head towards his now erect cock. Running his fingers through her hair in a gently voice he said, “Maria,” but before he could continue her mouth was over him. His heart was racing; his whole body was pulsing as she slowly moved her hand and mouth up and down him, rolling her tongue over him. Gripping her hair in his hands, now totally in her control he groaned with pleasure, “God babe I’m coming!” Sucking him harder she felt him come in her mouth. “Oh God” he said, as he slumped down into the sofa, never before had his body been so in tune with a woman. They caressed and held each other, feeling totally fulfilled as the film ran its course.

The next morning Maria was surprised to hear him up before her. Finding him in the kitchen, she could see him frying something on the stove and judging by the amount of smoke, whatever it was it was burning.
Calmly walking towards the cooker, she said, “Good morning, shall I finish that?” “Cheers babe that’ll be great, I’m no Jamie Oliver, scrambled egg is my only successful breakfast, second to cornflakes!” Looking into the pan; she tried not to giggle when she saw that half of the bacon was burnt. Not wishing to hurt his feelings, she discreetly wrapped it in a piece of kitchen roll, before throwing it in the bin. Then she started again from scratch and within minutes they were tucking into eggs and bacon.

“How come you’re such a good cook babe?” asked Jimmy. “We learnt some cookery at the convent and most of the books Nick let me read were recipe books. On rare occasions he would allow me to watch a cookery program; those and cartoons but not very often and there would always be a price to pay, he never let me actually watch TV. I suppose being able to cook helped me to survive; apart from my faith it was the only thing I had.” “Well you sure can cook, this is great.” “I’m happy you like it.” “I think I might have to go out later babe; I’ll ask Gladys to stay with you if I do. I think Mickey has arranged a meeting with Nick.” The moment he had mentioned the name Nick, he noticed her expression change as she said, “Do you have to go Jimmy?” “Course I do; I told you this is one fight he’s going to lose. I just need to buy us a few more days, so stop worrying.” Sensing that she wasn’t happy about him going he quickly changed the subject and said, “Maybe you could speak to Gladys before she comes; get her to pick you up some shopping just in case you want to cook. Tell you what, why don’t I ask Mickey to stay for dinner tonight, you can dazzle him with your cooking skills, if you’re not careful we’ll be calling you fucking Delia.” From the books she’d read, she knew that he was referring to Delia Smith. Nodding her head she replied, “Yes that would be nice.” Then she giggled and added, “I don’t mean calling me Delia, I mean about inviting Mickey. Is there anything
in particular you’d like me to cook?” “Why don’t you surprise us?” Smiling she nodded. Before he could say anything else his mobile rang, when he answered the call, Mickey’s voice said, “Alright Jimmy any news?” “Not a dickey bird mate.” “Well you know what they say Jim, no news is good news. I’ll be round to you about three, I’ve told Nick we’ll meet him at his place.” Sounding surprised Jimmy replied, “Wouldn’t it have been better at the club?” “No fuck him, this is our way of showing him we’re serious!” “Well you’re the solicitor, whatever you think is best.” “Got to run Jimmy, I’ll see you later.” “Hang about Mick, did the photo get delivered to him and would you like to stay for dinner tonight, Maria’s a cracking cook!” “Yes and yes please, actually he should have seen the photo by now, I would love to have seen the look on his fucking face.” “Me too, see you later.” Closing his phone Jimmy looked at her and said, “Sorry babe looks like you’ll have to put up with me ‘til this afternoon. I’ve just got to make a few calls, the first one being to Gladys.” The moment he got through to her, Gladys said she’d be happy to help out and pick up some groceries for Maria. An hour later having finished his calls, he said, “How about we go on the internet and order you some new clothes babe, you can choose whatever you like.” “Ok, if you want to,” she replied humbly.

For over an hour they looked at several different stores and although he noticed she went for styles that were baggy and quite frankly drab, he never said
anything, but he did think the women he knew would want to flaunt themselves if they had a body like hers.

The morning passed quickly. They were sitting chatting when Jimmy looked at his watch and said, “Better get my arse in gear, Mickey will be here in half hour. Will you be alright ‘til Gladys gets here babe?” Smiling she nodded her head.

Half an hour later they heard Mickey’s car horn outside; but he was concerned and reluctant to leave because Gladys hadn’t arrived. “I’ll be fine, Gladys will be along any minute,” assured Maria. Still not comfortable with leaving her alone, he signalled out of the window to Mickey that he would be a couple of minutes, it was then he noticed Gladys heading towards the building. Maria heard him mutter under his breath, “Fuck me Gladys hurry up, I’ve seen faster fucking snails!” Trying not to laugh she told him to be careful as he left. Gladys stepped out of the lift as he got in it, thanking her before he closed the doors.

Approaching the car he could see Mickey talking on his phone, when he opened the door he heard him say, “Thanks for that Jeff, catch you soon.” Then he ended the call.
“Alright Mick,” said Jimmy.  “You could say that we’ve had a result. That was Jeff on the phone; apparently Father O’Brien’s been attacked, he’s in the hospital, they’re not sure if he’ll regain consciousness, according to Jeff two men wearing balaclavas broke in; looks like they tried to beat him to death. At first the Old Bill thought the motive was robbery, but nothing of any value appears to have been taken.” “Sounds like someone wanted to shut him up; what did Jeff say then?” “The nun who raised the alarm overheard the assailants say something to the priest like, ‘Are you sure it was the fucking nigger who took the photo?’ She also said one of the men had letters tattooed on his fingers. They’re treating her for shock.” Before he could say anymore his phone rang again, assuming it was Jeff who’d forgotten to tell him something he didn’t check the ID, he wasn’t expecting to hear Nick’s voice say, “Alright Mickey?” “We’re just on our way over to see you Nick.” “Got to cancel, something’s come up. I’ll get back to you.” Then he hung up.

Looking at Jimmy and raising his eyebrows he said, “That was Nick, he’s cancelled the meeting.” “Sounds like the photo had the desired effect.” “Balaclavas and tattoos; anyone spring to mind,” asked a grinning Mickey, he was referring to Terry Clark and Reggie Swaine. They had been at the poker game the night Jimmy won Maria, a pair of real hard bastards who worked for Nick, mainly running the docks. At the game they had sat either side of Nick, both men look like British bulldogs, hard bastards with bad reputations. Terry is the one that Nick relies on to keep things running smoothly. Known for having a way with words, he could charm the knickers off a nun with his quick wit and despite looking like a bulldog, with a shaved head and a menacing look, the ladies love him. At forty one and a confirmed bachelor, he looks like a big dumb fucker, but if anyone made the mistake of thinking he was one, it would probably be the last mistake they would live to make. Like all of the men at the poker game, Terry has a long and colourful history of violence. Between the age of eighteen and thirty, he had served a total of eight years in prison. Was well known to the police for fighting, especially when he worked the doors in the clubs, but for the last five years he had managed to stay out of court, reason being, working the docks instead of clubs presented less opportunity for trouble. He runs the docks like clockwork; nothing moves that he doesn’t know about.

The man sitting to the other side of Nick that night was Reggie Swaine, once regarded as one of the toughest men in London.  Reggie is no stranger to trouble, only nineteen when he served his first sentence for GBH. Having been a bare knuckle boxer in his younger days, now in his late forties he carries the legacy of his violent past in the form of a cauliflower ear and a flattened pug type nose from having had it broken several times. There is also the occasional slow slurred speech that so often follows too many blows to the head. Nicotine stained fingers from being a chain smoker, along with years of heavy drinking have taken their toll, leaving him looking older than his years. Two bitter ex wives and three grown up kids he never sees, the only important things in his life are his two Rottweiler’s, Zeus and Thor. Like him they’re mean bastards, but he looks after them as though they were his children; even on poker nights they’re left outside on the roof terrace of Nick’s penthouse. No doubt about it, Reggie prefers his dogs to people, except Terry of course their tight. Back in his younger days everyone wanted to take a pop at Reggie, due to his hard reputation, despite the fact that then, he mostly kept his aggression inside the ring. There was always some young loud mouth who wanted to prove something, usually trying to impress some young girl, they would goad Reggie into a fight. One such arsehole was young Johnny Dolan. Back then Johnny’s family ran a small piece of the docks; rumour has it that Reggie only hit him once to shut him up. Johnny never recovered, he’s still a dribbling wreck confined to a wheelchair. The rest is history; Johnny’s family wanted pay back, Reggie took the beating of a lifetime from five big dockers, which put him in intensive care and would probably have killed him had Terry not intervened. Since then Reggie is one hundred per cent loyal to Terry. Another thing they have in common is they like hurting people, which was why Mickey thought they were probably responsible for the attack on Father O’Brien.