Jimmy's Game (Ruthless) (2 page)

Finishing his drink Shaun stood up and said, “Just remember to keep out of his way, I’ll see myself out.” The two men shook hands as Jimmy said, “Thanks for this Shaun.” “No thanks needed, just take care of her.”

For the next four hours Jimmy sat watching over her, feeling the anger raging through his body as he watched her and thought about the vicious beating she’d taken because of him. His mind questioned why he’d thought for one minute his actions from the previous night would end well. Why had he imagined for an instant that Nick would be ok about it, how could he have been so stupid? Clenching his fist he pounded the arm of the sofa, only controlling his temper because the noise made her stir, although she didn’t wake. Again his mind questioned his logic, because like everyone else involved in organised crime he knew that within your own crew there was a line which you didn’t cross and he had been stupid enough to do just that.

Sweeping her hair back from her face, he felt the stickiness of her blood on his fingers. Gently he wiped her hair with a towel, only stopping momentarily when she opened her eyes, but before he could say anything to her she began sinking back into unconsciousness. Sitting there quietly he looked at the young woman who was lying bleeding on his sofa, her beautiful face unrecognisable; every inch covered in cuts and bruises. Still in a state of disbelief and anger, he went over in his head what had happened just a few hours earlier, the series of events which had led to her being almost beaten to death. Taking his thoughts back to the previous night when he and his best friend Mickey Mann had arrived at Nick’s penthouse for the weekly poker game. The other players were already there, Jimmy pictured the faces of the men; especially Nick’s, who as always was smirking, ever confident that he was going to be a big winner that night. Jimmy could feel his adrenalin pumping as he thought about Nick and what he’d done to her.

That Friday night hadn’t started any differently to any other poker night, same faces same chit chats. Like most of the players Jimmy was there because it was expected. Everyone at the game knew Nick saw himself as the boss, who revelled in the fact that at the ripe old age of forty two he had done so well. Always boasting, he loved to show off. Nick knew he was a handsome man, with well kept black wavy hair and dark brown soulless eyes, standing over six feet tall with a great body from working out daily. Carrying an air of arrogance about him and looking more like a Hollywood leading man than a crime boss, nobody loved Nick as much as he loved himself. A confident, arrogant, self made man, who bragged about liking kinky sex and recreational drugs, although he rarely indulged in anything stronger than coke because he liked to be in control. It was no secret he had a hard on for young girls, a real control freak and sadist. Referred to as Nick the Greek, real name Nikodemus Orphanides, a descendant from Greek Cypriots, his family had moved to London from Cyprus when he was seven. They shared a house with his uncle, who, like his father was heavily involved in organised crime. Nick quickly learnt that being tougher than the next kid would guarantee him respect. At just thirty two he became the head of his family, when his uncle died from cancer and less than a year later his father was killed in a pub brawl with a rival firm. His mother and two sisters returned to Cyprus, never again to return to Britain. One thing every criminal in London knew was never to cross him; he’s a hard ruthless bastard who would have no trouble putting you down, although rarely getting his own hands dirty; that would be left to Shaun Flanagan, the big Irishman who had kept his word and brought the girl to Jimmy’s apartment earlier that morning. Shaun never says much and no one really knows what brought about the union between him and Nick, apart from money and the fact they’re both hard men, they have little in common. Before becoming Nick’s bodyguard, Shaun worked the doors in his clubs for a few years, yet despite the closeness he shares with the other crew members Shaun carries an air of mystery about him, he’s the type of man you could know for twenty years and still never really know. A giant of a man, standing no less than six feet five inches tall, with fiery red hair now flecked with grey and held back in a
ponytail. Despite being in his early fifties and slightly overweight, he still poses an awesome figure and despite his undisputed reputation as a hard man, he’s a devout Catholic who goes to church regularly, always carries rosary beads and looks after his family of seven children and six grandchildren, all of whom he adores. Probably the only man who knows most, if not all, of Nicks dirty little secrets. Always with him, but despite his loyalty Shaun keeps his own council. Unlike his boss he is content with his lot and well aware that Nick is dangerous because he’s power hungry. Nick’s into everything, prostitution, drugs, gambling, if there’s money to be made he’s into it. Allowing nothing to stand in his way, he doesn’t care about who he has to hurt or kill to stay on top. Having little compassion or respect for anyone or anything, in Nick’s world everything has a price.

There were eight players including Jimmy at the game, all of whom were heavily involved in organised crime. With the exception of the one black man, Maurice Lamar, everyone there had grown up tough on the streets of London. Unlike them, Maurice had moved to Britain from the Caribbean in his late teens where he was quickly spotted by the then crime boss. Despite Jimmy doing business with Maurice he doesn’t care for him, due to the fact that he’s a sadistic bisexual with an unhealthy liking for young boys. In truth, he represents everything Jimmy hates.

The player who sat next to Jimmy was his closet friend and business partner, corrupt solicitor and entrepreneur Mickey Mann, best friends since early schooldays, there are many similarities between them. It was Mickey’s father Den who introduced them into organised crime when they were seventeen. Their dissimilarities in looks are about the only thing to separate them, both approaching forty and single and despite a totally different upbringing in many ways they’re closer than brothers. Jimmy had seen more than his fair share of trouble and violence, especially when it came to fighting, which was usually brought about because of the short fuse he had regarding his temper. Never one to walk away from a fight regardless of the odds, but he knew Mickey was always there watching his back. Had they not have been able to coerce influential people into providing airtight alibis on certain occasions over the years, no doubt Jimmy would have done hard time.

Mickey was the slightly taller of the two, dark hair, naturally slim; normally wore suits, hair and nails were always immaculate. Certainly looked the part as a professional, although he could handle himself should the need arise. Both he and Jimmy were married in their early twenties and both were divorced by the time they were thirty. Mickey has a fifteen year old daughter Charlotte from his marriage; she works in his legitimate law office during school holidays; mainly helping his secretary with run of the mill stuff like filing and making coffee. Mickey makes sure she never knows exactly what he does outside of his office and despite the fact that she is an intelligent girl, he also forbids her to date any boys whose families are connected to the criminal world. Charlie, as she prefers to be called lives with her mother and stepfather, but spends weekends and school holidays with Mickey. She’s privileged to attend one of the best schools in London, paid for by him. It’s no secret that she adores Jimmy, often joining him for dinner at one of their restaurants when her dad is out on business. Everyone knows Jimmy loves her like a daughter; nothing is too good for her, if she asked him for anything he would endeavour to get it for her. Fact is he loves Mickey’s family as though they were his own, after they’d taken him in many times during his troubled childhood.

Mickey’s parents Den and Mary made Jimmy feel as though he belonged with their family. Den was not only a great father figure, but a great accountant. Well respected locally as a good family man and husband. They appeared to be the perfect family; apart from Den keeping books for the mob, they were. It was a total contrast to the life that Jimmy had, with an abusive alcoholic father and a downtrodden mother who was terrified of her husband. Finally, when Jimmy was fifteen his mother committed suicide, she left him a note telling him how sorry she was for not being able to protect him from his father, but she couldn’t stand another day living with this dreadful man who she hated, but was too afraid to leave. She begged him to ask Mickey’s parents if he could live with them until he was old enough to get a place of his own. The note ended with her telling him how much she loved him and how sorry she was that she’d let him down. The final line read, ‘always respect women Jimmy, don’t be like your father.’ There was two hundred and eighty pounds wrapped inside the note, it was all his mother had after eighteen years of marriage, she was thirty eight years old when she died.

Everyone knows that the bond between Jimmy and Mickey is airtight, not just because of their childhoods; it goes much deeper than that. Even when Mickey went away to university to study law, Jimmy stayed with his family. It was Den, who then introduced him to the boss, who quickly saw his potential. By the time he was twenty one, Jimmy had his own crew working a protection racket and for his twenty first birthday his crew gave him his best present ever, they murdered his father. Rumour has it two heavies lured him to a train depot where they beat him to death, before laying him on the track. Jimmy kept the newspaper clipping, it read, ‘Local man James David Dixon killed by train, he was a widower who leaves a son James. There were no suspicious circumstances. The police believe he was drunk and fell onto the track knocking him unconscious.

By the time Mickey returned from university Jimmy was already turning over big money. They bought their first club Dixie’s at age twenty six, around the same time Mickey became a partner in a law firm. By the time they were thirty they were high up in organised crime, in fact like them everyone at the poker game was a self made man, despite having had a little help from older family members, they had all made it on their own and very successfully. Ironically none of them really answered to Nick, but in one way or another they all needed him, he was the man with all the contacts and it was definitely healthier to work with him than against him.

Yes, life in organised crime was sweet and very profitable, however, no one, especially Jimmy had foreseen that something would happen that night which would change everything. That particular poker game would bring about the fall of an empire and result in a brutal murder.

Aside from the eight poker players that night, there was Maria, the young girl Jimmy was now looking at lying on his sofa. Known to the crew as Nick’s trophy virgin, he never spoke about how they had met or where she came from, only that she had been raised by the nuns at St Augustus. Regularly on poker nights Nick would humiliate and tease her about being a good Catholic girl, the previous night being no exception. It was obvious to everyone that she was terrified of him, rarely speaking; she simply did what he told her to. If someone had an empty glass he would snap his fingers at her and she would fill it, hour after hour she would sit motionless, just waiting for her next order. Stunningly beautiful, looked to be about nineteen, long dark hair to her waist with smouldering green eyes and a figure to die for. She had lived with Nick for the past three years, rarely seen during the first twelve months, but for the last two years she had attended the poker night. Often seen sporting black eyes and bruises to her face and body. Jimmy would sometimes say to her, ‘what you done to your face, how’d you get that black eye?’ Nick would always answer for her, usually blaming a fall or a cupboard door, but there were the odd times when he would try and look macho by saying something like, ‘that’s what happens when you don’t do as you’re told, isn’t it Maria.’ Black Maurice would be the only one who would laugh; the others would simply look at Nick and think ‘arsehole.’ If any of the men tried to make conversation with her, she would immediately look to Nick and he would speak for her.

Sitting in his lounge looking at her bruised and battered body, Jimmy remembered clearly the reasons why he had made the bet on her. As the poker game went on into the early hours of the morning, Nick had been drinking heavily and everyone knew he was getting a kick out of embarrassing her. Jimmy could still picture the look of fear on her face as Nick mauled her when she filled his glass, openly pushing his hand up her top and fondling her breasts. It was obvious to the other players that he enjoyed watching her squirm. Yet despite begging him to stop, she never raised her voice against him, even when he’d continued to humiliate her and said, ‘when the games over and we’re alone you’re going to suck my cock before I fuck you and you’d better be good!’ She just stood there and quietly pleaded with him to stop, her beautiful eyes welling with tears. It was when he slapped her and ordered her to stop crying, Jimmy had wanted to punch him. Everyone just sat and watched as he humiliated her; it would be more than anybody dare do to try to stop him, they all knew what he was capable of. Maurice seemed to enjoy the show, everyone else just tried to ignore it, everyone except Jimmy. Watching her became too much for him, so he tried to help her by trying to talk Nick into getting on with the game after seeing in her the same dread he had seen in his mother. He hated men like Nick who treated women like dogs. Several times in the past Nick had questioned why he was always the one to say something over Maria, almost goading him into admitting that he fancied her, but Jimmy was no fool, he knew exactly how to handle him. Just like that night when Nick had made reference again to Jimmy fancying her, he’d replied, “Although she’s very beautiful Nick I thought we were here to play poker and I’d never let a woman distract me from the game. You know me; I’d hate to lose money because of a woman.” He remembered the look of relief and gratitude on Maria’s face when Nick replied, “I would never let a woman come between me and winning, if I was fucking her on the table I could still beat you.” Jimmy had anticipated his reply which was why he’d said, “Precisely Nick, but as we all know you’re the better
player, it would be unfair to distract me; surely with your reputation you wouldn’t want people to think you had to win by using a woman.” “You’re right Jimmy I am the better player, so let’s play the fucking game!” No one paid any attention to what had been said, simply because on many occasions they’d heard the same type of conversation. Very often Nick would send her out of the room after such incidents, but last night he didn’t, he just ordered her to go away.