скачать книгу бесплатно
Billie Jo
Kimberley Chambers
For Terry, family is everything. But it’s far from perfect…Billie Jo is the adored only child of wealthy villain, Terry, and Michelle, the drunken wife he hates. Knowing how much Billie Jo dreads her parents’ fights, Terry imagines that she’ll understand when he tells her he is going to leave Michelle to marry his pregnant secretary.But fate is about to deal a terrible hand and change everything in a way Terry has not planned for, leaving Billie Jo’s protected world in tatters.Set in a world of villains and chancers, Kimberley Chambers’ brilliant first novel is a rollercoaster read you will not want to put down.
Copyright (#u9ecb4f63-67dd-5d4d-b5c9-04f915f57225)
Published by HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd The News Building 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF
www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk)
First published in Great Britain by Preface Publishing 2008
This edition published by Harper 2017
Copyright © Kimberley Chambers 2008
Cover layout design © HarperCollinsPublishers 2017 Cover photographs © plainpicture/Forster-Martin (woman); Shutterstock.com (http://Shutterstock.com) (background).
Kimberley Chambers asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.
Source ISBN: 9781848090316
Ebook Edition © January 2017 ISBN: 9780008228590
Version: 2016-12-02
Dedication (#u9ecb4f63-67dd-5d4d-b5c9-04f915f57225)
In loving memory of my wonderful parents, Val and Tom.
So sad that you never lived to see me make something of myself, but I hope I’ve done you both proud.
Epigraph (#u9ecb4f63-67dd-5d4d-b5c9-04f915f57225)
Her father’s adoration
was clear for all to see
His job was to protect her
wherever he may be
Contents
Cover (#u24da65d9-fec0-5dfa-869b-3df496a80942)
Title Page (#u9ef2ce08-22c6-502a-baaa-9ee5b662098b)
Copyright
Dedication
Epigraph
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-One
Chapter Forty-Two
Acknowledgements
Keep Reading … (#u028f694b-75c3-589b-80a4-234c0619fa81)
About the Author
Also by Kimberley Chambers
About the Publisher
ONE (#u9ecb4f63-67dd-5d4d-b5c9-04f915f57225)
October 1999
MICHELLE KEANE TOOK a large gulp of wine and for what seemed like the hundredth time, glanced at the clock on the living-room wall. Two a.m. and the no-good fucker still wasn’t home. She wouldn’t have minded if he’d have rung her with one of his cock and bull excuses, but tonight he hadn’t even had the audacity to do that. She knew he was at it, she’d known for a while. He was a clever bastard, though, and proving it wasn’t going to be easy.
As she lay in bed unable to sleep, Billie Jo wondered where her dad was. He wasn’t home yet and she worried about him when he was late. Starving hungry, she toyed with the idea of going downstairs to make a sandwich. Remembering her mum was pissed and on the warpath, she decided she’d rather starve.
Whenever her dad was late home, Billie avoided her mother like the plague. It was the same old story every time. Firstly, her mum would sit clock watching and drinking wine by the gallon. The Patsy Cline CD was the next part of the ritual. ‘Crazy’ was her mum’s favourite song. Problem was, she had an awful voice and to say she murdered it was being polite. At the end of the song, her mum would burst into tears and blame Billie Jo for everything bad that had ever happened in her life.
‘If it hadn’t been for you, I’d still have my nice figure. Size ten I was when I met your dad. He’s only out whoring now ’cause I’ve put on weight and he doesn’t fancy me any more. It’s all your fault, Billie. I wish you’d never been born. Me and your dad used to get on just fine until you came along. If I could have my life all over again, I’d never have a kid. I must have been bloody mad, I should have had an abortion.’
Billie took no notice of her mother’s nasty comments. She’d had years of it, fifteen in fact. Mature for her age, she’d learned to deal with her psycho mum by the age of ten. Before that she used to cry a lot. She could never work out what she’d done wrong or why her mother was so angry with her all the time. When her dad was around she pretended to be nice, but as soon as he left the house, Billie would get the brunt of her mother’s resentment.
Billie’s relationship with her dad was completely the opposite. He was her life, her rock, and would do anything for her. She knew he was a dodgy bastard, she wasn’t silly. That’s why she worried when he was unexpectedly late. If he got nicked and put away, her life wouldn’t be worth living. Pulling the covers over her head, Billie tried to get some sleep. It didn’t come. Sighing, she prepared herself for the row that was bound to erupt on her father’s return.
Terry Keane opened one eye, heard the sound of the birds singing and quickly opened the other. Cursing himself for dozing back off to sleep, he leapt out of bed and hurriedly got dressed.
‘Bollocks,’ he muttered, as he searched high and low for his keys.
Hearing the racket he was making, Jade stirred, switched on the bedside lamp and propped herself up on her pillow. ‘You all right, Tel, what’s the matter?’
‘I can’t find me … oh there they are.’
Jade smiled as she realised he’d been hunting for his keys. Screws carried smaller bunches. They were impossible to mislay, yet he was always losing them.
‘What’s the time?’
Bending over the bed, Terry gave her a short but passionate kiss. ‘Put it this way, if the wildebeest is awake my life won’t be worth living. It’s nearly six.’
‘Christ, is it?’ Jade was genuinely shocked. ‘I don’t suppose you’ll be able to escape again later, will you?’
Terry flashed his sexy smile and winked at her. ‘You never know your luck, babe. No seriously, I’ve promised to take Billie Jo out for the day, just me and her, and I’ve got a bit of business to sort out tonight. I’ll bell you later and let you know one way or another.’
‘OK, have a nice day with Billie. Love you.’
‘Love you too, babe.’
Smiling at his words, Jade put the quilt over her head and lay dreamily thinking about him. At twenty-five years old, Jade Jenkins had crammed a lot into her young life. Having been brought up by her parents Mary and Lenny, along with her younger brother Simon, she’d spent her childhood living in a cottage in a remote village on the outskirts of Somerset. By the age of ten, Jade was bored with her life, by the age of thirteen she was totally disillusioned. At fifteen, the tomboy in Jade disappeared overnight and she turned into a ravishing beauty. Long blonde hair, big green eyes, pert breasts and a size-eight figure, she was the talk of the local lads and the subject of many a wank. At seventeen she started to date the village heart-throb.
Tommy Jones had many a female admirer, was good-looking and knew it. Six foot tall, muscular, with sun-kissed skin and long blond hair, he resembled an Australian surfer. His downfall was, he had the personality of a wet fish.
The son of a farmer, Tommy seemed more at ease dealing with animals than humans. Jade had never seen him as happy as when he was performing his midwife duties, delivering one creature or another. In fact he seemed happier with his hands around their private parts than he ever did with hers. Unbelievably, he proposed to her on her eighteenth birthday. Her parents were delighted, Jade was anything but.
‘Let me sleep on it. I’ll give you my answer tomorrow.’
