A Family Divided (Dividing Line #3) Read Online Free PDF Page B

his Uncle Terry had been right. They couldn’t let personal feelings interfere with business. Terry had wanted to deal in heroin and prostitution but his dad had put his foot down and that blinkeredness had got him killed. If Danny hadn’t listened to his wife so much he’d still be alive too. Alex was determined not to make the same mistakes as them.
    The blond gave him another smile as she climbed into the back of the van but Alex felt not a flicker of sympathy for her, knowing in a few months she ’d be as used up as the women she was replacing. But he had to own she was a beauty. No doubt she’d make him a ton of money.
    “ Oversee them will you Col? I don’t want to leave the missus alone too long with the baby,” he said. Alex liked to project the image of the doting family man but, in truth, his interest had been waning lately, especially since Holly’s birth. Beth had gone from a sparky livewire to a drudge who constantly moaned at him for coming in late. She never had before, realising it was in the nature of his work but something had changed. He blamed Rachel for that too. Although she’d never mentioned it he knew Beth had picked up on his animosity towards her best friend and it was putting a wedge between them. Not only had Rachel and Ryan destroyed his brother but they were destroying his marriage too. If Beth knew most of the money to buy their new house had come from this club she would leave him and that he could never allow.
    When the gang of Serbs who ’d been top in the human trafficking in the city had got wind of what he was up to they’d threatened to kidnap, rape and murder Beth. Their mistake had been warning him first so he’d taken them out before they’d had the chance, capturing their leader, using a knife to do to him what he’d threatened to do to his wife, chopping him up into tiny pieces and sending him back to his men. Then he’d wiped out the lot of them. Now no one stood in his way. Mikey had helped do all that, under the impression it had been because of drugs. If he found out Alex was involved in human trafficking he’d fight him and Mikey had become very powerful in his own right, he had his own backers. Now there was talk of Declan and his brothers moving over here to join the family and if he didn’t play things right Alex’s position could be threatened by his own second-in-command. If push came to shove, he’d take Mikey out before he became too big a threat. Not even blood was enough to prevent Alex from aggressively defending his position.
     
    After Adela had taken the children to school and nursery, Ryan and Rachel set off to run the weekly check of their businesses. They went from one to the other, inspecting the general running, sorting out any problems. The spa, the first business they’d opened together, ran itself beautifully and made them a hell of a lot of money. The conference centre - a set of converted stables - was constantly booked, the pool and gym were busy and the treatments were booked up for months. They’d even hosted a few celebrity weddings. Plus their Michelin-starred chef had ensured the restaurant attached to the spa had become the place to eat in the city. They also had two small hotels, a property management business, several pubs and clubs, even a shopping centre, everything running like clockwork. 
    They stopped for lunch at one of their city centre restaurants, which likewise was running itself perfectly well without them. Ryan noticed Rachel picking over her food.
    “What’s wrong?” he said.
    She sighed and leaned back in her chair. “None of our businesses need us anymore. We need a new challenge.”
    “ I thought you were enjoying being a lady of leisure?”
    “ I was but Aaron’s at nursery now, he doesn’t need us as much either. We’ve got spare time.”
    “ There won’t be much of that when we have another baby.”
    “ But I need something to do in the meantime.”
    “ You want another business?”
    “ Oh