Behind a Closed Door (The Estate, Book 2) Read Online Free PDF Page A

about him?’
    Charlotte shrugged her shoulders in resignation. ‘I don’t know, but I’m fed up of running. Even a harassment warning doesn’t stop him. I miss my family. Maybe I should go back to Leeds and settle down near them. Maybe Nathan wouldn’t want to follow me there.’
    Maybe, maybe, maybe. Maybe next time he’ll give you one slap too many and there’ll be no one to look after the kids. Josie shuddered and kept her thoughts to herself.
    ‘I’ll help you,’ she said, ‘whatever you decide to do. In the meantime, I’ll fit you the panic buzzer I’ve brought with me that will link you to our control room. If Nathan arrives and you don’t want to see him, press it, and if we can, we’ll get a police officer to attend as soon as. And if it’s office hours, I’ll do my utmost to attend myself.’
    Charlotte looked away. Josie knew she’d probably heard it all before. Lord knows, she wished there was more she could do about it, but there were only so many hours in a day.
    And anyway, who was she to dish out advice? In some ways, she was no different from Charlotte – wasn’t she ruled by the mood swings of a man?
     

CHAPTER FOUR
     
    ‘Mummy, can I watch the penguins?’ Emily shouted up from the bottom of the stairs.
    Kelly stretched out her legs. Through tear-swollen eyes, she stared at the clock on the bedside table. Half past seven: the day had hardly begun.
    ‘Okay,’ she shouted back, ‘but be careful with the DVD.’
    ‘I’m not a baby!’
    Kelly had to agree. It didn’t seem a minute since Emily had been born; now she was due to start school in September.
    Moments later, Emily came running into the bedroom. ‘Mummy! Where is it? I can’t find it anywhere.’
    ‘In a minute, Em.’ Before she could complain, Emily tore off again.
    Sighing heavily, Kelly pulled away the duvet and then promptly pulled it back again. What was there to get up for? It would have been different if Scott had been lying beside her. Usually she’d get up around eight, leaving Emily to climb into her empty space and flick on the portable television. But that had all changed since he’d been sent to prison.
    ‘Mummy!’
    ‘I’m coming! Have you looked under the settee?’
    ‘I can see Jay’s car.’
    This time Kelly got out of bed quickly. She pulled on a pair of jeans and a jumper, wondering what he wanted this time. She’d refused to speak to him when he’d called around last week after the court hearing.
    Kelly opened the front door. ‘What do you want?’ she snapped.
    Jay hovered on the path for a moment, his hands thrust deep into his coat pockets. ‘Can I come in?’ he asked eventually.
    ‘No, I don’t want you calling when Scott isn’t here.’
    ‘I’ve got something for you,’ his foot tapped on the door step, ‘and I’d rather not give it to you here.’
    Kelly sighed but held open the door.
    ‘Hiya, Jay,’ Emily greeted him as they went through into the living room. ‘Daddy’s not here. He’s gone to work away, for a very long time.’
    Scott had told Emily that she’d need to be a good girl if he had to go away for a while. He didn’t want to see her if he was sent down and Kelly wouldn’t take her anyway. She felt Emily was too young to go into a prison environment, even though it would be an open prison. In fact, she wasn’t sure that she wanted to go there herself yet. Regardless, with any luck, he’d be out in three months – if he kept his nose clean.
    ‘You’ll just have to put up with me, little monster, won’t you?’ Jay told the little girl. He nudged her gently, almost knocking her over. Emily giggled loudly.
    Jay Kirkwell was twenty-eight with stylish, dark spiked hair, olive skin and a tall, thin physique. Of the three brothers, Kelly liked him the most; she tolerated all of them, for Scott’s sake, but Stevie and Michael were rough, more aggressive. Jay had a softer side to him. He would always use his mischievous grin to try and make her smile.
    But