Deadline Read Online Free PDF

snub nose, and lively blue eyes.
She was pretty in a sweet, cherubic way, and
looked young for her age. The photo Andrea had
shown Jimmy was a head-and-shoulders shot
taken on Hampstead Heath the previous summer.
Emma was grinning at the camera, showing a neat
row of white teeth courtesy of the brace she'd
been wearing for the previous six months, and
which had been taken out the week before that
shot. It was a celebration smile, and to Andrea the
most beautiful smile in the world. It killed her to
look at it. But not Jimmy. All he could manage
was, 'She's pretty.'
    She wondered if he genuinely believed he was
the father or whether he'd concluded she was
bullshitting in order to get his help. It was difficult
to tell. That was the thing with Jimmy. He rarely
let on what he was thinking, preferring to play
mind games and keep people guessing.
    As she sat there watching him, she realized
she'd never really known him. On the one hand
he was a ruthless bastard capable of terrible
violence. On the other, he was also capable of
great shows of affection. She remembered how
once, not long after she'd first started seeing him,
she arrived at his flat for a prearranged visit only
to find that he wasn't there. Even though it was
the early days of mobile phones, both of them had
one, and she called him. He didn't answer so she
took a walk round his neighbourhood before
trying his number again. This time he answered,
and he sounded breathless. Apologizing for the
delay but not going into any detail as to what had
caused it, he told her that he'd be back at the flat
in fifteen minutes, although it was actually nearer
half an hour before he finally pulled up in his
Jaguar XJ6.
    As he stepped out, Andrea could tell that something
wasn't right. He was looking worn out, and
his hair, usually so immaculately styled, was
unkempt. His shirt was partly untucked, and as
he jogged across the road towards her she saw a
handkerchief tied tightly round his left hand.
    'What happened to you?' she asked with a
smile, looking towards the hand.
    'Nothing for you to worry about,' he answered
with a smile of his own, kissing her on the lips
before ushering her inside the building. 'Sorry I'm
late.'
    Andrea knew better than to ask too many questions.
She was aware that Jimmy operated outside
the law. That much was obvious. He didn't appear
to have a proper job but always had plenty of
money. He'd told her he owned a construction
business but was suitably vague, and tended to
keep very odd hours for someone running his
own company, often staying in bed with her until
mid-afternoon on a weekday. Andrea was no fool.
She knew. And the truth was that at the time it
didn't bother her unduly. In fact, she found the
whole thing very exciting. Jimmy was handsome
and mysterious, a fantastic lover, and possessed
the kind of wild streak a young woman like her
couldn't help but find attractive.
    Once they were inside the flat, Jimmy showed
that wild streak by pulling her close and kissing
her hard, then lifting her in his arms and taking
her through to the bedroom, where he flung her
on the bed and tore off her clothes. They made
intense, passionate love, several times in quick
succession, and when they were lying, sated, in
each other's arms, his free hand – the one with the
handkerchief wrapped round it – gently stroking
her belly, he said he had something for her.
    'What?' she asked, intrigued, trying to ignore
the tiny flecks of blood on his fingers, just visible
beneath the fabric.
    He clambered off the bed and walked over to
where his jeans lay on the floor. She watched as he
leaned down to pick them up, admiring his naked
body, thinking about the orgasm she'd just had,
thinking about how happy Jimmy made her,
wondering how she was ever going to tell her
husband.
    When he returned to the bed he had a small
black box in the palm of his good hand.
    'For you, my lady,' he said with a mock bow.
    She smiled. 'What is it?'
    'Open it and find out.'
    So she did. And let