Page 17 of Our Secrets and Lies

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Gabriel stood outside the corner shop. A sign saying ‘Murphy’s’ hung outside it. He rolled his eyes. Murphy, the commonest name in Ireland. Common name for a common girl.

The street was crammed full of semi-detached houses with small driveways, just about big enough to fit one car. He’d passed a park at the end of the road where a group of children were playing soccer. There seemed to be somesort of football club.

He peered through the window of the shop. It had overstuffed shelves and a huge sweet counter. Gabriel loathed corner shops where fat kids could buy more junk to shove into their faces. A small, bald man was leaning on the counter reading a newspaper. Probably theSunor theDaily Mail, he thought.

He saw the door behind the counter open and Lucy came through. The connivinglittle bitch. Gabriel threw open the shop door and marched in.

‘Well, well, well, here you are,’ Gabriel said.

Lucy froze.

‘Who’s this?’ Billy asked, looking at Lucy’s shocked face.

‘He’s Tom’s father.’

‘Well, well, well yourself,’ Billy said, as he closed hisIrish Independentand puffed out his chest.

‘Mr Murphy, I presume?’ Gabriel asked.

‘Yes, and you are?’

‘Mr Harrington-Black.’

‘Your son not with you, then? We’re very keen to meet him.’

‘Oh, I have no doubt you are,’ Gabriel sneered. ‘I need to speak to your daughter.’

‘Speak away.’ Billy crossed his arms.

‘It’s a rather delicate matter.’

‘Would it have anything to do with your son getting my daughter pregnant?’

Gabriel rested a leather-gloved hand on the countertop. ‘I think your daughter had a rather large roleto play in her misfortune.’

‘Your son needs to grow a backbone, come here and look me in the eye.’

Tina popped her head around the door. ‘Lucy, your dinner’s ready.’

‘Come in, Tina, this is Tom’s father. He came to speak to Lucy about the pregnancy.’

Gabriel barely acknowledged her. ‘Your daughter has got herself into trouble and claims the child is my son’s, although I’m not sure about that.From what I saw in the café the other day, she seems to be a very “friendly” girl. Still, I hate to see a young girl in trouble so I generously offered to help her to deal with the problem. She was due to have a termination yesterday in a top London clinic that I paid for, so you can imagine my surprise when the clinic called to say she never turned up.’

Gabriel tried to keep his voice even,but he was ready to wring the stupid girl’s neck. He had sorted everything out and it appeared she hadn’t gone through with it. There was no way a common slut was going to drag Tom down with her.

Billy folded his arms across his chest. ‘She’s changed her mind.’

‘There is no changing of minds here. This isn’t will-I-have-my-coffee-black-or-with-milk. This is a serious issue that needs to be dealtwith quickly and efficiently.’

Tina rested a hand on Lucy’s shoulder. ‘I know exactly how serious an issue this is,’ Tina said calmly, ‘and if my daughter has decided that she wants to keep the baby, then that is what she’ll do.’

Gabriel swallowed the rage rising in his chest. ‘Let’s be reasonable here. We both know keeping the baby is a ludicrous idea. You need to make her see sense. She’llruin her life, her career, everything. She’ll be a nothing, one of the thousands of single mothers leeching off the government for benefits.’

Billy leant forward. ‘Now why would she be a single mother? Are you suggesting that your son is not going to stand up and be a man? Surely you’re not telling me that he is going to leave my daughter alone to raise his child. Because I’m afraid that justwon’t wash. Your son is going to shoulder his responsibilities, show up every day and be a dad to this child and a supportive partner to my daughter.’

Gabriel stared Billy in the eye and said slowly, ‘My son will have nothing to do with your gold-digging, manipulative, scheming daughter.’

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