River of sin

27. Here we go again

Jacob bobbed his knee, watching Yvonne work the room on Joseph's arm before taking to the stage again. The boys going to dance with their dates.
"You saw the rock on her finger, Jacob. she's moved on. He bought you here to prove a point to you, that she's his now or maybe she invited you here, to let you know it's over."
"I won't believe it until I hear the words come from her mouth, without him next to her, pulling her puppet strings. I need to get her alone. I know my Evie, somethings wrong. She's in some kind of trouble, I feel it in my gut. My guts never wrong!"
"You're clinging to what might have been. It was over the second she walked through that door and saw you screwing that whore and you know it was. Your gut was wrong that day, Jake."
"We had good days, good moments, in America. We were together. We shared a bed, I was still sleeping with her, Danny! Even the morning before she left, I had her under me, moaning my name quietly so Betty couldn't hear us. It wasn't all fights and arguments. Ask Betty! She was there."
"She tells us that there was both" Danny nodded

"she asks if she's coming back so that you can be happy again. She picks up on the fact you're miserable without her, Jacob. She told Harry that Evie made you happy and she's sad now she's gone and you're sad again. She's getting older, she needs a ma."
"She's fine! She doesn't want to go to Rachel's! I've asked her. She spends plenty of time with your wife. I don't want another girl, Danny! I'm still waiting for her to come back. I've not touched or looked at another women in two blooming years, so I can prove to her that it was just a mistake, that I can be loyal to her. Just in case."
"What you want and what you can have are two different things. We know Betty won't leave you. We've asked and offered to take her in too. She gets attached to one of the boys girls then they disappear. Never lasts. She's waiting for Evie to come home too, maybe it's time to tell her that she ain't. This was a warning, Jacob, he's warning you to stay away from his girl. If he's behind the Gemini killings then he's worse than Barnes!"
"Exactly! She wanted out of the Barnes family, why would she then go with a man that's even worse! Would you sit back and watch your Mrs with a man's capable of the things we've seen the past few weeks? Listen to the words she's singing and who she's singing them at, she's looking directly at me. She's trying to tell me something." the corner of his mouth turned up catching her singing directly at him. "I'm here now, my little darling" he whispered out, so mesmerised he didn't notice his brothers rejoin them. "What you trying to tell me, Eh?"

Joseph arrogantly came and joined them again, smirking at Jacob so engrossed in Yvonne that he hadn't noticed him either. Danny kicking his brothers foot to get his attention away from Yvonne.
"Good isn't she." Joseph downed a whiskey, lighting a cigarette, placing his gun on the table in an obvious manner. "Brought her over from the states with me. She's from round your neck of the woods originally I believe, well the better half. My Mrs is a classy board." He blew smoke up into the air. "Shall we talk business?"
"Didn't take you long" Barney snuffed, shooing the girls away
"All that can wait." He nodded "I've got big plans for this Hovel. For now a simple request."
"I'm listening" Jacob nodded
"Clarke Barnes" he stated sitting forward "you're not to let him do business in any of your establishments. It's my understanding he pays you a fee to race his dogs on your track. That's to stop with immediate effect. Paid or otherwise. Are we understood. Barnes money is no longer valid currency. I'll make sure you're not out of pocket. Are we agreed?"
"Do I get to ask why?"
"No" Joseph sat back in his chair "to be clear. If you don't comply then we'll have a problem and we don't want that do we?" He smirked waving Yvonne over. "Wouldn't want to see people you care about get hurt now would we, Jacob."

"Hello my love, here, go ahead" he patted his lap for her to sit "I was just talking business with The Evans boys here."
"Joe you promised you'd leave Jacob out of it. I did everything you asked." she whispered at him, the boys just about catching it.
"Just making a gentleman's agreement my sweet girl, nothing to worry your pretty head over" he rubbed her cheek, pulling her down for a kiss, his hand pushing her dress up, exposing her thigh as he fondled her rear end, looking directly at Jacob when he did, kissing her with his eyes open, giving Jacob another wink "good girl. Here" he slipped something into her hand "blue suit." He pointed at a man.
"Yes Joe" she nodded obediently, glancing at Jacob as she got up
"Come back here after" he ordered as she walked away.
Jacob watched her approach a man leading him by the hand through a door.