Read Online Streetwise by Roberta Kray - Free Book Online

he was tall. He had an ugly pug face, multiple chins, and a pair of piggy eyes peering out from between creamy folds of flesh. It didn’t do, however, to underestimate him. Delaney was one tough guy and those who crossed him usually lived to regret it.
    Terry got to his feet and held out his hand. ‘Vic. Good to see you again.’
    ‘Terry,’ the other man said, unsmilingly.
    ‘You’ll have a Scotch?’
    ‘Yeah.’
    Terry looked at Vale. ‘Get one of the girls to bring it over.’
    Solomon Vale gave a nod and walked off.
    Terry and Vic Delaney sat down. Terry watched as Delaney’s gaze flew briefly to the dancers on the stage before returning again.
    ‘You know what this is about,’ Delaney said.
    ‘Sure,’ Terry said. ‘Although I don’t know what you expect me to do about it.’
    Delaney leaned forward a little, placing his thick arms on the table. He was younger than Terry, although not by that much. They came from the same era and had mixed in the same circles for years. Delaney’s manor was up Chigwell way and he’d made his money from property and drugs. ‘I want you to keep your son away from my girl.’
    ‘And how am I supposed to do that?’
    ‘I don’t care how,’ Delaney said sharply. ‘Just sort it, huh?’
    ‘He’s a grown man. I can’t tell him who he can or can’t see.’
    ‘Yeah, and Silver’s just nineteen. You think it’s right for him to be hanging around with a girl half his age?’
    Terry could have retorted that he’d seen Delaney with plenty of girls young enough to be his daughter, but decided not to go there. Raising the subject of double standards was only going to inflame the situation. Instead, he made a calming gesture with his hands. ‘Look, I can see where you’re coming from. For what it’s worth, I agree with you. I’d rather they weren’t together. He is too old for her. But you know what, the minute we start telling them what to do, they’ll only go and do the bloody opposite.’
    The drink arrived, carried by a topless waitress with long pink hair. Delaney stared blatantly at her tits, his damp lips parting slightly.
    ‘Ta,’ Terry said to her.
    As she waltzed off in her high heels, Delaney took the opportunity to scrutinise her backside too. He might have come to discuss the moral welfare of his daughter, but that wasn’t going to stop him grabbing an eyeful while he was here. When he’d finished leering, he turned his head back towards Terry. ‘So what are you saying?’
    ‘That we just leave them to it. Odds are it’ll all fizzle out in a couple of weeks. But if we start interfering… well, there’s every chance they’ll stay together just for the hell of it.’
    Delaney lifted his glass and then put it down again. ‘So do nothin’, huh? That’s your plan?’
    Terry gave a shrug. ‘Sometimes nothin’ is the best thing to do.’ A part of him felt sorry for Delaney. He knew what it meant to have a crazy kid, and Silver was both disturbed and disturbing. You didn’t need to be a psychiatrist to work that one out. The girl had been out of control for years, running wild. He’d heard all sorts of rumours about her, none of which he’d have willingly repeated to her father.
    Delaney wasn’t won over by the suggestion. ‘It ain’t right,’ he muttered. ‘I don’t like it.’
    Terry could have said that Danny didn’t do girlfriends. His son shagged the local toms and picked up the occasional bit of skirt, but never got involved in actual relationships. However, as he couldn’t see this as being an entirely reassuring piece of information, he kept it to himself.
    ‘We gonna fall out over this, Terry?’
    Terry held Delaney’s gaze, a hardness coming into his eyes. ‘I ain’t got a problem, Vic.
You’re
the one with the problem.’
    ‘Your bloody son’s my problem!’
    ‘So take it up with him. I’m not his bleedin’ keeper.’
    Delaney glared at him, his lips curling away from his teeth. ‘Then you’d better tell your boy