Finders Keepers Edie Baylis (phonics readers .TXT) 📖

on the enforcement side of the firm and being very similar in personality, they’d worked well together. It was expected he should be elated at Saul’s unexpected release, but Jonah was not.

The exact opposite.

It wasn’t just Saul’s release that was the problem, it was what would happen now he was back.

Jonah watched Saul help himself to a full tumbler of his best whisky. By the looks of it, he’d had several already. And that wasn’t all either. Judging by the state of his pupils, his brother’s long-standing habit of masking the effects of alcohol with cocaine hadn’t waned either.

‘Great surprise, eh, bruv?’ Saul grinned as he leant back in the chair, his feet firmly planted on Jonah’s desk.

Jonah tried to smile, yet his face was reluctant. He had to get everything ironed out quick smart. That he could only do between him and Saul, hence why he’d told Nero and Keith to leave them to it.

Behind Saul’s façade of jollity and saying he was glad to be back, there could only be one thing on his agenda – and that was to take control of the firm – to take the seat he believed should have been his from the off. The one that he was pointedly sitting in right now.

‘How come you’ve been released?’ Jonah asked. ‘I thought you’d got another two years left to serve?’

‘Yeah, funny how things work out, isn’t it?’ Saul winked. ‘Let’s just say the new prison Governor had a favour done by the Powells back in our dad’s day, so I called in the debt.’

Jonah saw the glint in his brother’s eyes. ‘You mean you blackmailed him?’

Saul raised his hands in submission. ‘Blackmailed? You insult me!’ He grinned. ‘Just suggested, Jonah, that’s all.’

Jonah shook his head and smiled despite the position he found himself in. Saul had a brass neck that was for sure. Getting up, he walked over to his cabinet and poured himself a shot of whisky whilst there was still some left. He held the bottle towards Saul – pointless really because it was obvious his brother didn’t need asking if he wanted a refill. Seeing the slight nod, Jonah topped up his glass.

Sitting back down, he decided not to rock the boat by telling Saul to get the fuck out of his chair and took a swig of whisky instead. ‘Let’s cut to the chase. What do you want?’

A nerve twitched in Saul’s eye. ‘What do I want? What do you mean, what do I fucking want?’

‘From the firm? From the club? What are your plans? I’d rather you laid your cards on the table,’ Jonah said.

Saul placed his glass on the desk. ‘Ok, I want my place at the head of this firm. Had it not been for prison, I’d have taken the reins when Dad died, not you.’

Jonah nodded. It was what he’d expected. As much as he liked to think he could pre-empty how his brother’s mind worked at least on some respects, he hoped he was right on this one. If he wasn’t, then everything would go to shit. ‘As much as that may be true, situations dictated that you couldn’t take the reins. I did and I’ve done a bloody good job. Changing that now isn’t sensible.’

Saul slammed his fist down. ‘Sensible? To who? It’s my right to be head of this firm. Mine. It’s what Dad would have wanted.’

Jonah doubted that. He strongly believed their father was secretly relieved that Saul couldn’t take over. The man was too unpredictable and unstable to carry on the family values, but he wouldn’t voice that. He’d let Saul believe he was making the decisions.

He folded his arms across his chest. ‘Regardless of what you think, I’ve got good relationships with our suppliers – the coke side of things is ticking over nicely, the club is pulling in the most accolades ever and the VIP waiting list is the longest it’s ever been. We’ve got several business openings in the pipeline and the money lending is doing ok too.’ Jonah ran his tongue along his teeth. ‘Whether you like it or not, you steaming back in will affect all of that. As you well know, people like to know who they’re dealing with, and let’s face it – no one has dealt with you on anything but money lending, which is only a percentage of the firm. Rebuilding trust with you at the helm will set the business back months.’

Saul frowned, accentuating the latest scar above his eye. ‘From what Keith told me you’re getting slack on the extortion.’

Jonah scowled. Thanks, Keith.

‘I also didn’t appreciate the first thing I heard the minute I got out was some twat thinking it’s clever to mention our firm’s losing its clout.’

Jonah bristled. ‘We haven’t lost any clout? Who the fuck said that?’

Saul shrugged. ‘Irrelevant. He won’t be saying it again, put it that way.’ He leant forward, his massive forearms bunching up the paperwork on the desk. ‘Have you allowed the firm to get a pussy-whipped reputation, Jonah? This isn’t the Women’s fucking Guild.’

Jonah’s anger surged. ‘No I have not. I’m running a business – a proper fucking business! There’s more to all of this than caving people’s heads in. I don’t know whether you’ve noticed, but I’ve also been trying to recoup the haul that Pointer pulled. It is that which has taken precedence lately.’

Saul’s eyes flashed. ‘And a fat lot of good that’s done. You’ve got precisely no fucking where.’

Jonah jumped to his feet and Saul followed, both big men squaring each other off, staring at each other with pent-up frustration.

Jonah wanted to pummel his brother to the floor. He’d got enough stuff to deal with without Saul sticking a spanner in the works, but at the end of the day, Saul was his brother. Like his father had drilled into both of them, family comes first – even if that family contained a loose cannon; an unexploded bomb – someone with the capacity to destroy everything.

Jonah sat back