Authors: Martina Cole
THE BEST THINGS IN LIFE ARE NEVER FREE.
Cain Moran wanted Jenny Riley more than he had ever wanted anyone or anything before in his life. But loving Jenny Riley was the easy part; it was telling his wife he wanted a divorce that was going to be the killer . . .
Jenny is not just any girl. She cares nothing for Cain’s hard-man reputation – she just wants to be with him.
But Cain is not a free man. And he’s about to find out that when his wife Caroline said ’til death us do part, she meant it.
When Cain is sentenced to life in prison it seems that Caroline might have got her wish. All Cain and Jenny know is that if their love can survive such separation, then one day they will have a chance at the Good Life together again.
But there are greater trials ahead than either can foresee. They’re about to learn the hardest lesson of all:
LIVE THE GOOD LIFE. PAY THE PRICE.
Martina Cole is the acknowledged queen of crime drama. Her most recent novel,
Revenge
, was a No. 1 bestseller in hardback and paperback and is one in a long line of No. 1 bestselling and phenomenally successful novels she has to her name.
Several of Martina’s novels have been adapted for the screen, most recently
The Take
and
The Runaway
which were shown on Sky 1 to remarkable reviews. In addition,
Two Women
and
The Graft
have been adapted for the stage; both were highly acclaimed when performed at the Theatre Royal Stratford East, which also staged
Dangerous Lady
in 2012, celebrating twenty years since Martina’s debut novel was published.
Martina Cole is a phenomenon. She continues to smash sales records with each of her books, which have sold in excess of thirteen million copies in total. In 2011 Martina surpassed the £50 million sales mark since records began and was the first British female novelist for adult audiences to achieve this.
Martina’s hard-hitting, uncompromising and haunting writing is in a genre all its own – no one writes like Martina.
‘A blinding good read’ Ray Winstone
‘Intensely readable’
Guardian
‘An extraordinarily powerful piece of family drama’
Daily Mirror
‘Gritty novel from an author who knows intimately the world she writes about’
Express
‘Her gripping plots pack a mean emotional punch’
Mail on Sunday
‘Cole has the amazing talent of making characters appear larger than life’
Sun
Copyright © 2014 Martina Cole
The right of Martina Cole to be identified as the Author of the Work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
Apart from any use permitted under UK copyright law, this publication may only be reproduced, stored, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means, with prior permission in writing of the publishers or, in the case of reprographic production, in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency.
‘The Good Life’
Music: Sacha Distel
French lyrics: Jean Brousolle
English lyrics: Jack Reardon
With the authorization of Prosadis
This Ebook edition was first published by Headline Publishing Group in 2014
All characters in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
Cataloguing in Publication Data is available from the British Library
eISBN: 978 1 4722 0098 3
Cover credit © Bernd Vogel/Corbis
HEADLINE PUBLISHING GROUP
An Hachette UK Company
338 Euston Road
London NW1 3BH
Contents
Chapter One Hundred and Eleven
Chapter One Hundred and Twelve
Chapter One Hundred and Thirteen
Chapter One Hundred and Fourteen
Chapter One Hundred and Fifteen
Chapter One Hundred and Sixteen
Chapter One Hundred and Seventeen
Chapter One Hundred and Eighteen
Chapter One Hundred and Nineteen
Chapter One Hundred and Twenty
Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-One
Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-Two
Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-Three
Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-Four
Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-Five
Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-Six
Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-Seven
Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-Eight
Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-Nine
Chapter One Hundred and Thirty
Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-One
Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-Two
Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-Three
Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-Four
Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-Five
Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-Six
Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-Seven
Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-Eight
Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-Nine
Chapter One Hundred and Forty-One
Chapter One Hundred and Forty-Two
Chapter One Hundred and Forty-Three
Chapter One Hundred and Forty-Four
Chapter One Hundred and Forty-Five
Chapter One Hundred and Forty-Six
Chapter One Hundred and Forty-Seven
Chapter One Hundred and Forty-Eight
Chapter One Hundred and Forty-Nine
Chapter One Hundred and Fifty-One
Chapter One Hundred and Fifty-Two
Chapter One Hundred and Fifty-Three
Chapter One Hundred and Fifty-Four
Chapter One Hundred and Fifty-Five
Chapter One Hundred and Fifty-Six
Chapter One Hundred and Fifty-Seven
Chapter One Hundred and Fifty-Eight
Dangerous Lady
The Ladykiller
Goodnight Lady
The Jump
The Runaway
Two Women
Broken
Faceless
Maura’s Game
The Know
The Graft
The Take
Close
Faces
The Business
Hard Girls
The Family
The Faithless
The Life
Revenge
The Good Life
For my beautiful granddaughter Natalia Noonie Whiteside,
her nanny’s little Maget!
Thanks to Yvonne and Osman – you were absolute stars.