The Billionaire Banker by Georgia le Carre Page A

her, she takes a deep, steadying breath and says, ‘I know what you have done for me. You have used your body as a begging bowl.’
    For a moment Lana is struck dumb by her mother’s perceptiveness. Then her great, great love for her mother intervenes and she lies and lies and lies. ‘You only say that because you have not met Blake yet. He is beautiful and strong and kind. It was love at first sight. When I told him about you, he gave double what he knew I needed.’
    Her mother sighs. ‘I pray to God that I will be alive for your wedding.’
    Lana feels the hollowness spread into her body. It doesn’t matter, she tells herself fiercely. So what if her mother will be disappointed? All that counts is her mother will be cured. She will forget this one in time and marry someone else, another who will not consider her so lowly c 1 3 d
    that she is only fit to be hidden away like a dirty little secret. Someone with a beautiful heart like Jack.
    Yes, someone like Jack.

Fourteen
    ana leaves her mother’s house and going past Billie’s Ldoor runs two floors down and rings Jack’s mother’s doorbell. While she is waiting for the door to be opened she looks down the railing, and sees Fat Mary browning herself into an uneven shade of lobster. Fat Mary is a big woman who lives in the corner downstairs flat and sunbathes topless in her garden even though it is overlooked by all the other flats in the block. Every Friday night she makes her hair big, stuffs herself into a tight dress and high heels, and goes to the Irish nightclub on Kilburn high street to find herself a bloke to bring home. Like clockwork they slip out of her door, all sheepish before lunch on Saturday. Al the little boys on bicycles always call out, ‘Hey, Mary, how’s your mary?’ Her fat face never alters as she shows them her middle finger.
    Jack’s mother’s face appears at the kitchen window.
    ‘Oh, hello, dear,’ she says with a smile, before she comes to open the door. She has the same beautiful eyes fringed by thick sooty lashes as Jack.
    ‘Hi, Fiona. Mum sent you some cake.’
    ‘How lovely. How is she feeling today?’
    ‘It’s a good day today.’
    ‘That’s good. Would you like to come in, dear?’
    ‘Nah, I’ve got to run.’
    ‘Well, you run along, then.’
    ‘See you later,’ Lana says and turning begins to walk away.
    ‘Lana?’
    She turns back around. ‘Yeah?’
    Fiona hesitates and Lana hitches her bag higher up her shoulder and takes two steps towards her. ‘What’s the matter?’
    ‘I…um…heard…you…ah…found yourself…a…boyfriend.
    A rich boyfriend,’ she says anxiously.
    Lana shifts from one foot to the other. ‘I just met him, Fiona. I wouldn’t call him a boyfriend just yet. It might not work out.’
    Fiona’s timid face falls. It is obvious she has been hoping that the rumor going around is not true. Her voice is very tiny. ‘You will be careful, won’t you, my dear? I wouldn’t say anything normally, but you’ve always been such an innocent thing. And I thought to myself, even if I come across as an interfering, old busybody, I’ve got to say something.’ She takes a deep breath. ‘You know, I’ve always said you are the most beautiful girl on this estate, if not in all of Kilburn, and you should have become a c 1 6 d
    model, but rich men are greedy. One is never ever enough for them.’
    Lana puts her rucksack on the concrete floor and leaning forward hugs the woman. ‘Thank you for caring, Fiona. I don’t know how I would have coped all these years if not for Jack, Billie and you.’
    Fiona hugs her tightly. ‘Oh, child, you are like my own daughter to me. What you did for Jack; I’ve never thanked you.’
    Lana untangles herself from Fiona. ‘What I did for Jack? It is I who should thank Jack. He’s taken care of me and fought my battles since the day I arrived.’
    ‘He will never talk about it, but the year you arrived was the year his father died. And he became quite