The Family by Martina Cole Page A

saw fit to repeat his actions. Keith had a way of making it perfectly clear that a second offence would not be tolerated. As he explained to Phillip, it was the principle as far as he was concerned; he would not allow anyone to cause him the aggravation of having to look for them more than once. By then all his goodwill was used up, and all that he had left was the need for retribution.
        Phillip Murphy was soaking it all in like a sponge. This was a whole new world to him, and he loved it. Every second of it. As his father said, he had started at the top, with the best, and there was only one way for him to go, and that was up. He liked Keith and his attitude towards life, and he liked working with him. He knew that Keith respected him. He also knew that Keith understood his association with Bantry, and respected it. Keith did not suffer fools gladly, so his relationship with his mentor could only enhance him and his chosen career.
        Life was pretty good. Things were going well with Christine too. This feud with her mother couldn't be better; he was sure that if he sat it out Eileen would drive her daughter even further into his arms, thereby giving him exactly what he wanted. It was criminal really, how easy it was. He had her dad onside now as well; he was providing him with certain alcoholic beverages that were making him a very good profit, which made Phillip indispensable to him.
        She was going nowhere, his Christine, she was his , and he would make sure that everybody knew that eventually. She was the only one he wanted and he had his pick of strange. But he had no feelings for anyone else. Unlike Keith, now he only had eyes for his Christine. He mustn't hurt her, or chance driving her away. She was his all.
        Christine was, in actual fact, like an illness with him; without her in his life he didn't know how he would cope. She was like a cancer, eating away at him, and he knew deep inside himself that it wasn't natural to feel so strongly, and so intensely, for another person. It wasn't natural to want someone so desperately, but he would happily kill to keep her beside him. His feelings for Christine were so overpowering they even frightened him at times. The thought of being without her was enough to make him feel suicidal, not that he let those emotions show. He knew only that she was his, would always be his, and he would ensure that she stayed by his side - no matter what.
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Chapter Sixteen
        
        Christine Booth was in her element. She was loving the attention she was getting from all and sundry. She was the envy of her friends, and she had been catapulted overnight into the role of most popular girl in the school. Of all the girls they would have imagined having had the guts to move into her boyfriend's house at fifteen, Christine knew she would have been classed as the rank outsider. Now it was common knowledge that she was actually living with Phillip Murphy, in his parents' house. And he was not just any young lad either, that would have been shocking enough in itself. But she was living with someone whose family was synonymous with villainy. Christine was suddenly being treated like a movie star. People wanted to be friends with her now, wanted to be seen to be friends with her.
        Christine didn't give a toss who knew about it, it was like she had been let out of prison. She loved the Murphy family, even Breda, who was a hardcase. Loved the way they rallied round to help each other out. Loved the sheer enjoyment of life that his family seemed to embrace on a daily basis. Loved that Phillip was so protective of her, and agreeable to what she wanted.
        But most of all she loved the way he crept into her room of a night, and made her feel like a real woman. The first time he had come into her bed was because she was crying and he had come in to comfort her. He told her he would always be there for her, and that he loved her. Now he came in