‘Look, Adele, I need you to keep this to yourself or we’ll all be in the shit and Glynn could get nicked for murder. The guy deserved what he got. He had a fuckin’ knife at your throat, for God’s sake! Glynn just did what was necessary. He did it for you and he took a big risk in doing it. And you wouldn’t want the guy who’d nearly killed you walking the streets, would you?’

‘But why were you and Glynn carrying guns?’ she asked.

Peter let out a long, slow breath, as though he was running out of patience with her. Then he spoke as if he was explaining something to a child, his words slow and over-emphasised.

‘Self-protection,’ he said. He looked down his nose and puckered his lips before continuing. ‘Look,’ he said. ‘The nightclub business can be pretty fuckin’ ruthless at times. There are all kinds of people trying to muscle in all the time. I run a clean ship but that’s only because I won’t take no shit off anyone.’

‘What do you mean?’ she asked.

‘Druggies, protection rackets, all sorts of low life. Those sorts of people don’t piss about. So we carry the guns for protection. We don’t normally use them but tonight Glynn had to. And, believe me, Adele, Glynn comes in pretty fuckin’ handy at times. With the game we’re in it pays to have someone watching your back.

‘If you land Glynn in the shit then we’ll all suffer for it. We’re all accessories: you, me and Mike. Think about it. And Glynn was only trying to help you, when all’s said and done.’

Adele thought about how Glynn had comforted her when she fell to pieces. About his touch. The way he’d protected her. And she thought about her loyalty to her brother. She wouldn’t report Glynn’s crime. How could she after everything Peter had said tonight?

‘OK,’ she said. ‘I’ll keep my mouth shut.’

‘Good,’ said Peter. ‘And don’t worry; we’ll make sure that place is watertight. Nobody will get inside again. We’ll put someone on the back door and have better locks, and we’ll make sure the door through from the club has a keyless entry system. No fucker will be able to get in unless they know the code.’

‘OK,’ Adele said again.

She felt anything but OK, but Peter’s words had been very persuasive. She knew that if she reported Glynn’s crime, it wouldn’t solve anything. In fact, it would just make matters worse.

‘Take a couple of weeks off while you get over the shock,’ said Peter. ‘By the time you come back we’ll have everything sorted.’

*