But he was also the brother of his latest squeeze and, although Glynn didn’t like to admit it to himself, he was a bit taken with her. He wasn’t gonna let anyone else know that, though, especially Adele. It didn’t pay to show his softer side to anyone, but she was getting under his skin. And there was no way he could keep things sweet with Adele if he stitched up her brother.

He looked back across at Mike. ‘Let’s see what he’s gonna come up with. He said he’d fix this fuckin’ Alan, so let’s wait to find out what happens.’

‘And what if he does fuck all?’ asked Mike.

‘Then me and you will have another little chat and decide where we take it from there,’ said Glynn.

He stared at Mike for several seconds after speaking, his eyes fixed on him while the contours of his face were set in hard lines. It was his way of letting Mike know that he meant exactly what he said. Although he didn’t want to upset things while he was with Adele, Glynn knew that he’d rather take action than see the firm go to shit. He’d just bide his time and, when the time was right, he’d make his move.

*

Peter had been mulling things over in his mind for a few days. He was in a predicament for sure and the pressure was on him to do something. In fact, he was under pressure from all sides.

Alan’s reaction had surprised him when he had met him. Gone was their friendship and trust. Instead Alan had made it clear that he was now firmly set against him. For whatever reason, he had taken David’s side. Not only that, he’d started his own crew and was out to prove himself.

Peter knew from experience that Alan was a sharp operator; intelligent, too. He had always been the smart one when they were kids, and was a natural leader. Alan was a great guy to have onside but it wouldn’t pay to have him as an adversary. Peter couldn’t just sit by and let Alan take over his businesses; he’d worked too hard for what he had.

But he didn’t want their rivalry to escalate either. After Sam’s death and what had happened to Sandra, things were already bad enough.

It would have been easy to retaliate, as Glynn would have done. All he needed to do was give the order and he had plenty of willing men who would do whatever was necessary. But that would also have been dangerous.