Adele decided she had reached the stage in a relationship where confidences were shared. She therefore thought the time was right to tell him about her past. But it was a hell of a thing to divulge. After a few drinks, though, in spite of her apprehension, she was feeling brave enough.

‘Glynn, there’s something I need to tell you,’ she began.

‘Oh, yeah?’ he asked, seeming disinterested.

‘Yes, I’ve been meaning to for a while. But… well… the time just never seemed right,’ she said, sitting up and releasing her hold on him so she could look into his eyes. ‘You see, it’s about me. Something I did… You probably knew I’d been inside when I came to work for Peter.’

‘He did mention it, yeah.’

‘Did you know what I’d been inside for?’

‘No, but I gather it was a long stretch so I’m assuming you weren’t nicked for stealing a loaf of bread.’ He smiled as he said these last few words.

His blasé attitude caught her off guard. She was trying to tell him something serious – something life-changing – yet he was acting as though they were sharing a joke.

‘I killed my dad!’ she blurted out, her frustration getting the better of her.

‘Shit! That is bad,’ he said.

‘Yes, and I’ve lived with the burden of it ever since. It was one night. He’d beaten my mother up something shocking…’

Glynn held up his hand to silence her. ‘Adele, it’s OK. I understand. I know what it’s like, remember?’

Her mind went back to the night when he’d shot a man outside her office because he’d held a knife to her throat. ‘Yes, but this was different,’ she said. ‘I went too far. I couldn’t help myself. I just lost it. I started hitting him with something and I couldn’t stop.’

As she relived the event, she could feel herself getting worked up. Her voice broke as tears threatened to overwhelm her.

Glynn moved forward and put a hand on her shoulder. ‘Don’t beat yourself up over it,’ he said. ‘You did what you had to do. From what you’ve just said, it sounds like the old bastard deserved it. I bet you were pushed, weren’t you?’

She nodded.

‘There you go, then. If it’s any comfort, that guy at the club wasn’t the only one I saw off. And sometimes you have to get pretty bloody callous to show people that you won’t be fucked around with.’

‘How d’you mean?’ she asked, her voice almost a whisper. She was shocked at this unexpected change in the tone of the conversation.

‘You just do what you have to do,’ he said. ‘Especially when someone betrays you or betrays the people you work for.’