On the other end of the phone, Jack Johnson was thinking fast. He calmed her down as best he could, then he rang off. But, like the young girl who had called him, he was having trouble believing that any of it was true. He hoped it wasn’t, because uncontrolled violence wasn’t what he was paying that lad for. He could get a thug on any street corner. He had admired the boy’s acumen, his level-headedness – it was the main part of his charm. That was what he paid the little fucker for, not to go round glassing people in his spare time.

Jack sighed heavily, and started to make some phone calls of his own. Wonders would never cease. It was fucking outrageous, that’s what it was, and it meant he might have to have a serious rethink where the lad was concerned.

Chapter Seven

Lenny was sheepish as the wedding party stood in the church waiting for his bride to arrive. He had the hangover from hell, and he was still unable to believe his actions of the night before. He put it down to the drink – that was the only thing it could be. He couldn’t hold it, didn’t even like it. He was deeply ashamed and, even though Keith had refused to press charges and Jack Johnson had somehow managed to get him back out on the pavement, he still felt he had got off too easy. Keith Smith might not have been his favourite person, but he knew the stripper had just been a joke. Normally he would have seen the humour of the situation, but last night it was as if he had been possessed by a devil. As his dad said, that’s why it was called the ‘demon drink’! He felt so embarrassed, and the worst thing of all was he had shown himself up in front of Sharon’s family. Her mum wasn’t exactly his biggest fan as it was – now she would use this against him at every opportunity. He closed his eyes in distress.

The music started and he opened them to see Sharon walking down the aisle towards him. He could sense the fear and disappointment in her lovely blue eyes. Well, that was it now – he wouldn’t be drinking again any time soon, he swore that to everyone in his orbit. As Lionel Richie sang ‘Hello’, Lenny looked into his bride’s face and hoped against hope that she could see the genuine sorrow there.

Chapter Eight