He smiled that winning smile that got him laid on a regular basis and said earnestly, ‘It is a genuine offer. Mr Johnson, Jack Johnson, is willing to purchase your holdings for a serious amount of poke. He wishes you well, and he just wants to make your latest difficulties a bit easier for you to bear.’

Bobby Carlton sat back in his seat and stifled the urge to laugh at this little black fucker who thought he could talk to him like he was a cunt.

‘A genuine offer, is it? In case you haven’t noticed, I’m on remand in Funky Brixton. There’s a lot of your people in here – that is why it’s called Funky fucking Brixton.’

‘And that is relevant because?’

Elton looked at the man before him with a real arrogance that was not lost on Bobby Carlton. He actually felt a shiver of apprehension at the boy’s demeanour; it occurred to him that this kid didn’t give a flying fuck either way.

Elton looked suitably bored as he said quietly, ‘I’ll take that as a no then, shall I?’

‘Tell Jack fucking Johnson that he can stick his fucking offer right up his jacksy.’

It was said loudly and Elton knew that people were watching them, so he stood up and, offering his hand to Bobby Carlton, he said in a neutral voice, ‘I will do that, sir. It was an honour to meet you. I wish you well in your future endeavours.’

He walked away without a backward glance and Bobby Carlton had the terrible suspicion that he had been well and truly mugged off. He was also feeling very unsettled, as if he had just made an enemy for life. Which, of course, is exactly what had happened.

Elton Mills would not forget that visit for a very long time. He was a man with no conscience and the urge to harm people he saw as beneath him and those he respected. Elton Mills was the new generation.

Chapter One Hundred and Forty-Five

‘A cunt of cunts, if you will excuse the expression. He had no interest in even listening to the proposal. He just made a big drama out of it for the benefit of the people in the visiting room.’ Elton’s disgust at the treatment he had received was evident to everyone in the room, as was his disappointment at Bobby Carlton’s stupidity.

Jack Johnson was impressed with the lad, and he knew that Ray was intending to mentor him. Elton Mills was a one-off; that would always be his strength and his weakness. Jack thought the lad was very lucky to have been discovered by a man like Ray Donovan. He had a feeling that young Elton Mills thought along the same lines. He was a shrewd young man with a bright future ahead of him if he used his loaf of bread.

‘Well, Jack?’