He heard the door open; it would be Ray Donovan telling him that he had fulfilled his latest job. Ray was a fucking Brahma. He was that strange mixture of nice bloke and raving fucking nutcase. Jack had sensed his forte the first time he met him – he had crossed paths with people like him before, even though they were a rare breed. Frankie Fraser had had it – the aura of danger that told you that the person you were dealing with wasn’t on the same page as everyone else. If he was honest, Ray frightened him, because he was capable of doing damage to anyone – even people he liked. He enjoyed his work, and that was why he was so good at it.

‘All right, Jack?’

Jack Johnson forced a smile on his face. He didn’t want to talk to him tonight. Jack wasn’t squeamish but he knew that Ray, the new father, the man who acted like Dad of the Year, had spent a lot of time torturing someone for money. Tonight that bothered Jack and made him wonder what else he was capable of. He still poured him a drink, though; he knew what was expected.

Jack picked up a holdall and passed it to Ray and saw a smile of satisfaction cross his face. Ray loved money – cold, hard cash. Jack knew he had no right to feel so disgusted with this man; after all, he was his broker. He made sure he had work. But tonight, seeing the pleasure on Ray’s face made him feel uneasy. No one should enjoy inflicting pain that much. But, then again, the fact that Ray could do what he did was why they were earning fortunes. Lenny Scott had had his fucking problems – Jack knew that better than anyone – but seeing Ray with Sharon and the kids genuinely frightened him. Someone once said, you can know too much about people, and never was a truer word spoken. The more he got to know Ray Donovan, the more he worried that Sharon Scott had made the biggest mistake of her life. They seemed happy – they had a child and they were getting married, by all accounts. He wholeheartedly believed that Ray would never turn his particular talents on his wife-to-be and her children, but there was still that niggling worry that he’d been wrong to encourage Sharon and Ray in the first place.

He sighed heavily. He was getting old, that was the trouble. As you aged, you saw problems where none previously existed. But he couldn’t shake the feeling that Ray was changing somehow and Jack wasn’t so sure it was for the good.

‘I wrapped that cunt up early, Jack.’ Ray grinned good-naturedly. ‘I can’t wait to get home to the new baby! Honestly, if someone had told me I would feel like this, I would never have believed them! It’s like I’ve finally grown up or something.’