Inside the office he felt his guts turn to ice water. There was Jack sitting in his usual seat. There was Elton, trussed up like a Christmas turkey. And there was Barton and Reggie with sawn-off shotguns. But the worst thing of all was seeing Sharon – his wife, who he had raised from the gutter after she’d been married to that queer cunt Lenny Scott – sitting there, looking at him with a smile on her face.

Before he could say a word, Reggie said angrily, ‘Been sussed out, mate. How does it feel to be on the receiving end for once?’

Ray knew now that he was beaten. He saw the other men with shotguns covering him, and he knew that he could not get out of this one. So he laughed – his arrogance knew no bounds – and Sharon watched his face as it finally dawned on him that this was it. There was anger and there was resignation, and she felt nothing for his dilemma at all. She laughed gently and it was a pleasant sound in a room full of tension. It also told Ray all he needed to know about his wife and his demise.

‘I gave you the life you fucking dreamed of, Sharon.’

She knew that he really meant what he said and, for a split second, she felt a great sorrow for him. But not for herself. She realised now that he had a completely warped view of the world that he inhabited.

‘I raised you to be my wife. I dragged you out of the gutter. I gave you what you fucking craved. A real man. But you got old, darling. You knew it could never really last, surely? No man wants the same dinner every night, love. And, as for you, Jack! I was the best thing that ever happened to you.’

Jack shook his head and said loudly, ‘You are fucking scum, and northern scum at that.’

Ray Donovan found it funny. He knew it was over for him and he was determined to go out with a big fucking bang.

‘I took out the queer who was fucking the arse off Reggie, his so-called best mate, Sharon. I did you and your boys the favour of a fucking lifetime.’

He opened his arms wide as if in absolute wonderment and grinned. ‘You were a good wife, darling. Like I said before, the only mistake you ever made was getting old. It was like fucking my mother in the end. You were always a mum, never a lover. But I would have stayed with you. You can’t help getting a bit long in the tooth. I would never have abandoned you. Even though you bred me a fucking whore.’

Reggie knew that it was time to shut Ray up. It was clear that, even on his own deathbed, he was determined to cause as much hurt as possible.