‘Well, Lenny, I can’t tell you how fucking impressed I am. Especially as you went all on your tod. I want you to know that I won’t forget this. I am going to bung you a serious drink – ten grand cash. And, listen to me, son, if you ever need anything you just have to talk to me, all right? I will give you the earth on a plate. You proved yourself to me, mate, not just as a worker, but also as a man I would be honoured to have running my businesses.’

Lenny Scott felt almost tearful at Jack’s words. This was what he had dreamed of, what he had always wanted – the big in, the rite of passage.

‘I think the world of you, Jack, you know that. You gave me the opportunity to have a serious earn. I will never forget it.’

Jack Johnson looked at the huge young man sitting before him. The lad was humble, he was grateful. And evidently he was also a dangerous little fuck.

‘Son, listen to me. You’re on the road to greatness, and I want you right beside me.’

Lenny nodded his huge head, and he smiled as he said, ‘Thank you, Jack. Appreciate that.’

Jack Johnson looked at Lenny Scott and thanked Christ and all the saints for dropping this boy into his lap and not someone else’s.

Chapter Sixteen

Ivy Conway was fit to be tied and her daughter was already sick of listening to her.

‘He apparently crippled a man, nearly blinded him. It is all over the pavement.’

Sharon Scott sighed. Lenny had explained everything to her, as he had guessed she would hear about it eventually. He had shown her the ten grand cash and said that it was just a means to an end, that Billy Mason had had Jack over and it was a lesson needed. It had all sounded very reasonable the way that Lenny explained it. At least that is what she chose to tell herself anyway, even if there was a bit of her that found it very frightening. But it was her husband’s business not hers, and the sooner her mother realised that, the better for everyone.

She turned on Ivy and shouted, ‘Oh, give it a rest! It’s his fucking job. If you want to keep coming round, Mum, my advice to you is to keep your opinions to yourself. Lenny is my husband. I love him, and I will not hear a bad word about him, OK?’

Ivy Conway was so shocked she actually stepped away from her daughter.

‘I mean it, Mum. He is trying to give us a good life. You know as well as I do that he works for Jack Johnson, and that means he will never be a choirboy.’