‘Ew, no.’ Alex chuckled. ‘Christ, you were the limit for creepy old guys I’ve slept with.’

‘Hey,’ Sam said, faking offence. ‘I’m not that old.’

Alex spat out her beer and for the first time since Sam had returned to her life, she felt that connection again. That brotherly bond and she felt guilty for trying to send him away. Every move he’d made was for her safety.

He went back to the UK to end Blackridge.

For himself, but for her as well.

To keep her safe.

And now he was back and had already spilt blood and broken bones to get to her.

She smiled at him and continued.

‘Anyways, my guy wants to meet tonight, so I have to work. All I have to do is feed him any info. Then, if the deal happens, I’ll go along to the bust. That’s it.’

‘Why do you have to go?’ Sam asked sternly, folding his arms.

‘Because they need a witness. Someone who can identify the people involved.’ Sam raised his eyebrows with concern. ‘It’s fine. My identity will be hidden the whole time.’

‘I don’t like it.’

‘Tough shit.’

‘At least let me come with you.’

‘Why?’ Alex asked, smiling.

‘In case.’

With both of them understanding Sam’s meaning, Alex looked out over the town once more.

‘You know. This place isn’t so bad. Take the Riders out of it and it would probably be a nice place to live.’

‘Well, you can do your bit.’ Sam reached over and rested his hand on her shoulder. ‘I’ll step back. Let you get on with it. You won’t need to worry. I know how hard you’ve clung onto Nattie and Joel, and I understand. For the first few years after Jamie died, I had a voicemail on my phone off him telling me he couldn’t wait to see me. I would listen to it every day, and for those wonderful forty seconds, it felt like he was alive, you know?’

Sam’s eyes began to water, and he dabbed at them with the ball of his wrist. Alex could already feel the tears falling down her cheek.

‘So, you understand why I need to do this?’

‘Yes,’ Sam said. ‘You need to put it right. Do something that puts you at peace with the way things are. I get that. I’ve been able to delete that message, accept Jamie’s death, and I use it every goddamn day to get out of bed. To fight back. To try to put this wrongful world right. So, you do what you have to do. I’ll hang back and just make sure you’re safe.’

‘Thank you, Sam.’ Alex looked at her watch and a realisation jolted her like a cattle prod. ‘Fuck. I need to go.’