Jake sat back on the sofa and rested his head; he let out a deep sigh. So that was Tony’s angle. The members were going to accept Tony one way or another. He had it all worked out. Tony was right, of course, Ashley had been a little too quick to suggest his entertainment ideas. Why hadn’t he seen it?

When Tony was ready, they got in the car and John drove away.

‘Where are we going?’ said Jake.

'We’re going to see Angus,’ said Tony.

Reports of how Angus was running things in the south of London were good. Angus was loyal and did as he was told. He was also under the threat of his wife, which still made them both laugh.

‘What do we need to check up on him for? He’s doing okay, isn’t he?’ Again, Jake was at a loss, wondering what Tony had up his sleeve.

‘I need him to do us a favour.’

‘What sort of favour?’

‘Things are too quiet, Jake, we need to stir up a little trouble in the pubs, shake them up a little, and then we’ll rush in and save the day, and they’ll all be grateful they’re paying us for protection.’

‘So, what are you going to do? Get him to barge in and cause trouble?’

‘Not him, some of the old mob under his charge. Just a few fights and maybe some threats, and we earn our money, so to speak.’

Jake couldn’t understand why Tony needed to upset the equilibrium. Why did he want to cause trouble, when everything was running smoothly? It was like he enjoyed the excitement of trouble and hated routine boredom. He needed another project, and yet there wasn’t one.

Walking into the old pub that Marlon had used as his office seemed strange. Under Angus’s wife’s orders, the whole place was clean and tidy. It certainly didn’t look like some old drug den. Inside the pub, they could clearly hear Angus, with his strong Scottish accent, bellowing down the corridors.

‘Everything okay, Angus?’ asked Tony. There were two men in front of Angus, and he was giving them a piece of his mind.

‘Och, aye, boss, it’s you. Come in, laddies, sit down.’ He looked at the two men standing before him, and then back at Tony and Jake. ‘Nothing I can’t handle.’

Tony and Jake both forgave Angus’s tone and lack of respect. To him, that was a friendly welcome and he meant no disrespect. Angus waved his arm and indicated that the two men were to leave the room, and then stood at the door and watched them walk down the stairs.

‘How are you settling in, Angus? Is everything okay?’ Tony wanted to know what that argument was all about, but he didn’t want to undermine Angus.

‘Settled in just fine. The wife’s happy and off my back, I hardly recognise her these days, she hasn’t nagged at me half as much as she used to. The kids are okay, as well.’ It suddenly dawned on Angus what Tony really wanted to know. ‘Oh, right,’ he said. ‘Some of them are not quite used to me, yet; they still think they’re working for that black mob boss. Well, it’s up to me to show them they’re not. They want to do their own thing, and collect the money in their own time, when they finally fall out of bed. No, it’s not the way things are going to be run around here. You had us all on a strict routine, Mr Lambrianu, we all had our daily rotas worked out, and that’s what I have to teach those numbskulls.’