Tony nodded and smiled at Angus; he had made a good choice here. Angus wasn’t used to thinking for himself, he was all brawn and no brains, but what he was doing was copying how Tony ran things. ‘You can fire them, if you think they’re not up to the job, you know.’

‘It won’t come to that, Mr Lambrianu; they just need putting in their place and a good battering now and again, and they’ll soon come around.’ Angus was sure about that; he wasn’t going to let anyone steal his thunder.

‘Well, Angus, we need to stir up a little trouble in the East End. Possibly some threats and a little chaos, nothing too serious, just enough to remind people why they pay us the amounts they do.’ Tony looked at Jake; they both waited for this to work its way into Angus’s brain.

‘Why, Mr Lambrianu? Everything’s going okay here. I have things under control. Granted, I’ve had to go around to some of those guys’ houses and pull them out of bed, but they’re all getting the hang of things.’ Angus was worried. He had done his best, all the money had been collected on time and it was all the correct amounts, and he had even gone around collecting himself to introduce himself to the publicans in South London.

‘Calm down, Angus.’ Tony’s smooth, velvety voice put Angus at his ease. ‘This is nothing to do with you; you’re doing a good job, but we have to keep reminding these people we rely on for our wages who they are dealing with.’ That seemed to do the trick; now Angus understood.

‘What do you want me to do, Mr Lambrianu? Just tell me when and where, and I’ll see that chaos is caused.’ Angus banged his fist on the table and nodded his head.

Tony was thinking; he wasn’t sure what to do yet, but he wanted everyone to be ready to act when he did.

‘Firstly, Angus, I want you to get some of the laziest guys you have. Let’s not fire them, let’s use them. I presume Marlon’s men are still sniffing drugs and think they can get away with it, like they used to do with him; that’s why they’re still in bed at midday, they’re sleeping it off. Are there any of them you trust? Have you made a friend?’

‘Aye, I have, Mr Lambrianu. Big Jamaican lad named Neville, hard as nails, likes the money and the ladies. Always on time, he is.’

‘Good. When the time comes to put my plans into action, I want the old South London mob doing this dirty work, not any of our men that you brought with you. That would make it look too obvious that I’m involved. The east fighting the east? No, you and your friend Neville are to await my plans. Not a word now, I’ll let you know the details soon.’ Tony stood up to leave.

‘Mr Lambrianu, sir.’ Angus looked almost too embarrassed to ask. He flashed a fleeting glance at Jake, in the hope of some backup. ‘This trouble you want causing, it’s not going to end up with me back inside, is it?’ Angus wasn’t afraid of prison, but he had done more than his fair share of life behind bars. Now he was settling down and had a good life, he didn’t want to return to that, although he realised that he worked for Tony, and if he wanted to carry on doing so, he would have to carry out his orders.