He had to take action so he’d called a family meeting. As usual his two brothers were late. It was a fucking farce. He might as well be pissing in the wind. Dicky would take Rob’s side, he was prepared for that. But he was going to make sure that his brothers were left in no doubt that, if they didn’t comply with his demands, he would personally take them out himself. He was the head of this family and he was fighting for the whole firm – for everything that they had worked for. They were not strong enough to take on the Costellos. So they were just going to have to use their powers of persuasion to try and defuse the situation before they found themselves in the middle of an all-out war.

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Sixteen

Father Riordan had always liked young Michael Flynn. He thought of him as a kind-hearted lad. Considering the fact that he had been brought up by that Hannah, a woman who had the face of an angel and the personality of a Doberman pinscher, he thought the lad had turned out very well. He was delighted to be performing the wedding ceremony for young Flynn and his lovely fiancée Josephine Callahan. He thought they made a wonderful pair.

Oh, he had heard the gossip, of course. Michael Flynn worked for the Costellos, both of whom were regular churchgoers and men who were generous to a fault. Father Riordan had only to mention the missions and they were putting their hands into their pockets. He wouldn’t mind a few more like the Costellos in his parish, if he was to be brutally honest, as long as he didn’t know too much about what they got up to. They were like so many of the second-generation Irishmen – they did what they needed to feed their families, and who could blame them? It was a hard world, all right; he knew that himself.

‘So, Michael, are you excited about the big day?’

Michael grinned happily. ‘I can’t wait, Father. It can’t come round quick enough for me.’

Father Riordan was thrilled at the lad’s devotion; so few wanted the church ceremony these days. When he looked around the church on a Sunday he nearly fainted at the sight of the young girls, dressed like whores, with no bras, thick black eyeliner and faces liked a smacked arse because they had been dragged to the service by their parents. Parents who were as bewildered as he was by this new generation. It wasn’t Ireland, that was for sure.

‘Well, not long now, Michael, and Josephine will not only share your name, but she will share the rest of your life with you. The sacrament of marriage is a serious event in anyone’s life. It’s pledging your love and your allegiance to each other in the eyes of the Lord God Himself.’