It was childish really, but Josephine knew that she had to follow suit and do what was expected as Michael’s wife-to-be. She already had a level of security because of Michael’s position in the firm as Patrick Costello’s boy wonder. Michael was not going to fuck that up; he’d worked hard to get where he was and he would do whatever was needed to keep himself on the up and up.

This was the game they were both having to play. Josephine had joined a group of women whose husbands’ livelihoods were dependent on the Costello brothers, and that was something none of them, Josephine included, could ever forget.

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Nineteen

Colin Dawes was a man who went out of his way to avoid trouble of any kind. He wasn’t a coward – he could look after himself – but he had never seen the logic of going out and actively looking for trouble. In his experience, it eventually found its way to your door anyway. Now, he was in a quandary as he stood outside Jonny Barber’s office. He had known Jonny since they were little kids and, as big a bastard as Jonny could be, Colin couldn’t stand aside and see him taken out without giving him a heads up of some description. It was only fair.

The problem was, Jonny wasn’t a man who encouraged friendly conversation; he had no time for anyone other than his brothers so approaching him wouldn’t be easy. But Jonny had seen him all right in the not-too-distant past, and that counted for a lot where Colin was concerned. He was a decent man, or at least he tried to be anyway. He knew he had to do the right thing and he owed Jonny Barber.

Colin took a deep breath and pulling himself up to his full height – just over six feet one inch – he rapped loudly on Jonny’s office door, before walking in to face him. He consoled himself with the fact that he was doing what he would want someone to do for him if the need ever arose.

Jonny Barber had never really liked Colin Dawes. He suspected it was because Colin had the knack of being popular by his very nature. Even at school, Colin had managed to make friends with everyone around him. Admittedly, Jonny couldn’t really fault him for that, but he found Colin’s obvious camaraderie with all and sundry very unsettling. He just wasn’t comfortable with people like Colin Dawes; he always felt wrong-footed around him.