The kids and Sasha had picked a film to watch and they were all sprawled in front of the TV. Steve was sitting at the table in the corner, going over the itinerary for the weekend, which left Mike with nothing to do. He didn’t really feel like watching whatever shit the teenagers had chosen, but he knew Steve would frown upon him sitting on his phone all evening. The bastard was always breathing down his neck, finding fault with him.

He sighed and chewed the edge of his index finger. He’d been really good, avoiding some of his most frequented sites, but the urge was pretty strong tonight. If he could get out of here for half an hour or so, get a couple of games in, then he could put up with it for the rest of the evening, he was sure.

‘Just popping to the loo,’ he told Steve, then slipped out of the room and down the corridor. He could kill a bit of time in the bathroom, though not too much. As he passed the boys’ room, he caught sight of one of their bags lying open, a games console sitting on top. Mike ground his teeth as he stood there, looking at it. It was worth a few quid. Kian must have saved up for ages; the kids in care got a small allowance from social services, but it didn’t stretch far. Knowing Bradley, he’d probably chipped in for it as well.

No, he told himself. You can’t take anything from the kids again. The last time he’d been tempted by things students had left lying around he’d not known when to stop. He’d sold most of what he’d taken, but there’d still been a couple of items in his room when the shit really hit the fan, and he’d only just had time to dump them before bloody Liz Marcek had threatened to go to the police. Of course, she’d assumed it was a student stealing, but Mike knew if the police got involved they’d want to search every room, not just the kids’.

Carrying on down the corridor, Mike congratulated himself on not giving in to temptation. He didn’t need the money that badly. His next big win was around the corner, bound to be. Yeah, he’d had a bad streak recently, but they said it was always darkest before the dawn.

A few minutes later, he was back, hand in Kian’s bag. The console wasn’t worth as much without the charger. Where the fuck was it? Mike became more agitated as he dug through the bag, not finding what he was looking for. He’d just pulled out a phone when he became aware of something blocking the light from the door.

‘Mike? What are you doing?’ Steve’s body filled the doorframe.