But even if she did all that, she knew Alfie would still come looking for her, wanting to know why she’d gone, wanting to know why she’d just disappeared without a goodbye.

And of course, very soon the police would be starting to ask questions about the fire in the club, and certainly by that time she needed to be gone.

Perhaps she would even leave the area before she found Mia. She could still search for her. She didn’t need to be here in Soho – and in reality, the sooner she got away the better. She’d already messed up by letting her feelings get in the way. And yes, yes she’d miss Alfie, and if she let it, it would break her, tear her apart, because God she loved him, but that love would cause her to make the wrong choices. She’d already seen love destroy her father, and she certainly wasn’t going to let that happen to her.

So the more she thought about it, well, the more she realised that maybe Alfie borrowing the money from Mr Huang wasn’t so bad after all. Maybe, it would play to her advantage. That was of course if she stayed focused on Mia and she didn’t let her feelings ever get in the way again. And as much as she wouldn’t have chosen this for Alfie herself, him not being able to pay back Mr Huang could save her a lot of grief in the long run. It certainly would bring finality.

‘I know it’s only a house, but the problem is … the problem is …’ She stopped for a moment and worked out what she was going to say, wanting her story to sound as credible as possible. ‘My dad put this house in a trust for me. One of the conditions of it is I can’t sell it, or even re-mortgage it.’

Alfie’s face turned ashen. ‘What … what are you talking about?’

‘This house is in a trust, Alf. Dad obviously knew the game we’re in is precarious; money laundering, drugs, clubs, illegal betting, it’s so easy to lose everything overnight. He wanted to make sure that I’d always have a roof over my head, for the rest of my life. Putting the house in a trust was his way of doing it … I’m so sorry, Alf.’

Suddenly looking unwell, Alfie sat down hard in his chair. His voice quiet. ‘Why didn’t I know this before?’

‘It just never came up and, to tell you the truth, I haven’t even thought about it until just now.’

‘What am I going to do, Fran?’

As Franny refused to let herself feel anything – no love, no care – her eyes were cold and calculating, but it went unnoticed by Alfie who rested his head in his hands.