‘So, why’s she not here? She knew we had a meeting to discuss the accounts. It’s obvious she’s trying to avoid it.’

‘That’s ridiculous.’

Vaughn stood up and walked across to where Alfie was tucking into the whiskey. ‘Okay, then look me in the eye and tell me that you trust her. Go on, say it, Alf. Say that you trust Franny and mean it, and I promise you that I’ll leave it. I won’t ever mention anything about Franny again. I’ll drop my beef with her. How’s that for a deal? So, come on then, do you or do you not trust her?’

Alfie swallowed. He could feel the side of his jaw pulsing from tension and he stared at Vaughn. What the fuck was he going to say, because the problem he had was that Vaughn knew him too well. He would see if he was lying, and he would be lying if he said that he trusted Franny completely, because at the back of his mind, he knew there was something not quite right. But then, maybe it wasn’t her, maybe it was his own state of mind, his paranoia, and it certainly didn’t help that Vaughn kept sowing seeds of doubt. Shit. He had no idea what to think, and if he thought that Vaughn was bad now going on about Franny, if he admitted anything close to not trusting her, he’d never hear the last of it.

The one thing though that all of this had made him decide, was he was going away. Once he’d had a word with Charlie, he would take Franny’s advice and shoot off somewhere and get his head together, but right now he was going to be careful what he said to Vaughn.

He opened his mouth. ‘Okay, here’s the truth, Vaughnie, I …’

A loud crash from the entrance of the club stopped Alfie saying any more. He nodded his head to Vaughn, who took the signal, pulling out two small handguns from a chrome bucket full of ice underneath the bar. He threw one to Alfie.

Carefully catching it, Alfie whispered, ‘Take the other exit; I’ll go and see who it is.’

Nodding, Vaughn moved quietly towards the back of the club leaving Alfie to switch off the lights and make his way as silently as he could to the front of the club.

Just before he got to the entrance, Alfie pushed flat against the wall, readying himself but hearing nothing more. He tapped the door with his boot to push it open, craning to listen, though all he could hear was the distant sound of traffic coming from Soho Square.

Flicking the safety latch off the gun, Alfie moved outside, the cool air hitting him hard.