Georgio shook his head slowly. ‘Wilson was helped on his way, my love. Take it from me, I know. Lewis told me he was going to commit suicide, hours before he was found. Lewis was behind it all, I know that for a fact. Now Lewis wants me, or to get to me. He thinks I can give him his money back, and nothing I say will convince him I can’t. He owns the Wing I’m on, he also owns the screws who are supposed to be looking after us. He even had me striped across the arse in the Scrubs. Sort of a taster before I arrived here.’

Georgio looked her straight in the eyes. ‘I know all about Lewis and about why I’m here. I’m only sorry I never told you all this before. I have to get out of here, my darling, and I have to get out soon, or I’ll be coming home to you in a box. Lewis saw to it that the car lot was trashed; it was a small warning to me. I didn’t want to tell you any of this because I felt I had got us into it and I had to get us out. Well, I can’t. I’ve tried, and I just can’t.’

Georgio’s voice broke and Donna grasped his hand across the table. They resembled any other prisoner and his wife; both had the aching look of loneliness on their face, both had the hopeless look of people separated too long. Both loved each other from a distance, and it was getting harder with each passing day.

‘Oh, Georgio. What are we going to do? How the hell did you get involved with all this? What on earth possessed you to get caught up with people like Lewis?’

Georgio stared into her white face and said simply, ‘Greed, Donna. Pure and simple greed.’

He kissed the hand that held his so tightly.

‘If I had pulled it off, I would have been as rich as Croesus. We would have had everything we ever wanted in the world . . .’

Donna pulled her hand from his, an expression of utter contempt on her face.

‘We had everything, Georgio, remember? I mean, how much do you want, eh? We had a home, money in the bank, and we had each other. What more could we really have wanted? Or, more precisely, what more could you have wanted? It’s always been about what you want, hasn’t it? Everything was always what you wanted, needed, cared about. I just came along for the ride. God! I must have been so stupid. So bloody stupid.’