He sighed heavily. The men in this room were some of the hardest men in the south east; they all worked for him and were pleased to do so. He was a hard man, everyone knew that, but he prided himself on being a fair man, a decent man in some respects. These were men who were at the top of their particular games, and he used their nous and their instincts for his own ends – and he made sure that they earned a good fucking wedge at the end of the day. Michael Flynn was a one-off; in his world he was a man who was not just feared, but who had also earned the respect of his peers, and who had managed to rise to the top without treading on anyone else’s toes. He had embraced his partners in crime, and made sure that they earned enough to prevent them coveting what he had. Now he had the partnership and the major earn from every Face in the country – well, in Europe if truth be told. And the men he dealt with owed him, respected him for his achievements, and did not begrudge him his percentage because, without him, most of them would never have got as far as they had. He had worked his way up the ladder, realising early on that to keep on top you had to have a loyal and willing workforce, and that if you wanted to earn a place of importance in the criminal world, you also needed a very lucrative and honestly run legitimate businesses, as well as the wherewithal to not only invest heavily into other people’s businesses, but to also be able to offer them a modicum of protection should Lily Law decide to investigate them at any time. Michael had orchestrated all of that himself and, as he was a man who was settled, no one would ever feel the urge, or indeed the need, to try and take his place and run his businesses. He was too shrewd for all that fanny. His legit businesses were huge earners; he could explain away anything he owned. In short, Michael Flynn was virtually untouchable.

But now he was looking at the men he knew as friends, not just as business associates, and he felt the prickle of shame wash over him. His daughter going AWOL was not something they saw as in their remit but, as they were on his payroll, they had no option but to listen to him and offer their help in any way they could.