Davey, Noel and Jamsie were sitting together on the black leather sofa that had cost an arm and a leg. It was a huge piece of furniture, but still not big enough to hold his three youngest boys comfortably. They were seriously big lumps, grown men, and they were now, it seemed, prepared to front him up. Danny, his eldest, was standing by the doorway, as if he was keeping guard, making sure he couldn’t leave. It was fucking ludicrous! No one could stop him doing anything he wanted, surely they knew that by now?

‘No one’s threatening you, Dad. But we have to sort this out, once and for all.’

Daniel Bailey looked at his eldest son; his words were so outrageous he was sure that he must have imagined them. He laughed incredulously. ‘What did you just fucking say?’

Danny sighed heavily before repeating the words once more. ‘I said, no one’s threatening you, Dad – not yet anyway – but we have to sort this out, once and for all.’

Daniel Bailey looked at his sons again, warily now. He licked his lips slowly, contemplating how best to deal with the situation he was in, and wondered how he’d reached the point where his own kids felt they were within their rights to question him as if he was a fucking romancer, a fucking no one. He shook his head in disbelief.

His sons waited, on tenterhooks, aware that if he went off they would need their wits and their combined strength to subdue him. He was a hard old fucker – there was no doubt in any of their minds about that – but he was also a liability, and they were all agreed that this was something they had to address, no matter what the result might be.

Noel raised his right hand instinctively to his chest. Daniel was stunned to see the boy caress the outline of what was obviously a gun.

He challenged him. ‘What, you going to fucking shoot me, son? Is that what this is about?’ He was almost laughing as he spoke to him.

Danny sighed. ‘We all carry guns, Dad, remember? You were the one who insisted on it. No one wants to have a fucking row about this, but we will if that’s what it’s gonna take. You nearly killed Derek, and there was no fucking need for any of it. Now we are back to square one, you wiped out in a fucking afternoon everything we have achieved over the last couple of years. All our credibility has disappeared, Dad. No one will want to deal with us in the future, because they won’t feel fucking safe, they will think you will fucking take umbrage over fuck-all, and they will be the next person you decide to batter senseless. This is about us working together as a team and about you giving us the respect we give you.’