Petey was well aware of his father’s underlying message. His dad knew he was skimming off the clubs, and he was telling him that. He felt the shame wash over him, more so because his father had not accused him outright. Instead he had given him the opportunity to address the situation, reminding him along the way that, for all Daniel’s faults, he had never taken a penny that he wasn’t entitled to. He was also reminding him that he was more than capable of sorting out his own problems.

‘I appreciate the offer, though, son, but you know there’s an old saying: Get your own house in order.’

Petey nodded, ashamed, but also impressed with his father’s acumen. Nothing, it seemed, got by him. Why was he not surprised?

Chapter Fifty-One

‘Hello, Mum.’

Theresa looked at her younger son as he popped his head round her back door. ‘I assume you’re here to have a row?’

Daniel laughed. ‘No.’

Theresa smiled then; she could see that her Daniel was not in a fighting frame of mind, so she guessed he was here to build bridges. She assumed that Lena had mentioned the conversation they had had.

Daniel sat down in his mother’s kitchen. He felt so comfortable here. It reminded him of his childhood: the smell of lavender polish, the gleam of her sink, and the feeling of safety she had always tried to give her sons. Daniel knew how hard her life had been, but there was no denying she had really grafted for her family and he would forever respect that. She had the arse with him over Peter – he knew that much – but she still loved him, he could feel it. Like his Lena, it was unconditional love, as it should be with mothers and wives.

‘So, to what do I owe this pleasure, son?’

Daniel grinned. ‘I hear you’re knocking about with Tommy Barker.’

Theresa narrowed her large blue eyes and, looking at her son with obvious suspicion, she said, ‘And what if I am? What the feck has it got to do with you?’

Daniel raised his hands in a gesture of surrender. ‘Calm down, Mum! What’s your problem? He’s an old-time Face – I just wondered if it was all right to meet him, that’s all. Fucking hell, Mum, anyone would think I was trying to cause you problems or something . . .’

Theresa knew then that Lena had not said a word to her husband after their row, and that annoyed her; Lena needed to do something before it was too late. Daniel would have let on by now that he knew what she had said to his wife. He would have given her his opinion, all right, and she would have happily given him her own opinion back. Unlike most people, he didn’t scare her.