‘I’m fucking knackered, Noel. Cut me a line, will you? I need a livener.’

Noel did not need to be asked twice. As he cut the coke on the desk top with a credit card, he felt a rush of contentment; this really was the life. They were charmed, they had it all.

Jamsie poured them both beers and, after they had snorted a couple of lines each, they toasted each other.

‘They are late. If they don’t get a fucking move on they can piss off.’

Noel laughed. ‘Oh, Jamsie, fuck off. They’ll be here.’

Jamsie grinned. He could feel the buzz coming over him, his tiredness was gone, and his brain was active once more. ‘That’s a good fucking snort!’

Noel laughed. ‘I should hope so. Jack knows where to get the good stuff!’

They were both roaring with laughter now.

A knock on the office door heralded the arrival of their guests. Noel opened the door with a flourish, and ushered in two men; both were in their late twenties, from Liverpool. They were the Daly brothers, legends in their own lunchtimes, and as dangerous as they were handsome.

Gerry Daly took in the scene in nanoseconds and said loudly, ‘Oh, just what we needed! A snort and a beer. It don’t get better than this!’

Paddy Daly took out a notebook and, as Noel was cutting them lines, he explained, in glowing terms, how they were all going to benefit from the bank robbery he and his brother had planned down to the very last detail.

Noel and Jamsie were thrilled; as the youngest of Daniel’s boys they were desperate to spread their wings, go out on their own, and the Daly brothers were more than willing to help them achieve their goal.

Chapter Sixty-Four

Little Delroy looked handsome, and he knew it; he was a very confident child. His father laughed as his son walked around outside the church like a mini version of himself. It was funny how seeing yourself in your children made you realise that, through them, you would never really be gone. Those people who said they didn’t want children were nutbags, why else would God have created the human race?

Imelda looked gorgeous, but then she always looked good. Not that she would believe a word he said nowadays. She was a difficult female, but Delroy had always been attracted to the feisty ones – he liked a bit of spark in his women.

He saw Daniel Bailey, Tania and Lena walking towards him, and he smiled at them easily, determined to put the dramas of the past behind them today. Little Tania looked absolutely fantastic. She was a good-looking child, and she would one day be a beautiful woman. You could see Theresa in her – she even had her nana’s walk. ‘Look at you!’