Billy Allen grinned. He knew as well as Terry did that Peter and Daniel Bailey would not appreciate cursing at their little soirée. They were real old fogeys like that – still living by some old fucking moral code that had gone out with the ark. The Allens were confident enough to play up to the gallery; it was what they wanted. It was about time that someone showed the Baileys that they were not the only game in town – they had too much to say for one family.

Billy could hear his brother telling another filthy joke as he walked to the bar to refill the glasses, insisting in a loud voice on a decent-sized drink. ‘Fuck me, are this lot on a budget or what?’

The insult was there, and everyone around them heard it.

Chapter Ninety-Three

Petey Bailey watched as his wife-to-be danced provocatively all by her lonesome. She was a good eyeful, no doubt about that, but she was also a first-class prick-tease. He could see most of the men in the room trying not to watch her as she gyrated with a vacant smile on her face, and he wondered why he was putting himself through this charade.

He had vowed to himself that if he could get in her knickers before the big day, he would out her without a backward glance. He would even let her keep the ring – he could be very magnanimous when the fancy took him. Up until now, her drawers had been harder to break into than the Bank of England; Bernadette was canny – she knew that once she succumbed to his charms he would lose interest. If she held out, he would marry her, but if he did, he intended for her to be banging out babies like a fucking machine gun, that was for sure.

Her inflated opinion of herself would not cut any ice with him once the dirty deed was done; he would knock her up and move on to pastures new. She would get what she wanted: the name, a big drum, and a gold card. He would get a family and, if she provided him with that, he would tolerate her.

Petey recognised that he had a lot of his Uncle Daniel in him. Over the years he had learned to be very ruthless; in fact, since his brother Jack’s demise, he had found a strength that kept him sane. Seeing first hand just what his father was capable of had been a real learning curve, and it had hit home how lucky he had been to escape any stronger punishment for his gambling and his attempt at skimming off the family take.