He was nearly crying, and she was heartbroken for him; she knew better than her brothers just how much he had loved her mum. He is a good man, was what her mother would tell her constantly. No matter what you hear, Tania, in the future, always remember that your father is a good man. Tania could see how contrite he was and unsure how to make this better. He believed that he had let her down and, more importantly, that he had let her mother down. But, even after witnessing first hand exactly what he was capable of, she wasn’t frightened of him in the least. In fact, she understood him and his actions. She had cared nothing for Billy Allen or his suffering; she had never realised how much of a Bailey she was. She grasped her dad’s hand in hers; it was huge and rough, a hand that made you feel safe, despite also being a hand capable of great violence.

She could never tell anyone about Petey; this hand she was holding would be used to happily choke the life out of him. Her father would see it as a personal affront, and Petey Bailey would be a dead man – of that much she was sure. It would destroy the whole family.

She only wished she had been sensible enough to see this before. She was seventeen years old, but she had been a very naïve and immature seventeen year old. Every time she remembered Petey’s haste to get away from her, every time she relived the whole episode, she knew that if her mother had been alive it would never have happened. She had best put it behind her, but that would not be an easy task; the shame of it was still too real. But this man, her dad, was the only parent she had left, and she just wanted him to feel a bit better and take away some of his worry if she could.

‘I promise you, Dad, I didn’t see very much – it was pouring with rain, remember? But I understand that you were only doing what you felt needed to be done to try and resolve this upset. Please, Dad, let’s just forget it, eh?’

Daniel was proud of her; she was trying to make him feel better, comforting him. His little girl was growing up, and he truly believed that she would be one hell of a woman. She had much more of his mother in her than she knew, but it was tempered with Lena’s innate kindness. He hoped he would do right by her; it was the last thing he would ever get to do for his wife.

Chapter One Hundred and Thirty

‘You took your fucking time!’

Petey Bailey laughed at the man’s obvious annoyance. ‘All right, fucking relax! I’m here now, ain’t I?’