Liam heard his brother before he saw him, and he was relieved that they would be alone in the office. As ever, Petey was all noisy, good-humoured bonhomie, hailing everyone he saw, from the lowest waitress to the Faces propping up their bar, and it irritated Liam. His brother was the sole reason for his discontent. Petey believed that he could do and say what he wanted without fear or favour. He needed to be knocked down and reminded that he was only there because he had the name Bailey.

Petey came into the room acting the archetypal London criminal, the old-style Face. He even dressed the part and, nine times out of ten, he could pull it off. Petey had more personalities than a fucking chat show, but Liam knew that none of them were the real Petey Bailey. His brother was a fucking fake, albeit a good one; he could talk his way out of a snake’s belly.

Petey laid a package on the table between them, and said jovially, ‘Here you are, bruv. You can stop pissing your fucking pants now like a big girl’s blouse. I told you I could replace it, didn’t I?’ It was said as a statement – no answer required; he was just proving a point, as always.

Liam picked the package up warily; he had been here too many times before. ‘You can’t just act like this is fuck-all, Petey. You do realise you nearly buried us both?’

Petey grinned that handsome grin that made the women’s hearts melt and the men think he was one of the original good guys. ‘Give it a rest, Liam! You know as well I do, we earn our crusts, mate. We do our jobs but, in reality, we are still no more than fucking bus boys. The old man ain’t going to ever let us have our fucking due. We have the right to take it.’

‘We don’t do that bad, Petey, and you know it.’

Petey laughed; Liam could be a real pain at times. ‘Face it, he still treats us like kids, for fuck’s sake.’

Liam could see the truth of his brother’s argument, but he could also see his father’s side. They were getting a good wedge, but when you weighed it up with what they actually brought in for the family, it looked like a pittance. It wasn’t – it was a fucking good earn and, unlike Petey, Liam understood that money had to be invested and he didn’t spend every penny he had as soon as it hit his wallet. He had a family to support – Amanda and Bernard relied on him and he took that responsibility very seriously.