Even Bernadette hadn’t been that bothered. She had been given the house – all paid for – she got to keep the car Petey had bought her – a Mercedes Sport limited edition – and she was now married to a civilian she met on holiday in Tenerife. She was living there running an upmarket restaurant and bar with him, having decided that the Life wasn’t as appealing as she had first thought.

Danny was laughing as he motioned to the barmaid to get them all drinks. ‘How’d it go, Liam?’

He was excited, and Liam knew that his news would be celebrated for the best part of the night.

‘It’s a mover.’

‘Fucking blinding news! I knew you could pull it off.’

He wished he had been as sure as his cousin. ‘I told them we could cover the distribution, all they needed to do was guarantee the product. They were a bit wary at first but fuck them, we are the ones calling the shots. I’ve got to be honest, Danny, the Albanians are funny fuckers, but they are good at what they do. Very professional, albeit very fucking volatile.’

Danny didn’t give a fuck about that; they were safe as houses – the Albanians needed them far more than they were willing to admit. ‘This gives us the exclusive rights to the whole of the European market! It’s a fucking seriously big earn.’

Liam knew that better than his cousin – he had worked out the deal after all. ‘The coke they provide is really fucking top grade, and they seem to have an endless supply. I reckon we can start distributing within weeks. I’ve also warned them that if they sell to anyone else, the deal’s off. I did labour the point for effect, but they ain’t cunts – they know the score.’

Danny shrugged. ‘Fuck them. If they push it, we’ll just fucking demolish them. There’s plenty more where they come from.’

Liam laughed. Since Petey’s untimely death, the remaining boys had toughened up, and pulled together. They had realised that the main thing for them now as a family was to be seen as tighter, more impenetrable, than ever before. A lot of people in the Life believed that Petey Bailey had been taken out by his own family, and that suited them. None of them would ever confirm or deny the theory, but the whisper about town had given them an even more fearsome reputation; after all, if the Baileys were capable of taking out their own flesh and blood they were basically capable of anything. No one ever got a second chance – one fuck-up and you were gone. It was a new regime, and it was working better than anyone could have expected.