Daniel thought they should remove all the old guard, and replace them with their own people. He could not see the logic of keeping people employed who had worked closely with the very people they had annihilated and he said as much. ‘For fuck’s sake, they don’t trust us, Pete, they see us as their fucking enemies. They are wondering what we are going to do to them.’

Peter smiled. ‘Exactly. And we can work with them. They’ll work with whoever is running the show, Dan. We can use this as our chance to recruit more of the real workers. We already have the bully boys and the fucking romancers. What we should be concentrating on is the real earners. And we should be making sure that they are working for us. They don’t give a shit who they answer to as long as they still get their money. We were the same, Dan – if you remember, we worked with whoever guaranteed us a wage. Now, I know you have a fucking problem with Alfie, but you have problems with everyone, and I want Alfie on our payroll. He’s a shrewd fucker, and he can sniff out a serious earn in his sleep. People like him are few and far between.’

Daniel knew his brother was talking sense. But Alfie had never been a favourite of his. He looked down his nose at everyone around him.

Ultimately, though, Daniel had a different agenda to Peter. Daniel had always seen their eventual rise to the top as an opportunity to pay back old debts, insults, fucking piss-takes and, more to the point, he had seen himself paying them all back in a public arena, had pictured himself taking out certain men in front of audiences of his choice. He was well aware that his penchant for petty anger and his ability to hold a grudge was not conducive to the world his brother wanted them to inhabit. He should not let things bother him as much as they did, but that was his nature.