Alfie was aware that the boy made him vulnerable; he now had someone in his life who he cared for more than he did himself. He also found that he cared for Annette – something he had not expected. She was nineteen years old and a born mother, a great little mum, in fact. She was only interested in his boy and him. Thick as shit she might be, but she knew where her priorities lay. He respected that, and there was no way his boy would ever be outside of his orbit. Annette was his now, and she would never be able to walk away from him. He would see her dead first.

He was a good businessman; he could turn a profit easily, and with the minimum of fuss. If he had been born into a different class he would have been a well-heeled legitimate businessman instead of a rich criminal one. He dreamed of the day he could school his son in the intricacies of ducking and diving. People came to him when they wanted to invest money and make a profit; Alfie knew every scam that was going at any given time. He also collected money for the people who had a good scam and needed investors. It was a win–win situation for all involved. But he had a bad habit of keeping a higher percentage for himself than originally negotiated. Especially when it concerned the Northerners. He hated them – it was a gut reaction. He had a cockney disregard for anyone north of the Watford Gap and he had made his feelings plain. Those choice remarks and his jokes at their expense were coming home to roost. He had seen them as cash cows; they got a good deal, but he squeezed them, and they knew it and, because he had the edge where investments were concerned, he let them know he was squeezing them. He was a broker and, like all good brokers, he knew his own worth.

He had a new deal coming up and he was going to give it to the Baileys, just them, and he knew they would fall on it like a junkie on a needle. It was easy money, with little or no risk; all they had to do was put up the finance. It was so sweet he knew it was a winner. Consequently, Alfie was feeling very confident as he waited for them to arrive.