Davey looked at his older brother and held his arms out in a gesture of bewilderment; he wasn’t sure what this was about really. It seemed so over the top.

Danny Junior sighed and said quietly, ‘He loves a fucking audience, so get used to it.’ It wasn’t the first time he’d seen his father out of control. ‘Uncle Peter is going to go fucking mad when he finds out. He’s already warned him about making scenes like this.’

Davey shook his head in consternation. Surely his father was going too far now? He looked at the man on the ground. Lenny Jones was a good bloke, with a decent reputation, everyone knew that. He was a diamond geezer. Now he was lying on a cement floor, and he was suffering the humiliation of being beaten up and accused of all sorts. It was wrong. The boys, young as they were, knew it.

Lenny Jones was a hard man in his own right. He had felt he had enough creds to be approached calmly for the money he owed – not chased as if he was a fucking shank. He had the money, and he was willing to give it up, but he felt he should’ve been asked respectfully and privately. It was six grand, for fuck’s sake, not a fortune. He’d only needed it to tide him over until he could unlock his capital, which was his proceeds from a robbery that he had undertaken with the full knowledge of this man and his brother. He had assumed he would be treated with the same respect that he had shown the Baileys; he had requested permission to knock off a bank on their turf, had negotiated the six grand up front, and had happily agreed to their terms and conditions if the loan was not paid back within the specified time. He had the money well in advance of the due date, so he had not expected this shit.

He deserved respect – he was not a fucking muppet. He still believed in the old-school values, in the old-style manners. He had done a ten stretch without a murmur, had kept his mouth shut, his head down and found it in his heart to be glad for his colleagues who had swerved that particular bullet. He had been in the game for a long time, and had a reputation for paying his bills. He had thought, wrongly as it turned out, that the Baileys would have given him the credit he was due.

Lenny realised he had seriously underestimated the whole situation. He’d forgotten that Daniel Bailey was an animal, a thug, a man who had no real regard for anyone or anything. He already had a bad rep because of his insistence on using violence at every available opportunity.