She could see her Daniel’s distress. She hated what Daniel had done, but in her drunken haze she couldn’t help blaming Peter. He should have monitored his brother, he should have looked after him. How could he not have known that Daniel was a few sandwiches short of the proverbial picnic?

She sipped her whisky, watching as Ria and Lena fussed over little Tania, and her grandsons laughed and joked with each other. At least they were still getting along. But what would the fallout from all this be? What would be the future of the Baileys? She sighed, wondering how the feck her sons had come to this, standing as far away from each other as possible, yet more aware of each other than either of them would ever care to admit.

Chapter Forty

Lena was lying in bed with her daughter, but she was unable to sleep. She didn’t know where Daniel was. Today had just proven how drastically wrong the situation between him and his brother was. They’d all tried to act like nothing was amiss, but the tension had been impossible to ignore.

She hugged Tania, felt the warmth of her child’s fragile body and knew that, no matter what happened in the future, she had to protect her little girl. She had to make sure she never knew the truth of her family’s lives. Lena was her daughter’s only real cushion against the Life, and she was more determined than ever that Tania would never have to be a part of it in any way. She was an innocent, and Lena would move heaven and earth if necessary to make sure she stayed that way. As her mother, it was all she could do. After all, if she didn’t protect Tania from the Life, who would?

Book Two

You lost the plot again, where you are now ain’t clear,

It’s a misty morning memory, the road that took you here

Alabama 3, ‘You Don’t Dance To Techno Anymore’
Album: Exile on Coldharbour Lane, 1997

Shoot me up

Every damn day with a hypo full of love

Alabama 3, ‘Hypo Full Of Love’
Album: Exile on Coldharbour Lane, 1997

We can’t wait, can’t hesitate, they’re picking the padlocks at the gate

Smell the violence, blind suckers on the side of silence

Are smiling, giving the eye

Alabama 3, ‘The Night We Nearly Got Busted’
Album: Exile on Coldharbour Lane, 1997

Chapter Forty-One

1987