The restaurants were her idea and one that had impressed her father the most. Supplying the upper-class cocaine addicts with their weekly fix, all under the guise of a restaurant, it was a win-win for all concerned. She had taken the initiative to buy the businesses and allow the Italians to run it rent-free as long as they kept up the sales of the cocaine. It had suited Izzy and the tenants. She ground her teeth when she thought about some threatening gang taking over. So far, they hadn’t actually managed to force their way in. They’d only had success in frightening the managers to close the operation down. Yet she wasn’t going to stand for it, not while her name was on the deeds, and if whoever was running this bunch of thugs wanted to argue the point, then she was all up for a war. In fact, when she and Davey were discussing the matter a while ago, she’d said to him, ‘Bring it on!’

The outside sensor light suddenly came on, and she looked out of the kitchen window to see Davey and Shamus helping Neil out of the car. Behind their vehicle was another and Zara recognized the three other men who had been present at the meeting in her father’s house. She felt safe now she had her firm with her.

Neil was the first through the door; he still looked a little weak, but his wide smile offset that. Instantly, he put his arms out to hug Zara. He was fond of her, and the years they had worked closely together had bonded them.

As he hugged her tight, he whispered, ‘You look good, Zara. I missed you so much.’

Davey watched his son kiss her cheek and grinned to himself. She would have made the perfect daughter-in-law. He always knew his son had a soft spot for Zara, and if she hadn’t promised to wait for Mike while he served his time, then she may well have ended up with Neil.

‘Right, now I’m back on my feet and have my sidekick with me’ – he put his arm around her shoulders – ‘we can get down to business.’

Shamus coughed. ‘Neil, while you were making out with all those nurses, we already got down to business.’

Neil sighed. ‘Yeah, I know, but I’ve been thinking. First, let me summarize what we agreed about this plan of yours, Zara. You want us to reopen, pretend nothing is wrong, and then wait for the bastards to show up. Once they arrive, we agreed we’d nab them and take them out of the picture and hope that things will go back to normal.’ He stopped and shook his head. ‘But, realistically, guys, that ain’t ever going to happen, is it?’ His voice turned from upbeat and jovial to severe and stern.