‘Mike, what the fuck are ya on about? What’s going on inside that warped mind of yours?’

With a sinister glare still plastered across Mike’s face, he stepped forward. ‘You don’t like my boy, do ya?’

Eric flinched and stepped back.

‘I said, do ya?’ yelled Mike, now an inch away from Eric’s face.

‘Mike, seriously, ya don’t for a minute think . . . Oh my God, you can’t believe I would hurt Ricky? Christ, I love the boy. Why would I do that? That ain’t me. What’s got into you?’

With a sudden jolt back to reality, Mike dropped his shoulders and shook his head. ‘Oh fuck, I dunno,’ he sighed.

The sudden tension in the room subsided as Mike walked away. ‘Listen, Eric, I think you’d better leave. I’m very tired and I wanna be left alone.’

Eric now felt he had the upper hand. He could immediately tell Mike was feeling guilty for accusing him. ‘Hold on a minute. Don’t you fucking dare accuse me and then walk away. Who the fuck do you think you are, eh?’

That voice of Eric’s was really doing his head in. So much so that Mike spun around and shot his brother an evil look. ‘Don’t you fucking push it, Eric. If you’re gonna go around like a cagey cunt, then take the consequences. Your secrets will be irrelevant one day, but the fact that you have them won’t stop me from wondering if you’re really on me and our family’s side.’

‘I don’t have secrets. I’m just a private person.’

Mike rubbed his forehead and took a deep breath to stop his fist from clenching through frustration. ‘We don’t even know you anymore. You’re like a bleedin’ stranger that pops up and pretends you’re in the fold, when, in reality, to me, you smell like the enemy. Now, fuck off!’

Knowing how reckless Mike could be, Eric decided it was best that he left – intact – while he still could.

Mike slammed the door and clutched his head in exasperation. He had to calm down and think straight or he would never find out who’d hurt his son. Just as he was about to pour himself a stiff drink, his phone rang. It was Zara.

His pulse raced; of all the people, she was the one he wanted to speak to. ‘Hello, love. Look, can we meet? I really do need to speak to you.’

There was a pause. ‘Mike, I just need to know if your skanky wife grassed me to the Ol’ Bill?’