‘Are you sure about that, Torvic? Your sweet, innocent little granddaughter, a law-abiding citizen who wouldn’t hurt a fly? ’Cos, I know different. She threw acid on a woman. She destroyed her pretty face.’

Torvic gasped. ‘No. That wasn’t her, that was me. She didn’t do it!’

Zara laughed. ‘Oh, fuck off, Torvic. Mike told me about the police report, a woman fitting your granddaughter’s description, who poured acid over that innocent woman’s face.’ She sneered. ‘Accept it: you taught her everything she knows.’

‘No, I swear. She’s not like that. She’s a kid. Look at her, for Christ’s sake.’

Zara turned and faced the young woman. ‘Hmm, she looks over twenty-one to me, which, to my eye, makes her a woman, doesn’t it? Like me, eh?’

Torvic shook his head. ‘No, she’s not like you. Please, she’s . . . ’

Zara laughed. ‘Yeah, I know, she’s how my father saw me, his precious child. But, hey-ho, life’s a fucking bitch, and then you die.’

‘What do you want from me?’

Lance was now growling under his breath like a vicious dog. ‘Enough, Zara. I’m gonna kill ’em!’

Mike pulled him back. ‘Hang on, Lance. I have as much right as you.’

Lance turned and faced Mike dead on. He poked his finger in Mike’s chest. ‘Don’t you fucking tell me you have as much right as me. Remember this: your son survived, but my daughter didn’t, did she?’

Torvic was watching, praying that a fight ensued between the two most prominent men in the room. It was his only chance of fucking up Zara’s plans.

Mike stepped back and hung his head. ‘Ya know what? You’re right, mate. I’m sorry, buddy, really sorry.’

Mike’s altered stance, the change in his body language, and especially his soft, compassionate words produced the desired effect. Lance backed off.

Alastair, as cold and emotionless as he was, was unnerved by seeing his niece in fear for her life and by the mess Mike had made of Dez. It was a salutary moment; it was time to take stock of his situation – his life. For once, he didn’t feel invincible. Life had been good to him. He knew his exceptional looks, smart clothes, and the way he spoke, set him miles apart from the double life he’d led. Now he realized that things looked decidedly ugly for him.