Jimmy grinned as Bobby handed him a padded brown envelope. It was the five grand deposit he’d put down to kill Paulie and Ronny Mitchell.

‘I’ve gotta go now, Jim, my Mary’s sitting outside in the motor waiting for me. Do you wanna check it’s all there?’

‘Nah, I trust ya, mush,’ Jimmy said, shaking Bobby’s hand.

When Bobby left the pub, Jimmy put his hand inside the envelope. The money was in bundles of a thousand and Jimmy handed Jed two. ‘Treat yourself and them chavvies to something nice,’ he said generously.

‘You sure?’

Jimmy O’Hara nodded. That mug Eddie Mitchell had given him thirty grand to sanction the murders of his own brothers. Jimmy’s contact hadn’t been able to get near the bastards, but some other fucker had, and Jimmy was now thirty grand better off, thanks to steady Eddie.

‘Thanks for that, Dad,’ Jed said gratefully, pocketing the wonga.

Jimmy O’Hara burst out laughing. ‘Don’t thank me – thank that cunt, Mitchell.’

The following day a sheepish-looking Stanley sat down awkwardly opposite Joey and Dominic.

‘Hello, little doggy,’ Stanley said in a silly voice as he patted Madonna on the head.

Sensing Stanley’s embarrassment, Dominic diplomatically stood up. ‘I need to ring my mum and find out how my nan is, so I’ll take Madonna for a little walk,’ he said.

‘So, what’s the story then, Grandad? Sick of the old tart already, are you?’ Joey asked in a brutal tone.

Stanley’s eyes immediately welled up. ‘I’ve made a terrible mistake, boy. I should never have left your nan. I miss her dreadfully.’

‘Bit late for regrets now, isn’t it? Joey replied bluntly. His grandad deserved to suffer for what he’d put his nan through and he was determined not to make this conversation easy for him, no matter how much he grovelled.

‘Do you honestly think it’s too late, Joey? Can’t you have a word with your nan? Tell her how sorry I am. I was so annoyed with her for seeing your dad behind my back that I just sort of flipped. I would have stayed with Jock, but I fell out with him over it an’ all, didn’t I?’

‘Don’t blame Nan for seeing Dad behind your back. Until you’ve got all that anger and hatred about Dad out of your system, you’re never gonna be close to any of us ever again, including me nan. My dad is a good bloke and everybody knows what happened to Mum was an accident, so why can’t you see it? As for me speaking to Nan on your behalf, I’m not doing anything for you until you tell me the truth. What’s happened? Something’s gone pear-shaped with that old slapper you’ve been living with and I want to know what it is.’