‘I’m OK. I couldn’t sleep, though. Come and sit ’ere and I’ll show you some old photos of the boys.’

Gina sat down next to Ed. She had only met Paulie and Ronny once and that had been the night in the restaurant, when Eddie had just come out of prison and introduced her to his entire family.

‘Is that you?’ Gina asked, nudging him.

Ed nodded. The photo had been taken at his Auntie Joanie’s house. He was sitting on her gate in a pair of grey shorts and Ronny and Paulie were standing behind him, all suited and booted. ‘I used to really look up to ’em when I was a kid, you know. I thought they were the bollocks,’ Eddie said sadly.

Gina laid her head on his shoulder. She knew how difficult today was going to be for Ed, and for once she had no words of comfort for him. ‘I’m gonna cook us a nice breakfast. I think a fry-up’s in order today, considering you’re going to be boozing later. You can’t drink on an empty stomach, you know.’

When Gina left the room, Ed continued flicking through the photo album. He had three trustworthy pals in Belmarsh, Ginger Mick, Lee Adams and Scouse Lenny, but so far none of them could find out who had murdered Ronny and Paulie.

‘We’re positive it was nought to do with any of O’Hara’s cronies. We were watching ’em and none of them could have got near that nonces’ wing, so chances are your brothers were killed by someone off our radar,’ Ginger Mick relayed via messenger yesterday.

Eddie wasn’t quite as convinced. As far as he knew, nobody else in Belmarsh had it in for Ronny and Paulie, therefore he still had to live with the thought that he had paid for his own brothers to be murdered. The guilt of that was overwhelming, but what was pissing Ed off more was he’d underestimated Jimmy O’Hara. To get to Ronny and Paulie in the nonces’ wing meant the pikey piece of shit was a lot cleverer than Ed would ever have given him credit for.

Slamming the photo album shut, Eddie put his head in his hands. He’d already got a few outsiders on the case and he was determined to find out who his brothers’ killer was. Looking up, he stared at the large photograph of his father on the wall and spoke in a whisper so Gina couldn’t hear him.

‘I’m sorry, Dad, I did the best I could and I really thought Ronny and Paulie would be safe. But don’t you worry, I shall find out who did this and when I do, they’re dead, I promise you that faithfully.’