Joey and Dominic were still barely on speaking terms. Dom was furious that Joey had sort of threatened him with his father and, not for the first time in his life, wondered what sort of family he’d got himself involved with.

‘Are you OK?’ Joey asked softly. His boyfriend’s hands were visibly shaking and Joey felt terribly guilty for involving him, but he couldn’t drive himself, so had had little choice.

‘Yeah, I’m fucking fantastic,’ Dominic replied, his voice full of sarcasm.

Joey glanced at his watch. His dad had told him to park by the bit of the garage where you put air in the tyres.

‘Tell the cashier that you’ve got a puncture if he or she looks at you strange. Let ’em know you’re waiting for someone who’s bringing a spare and then we’ll reverse up to you, get the kids out the back and shoot off. Give it a couple of minutes then you drive off,’ were his dad’s exact instructions.

‘I wonder what will happen if the O’Haras pull in here as well,’ Joey said nervously.

Dominic glared at his partner. ‘Shame you never brought the gun with you. We could have shot them and got ourselves locked up for twenty years. It might not sound like much fun, but I’m sure it would have been better than us getting killed, which is what will probably happen now. Never again will I let you talk me into anything like this, Joey, and I mean never!’

‘Right, ’ere goes, lads,’ Raymond shouted as he swerved onto the garage forecourt at high speed. Breathing a sigh of relief as Jimmy’s Shogun drove past, Raymond swung the van around and reversed up to Dominic’s motor. Eddie jumped out of the front, opened the back doors and urged Gary and Ricky to get the kids out double quick.

‘Why are they tied up?’ Joey asked, horrified.

‘Because they tried to do a runner earlier. Just get ’em home and untie ’em there. Do not let them out of your sight for one minute, OK?’

Joey nodded and jumped in the back with the kids. ‘Wait until my dad pulls away, then drive off a minute or so later,’ he told Dom.

Appalled that both children had their hands tied up, Dominic shook his head in disbelief. If the cashier had clocked them and written down his number plate, the police would be hunting for him, thinking he was a dangerous paedophile on the loose.

Joey smiled lovingly at both of the children as he digested their appearances. Georgie resembled Frankie, but looked a lot older than he expected. As for Harry, he was unrecognisable.

‘Hello, I’m your Uncle Joey. Your Mummy’s going to be so pleased to see you,’ Joey said, his eyes welling up with emotion.