Stuart stood up. He was furious with Frankie for burdening him with her knowledge. How was he meant to keep schtum to Eddie about this?

Frankie clocked the look of disappointment on Stuart’s face and threw her arms around his neck. ‘Please don’t go, Stu. Stay ’ere with me.’

‘I need to carry out your dad’s orders, Frankie,’ Stuart said, loosening her grip from around his neck.

Worried that if Stuart left, she might never see him again, Frankie looked at him in a totally different light. He’d always been a great mate, a rock who offered a strong shoulder to cry on, but realising his life might now be in danger brought Frankie’s true feelings bubbling to the surface. For the first time ever, she admitted to herself how handsome Stuart was, how when he held her in his arms his touch made her feel safe and womanly. Jed had destroyed her faith in men, but Stuart wasn’t Jed. He was the total opposite of her ex and, as Frankie let her barrier slip, she realised just how much she loved him. With no time left to mess around, Frankie grabbed Stuart by the arm.

‘Do you love me?’ she asked him bluntly.

‘You know I love you. I wouldn’t bleedin’ come and visit you every day if I didn’t,’ Stuart replied.

‘I don’t mean a friendship kind of love. I mean, are you in love with me, as in, do you want to be with me?’

Unable to look Frankie in the eye in case his answer repulsed her, Stuart stared at his feet. ‘Yeah, I am in love with you, Frankie, and I do wanna be with you.’

Frankie punched him gently in the chest. ‘Why didn’t I wake up and smell the coffee earlier? We’ve wasted so much time.’

Stuart looked at her in amazement. Was she trying to tell him that she felt the same way? ‘What you trying to say, Frankie?’

‘I’m trying to tell you that I love you as well, you dickhead.’

Aware that Frankie was crying yet again, Stuart held her in his arms. ‘Why didn’t you let me know how you felt? You never acted like you wanted to know.’

‘Because I brainwashed myself that all men were like Jed and I also didn’t think you’d be interested. I lived with a pikey who just happened to kill my grandad. My mum’s dead because of me and so are my uncles. I’ve got three gypsy kids, two who seem to be uncontrollable. What decent man would want me, eh?’

Stuart held her tearful face in his hands. ‘Frankie, none of those deaths or anything that happened was your fault. The feud that your dad, grandad and uncles were part of with the O’Haras started long before you ever entered this world. You never caused it, babe, you’re the victim of it.’