The previous landlord had been hastily told to leave the pub after pocketing a lot of the takings. After being given notice, the terms were that he was to stay for a week until they were settled in and the brewery would refrain from bringing the police into the matter, if he left quietly. By the looks of it he’d totally ransacked the place and done a moonlight flit. Well, Alex mused to himself as he rolled up his shirt sleeves, he’d left quietly all right. Like a thief in the night.

‘Dad, the boiler is flashing a number, and there isn’t any hot water.’

Alex turned and raised his eyebrows at his son. ‘What? Do you mean there’s a sink and taps in the bathroom? Bloody hell, Dante, that’s a nice surprise. I thought you were going to tell me you had to have a shit in a bucket.’ Alex laughed. ‘Come on son, let’s have a look.’

Dante laughed. ‘Don’t say shit, Dad, Mum doesn’t like it. You know what she’s like.’

‘Especially now we’re in Sevenoaks. We’re all going to have to watch our P’s and Q’s… Very lah-di-dah.’

Dante looked up at his father, a flash of concern crossing his face. ‘We are going to stay here, aren’t we Dad?’

Alex looked at his fourteen-year-old son and ran his hand through his black hair. For a young boy he’d already had a lot to cope with. His life had been turned upside down over the last few months and seeing the worried look on Dante’s face, he felt the guilt wash over him. It was all his own doing that his family were living like this and Alex felt suddenly very guilty. ‘There’s nothing that a bit of time won’t help, plus a lick of paint. As for the rest, that’s for the brewery to sort out and then we will be publicans with jobs, a home and a family life – and a kitchen sink!’

A big grin crossed Dante’s face. ‘I thought the saying was everything but the kitchen sink!’

‘Yeah, well, they hadn’t met the previous landlord when they made that saying up, had they? Come on, first job, let’s sort out the boiler, then let’s get the beds up. Where’s your mum got to?’

Just then Maggie joined them, holding her mobile phone in her hand.

‘Well, that’s sorted boys. I’ve just spoken to the brewery and someone is coming to sort out the damage. Although they didn’t sound too surprised when I told them what had happened.’ Maggie looked at the state of the mess around them and sighed. ‘Where’s Deana?’

Dante shrugged his shoulders as he watched his father turn different buttons on the boiler and watched the arrow on the pressure gauge rise. ‘There you go son, give it an hour and we’ll have hot water at least.’

Looking up at Maggie, Alex grinned. ‘Deana’s sat in the car sulking. It’s her age, sixteen with attitude. Let her get on with it, she’ll come in when she’s hungry and thirsty.’ Walking up to them both, Alex put his arms around their shoulders. ‘Time for a group hug. We don’t need to open up for a month, and that’s more than enough time to get sorted. Fuck, if the worst comes to the worst, I will go and buy a sink myself and fit it. I’m not totally useless, you know,’ Alex laughed, trying to bring some humour into the situation.

The banging and crashing of the removal men upstairs reminded them both that it was time to get sorted out. Then Deana popped her head around the door with her arms folded.

‘God, this place is a dump. What’s the point of moving in when we’ll only be moving again soon?’ she said sulkily.

‘If you get your act together madam, we won’t be moving again. I for one don’t intend to.’ Maggie glared defiantly at her husband. They both knew what she meant, but there was no point in talking about it, it was all they’d done for the last few months. Everyone had their skeletons in their cupboards; it just seemed they had more skeletons than most.

‘Deana, you can make the beds, your dad can sort out the television and electrics and you, Dante, can help bring in some of those boxes. These removal men are paid by the hour – so move!’

Deana turned and stomped up the staircase, loudly banging her feet as she did. Maggie rolled her eyes to the ceiling and shook her head. Kids, who would have them?

Just then, Alex spotted two men in suits walking toward them. Instantly, his hackles were up and he was prepared for a fight. Looking around the kitchen area quickly, he spotted a carving knife in one of the boxes and reached for it. ‘Who are you?’ he asked suspiciously.

‘Brewery. Your wife called us.’ The two men looked at the mayhem surrounding them and instantly they started making notes. Alex felt the stress leave him and put the knife back down. ‘Let me show you the rest, gentlemen. Believe me, it’s not pretty.’ Alex led the way while the two men from the brewery spoke in hushed whispers with their heads locked together.

Making herself scarce, Maggie went upstairs to help Deana and hastily pulled the duvets over the beds. ‘That will do for now. All our clothing is in vacuum bags so for now, they can stay there. That’s tomorrow’s job. Thank God these floors are laminated. At least we don’t have to wait until the whole place is carpeted, because I don’t fancy moving those bloody wardrobes again.’

‘Why is most of this stuff second hand? Couldn’t they buy us new stuff, Mum?’

‘The police budget only goes so far and when we start making a proper wage we can replace it, but for now it will do.’

‘You mean they don’t want to pay for new stuff when we’re always on the move. I hated that military base, it felt like a prison camp.’ She sighed.

‘Hush now Deana, the removal men have big ears. Let’s make the most of it, shall we? It’s a chance, which is better than any of the other options. Your dad has stuck his neck out here. We’re on the run from the gang lords, Deana, you know that. The police owe us nothing, other than a watchful eye in return for answers to their questions. We’ve opted out of witness protection to be able to walk in the sunlight again as ourselves. I don’t know what fate has in store for us but, we all agreed this was the right thing to do, remember?’ Maggie paused. They were all tired of looking over their shoulders in fear. Which was why Alex had given them all a choice. If they opted out of the witness programme, they’d be taking their chances, but they’d be able to live a normal life for as long as possible. If they stayed in the protection programme, they would still be hiding away at an ex-military barracks surrounded by detectives. There was no privacy. No days out like they were used to. Alex had always known he could be facing time in prison or death, bit his wife and children were serving his sentence alongside him, and he hated that. Anxiety and depression were creeping into their family. They didn’t recognise each other any more. That was not freedom. It was hell!

‘Nobody owes us anything, Deana. We’ve got to work for what we want and rebuild our lives. We can do this; it will take time but, we can do it.’

‘I know Mum, but look at some of this stuff, it’s scratched or broken. It’s all from charity shops. When I think of how we lived and the things we had. We were rich, Mum…’ Tears brimmed on Deana’s lashes, and she brushed them away with her sleeve.

‘They’re just things, Deana! Are you really that shallow?’ Maggie snapped. ‘We’ve been provided with a home and a job. What we make of it is up to us, but it will be honestly earnt. You’ve already lived a life some people only dream of. Now you have a chance at another life. What little we have we should be grateful for and in time we will replace this lot with new stuff. It’s better than we’ve been used to lately.’

‘I know, it’s just that…’ Deana stopped speaking as one of the removal men popped his head through the door and asked Maggie which room she wanted the dressing table in. As she followed him out of the room, she turned to Deana and put her fingers to her lips to stop her saying any more.

After what seemed like an age, they heard Alex laughing and joking and waving off the brewery men. As Maggie went downstairs, she was surprised at Alex’s high spirits and, more to the point, intrigued at what the brewery men had decided.

‘They are going to replace the lot.’ Alex took Maggie’s hands in his and admired her. ‘It seems like an age since I’ve looked at you properly, Maggie; I suppose life has just got in the way.’ Her blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and noticing a wisp of hair that had escaped and fallen down her face, he reached out and put it behind her ear. Although only in her late thirties, these days she looked older with dark rings under her eyes. Alex knew he had caused the worry lines on her face and yet she had been his rock throughout.

Her waist looked even slimmer than usual in her tight jeans and her blue vest top showed just enough cleavage to cause a stirring within him. ‘I love you, Maggie Silva.’ Pulling her towards him, he put his arms around her waist and kissed her on the lips. Instantly Maggie’s arms went around his neck.

‘You need a shave, my Portuguese prince.’ She rubbed his dark stubble on his chin and looked lovingly at him. ‘This could be a fresh start for us Alex. Fingers crossed all goes well, but I’ve got a good feeling about this place.’

Looking around, Alex shrugged. ‘Well, you’re the only person who does – look at it!’ Alex looked at where they were standing, the space around them full of boxes and chaos. ‘Sorry about all this, Maggie. You’ve had a lot to put up with lately and you just accept whatever is thrown at you.’ Kissing her again, he squeezed her tightly around the waist.

‘You’re my skunk, Alex Silva. I’d follow your scent anywhere.’ Maggie laughed.

One of the removal men made his presence known by coughing to attract their attention. ‘We’re off now, Mrs Silva. We just need you to sign this document and we’re all done.’ Waving his clipboard in the air with one hand, he walked up to them both. Quickly signing her name, Maggie reached into the back pocket of her jeans and handed them a twenty-pound note. ‘Thanks boys, we appreciate your help.’

The removal man quickly snatched it out of her hand before she changed her mind. ‘Thanks missus.’ Then to Alex, he said, ‘Good luck, Mr Silva,’ before heading out of the door.

A broad grin crossed Alex’s face. Clapping his hands together to brighten the mood, he turned to his wife again. ‘Tell you what, I’ll find a local chippy and get us some food. I wouldn’t bother unpacking any more boxes than you need to tonight. Let’s just settle in, eh, and see what the brewery has to say tomorrow? I’ll also let the local police station know we’ve arrived…’

Maggie nodded. She felt determined to make this work, no matter what. ‘That sounds like a plan. Now, go and get some chips and bring some bread and butter back. Tonight, I feel like feasting and ditching the diet.’ She laughed and pinched Alex’s cheek.

Over the next couple of days their lives were full of an army of workmen traipsing in and out. Much to Maggie’s delight, the kitchen was being ripped out and new cabinets replaced the old ones. The long-awaited sink was fitted, which caused a huge smile to spread across Maggie’s face. She promptly turned on one of the taps excitedly. ‘Running water and a sink, Alex. Goodness me, you know how to turn a girl’s head!’

‘I hope that’s not the only thing of mine that turns your head Maggie, but if it makes you happy, that’s okay with me.’ He laughed and gently patted her bottom.

Maggie looked around as their new home slowly began to take shape. ‘This is a lovely little village Alex, and we are the new hosts of the village pub. The streets are clean, and the people around here seem to take pride in where they live. It’s so different to London – this is suburbia at its finest.’

‘Yeah, well, sometimes you can hide better in public than you can anywhere else. It doesn’t matter where we go, there’s a bounty on our heads and we have to live with it… or I do at least,’ Alex said bitterly.

‘Don’t piss on my parade. We’re in this together – all of us. We’re a family. And I’m excited with the place. Me and the kids have had a walk around and people already know we’re the new publicans. Word has spread. When they see me, they say good morning and that’s enough for me.’

‘It all sounds a bit Stepford Wives to me,’ Alex said. ‘But I don’t need to warn you about being careful; you know the score and so do the kids.’

‘Of course I do. And you’d better make the most of your Stepford Wives’ scenario and blend in, because that’s the only way to survive this!’

Alex held his hands up in submission. ‘Whoa Maggie, I wasn’t criticising. It’s a lovely little place and we can earn a living here and build a life – hopefully. I was just saying…’ Alex trailed off. For the first time in a long time, that old familiar smile had appeared on Maggie’s face. She wanted this badly and he was happy to go along with it. How could he deny her, when she had stood by him so vehemently?

A fleeting thought passed through Alex’s mind. His memories seemed like a distant dream. He had once been up there with the Portuguese and Spanish gangland bosses, respected and feared as their right-hand man and a boss in his own right. He’s given out orders and money had never been an issue. He’d worn Armani suits, Rolex watches and had had an almost celebrity status. His children had gone to private schools.

Looking back, Alex had never realised how suffocating it had all been. Whatever you did, you did together. There were no outsiders, and sadly, Maggie hadn’t been able to choose her own friends. The other gangland wives had become her friends and eventually, she had lost touch with her old acquaintances.