RONAN BLACKWELL

"Is there something I should know, Blackwell?"

I stared at Victor Marlowe, and for a moment, I wanted to smile. If he knew what I wanted to do to him, that condescending look would disappear from his face. But I had learnt to bide my time. For a former street rat like me, nothing worth having had ever come easily, and you didn't waste what you'd fought so hard to earn by spending it all at once.

Street rat. Victor Marlowe's favourite name for me back then, always delivered with that same contemptuous smile, as though reminding me where I'd come from would ensure I never forgot my...