“No.” He frowns.

“How about some fresh air?” I suggest and his eyes widen.

“I don’t feel like going outside.” Oh shit, how insensitive am I?

“I’m sorry.” God I feel like crap, why can’t I just care for the boy?

“Where’s mummy?” I hear Lorena from the front room.

Carl looks down at the floor. I can’t imagine what’s going through his little head. Carl then looks back up to me and the expression on his face has a sob catching in my throat. “Why did those men do that?”

How can I possibly answer any of his questions? I take Carl’s hand and lead him into the kitchen. I sit him at the table and make him a hot chocolate. Baby walks in and joins us.

“Hey Carl.” He stands next to him. “You doing ok?”

I cringe at his question. Carl just nods and Baby walks to me, shaking his head and looking frustrated.

“Why did I fucking ask him that?” He growls.

“Don’t blame yourself, it’s a tough situation.” I pour the hot water into a hot mug and mix the coco powder.

“That a hot chocolate?” He asks.

“Yes, I’m guessing you want one?” I smile and Baby grins wides at me. “Fine.”

I get him a cup out and myself and before I continue I ask Lauren as well, thankfully she says no and so do Lorena and Travis. Baby watches me while I make them like an excited child.

“It’s terrible.” I whisper to him and he nods looking over to Carl.

“I know, I’m just glad we got there when we did.” Baby rakes a hand through his hair. It’s lighter than Devlin’s and just a little bit longer.

“Were there a lot?” I ask, stopping what I’m doing.

Baby looks me over, thinking about what to tell me. “Yeah, about twenty guys. The funny thing is, half of them weren’t even doing anything. It was like they were waiting for us to come and Strike wasn’t even there.”

I frown as I apply marshmallows into the cups. “That’s odd.”

Deciding not to talk about it anymore, I take Carls cup over to him with mine and sit beside him. He looks to the cup, but doesn’t look interested at all. I just don’t know what to do for him. I feel so helpless.

Out of nowhere, as Baby and I carefully sip on out hot cups of chocolate, Carl begins to tell me quietly what he saw. It’s almost as if he doesn’t want to talk, but knows that he needs to. Carl’s young but Marie always said he was a smart kid.

From what he tells me they were all having breakfast when the shots started. They began to sneak outside because they thought they were only in the front. Spliff tried his best to fight them off while Travis rang Franky. Trying to help his dad, fifteen year old Travis helped while Carl and Lorena ran outside with Marie, but they were met with men who had snuck to the back garden. Marie quickly turned around, guiding the children back inside. When they reached the door Carl explained that his Mums body was covered in blood, even her mouth was dripping with it and instead of coming back into the house, she grabbed one of Spliff’s gun and ran towards The Devils, shooting them as they did her.

As horrible as it is, when he’s older Carl will recognise what a strong woman his mother was. That was an amazing thing to do for your children. Carl begins to cry and I have to hold back my tears as hold him tightly. No twelve year old should have to experience that. This shit has to end now! I won’t let anyone else get hurt by these men, no more families will be destroyed.

I hold Carl close and look over at Baby, he too has tears in his eyes as he looks at the boy in my arms. He eventually drinks his hot chocolate and we decided to join the others in the front room. Lorena had picked a Disney movie, but it looks as if she’s falling to sleep in Lauren’s lap. Travis is sat in the chair, looking tense. I bet if anyone walked through the front door, he would be up and ready to protect his younger siblings.

Carl sits beside me when I sit on the sofa beside Lauren. She grabs my hand and squeezes. I’m glad I have her with me.

“Where’s Scrap?” Baby asks.

“Checking outside.” Is all Lauren says.

“You wanna check out the house with me Travis?” Baby asks and straight away Travis stands.

“Yeah sure.” I’ll bet he will do just about anything right now if he thinks it will protect his family.

Carl is silent and I look down to see him sleeping. Poor little guy. I dread to think what he will dream about.

The sound of running feet bounding down the stairs makes me tense. I look down to check if Carl has woken from the noise, but he’s still fast asleep and so is Lorena. Poor guys are wiped out from all their tears. Baby and Travis come into the living room, their eyes full of panic.

“Go and fetch Scrappy.” Baby orders Travis.

“Baby?” I ask.

He gets out his phone, giving me a sympathetic look. Whatever has happened while they were upstairs, he has to report to Grim first and I guess I will have to listen in. Really, he should be calling Franky, but I suppose because this looks like it has to do with Lauren, he thinks telling Grim first is the right way to go.

“Grim, you need to get your ass home now.” Baby talks quickly, the urgency in his voice very clear. “We’ve found something in your bedroom and Natasha’s.”

Baby takes a deep breath as he looks down at his phone, I’m guessing Grim hung up and is racing over here. I hope Devlin is coming with him because after hearing that I need him. Baby then calls his dad, to let him know. He gives the same information as he did with Grim but a little more because Franky doesn’t hang up.

“Someone has obviously been in their rooms but the rest of the house is untouched. I’m guessing Strike arranged the shooting at Spliffs’ to drive us out of here, knowing the girls would stay at the house. Luckily for us, they didn’t listen to what Grim had to say and followed us.” Baby doesn’t have to say anything else, if we stayed at the house then Strike would have gotten to us and we wouldn’t be here right now. We would be kept prisoner somewhere away from our family.

As Baby talks with Franky, Scrappy returned and bounded straight upstairs. Travis had obviously told him outside. He soon returns and stands right by me and Lauren, he kisses both of our heads before calling around to make sure Drew and especially Elise, have men around to protect them.

So Baby had guessed right when we spoke in the kitchen. Strike had arranged the shooting that killed a friend of mine, all so he could drive as many Kings men to the house so he could get to Lauren and me. I look across to Lauren and know that after she heard Baby say those words to Franky, she’s probably thinking the same thing.

Thanks to Strike, Marie is now dead and Carl, Lorena and Travis have no mother. A heavy feeling of guilt pulls at me because as well as feeling at fault for Strike hurting our friends to get to us, I keep thinking that I’m so thankful for not listening to the guys and deciding to follow them.

Very soon, we hear the loud rumble of bikes and Devlin and Grim come pounding through door. Lauren and I carefully move from under the kids so as not to wake them because seeing Devlin, I just want him to hold me.

When I check that Carl is still sleeping, I turn around so I can run towards Devlin but I see that there’s no need. Devlin is right in front of me, his large arms surrounding me and pulling me in close. I melt against him, loving his soothing heat and I’m not surprised when I begin to cry.

“What’s in my bedroom?” I dare to ask him in a whisper.

“I don’t know.” His voice vibrates against me.

I go to sit back down with Carl and Lorena as Devlin and Grim go upstairs with some of the others to check out what exactly Baby found in the bedrooms. I hear a lot of noise and shouting about fifty seconds after they’re out of sight. Whatever it is, they’re not happy about it and when Devlin come running down and grabs me again, I know he’s as scared as I am.