Arm’s length lover

Flaherty had to be careful. He was married to a quite formidable Irishwoman, Mary, with some pretty unpleasant connections of her own... her own family, vicious thugs... but Catholic ones, who publicly took a dim view of adultery. There would be no chance of Flaherty actually living openly with Nicole. She had a flat of her own in Basildon, far enough away to be out of Mary and her family’s sight, and away from Flaherty’s operation centre in Limehouse.

The word was he could see her weekdays, but that he had to be a family man at weekends. Or else!