Jake nodded. ‘Oh, God, yes. I can’t put up with her family’s cooking, not at Christmas. We’ll be here, no fear.’ The thought of Sharon or any member of her family cooking Christmas dinner sent shivers down Jake’s spine.

The next few weeks seemed to go by quickly. The Christmas trees were all up and decorated, and each place had a different colour theme. The trees inside the casino were nearly twelve-feet high and decorated in black and gold, plus there were two small ones outside the main doors to give it that festive feel.

The men’s club had a traditional pine tree in the reception area, which Mathers took charge of. It looked like something out of the Victorian age. Ashley had had to remind Sharon that he wanted one for the entertainments room. He seemed to use that as his own little club. That one was much more outlandish!

The trees at the club were black and pink, and all in all they looked splendid and very festive. Neon lights had been put up outside, wishing everyone a merry Christmas. All that helped put everyone in the Christmas spirit and they wanted to dance the night away to the same old Christmas songs everyone loved. Sharon had even put the strippers in red leotards trimmed with white fur.

A lot of trouble had gone into promoting Christmas, and now they were going to sit back and watch the profits roll in.

‘Where are you off to?’ asked Tony. He put his coffee mug down and rubbed his eyes. He had been looking at figures all day and his eyes were bleary. He reached over for his enormous ledger diary and flicked through the pages. ‘We have nothing in the diary.’

‘I’ve got to do a bit of shopping later, then I have to go to Sharon’s sister’s party this evening,’ Jake said. ‘Grim, I know, but that’s married life. I’ll see you in the morning.’ He put his jacket on.

‘That’s later; where are you going now?’

‘I’m just going for a chat with a publican, nothing to bother you with and no heavy stuff. Just a chat, that’s all,’ said Jake. The man’s protection payment was short; Jake wanted to go and find out why.

‘A chat? Who with, Jake, what’s wrong?’

Tony listened as Jake explained that the problem had been brought to his attention by one of the collectors. This particular publican was someone they had known for a long while and he had always paid up, in full and on time. Jake wanted to find out what was wrong now, and why he couldn’t pay, preferably without Tony interfering.

‘I’ll go,’ said Tony. ‘You have to go to the party with Sharon. Let’s face it, Jake, you can’t arrive late or let her go on her own, she’ll have your guts for garters. She doesn’t ask much. I’ll go and see if he’s having money problems. Anyway, I haven’t seen him for a while and I don’t want him forgetting me, now, do I?’