Well, that was one Christmas memory to cherish. He wondered to himself if he would ever have any more to look back on as fondly.

As he pondered, the telephone rang.

He picked it up. ‘Lambrianu’s.’

‘Tony, is that you, son? Ralph Gold. I have a free appointment in my diary. Let’s talk. We’ll discuss dates and times soon. Merry Christmas.’

When Tony put the phone down, he had a lot to think about. It was an interesting proposition; he’d need to talk things over with Jake. But first, there was that damn party to go to – the Christmas party for the strippers and pole dancers. He sighed, then got up and went to get ready; he knew he had to look his best, to impress the troops. He wondered how impressed he’d be with them.

Looking around his huge office with its large leather chairs Tony felt satisfied. He had everything he could ever want… or did he?

The infamous Ralph Gold wanted to meet him and that made him want to sing from the roof tops. It had been a long time coming, but Christmas really was full of magic. All of his businesses were thriving; he was king pin and everyone wanted to hang on his coat tails for a little bit of fame.

Down the corridor from his office, he could hear the faint sound of Christmas songs and his mind wandered back to the last time he’d heard music like that. The mysterious woman in the beer garden. That beautiful woman who seemed to pop into his mind now and again. The very thought of her stirred him and he could feel his erection hardening. Here he was at the top of the world with everything any man could wish for. Men envied him, women loved him, but there was one thing he didn’t have and that was love. He had never believed in it and it seemed to cause more problems than joy and he was damned sure he wasn’t sharing his empire with any gold digging woman.

Nervously his meeting with Ralph Gold passed through his mind. Now it was looming he felt scared. Ralph Gold didn’t suffer fools gladly. He also took his wife, Julie, with him to these interviews. It was her job to find all the skeleton in your closet and expose them. Tony knew if he blew it, he had blown it for good and there wouldn’t be any turning back. He desperately wanted to get into his world of organised crime. That was major money with a lot of backup. Those men never got caught and if they did, all the lawyers and judges they had on their payroll made damn sure they didn’t even get a parking fine! Although Tony also knew that once you were accepted into the mafia you never left, unless it was in a body bag.

Opening his desk drawer to put away his paperwork, for some reason he took out his trusted gun that he’d had for many years as a young man while working for the bossman. A lot of time had passed since then. Holding it in the air, he rolled the barrel of the gun which held the bullets. He was almost hypnotised by it.