Jake often went home to see Elle and talk to her about his concerns. His main worry was that he felt Tony had reached his goal, but lacked an intimate personal life. Jake had Sharon, but Tony had no one special, and this bothered Jake; it was as though Tony was afraid of getting too close to anyone.

Tony liked to be in control; that way, he felt secure. The more he reached for the stars, the more he seemed to get the moon as well. Over the months, things had kept on getting better and better for Tony, but now it was crunch time. The year was finally up: it was time to find out if he could keep his empire. Today was the day.

The meeting was set for noon at the solicitor’s office. This was one meeting that made Tony sweat. He hadn’t slept, he had even spent the evening before alone, which was unusual for him. Jake felt the same fear; today was judgement day.

The solicitor was Mr Mathews, who Tony had met when he was in Italy, visiting his grandmother. The man had turned up with Don Carlos and informed Tony that his old friend Eddie Rawlings had betrayed him. Tony had undertaken an oath to kill Eddie for it. He had also shared his dream of owning the club with Don Carlos and both he and Don Carlos had signed their names over the sealed flap of an envelope that contained Ralph Gold’s asking price. Tony had no idea what that was, but he was about to find out. Tony and Jake had banked all their funds together. All in all, they had two and a half million pounds. They were hoping, if nothing else, this showed willing and could maybe be used as a deposit.

Tony went dressed in a well-tailored grey suit from Savile Row. His gold cufflinks were engraved with his initials. As it seemed the newspapers and the glossy magazines wanted to know everything about him, he made sure that he was always dressed to perfection, just in case a photographer or journalist turned up out of the blue.

It was Jake who knocked on the solicitor’s door.

The door opened and the solicitor welcomed Tony and Jake and shook hands with them both. He showed them to seats in front of his desk and offered them a drink. Tony shook his head; he thought this was a test from Don Carlos, who had told him never to drink alcohol when doing business.

‘Well, gentlemen, we all know why we’re here, so to save you any more waiting, I’ll get straight to the point.’

Mr Mathews walked over to a safe in the wall, dialled in the combination and opened it up. He took out an envelope. Tony recognised it as the one he and Don Carlos had signed all those months ago.

Tony swallowed hard and ran his hands through his hair. He could hardly speak, his throat was so dry. He really could have done with a drink.