Jake burst out laughing. ‘What you mean, Tony, is that you would rather be known as the casino king, than the king of sin. No, you’re right. Anyway, it’ll add a bit of mystery to the place – all those beautiful exotic dancers in your club and not one of them meets the boss.’ Jake nodded.

It gave the place a little more style and class. Tony had never wanted to appear to be interested in his employees. He had never made any attempt to charm the dancers or even go out of his way to meet them; he had left all of that to Sharon. He was strictly hands-off, and didn’t want to mix business with pleasure.

‘Right, well, I’ve seen enough for now. Next, I want to go and see this men’s club.’ They both walked out of the casino, locked it up and got back in the car. Jake was surprised; this men’s club seemed to intrigue Tony more than the casino. There was obviously something about it that appealed to him.

Although Tony hadn’t been to the viewing of the place, he had imagined what it would look like inside, and he wasn’t disappointed when he saw it. Apart from the long, marbled hallway, which led into lounge rooms furnished with wingback Chesterfield armchairs, club chairs and sofas, it had a large reception and bar area.

This is what a men’s club should look like, he thought. Somewhere the elite would come, relax, read their newspapers and be at ease. They had always had to pay a membership fee, and so that wouldn’t come as a surprise. Tony knew it’d had some form of maître d’ or butler to see to the men’s needs. Most of the waiters and bar staff were also men, and that was something Tony aimed to change.

He knew he couldn’t have a Playboy-style ‘bunny girl’ club – that had already been done – but he would come as close as possible. There were a couple of lounges, so the girls could be in one room and the men who just wanted to relax with their newspapers and talk over the day’s business would have a whole lounge space to themselves – although Tony had a feeling they wouldn’t be reading their newspapers for too long. All men liked to see a pretty woman, unless they were dead! This way, it could be discreetly run, without any kind of advertising.

The members that would come here would be businessmen who Tony could get acquainted with and, you never knew, he might even earn a few favours by ingratiating himself, and so make some business deals of his own. This was another reason he wanted to be more than just a strip club owner. He wanted these members to take him seriously.

Upstairs were a few bedrooms. It’s basically a posh bed and breakfast, Tony thought to himself. Apparently, when some of the members had had a few drinks too many, they were known to ‘stay at their club’ for the night. Tony liked it; it all seemed very cloak and dagger. Like some secret society.