‘It’s a fair point, Tony,’ said the accountant. ‘It ran with a profit before, and now you’ve added more to it, more profit will come. I’ll keep an eye on things, discreetly, of course, if that’s what you want. Leave them with the mystery about you two.’ He looked at Jake and watched him squirm again.

Jake had a stupid thought, but he had to ask. ‘Here, don’t you find it weird kissing a bloke with a beard?’

Tony and the accountant glanced at each other and smiled. Jake had obviously given this a lot of thought.

‘I tell you what, Jake,’ Tony said, with a smug, satisfied grin on his face, ‘why don’t you tell us? After all, Sharon goes and has her moustache bleached and waxed, and I’ve heard her say she shaves or waxes her legs.’ With that, he burst out laughing and slapped Jake on the back.

15

A WOMAN SCORNED

As the weeks rolled on, Tony and Jake’s bank accounts continued to flourish. Tony had spent day after day at the casino, and Graham reckoned he was becoming his number one pupil. Tony was pleased with his own efforts; he was a quick learner when something took his interest. His casino was the jewel in the crown of his business empire.

Tony had been invited to a theatre premiere, as the leading lady wanted him there on her opening night. He walked along the red carpet and the photographers, as always, lapped it up. Tony stood before the cameras in his black tuxedo, with his hair swept back. He felt confident and oozed his usual charm, to everyone’s delight.

He liked the clothes he was wearing these days. He always felt he had dressed stylishly, but shopping with Mathers had opened up a whole new world for him. He had tuxedos, white dinner jackets and double-breasted grey suits that shone like silk. Mathers had not just chosen white shirts for Tony, but had gone for pink and dark purple, too, all with ties that matched both the shirt and the suit and, of course, the silk handkerchief in his breast pocket.

Each time Tony had shown an interest in a tie, Mathers had coughed, moved on to the next rack, and chosen something from there. He had chosen well, taking Tony’s colouring into consideration, and the fact that he had playboy status. Mathers had also insisted he learn how to tie a bow tie.

Denise, the actress he had been seeing lately, had quickly tried to claim Tony as her own property. She hung on his arm at the bar and gave out evil stares to all the other women who smiled at him.

Denise was small and blonde. Sharon had nicknamed her the ‘poison dwarf’, because of her diminutive stature – she stood just over five feet tall – and the fact she was forever talking down to people, or causing an argument. Tony had liked her, at first; she was funny, when she had a mind to be, and she was okay in bed. He had thought she was an independent woman with her own career who just wanted a bit of fun, but he had been wrong. She clearly had delusions of grandeur. She saw herself as Mrs Lambrianu.