Tony took the bag of money and the keys and deeds offered to him, then quickly said his farewells and left. He waited till he got into the car, then heaved a sigh of relief. ‘Thank God that’s over.’

John drove away from the club quickly.

‘Bloody hell, Tony, that was tense. I thought you’d have killed him. He was going to take thousands off you, and you were going to give them all their money back. I think I’ve lost weight just watching. I was wetting myself,’ said Jake.

‘So was I, Jake.’ Tony swept his hair back, then sat forward on the car seat and held his arms out straight, angled down towards the floor of the car, and half a dozen playing cards fell out of his sleeves. Jake watched them fall, amazed. He picked up the cards and looked at them.

‘You don’t have anything; it’s a rubbish hand of cards.’ Jake held them up and looked at them again. How the hell had he done it? He had been watching Tony the whole time, and so had the others.

Tony burst out laughing. ‘Oh, yes I do, Jake, I have 80,000 pounds, an estate with a mansion house in Southend, by the seaside, and the respect of all those men. I don’t mind saying it, though, it freaked me out when they shook my hand with all that decency and gratitude, I thought my cards would fall out! But that estate agent, snivelling little rat, he deserved what he got. He could have done that to any one of those guys, but he was desperate to prove a point and to do it to me. Like you say, Jake, I always have something up my sleeve.’

Jake put his hands to his face; he couldn’t believe what he was hearing, or seeing, for that matter. ‘That guy is probably going to go out and shoot himself. That is the gentleman’s way, isn’t it? For God’s sake, Tony! You kept calm, though, I’ll grant you that.’ Jake was in awe.

‘Shoot himself? Probably, Jake, but who cares? I’m not a gentleman, but I’ve gained respect amongst that lot. Now, let’s go to the seaside and see what these keys have in store for us.’ Tony held up the keys and waved them in the air in front of Jake’s face. He looked very pleased with himself. A house by the sea; it was an investment, and by all accounts, according to the men in that room, a damn good one. A lord’s house, and he had paid nothing for it. That was the best sort of business.

When they got back, Sharon told them she had booked the flights and they were due to go to Italy in two days. That would give them time to get their affairs in order before they left. The flight towards the warm sunshine was indeed a welcoming thought. Rosanna at the door, greeting them both, was an even nicer one.