‘Fire away then.’

‘My aunt holds a party once a month round her gaff. Similar to what goes on at the club, but it’s all women and no men.’

‘And?’

‘And a lot of these women are stone bollock rich and after a bit of fun with handsome young guys like us. They pay a lot of money, Vinny. Some have more money than sense.’

‘Oh, I dunno. It don’t really sound like my thing. I don’t mind talking to ’em like I do the men. But I don’t want ’em touching me.’

Macca chuckled. ‘You’ve not even seen ’em yet. Some are quite attractive. I thought it was every young lad’s dream to be taught by an older woman. Don’t you like women?’

Vinny felt uncomfortable. ‘Erm, no, not old women.’

‘But you like young women, yeah?’

‘I suppose so. But I ain’t never really had a proper girlfriend. I’ve always been too busy grafting for that.’

‘Well have a think about it. The party isn’t for another fortnight and you could come away with over a hundred quid in your pocket, if you play your cards right.’

‘More than a hundred quid!’ Vinny quickly calculated what he could do for his mum with that type of money.

‘I swear to you I ain’t lying. No pressure. You don’t have to do it if you don’t want to. But Aunt Marnie thinks you’ll be great and I’ll be there with you, watching your back. We have to wear suits for that bash, so let me know say in a week’s time and I’ll get you a suit made. My aunt’ll pay for that. Oh, and while I think of it.’ Macca put his hand in his pocket and handed Vinny twenty pounds.

‘What’s that for?’

‘That’s what you earned on your trial week. You need to spend it on clobber though. Wearing the same outfit in the club every night isn’t a good look. You don’t want these men to think you are poor. Go shopping and spruce yourself up a bit.’

Vinny didn’t know if he was coming or going all of a sudden. He was in a seedy world that he knew nothing about. He took a gulp of his beer. All of a sudden it tasted better. ‘Do you do things at your aunt’s parties, Macca?’

‘Whaddya mean?’

‘With the women? Do you have sex with ’em?’

Macca smiled. He could tell Vinny was inexperienced. ‘Some of these sad old bitches pay twenty-five quid to give you a wank. You just lie there and get paid for it. Easy money, Vin. My dad was a bank robber. Twenty years he got for his last job. That’s how I ended up being raised by Auntie Marnie. There’s no risk of prison with what we do. We’re just providing a service for desperados. It’s the easiest and safest way to get rich, ever.’

Vinny grinned. Macca was right. The Kelly brothers had once been banged up for their part in an armed robbery and he didn’t fancy prison life. ‘OK. Tell your aunt I’ll come to her party.’