Before Dominic could continue the conversation, another guest came up. It was a man roughly their age, dressed smartly but with a full tattoo sleeve on his left arm and another in a large tribal pattern down to his elbow on the other arm. His gold earrings sparkled in the strobe lighting. Although he was in a smart shirt and chinos, to Elizabeth it looked as though he would be more at home in jeans and T-shirt, with a bandanna and a motorbike not too far away.

‘Evening, Dominic. Nice party,’ he said.

Dominic turned to Elizabeth. ‘Would you excuse me? I’ve just got to speak to Mark about something.’

Somehow he didn’t look like a Mark, but Elizabeth smiled and nodded. ‘Of course.’

Dominic passed his glass to her. ‘I’ll leave this with you. Back in five.’

Elizabeth leaned back against the balustrade of the terrace and watched Dominic and Mark walk down the steps and cross the poolside before walking around the pool house. She moved position slightly and could just make them out through the glass of the pool house, the festoon lights casting enough brightness for her to see them.

They had a brief conversation and then Mark took an envelope from his pocket and handed it to Dominic. She watched as Dominic looked inside the envelope and then withdrew the contents. She couldn’t see clearly but it looked like a wad of notes. Dominic thumbed through the notes before returning them to the envelope, which he then placed in his inside breast pocket. The two men shook hands and Mark walked away, but not back up the terrace steps – he headed off, taking the narrow path which led to the car park.

Elizabeth drank the last of her champagne and, still holding Dominic’s glass in her hand, made her way down the steps as Dominic strode back, meeting her at the foot of the steps.

‘Has your friend gone?’ asked Elizabeth.

‘He wasn’t a friend, just a business associate,’ replied Dominic. ‘And, yes, he’s gone. What’s it to you?’

‘Just making sure there were no more distractions.’

‘From what?’

‘From your champagne. Don’t want it going flat,’ Elizabeth said, passing his glass to him. As she did so, she stumbled forward and, fortunately, Dominic caught her in his arms.

‘Hey, steady,’ he said, sounding amused. He took the glass from her hand and swigged it back, while still holding her with his other arm. ‘Don’t want that going to waste.’

Elizabeth’s face was only inches from his. She inclined her head. Her mouth was perilously close to making contact with his.

Dominic jerked his head away. ‘Not here,’ he muttered, glancing round.

‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to,’ she said, suddenly feeling flustered and embarrassed.