Donna laughed at him. She felt as if she had somehow been reborn. He was right, of course, she had no reason to try and tell Stephen how to run his businesses. He had done perfectly adequately without her. Who did she think she was anyway? In her mind’s eye she had a vision of what Georgio would have said to her regarding Talkto and was uncomfortably aware it would be along the lines of Alan Cox’s advice.

‘Drink your brandy, ducks, and let’s relax for a moment. Just through that doorway there is a bathroom. When you’re ready, go and wash your face, you’ll feel much better.’

Five minutes later he was listening to the taps running and cursing himself for what he had done. But he also told himself that as much as he had upset her, and he knew that he had, she would be much more upset by the time she was through with the next step of this operation. She had cried tonight because he had told her off. How would she react to people like Anthony Calder? And poor old Tony was one of the good guys!

Alan hoped deeply and honestly that before too long Donna Brunos would retire from the fray and let him get on with it his own way. As it was she was becoming a liability. Not least because he felt a bit too much for her, and at the end of the day, as he told himself over and over again, she was Georgio Brunos’s wife, and Georgio had done him more than a few favours.

As she walked out of the small bathroom he smiled pleasantly at her, all the while planning a visit to Georgio to try and talk some sense into the man. Once he had decided that, he felt better.

Donna, for her part, was still embarrassed and humiliated. Even though she accepted that Alan Cox was right and sensible in what he had said about Stephen she knew deep down that there was more going on with Stephen Brunos than met the eye - and she was determined to find out exactly what it was . . . Alan Cox was right to an extent, as she had just realised. Her name was down on Talkto. If she was a partner, silent or otherwise, and if Stephen was doing something illegal, surely that affected her? So she made up her mind to carry on looking into Talkto’s businesses, even if Alan, and Georgio if he could have, advised her to stay away.

The couple sat opposite each other, both scheming, both smiling, and both glad of the other’s company. Both hoping to forget what had taken place, because it had affected them more than either would have liked to admit.

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Eighteen

Georgio and Timmy sat at a small table eating cheese omelettes and salad, made for them by Sadie.