To her surprise, it not only rang, but, more shockingly, it was ringing in the study. Startled, she rushed back to see Victor clocking the number on his phone. Instantly, she ended the call and watched as Victor’s lips turned down, and he slid the phone back into his pocket. Surely, this kindly-spoken, gentle giant couldn’t be this dangerous, almost psychopathic, man that even her own father respected?

As he looked up, clearly unaware that she had called him, she pressed redial on her phone and it rang again.

A sudden cheeky grin slithered across his face. How could he have gone from a man who could have dressed as Santa Claus and got away with it, to be a Bram Stoker character? Jesus, she thought, he was here in the study sipping her brandy. She just hoped that when her father said he was a very dangerous man, he meant if you got on the wrong side of him.

She stood glued to the spot. ‘My father said . . . ’

He nodded. ‘Yes, I can only imagine.’

‘You said I could trust you, but you never said you were the Machine.’

He sniffed the air and sighed. Suddenly, he appeared ten years younger, and his previously slouched shoulders were raised and his jowls were taut.

‘You can trust me, Zara. I never lied. The only thing I wasn’t upfront about was the fact that I saw you go into the back of the shop. So, I parked up across the street, and when you appeared, hailing a taxi, I pulled over. I had a gut feeling you were Zara. I knew about you. Your father often talked about his daughter with such fondness. And, of course, if I was wrong, then I wanted to know who you were to have a set of keys to the great man’s office.’

Zara suddenly found her tongue. ‘And your wife, and the gang? Was that all true?’

His eyes clouded over. ‘Yes, I’m afraid so.’

Her mind went over her father’s words. This guy was supposed to be one of the most dangerous men in the country.

‘Why haven’t you dragged the culprits off the streets, then? Because from what my father said . . . ’

Victor smiled and raised his hand for her to stop. ‘Wait, Zara. I like to work alone. I don’t work with a firm, although your father paid me a good wage. I worked in the background. Even Izzy’s men never met me, and that’s how I liked it. But now we’ve met, and you’ve put your trust in me, I feel I can do the same.’ He placed his drink on the table and rubbed his hands together.