‘My brother is hardly a henchman,’ Osir replied amiably, checking his cards. A king and a four; fourteen points. The dealer’s visible card was a ten. ‘Hit me.’ A six. ‘Stand.’
Nina had a three and a five. ‘Hit me,’ she said, repeating the command after getting another five. The fourth card was a seven. ‘Stand.’
Now it was Eddie’s turn, starting with a jack and a six. ‘Hit me.’ Another six. ‘Oh, cock.’
The remaining player also bust. The dealer turned up his hole card: a seven. Blackjack rules forced him to stand on seventeen, meaning Nina and Osir both won their bets. ‘Perhaps blackjack isn’t your game, Mr Chase,’ Osir said smugly.
‘That was just my warm-up round.’ Another hand began, Eddie again going bust on his third card. ‘Bollocks!’
Osir laughed. ‘Not so much James Bond as Austin Powers, hmm?’
‘Third time lucky.’ Another hand. ‘In the name of arse!’
‘I really think you should quit,’ Nina said through her teeth, having the awful feeling that a chunk of their rent money was disappearing with each round.
‘I’m just getting started.’
‘Yeah, at losing!’
Eddie’s next two cards were an ace and a queen: blackjack. He grinned. ‘I don’t think you can lose with twenty-one.’
The dealer also scored a natural blackjack. ‘Oi, wait, what?’ Eddie objected as his chips were whisked away to one side. ‘That was a draw!’
‘You should have made an insurance bet,’ said Osir, unconcerned about losing the round. ‘Now you have a push - your bet carries over to the next hand.’
‘I knew that,’ Eddie said after an awkward pause. The next round began, only for him to bust again. ‘Buggeration and fuckery!’ He looked at the empty space where his small pile of chips had been, then at Osir’s multiple stacks. ‘You couldn’t do me a favour, could you?’
‘I already have,’ Osir said, with meaning. He looked round as the string quartet started a new tune. ‘Ah! A tango!’ He stood, holding out a hand to Nina. ‘Would you join me?’
She froze; not because of Osir’s offer itself, but at the memories of social embarrassment it brought back. ‘I, ah, I can’t dance the tango. I can’t dance the anything.’
‘No need to worry,’ he said firmly. ‘I lead; all you have to do is follow.’ Before she could protest, he led her to the dance floor.
Eddie got up, only to have two of Osir’s goons block his way. ‘Hey! I want to talk to you, Nina!’
She got his message, returning one of her own. ‘It’ll have to wait!’
Despite how ridiculous she knew she was being - there were far weightier matters for her to worry about - Nina became more self-conscious than ever when she saw that the other dancing couples had bailed out. And with Osir being the host of the party, attention would be even more focused on him and his partner. ‘Y’know, if they played the conga, I could just about manage that.’
‘Trust me,’ he said. He brought her to the centre of the floor, one arm tight round her waist while the other held her outstretched hand. ‘Just look into my eyes, and your body will follow.’
And with that, they were moving.
Nina barely held in a startled yelp as Osir whisked her across the floor. ‘Oh, God,’ she gasped, struggling to keep her legs even vaguely in step with his. About the only positive thing was that her long dress concealed the worst of her uncoordinated footwork. ‘I can’t do this!’
‘Such negativity! I’m surprised,’ Osir said, eyes fixed on hers. ‘After everything you’ve achieved, you’re afraid of a simple dance?’
‘No, I’m afraid of making an ass of myself !’
He laughed. ‘Why? Is the opinion of these people you don’t even know important to you? Could anything they say be worse than what you’ve endured in the past months?’
‘The bloke’s got a point,’ said Eddie, quick-stepping alongside them. ‘And I kept telling you the same thing, so we can’t both be wrong.’ He slid a hand between Nina and Osir. ‘Mind if I cut in?’
‘By all means,’ said the Egyptian, smoothly releasing Nina and stepping back.
Shaban rushed up beside him. ‘They are working together. I told you!’
Osir shook his head, his smile infuriating his brother. ‘Let’s see what happens.’
‘Eddie, what are you doing?’ Nina whispered as he took hold of her. ‘You can’t dance!’
‘Says who?’ He glanced at the quartet before looking back into her eyes. ‘ “Por Una Cabeza” - a tango. Doddle.’
‘What? Since when - aah!’ He set off in step with the music, carrying her with him. To her amazement, he seemed to know what he was doing. ‘When did you learn how to dance? You can’t stand even being in the same room when Dancing With The Stars is on!’
‘You know those mornings I was with Amy?’
‘Amy?’ Nina frowned, then tried to push away. ‘That cop?’
‘Hey, hey!’ he hissed, holding her. ‘She was having dancing lessons, and I went with her.’
‘Oh, is “dancing lessons” a euphemism now?’
‘No, it’s actual dancing lessons! Hold on tight - one front ocho comin’ up!’
‘One what?’ Nina began, before Eddie turned her sharply round, then back again. Her heels clattered frantically over the floor. They ended up pressed face to face. ‘Whoa! So when - why did you learn to dance? You hate dancing!’
‘I wanted to surprise you. At the wedding reception.’
‘What wedding reception?’
‘The one I was going to sort out when I got some money, so we could actually have our family and friends there instead of just the Justice of the Peace! A bit late, I know, but I wanted to do something nice for you.’
‘Oh my God,’ said Nina, taken aback. ‘You actually learned how to dance, just for me? That’s . . . that’s so sweet.’
‘Oi,’ he warned. ‘Don’t smile. We’re supposed to hate each other.’
She clamped her mouth shut, trying to scowl rather than grin like a fool. ‘But why pick dancing?’
‘ ’Cause you only own maybe three DVDs, and two of ’em are about dancing. Dirty Dancing, Strictly Ballroom . . .’
‘Eddie, this is very lovely and romantic, but just because I like watching dancing doesn’t mean I can actually do it.’
He was surprised. ‘I thought you could!’
‘Livin’ proof that I can’t, right in front of you!’ She clumsily followed him as he turned, seeing Osir still watching . . . with growing mistrust. ‘Look, the zodiac’ll be ready by the time we go back to his yacht. We came into Monaco on a boat, a tender or whatever it’s called - it’s on pier twelve in the harbour. You can’t miss it - it’s painted the same colours as his racing cars. If you can follow it to his yacht—’
‘No way I’m going to leave you with him - he thinks he’s pulled!’
‘It’s the only way to find the pyramid. You’ve got to get out of here.’ An idea. ‘Slap me.’
Eddie was aghast. ‘I’m not going to bloody slap you!’
‘We’ve got to convince him we’ve split up.’ She raised her voice from the sotto level of their discussion, enough to be heard over the music as she attempted to twist free of his hold. ‘You son of a bitch! I was finished with you before, and I’m twice as finished now! Slap me,’ she added from the corner of her mouth, seeing Osir and Shaban approaching. ‘You - you needle-dicked limey asshole!’
Eddie’s face contorted in dismayed disbelief - then he slapped her. The blow wasn’t hard, but the crack was loud enough to catch everyone’s attention. ‘Sorry,’ he mumbled.