Unnerving cheek

My MC is wonderfully arrogant when you first meet him but calms down as the story unfolds. I usually show it through his quite devious manipulations. When an old friend pesters him over the phone while he is working, he uses everything she says to earn money but does her a huge favour in the process. She is furious when she finds out but he talks her round in seconds. He makes no apology for making money out of her, though. He acts as if she should have understood her client was fair game. The purpose of the scene is to show his amazing arrogance, but also that no one suffers at his hand.

I agree with everyone that it has to be shown in action, but I think to stop it ruining their character you have to show a positive with it.

With Adrian on this one, we'll said.