page20 (1/2)

Was that relief she saw on his face? Was it?

‘You’re sure about that?’

Erin nodded And the fact that he didn’t try to talk her out of it spoke volu she was his indispensable ally—the wo She had beconised The frumpy secretary he’d stupidly bedded in a ht Had he been afraid that she was going to starta sexual nuisance? Was that why he had uncharacteristically absented hi?

‘I’d like to leave immediately, if that’s okay with you,’ she said, as briskly as possible ‘I can easily find someone to step in for me’

His eyebrows had winged upwards ‘You mean you’ve had a better offer?’

‘Much better,’ she lied

He suessed he did Di the ladder towards the ever-higher pinnacle of success—it was feelings he was bad at

But he had ret—even if he had done it badly

‘I want you to know that I’ve’ He shrugged his shoulders and s with you these past years’

The easiest thing to have done would have been to have withdrawn gracefully before he probed any further and worked out for hi polite before she walked away for good, so that she could leave on amicable terms But Erin cared about Dimitri, no matter how much she told herself he didn’t deserve it She had looked into his haunted and sleep-deprived eyes and, although she found herself wishing she could take his unknown pain away, deep down she knew she couldn’t save him He was the only person who could do that But didn’t she owe him her honesty—if not about her future, then surely about his own? To give him a few home truths, in a hich few other people would ever have dared To tell hi

‘And I’ve enjoyed working for you, for the most part,’ she said quietly ‘Actually, I used to admire and respect you very much’