The Cost Of The Forbidden. Carol Marinelli

shaving as she carried on with her little prepared speech.

      ‘You said at the start that you’d be surprised if I lasted more than three months.’ Naomi reminded him.

      ‘I did.’

      ‘And I’ve loved the work, I really have, it’s just...’

      He turned from the mirror. ‘Naomi, you don’t need to give a reason to leave.’

      He could be so kind at times—awkward, embarrassing things like resigning he dealt with so well.

      ‘Will you be sticking around to find a replacement?’ Sev asked, as he carried on with his shave.

      ‘I’ll do what I can this week but if we’re going to Dubai, it might be pushing it, unless you don’t need me to go.’

      ‘No, no,’ Sev said. ‘I need you to be there. I go to Washington the day after tomorrow...’ He thought for a moment. ‘I’ll come back on Thursday night. If you can have at least two applicants lined up by then, that would be good.’

      ‘Sure.’

      She’d have little trouble. Applications to work for Sevastyan Derzhavin arrived in her inbox all the time. ‘I’ll go from Dubai to London and there we can part ways.’

      ‘You’re coming back to New York, though?’ Sev checked.

      ‘Oh, yes.’ Naomi nodded. ‘I want to have Christmas with my family here.’

      ‘How’s that all going?’ Sev asked, turning back to the mirror and getting on with shaving.

      ‘Good! I’m going there tomorrow night.’

      ‘For dinner?’

      ‘I’m babysitting,’ Naomi answered. ‘They’re going to the theatre.’

      Sev said nothing. He loathed how she jumped to her father’s every wish. They could be in the middle of a meeting and if her father texted or called, even if she tried not to respond, Sev could feel the tension in her.

      Then he chose not to say nothing. ‘You like the theatre,’ he pointed out.

      ‘Not really.’

      ‘It says that you do on your résumé.’

      ‘And I told you that I lied about that.’

      ‘Aren’t you going to ask about a reference?’

      Naomi nodded.

      ‘I’ll do that first thing tomorrow,’ Sev promised.

      He rinsed his face and then dried it, splashed on a load of cologne, took a sip of his drink and then put on his fresh shirt.

      And that was that.

      She’d resigned. It was done with.

      And he’d barely so much as blinked.