“Of course you’re not. I’m here for more than work. I’m your right-hand woman. The dragon at your gate.” Nessa polished a smudge from her glasses. “When you employed me, you said I had to be there for you in both calm and crisis, so here I am. I assume this is the crisis part. We’re in this together. Bring it on.”

Together.

Joanna felt a pressure in her chest. Someone had thought of her. Someone wanted to help her. Yes, she paid Nessa, but she was going to ignore that part.

“You don’t want to be exposed to this circus.”

Nessa tilted her head. “You are.”

“I have no choice. You do.”

“And I choose being here with you, so that’s decided.”

The strange feeling in her chest spread to her throat. People generally distanced themselves from her, afraid of being tainted by association. They didn’t want to find themselves in that spotlight. “Have you really thought this through?”

“What is there to think through? We’re a team. In my interview you said I’d need to be versatile. I hope you’ll remember the whole climbing the wall thing when you give me a reference, not that I’m planning on leaving you any time soon because this is my dream job and you’re an inspirational boss. Now what can I do? We can make a statement.”

“I never make a statement. I never say anything.”

“In that case I can call the cops and get them to move that mob with cameras at the end of your drive.”

Joanna looked at her assistant’s flushed, earnest face and suddenly didn’t feel quite so alone.

She wasn’t alone. She had Nessa.

Hiring Nessa as her assistant two years earlier had been one of the better decisions she’d made in her life. Her team had lined up a selection of experienced candidates for her to interview but then Nessa had bounced into the room, fresh out of college, vibrating with energy and enthusiasm and popping with ideas. Ignoring the disapproval of her colleagues, Joanna had given her the job and had never regretted that decision. Nessa had proved herself to be discreet, reliable and sharp as the business end of a razor blade.

Not all my decisions are bad, Joanna thought as she locked the back door.

“I’m glad you’re here, but I don’t want you to do anything about the cameras. Leave them.”