‘Yes and no. It’s always hard leaving her, but I felt better about walking away this morning than I would have done if she hadn’t had the op. Her sats say it all. The valve is working like a dream. Now she just needs to focus on recovering her overall health and gradually upping her fitness levels.’

It makes sense. Marlowe told me that Tabby loves sports but that she’s had to play it very safe on the exertion front over the past year or so, as her old valve came under more and more strain. Even for an otherwise healthy little girl, I guess it’ll be a journey to rebuild her cardio fitness.

‘So you won’t be signing her up for the five different dance classes she was talking about on the flight?’

She laugh-groans. ‘Not just yet. At least we still have a few weeks before term starts. God help us.’

‘Is her school good for extra-curricular stuff?’ I ask as casually as I can.

‘Please. It’s a standard state primary, so no. I’ll have to look at getting her a couple of classes elsewhere—on the weekends, maybe.’

I have some thoughts about that. I have some ideas that involve Tabs going to a gorgeous private school with tons of pastoral care and endless extra-curricular activities to choose from, but I won’t play that card just yet. I can’t imagine Marlowe would appreciate that at all.

‘Sounds sensible,’ I say noncommittally. ‘Come and have a seat. There are a couple of things I want to put in the diary.’

She visibly springs into professional mode. ‘Of course. Should I get my notebook?’

‘No, you’re good.’

We take a seat on the sofa that runs along one side of my office. I’ve fucked Marls on it plenty of times, and the air feels full of all those sexy little ghosts. She crosses her legs elegantly and I make a herculean effort not to watch.

‘So the first item,’ I say crisply, ‘is that I want to see Tabs again. When can we make it happen?’

She blinks in surprise. ‘Oh—I don’t⁠—’

I push on. ‘I had an idea. Hear me out. Gabe and Athena are heading up to my parents’ place this weekend. I was wondering if you guys fancied joining. I thought we could take Friday off and head up early—it might be nice to get out of London and give the little invalid some fresh air?’

‘Oh, wow.’ She looks taken aback. ‘I don’t know—wouldn’t we be in the way?’

‘Absolutely not. My parents should have the more the merrier tattooed across their foreheads. I can’t promise it’ll be relaxing, but it’ll definitely be fun. They love a full house.’

She worries at her lower lip. ‘What if they figure out that I work for Seraph? If Athena barely survived that scandal, I definitely couldn’t.’