Marlowe is quiet in the car, either staring out of the window or at her phone. While I’m working, I shoot her surreptitious glances between smirking to myself. She looks spectacular in that white dress—every kinky Seraph fantasy I’ve entertained since I learnt about the agency come to life. She’s every bit as ravishing as she was that night when we met, when her beauty turned me into a total muppet, but the dynamic is very, very different now.

I’m the one in control, and she’s a sure thing.

She’s no longer some elusive, artsy angel to be admired from afar in her creative milieu but very specifically a seraph. Now we’re in my milieu, and I’m paying a shocking sum of money to admire her up close.

Fuck, the thought has me hardening in my seat.

Can’t get in there soon enough.

I’m springing out of the car as soon as Yan’s pulled into my designated bay in the basement of our building. Mark, who’s found the journey just as boring as I have, bounds out after me, no doubt happy to be back in his second home with hundreds of adoring fans.

We take the lift up to the main reception, and I stride across the polished palatial space. I fucking love this building. Our footprint in this part of London tends to straddle both ultra-modern new builds and sensitive but ground-breaking restoration of old industrial buildings, and this former Victorian tea warehouse is a stellar showcase for our capabilities, if I say so myself.

Our architectural team designed the double-height ground floor around the original, unapologetically industrial features, keeping the weathered brick walls and the enormous cast iron girders. The timber columns and beams have been lovingly restored and lit to perfection, while a sleek poured concrete reception desk reaching across the far wall provides the necessary modern contrast. Behind it, huge illuminated black and white photographs celebrate the building’s illustrious history at the centre of Britain’s tea-trading heritage.

It looks like we’re arriving just as the first outflux of staff leaves to grab lunch. In an industry known traditionally for being pale, male and stale, I’m proud of the energy, the diversity, we’ve cultivated among our workforce, which is young and hungry. Our initial public offering a few years back has proven a fantastic way to lure in the smartest, brightest minds with stock options, and I can’t deny the changing of the guard (Dad to me, basically) has attracted new talent, too.