Liv glanced out of the window and had no idea where she was. There was wasteland on one side and a brewery on the other. She began to gabble against her own will, unable to keep her words inside. “I’m not from Sheen magazine and wanted to reach you before Chloe Anderton did, so I hijacked her meeting,” she said. “I’m Liv Green and I work as a cleaner and assistant for Essie. I’m not writing an article but wanted to speak to you about her.” She gripped her seat, expecting the car to screech to a halt, and for her body to launch forward.

Ted’s top lip curved to display creamy fangs. Liv thought he was going to call for his driver to stop.

Instead he threw back his head and laughed. “That is the craziest story I’ve heard in a long time. You should write a book. Essie’s cleaner, rearranging a meeting I had set up with a journalist, because she wants to talk to me about my ex-wife? You’ve certainly got some chutzpah. I wondered why you asked to be picked up from Essie’s apartment building.” He focused his gaze on her. “What do you want from me?”

“A couple of things,” she said, trying to keep her voice steady. “Chloe from Sheen is writing an article about Essie. She’s digging around and I’m trying to protect Essie’s best interests. She won’t want her private life laid bare to the world.”

Ted nodded. “Hmm, you’re right. Essie will hate that. I can certainly put out a message to the Lioncorp team, asking them not to collaborate on anything. And the other thing?”

Liv gulped. This was it. The moment Ted flung open the car door while they were still moving, and she rolled out into the middle of the road and oncoming traffic. Why couldn’t she have come up with a different plan? “Essie is brilliant. I love her books and I’ve worked for her for three years, and yet I feel like I don’t know her at all. What drives her? Why should she shut herself away?” she said. “I’d love to know how you and she met.”

Ted’s jaw hinged. “That’s another thing she won’t like,” he said. Surprisingly, his eyes sparkled impishly. “After your bizarre little story, I suppose I should tell you mine.”

His thoughts drifted away, taking him to a different place and time. “I was at a party, some stuffy affair in the grounds of a country house.” He circled a finger. “Women in ball gowns, men in tuxedos, all talking about who’s hot and who’s not in the publishing world. And do you know where I first saw Essie?” He raised a bemused eyebrow.

Liv shook her head.