When I was alone I finally looked at Sergei’s book, and not only had he signed it personally at the front with a huge flourishing, ‘To Tina, my only love, from her devoted Sergei’, there was an equally effusive dedication to me printed on the very next page, which no one could miss, and it certainly blew any cover I might have had left, since even a moron would be in no doubt just who the ‘T’ in the book was after that.

I sat staring at the dedication until the light faded and I couldn’t see it any more, thinking about my life and the empty part left by Linny’s absence, now so happily refilled, and the other echoing void occupied for so long by Sergei that he was part of me, with all his strange little ways – and God knows I have enough of my own – but if either of us ever needed an idiosyncrasy donor we would be a near-perfect match. I didn’t think I could ever find anyone else who would suit me like he did, even though Nathan was the stuff that lust was made of, and somehow I reckoned that would never be enough.

But when it came down to it, if Sergei had really wanted me back, he would have done something melodramatic by then, so clearly he didn’t and this fulsome declaration in print was either a hangover from when he did feel that way, or a thank you and goodbye to all that, and maybe he’d already found someone younger and more nubile?

I usually gave him a personally signed copy of my latest book, so I wrote a little formal note of thanks for the dedication, signed my name in a copy of Dark, Passionate Earth, and packed the whole thing up to post.

That seemed to be the end of that.

I wondered if I could wrest Nathan away from Rachel, train him to my once-a-week no-staying-over ways, and still maintain (a) total secrecy from Sergei so it didn’t affect his and Nathan’s author/client relationship, and (b) my own author/client relationship with Nathan as well as a more personal one.

Once I’d solved that, maybe I could start on world peace next?

I’d always wanted to be a successful novelist more than anything in the world, so now that it was almost within my grasp, why didn’t I feel happier?