Raphael's POV
I had closed deals worth hundreds of millions.
I had sat across from government ministers and hostile boards and men who had built their careers on making other people feel small in rooms.
I had never been nervous.
Standing outside a semi-detached house in Leeds with a bottle of wine in one hand and Liana's hand in the other I was nervous.
She felt it. Of course she did.
"Stop," she said.
"I'm not doing anything."
"Your hand is shaking.”
She looked up at me. "She's going to love you. I already told you that."
"You also told me she grilled the last one."
"You're not the last one."
"That's not as reassuring as you think."
She squeezed my hand once. "Raphael."
"Yes."
"Breathe."
I breathed.
She rang the bell.
The door opened as soon as Liana's finger left the bu
