TANISHA
I didn’t plan to say anything. Truly, I’d told myself sternly, that the best way to survive whatever this was would be silence. I’d planned to sit there, nod when required, drink whatever was poured, and mentally detach until the night burned itself out. But once my heartbeat settled enough for thoughts to form complete sentences, the question forced its way up anyway.
“Why am I required to be here,” I asked, my voice steadier than I felt, “to close a deal between you and my boss, a deal that has nothing to do with me, that I know nothing about?”
My voice sounded clear, without tremors. Which I must say, surprised me.
He didn’t answer immediately.
Roman leaned back slightly. He looked at me in that same unnerving way he had months ago at the luncheon, not like a man admiring
