Chapter Seven

Tris.

It was quite a long way from the kitchen to the office, especially when one was carrying a tray holding two tea cups, a pot of tea, milk and sugar, but Tris was used to it. Her small, slight frame belied her strength just as her soft, feminine features belied her nature.

She pushed open the door of the outer office, which was hers, noticing with a frown the heavy masculine topcoat flung carelessly over the spare chair. Nick , her boss, often had visitors, but very few of them wore coats like that. It was wool, and expensive, meticulously tailored and lined in silk. Tris put down the tray, wondering about whether to give up her own cup for the visitor, when she realised that the inner door was not quite closed.

"Well, you will have no problems with the job, of course," Nick was saying. "Not after working on the last project."

"Which, I take it, means I could have in other areas."

Although the man"s voice was faintly muffled, there was no mistaking its hard inflexibility, and