Lavinia didn’t take her eyes off of the man as she shut the door.

“Liv.”

Ardashir smiled, a rolled cigarette in his mouth. “I hope it was alright to smoke in here.”

Lavinia knew he would have done it regardless of her answer. “Of course,” she buried all of the swirling feelings of fear, trepidation, and exhaustion that had crept into her over the course of the last couple of weeks, “all I ask is that you use an ashtray.” ...