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“Why didn’t you tell me you have astraphobia?” he asked. His voice was gentle and soothing to her ears.
“Irrelevant. Besides, it’s silly.”
“There’s nothing silly about any phobia. When did this start to happen?”
“Since I was a kid.”
“Your parents never took you to a psychiatrist? Astraphobia is highly treatable.”
“I’m not crazy. I don’t need to go to a shrink. Besides, we lived on the base. If my mom started taking me to see a crazy doctor, people would talk and that would hurt my dad’s career.”
Sven sighed audibly. “I have a friend who’s an excellent psych—“
“I don’t need a shrink!”
“You’re irritated. Do you want me to leave?”
She answered in a small voice and clutched his shirt. “No, please stay. Sorry.”
Sven mushed up her hair. “I won’t go anywhere.”
“So.” Annalise cleared her throat. “How’s work?”
“Shouldn’t you say ‘How’s your day, honey?’”
Annalise growled.
“Scary. I guess this is not the right time to tease you.” Sven fidgeted, trying to adjust his tall frame under the bed. “It was busy as usual. I had some emergency meetings with people from the Department of Defense, a luncheon with a group of surgeons, and worked on a pile of documents. Pretty typical day.”
Her curiosity was piqued. “You do business with the government?”
“They’re our biggest client. We won the DOD contract seven years ago. It’s what helped put Synergy on the map.”
“Pharmaceutical contract?”
“Sorry, sweet. That’s classified.”
“Oops. I should have known better.”
“How was your day?”
“Boring. I still don’t understand anything.”
“It’ll
get better once you understand the structure of the company.”
“You keep telling me that. Oh yeah, I had lunch with Cécile.”
Sven made a displeased sound. “I told you to stay away from her.”
“I couldn’t. She came into Uncle Seymour’s office with sandwiches. I couldn’t refuse her.”
“That shrew. Did she say anything?”
“Not much. Just some mundane chit-chat.” Annalise paused. “Sven…”
“Hmm?”
