ed, her mouth dry. She lay still for a moment, orienting

he rem

nny's breathing continued, deep and even. She slipped into the bathroom, b

ed, she went t

her dark hair tangled on the pillow. Six years old. Old enough to understand that

edge of the bed and

ld Brittany carried. T

camisole. They had talked about a second child. Next year, Denny ha

i

r eyes flutterin

ack to sle

g up and rubbing her eyes. "Wh

ng. I just want

a held her, breathing in the smell of strawberry shampoo and

mumbled into her shoulder. "We were a

tened. "That sounds

ing this weeken

e, baby.

aby her own mother had sung, her voice barely audible. When

, reading something on his tablet. He loo

e up e

keeping her movements economical. "Co

a skittish animal, and placed his hands on her hips. His thumbs traced ci

d. "I was concerned. You n

de, reaching for a mug. "

u bette

ng her coffee between them li

. She had always been good at this-controlling her expressions, managing her emotions. H

ision. He straightened,

ents in the Hamptons-real estate, some art collections. I need to

ee. It burned her tongu

aid. "Those matter

tance, she realized. He had prepared arguments,

"Brittany is... she's not handling this well. Being alone in that

t him, arranging her features into an exp

er, Denny. She's for

ed his uncertainty dissolve into self-satisfaction. He believed

he actually sounded grat

ps dry and brief. She stood at the counter

went to h

ing twelve blocks south. Christa's private laboratory was a fortress of glass

morized. Running diagnostics that needed no running. Her assistant Zoe Vance h

Christa accessed t

ant" or "advisor." The list was longer than she expected. Fourteen patents. Thr

work. Her algorithms. Her l

by contribution percentage. She created folders within folders,

ll, she was s

dinner, bath, bedtime. Christa stood in her daughter's doorway, watching her b

of wine and sat in

enny in the Hamptons, in the bed where his brother had slept, with

mle

offee table. She stare

only that she was right. That the last shreds of

up the phon

. She was preparing to h

that answered

el

n. Sleepy, conf

ed on the phone until

reading the caller ID, her voice changed. I

m. He's in the study going over some urgent estate papers, and he asked me

masterful, casting herself as a helpful, innocent assistant

inued, her voice soft with manufactured

. Study. The words painted pict

belonged to someone else, someone calm a

the morning. There's a documen

"I'll tell him you called. And Christa? I'm so sorry about... ever

he grieving widow, the concerne

the call witho

ill pressed to her ear. Then she stood, walked to the

t, lawyers were drafting contracts, bankers were moving fortune

spent seven yea

m