a's

wrong came when I opened my fridge

ign came a heartbeat later. My phone buzzed on the counter with a calendar notifi

greed to a

, heart thudding. A ch

Not after yesterday. Not

ws som

. I kissed Leo's forehead before dropping him off at daycare, and the entire time he tal

lder today. Or may

. Nothing out of the ordinary, but it felt like ever

k about it. At 11:58, my n

ce, staring at the massive glass do

ved worse, I

was a

, then pushed

up, suit jacket draped over the chair. He

u did

d. "You sent a

kered. "You d

ms folded tight across my

he reached into a drawer and pulled out

ke being li

envelope acr

en it. I di

said softly, but there was stee

left m

nto the leather chair opposite him. I stared at the envel

Mo

my voice a whisper.

. "I had you

ction bare

scared. Not of him. Not really. I was scared of what this mea

right," I

ppeared after Tuscany. No number. No last name. You cut me out. And no

y vision. I bli

ere, Lucien. Not really.

ack. "I woke up one mor

the WolfeTech fortune, missing from family estate. I realized everything had been a

nce

through his hair. "You st

ould you have done? Sent a check? Se

You think I would t

n't a

ly. "You had no right to make

you'd care. I figured you'd deny it. Or worse-use him as

like I'd s

lik

ords the moment t

e? You think I'm the kind of man who'd abandon his own son? You kn

I did," I

r the past to slip through. I saw the man I once loved in his eyes. The man who held m

s gon

and vengeance, wrapped in an Armani su

Lucien said at last

can't just walk into his

introd

im, panic ris

ling you. You kept him from me