en's

alked out of my o

ra

e kind of fury that doesn't s

st. No digital footprint, no social media. Like she never existed. I thought maybe I imagined her-that Tu

saw the

ng for security breaches. A new hire. Isla Monr

ch

eekbones, and the same storm-grey eyes that s

that night. I b

investigator and said four w

my son

w here

decision that would chan

Mo

even hav

e demanded custody. Should've call

ooked in that daycare photo. How he clutched a toy dinosaur in one hand an

o idea w

ther had spent four y

s, and sleepless nights trying to fill the ac

as m

ad kept hi

uld run itself for a day. I owned half of New York's skyline and had c

I had o

my

es on, hands clenched into fists in the pockets of my

hout warning. Not yet. Not

.m., Isla

t hear them from this far, but I didn't need to. Her eyes crinkled the same way

t him-Leo-and e

kers. His curls bounced with every step. He l

wasn't

to the gut I

ack against a lamppost and closed my eyes. For a lo

calle

the second ring

weren't don

replied. "I w

nce was

just show up at a daycare. You don't know what he li

l not spend another day watching

st... show up and dem

es

ionaire? Because you're use

as seven. Because no one showed up for me. And I swore

lowed felt different

ime," she

ed. Just

's meet tonight. J

ghed.

. Top floor.

s a damn tower

smile. "Se

used. "Don't watch us aga

she couldn't se

exhaled and stared up

st time in my life, it felt like I was standing o

han

a fa

st maybe-to

my penthouse, trying to

ate inquiries, and three assassina

f it compa

ed to see her a

rs of silence and

even, the el

the doo

e fire in her eyes I remembered from Tuscany.

idn't impress her. That irrita

the same

't," she

er a drink.

t to bu

ont of the window overlooking the city. "If you want to meet h

t's

awyers. No court

t a media ci

fierce now. "You so muc

loser. "I would nev

ime. Like she was trying to d

nto her purse and

otog

int, grinning with

you should

roat

u," I sai

or. "I'll tell him about yo

hat photograph bur

since the day I re

once. "I'll

n she w

there with the city at my feet...