MasukShe turned a page. No emphasis. "They agreed." No one in the room needed more than that. "Rotterdam," George said. "Two families," Alicia said. "Both meetings ran long. Same underlying concern, different language. We answered it both times. Follow-up is scheduled." "Documentation," Catherine sa
Edward's POV The term sheet had been in my inbox since the previous night. Four pages. Clean. Volkov's committee had approved the access deal exactly as the projection had asked for. Southeast Asia. The Gulf. East Africa. The network layer intact. The timeline fixed. Nothing negotiated down. I se
Alicia's POV His arm was across my waist when I woke. The room was grey with early light, the city outside still quiet, the type of quiet that belongs to the hour before a place fully commits to its day. I lay still for a moment. The weight of his arm. The warmth of the room. The dress lying acros
Her hands moved from my shoulders to my face, her palms cupping my jaw, her thumbs stroking my cheeks. It was a gesture of such unexpected tenderness it nearly undid me. Her eyes, dark and dazed, locked onto mine. In them, I saw not the woman I had wronged, but the woman I was with, in this moment,
Her hand anchored hard against the back of my head, fingers tangling in my hair, holding me exactly where she needed me. For a moment, I wasn't the man who had failed her. I was just a man giving her pleasure. She said my name once, twice, the third time broken completely, and her whole body arched
Edward's POV Her mouth was on mine when I got the door open. I walked her backward into the room, the city lights filtering through the window in thin strips that barely illuminated the space. Her hands were already at my collar, working open the buttons of my shirt with an urgency that sent a jol
Alicia's POV The cab pulled up to the apartment just as the sky turned that soft purple-gray before dark. I paid the driver. Got out. My legs felt shaky. The last three hours replayed in fragments. The hospital. Edward's face. Getting Lily home. My mother's questions. Lily's guilty silence. I w
Alicia's POV It took a while before I realized my hands had stopped shaking. That was the first thing I noticed. Walking through that door, handing Edward the envelope, crossing the room under every pair of eyes—all of that had cost me. But now I was here. Seated. And my hands were steady on t
Edward's POV The gates opened before I reached them. Metal yawned, obedient, unaware its master was coming apart. I pulled through. Gravel cracked under the tires. Too loud, too sharp. Everything feels too loud since she left. The estate glowed as it always did: calculated lighting, perfect symm
Alicia's POV The table was set, warm light spilling from the overhead fixture onto plates and glasses already waiting. My father sat at the head, hands folded, watching us with that quiet smile he always wore when we were all together. Lily sat beside him, already grinning at something. I carrie







