FAZER LOGINI blinked. “We haven't even made it thirty seconds.”“Sasha. Someone took a picture of him outside his school.”“I know. I'm the one who received it.”“And we don't know who took it.”“Still true. Continue.”“If they know his schedule, we shouldn't make his movements easy to predict.”I crossed my legs and leaned back slightly against the desk. “I've already discussed that with Papá. Security is reviewing the routes and pickup procedures. The preschool's also been given additional instructions.”“Keeping him home for a few days would eliminate one pattern they could follow.”“And make Max ask why he can't go to school, why Gaby's suddenly become a bodyguard, and why every adult in the house has started talking like we're planning a presidential evacuation.”“He's four.”“Exactly. Four, Rafael. He's not one of your executives you can move around on a meeting schedule with a single email.”Rafael pulled out a chair and sat across from me, looking far too relaxed for someone I'd just inf
A brief silence followed.I looked at Gamma, but he wasn't looking at me. His eyes stayed on Rafael, who stood with one hand in his pocket and an expression that had suddenly become harder to read.“I know,” Rafael said.Those two words only seemed to piss Gamma off more.I knew my brother. He wanted an argument, maybe some anger, something he could throw all the things he still hadn't gotten over right back at.“Do you?” Gamma asked. “Because the last time you thought your family knew what they were doing, Sasha ended up leaving the country alone.”Rafael gave him nothing.“Gamma.” I sighed.“I'm just saying.”“And I'm listening. Now stop before I start charging both of you for therapy.”Rafael glanced at me.The part I disliked most about Rafael's story wasn't the possibility that the Moretti family had once spied on him. Frankly, that sounded perfectly in character for people who considered private conversations a group activity.What bothered me was that Rafael knew what it felt l
I stared at Rafael for a few seconds, waiting for him to add something that would make his answer sound a little more reasonable.He didn't.“You?” Gamma repeated from the far end of the table.Rafael looked at him. “Yeah.”“Your own family had you followed?”“Someone within the family office.”I let my arms fall to my sides. “And here I thought your family dinners were traumatic enough.”Rafael glanced at me, but his attention quickly returned to Max's photograph on the table. He touched the edge of the transparent sleeve with one finger, careful not to move it, then pulled his hand back.“A few years ago, when I started taking control of more decisions within the family office, some people thought things were moving too fast,” he said. “Certain investments, voting rights, and approval authority that had previously been handled collectively started shifting under my control. Not everyone was happy about it.”“Shocking,” I muttered.“An external risk assessment was approved through th
Fifteen minutes later, I was standing in front of the monitor with Rowan when the conference room door opened and Nina appeared.“Mr. Moretti is here.”I looked up from the screen. “Send him in.”Nina hesitated for a split second, her eyes drifting toward Gamma, who was sitting at the far end of the table.I felt sorry for her. “It's fine, Nina,” I said. “I've already given everyone a briefing on the importance of using their words.”“Good,” she said, sounding like she believed absolutely none of that.She opened the door wider.And Rafael Moretti walked in.There was something genuinely offensive about the way that man looked.We were dealing with the possibility that someone had been following our son, and my ex-husband still somehow managed to walk into a room wearing a perfectly tailored dark charcoal suit, an open-collar white shirt, and black hair that looked like it had just been styled by someone who earned more than most people with PhDs.The bruise near his cheekbone hadn't
“Sasha?”I turned to Nina.“Counsel just confirmed. Security can document everything in its original condition, then move the items into evidence sleeves with a witness present. They're also going to request that a formal report be filed.”I nodded. “Do it.”Ten minutes later, we were gathered in the small conference room connected to reception.I usually used that room for meetings with suppliers who weren't quite important enough to make it into the main conference room. Today, it was packed with laptops, two security guards, Athena, Maya, Gamma, Rowan, and me.Not the most romantic meeting I'd ever hosted.But at least this time, nobody from the Moretti family was trying to take over the capital structure.One of the security guards had already photographed the envelope and the picture in their original condition before using gloves to place them into separate transparent sleeves. Nina gave her account of how she'd received and opened the delivery, including the fact that she'd tou
“Morning,” I said to Nina.“Morning.” Her eyes moved past me.First to Rowan.Then to Gamma.Her expression shifted slightly.I raised one hand. “Before you say anything, nobody is punching anybody.”Gamma sighed. “Jesus Christ.”“Did he say that last time too?” Rowan asked.“No,” Nina answered. “Last time we didn't even get a briefing.”I looked at her. “You asked for a raise last week, right?”“Yeah.”“You might want to reconsider the timing of your jokes.”Nina gave me a smile, but it disappeared when she pointed to the left side of the reception desk.The area had been cleared. Two guest chairs had been moved out of the way, and a portable barrier stood along one side of the counter. One of the building security guards was stationed nearby.On the travertine countertop sat an opened white envelope with a glossy photograph beside it.I stopped before crossing the barrier.There was something different about seeing the photograph in person.On my phone, Max had been nothing more tha
My house sat inside a gated community far too expensive for people who still had real-life problems, but Los Angeles had always possessed a slightly cruel sense of humor.At the front gate, the security guard gave a small nod when he saw my car. I lowered the window and offered the minimum required
Today, Maxime Rivera decided that uniform shorts were a form of oppression.I knew this before he said it, because he was already lying flat on his back on the bedroom rug with one leg in the air, his black hair sticking out in every direction, his bangs covering almost half his forehead, and his wh
Max pressed his lips together, then slowly pulled out the chair. He tried to climb up by himself, his chubby knee pushing into the seat cushion, one hand gripping the edge of the table. His face was so serious, as if he were scaling the Pottery Barn version of Everest. Once he managed to sit, he im
Five years later.Los Angeles felt like a city built out of glass, sunlight, and people far too confident to ever admit they were confused.I stood in the twenty-third-floor boardroom at Jamesson Holdings, facing a presentation screen the size of a mortal sin, while Noelle Jamesson stared at the ho







