Chapter 3:The Impossible Man

Julian's POV

The boardroom smelled like money and fear, and Julian had never hated being there more than he did that morning.

“It's a good deal,” said Frasier, the CFO.

He tapped his pen against the table as if the sound would somehow make the numbers easier to accept.

“Their environmental violations are small compared to the profit we'd make.”

“A small problem,” Julian repeated.

“Julian—”

“We are not joining a company that dumped chemical waste into a residential water supply just because paying the fine was cheaper than fixing the problem.”

He closed the folder in front of him harder than he meant to.

“Find me another deal. This meeting is over.”

He left before anyone could argue with him.

If they argued, he would have to explain himself.

And he was tired.

Very tired.

Not the kind of tired that sleep could fix.

He was tired of explaining himself to men who measured everything with numbers.

The car ride home did nothing to make him feel better.

Neither did the elevator.

It was quiet, with gold mirrors on every side, carrying him up floor by floor to his penthouse.

His home was supposed to be the same as always.

Empty, quiet, His Except it wasn't quiet.

He heard it before he saw it.

A small, happy scream of laughter came from the sitting room.

Then he heard a voice doing something he had never heard before.

Zoe.

She was sitting on the rug with her legs crossed.

His six-year-old goddaughter, Sophie, was sitting close to her, and they were both looking at a picture book.

Zoe was reading to her.

But she wasn't just reading.

She was acting out the story.

She made her voice deep and rough when she spoke as the wolf.

Then she made it high and shaky when she spoke as the pig.

Her free hand moved around as she acted out the different parts.

Sophie laughed loudly.

“Do the wolf voice again!” she begged.

Julian stood in the doorway without saying anything.

He watched Zoe.

Her whole face looked different when she thought nobody important was watching her.

She looked relaxed,happy, open.

There was something bright on her face that Julian didn't have a name for.

He had never seen that side of her around him.

Her hair had come loose again.

There was a coffee stain on her sleeve.

At that moment, she looked like someone who had never had to protect herself from anything.

Then Sophie saw him.

“Uncle Julian!”

And just like that, the moment was gone.

Zoe turned her head.

Her back became straight.

The happy, relaxed look on her face disappeared little by little, like a door closing.

In seconds, she had the same careful look she always wore whenever she looked at him.

It was as if she was waiting for him to find something wrong.

“Mr. Blackwood,” she said.

She put the book aside and stood up, brushing invisible dust from her knees.

“I didn't hear you come in.”

“Clearly.”

Julian hated how cold his voice sounded.

He hadn't meant for it to sound that way.

“You're good with her.”

Something changed on Zoe's face.

Surprise.

It was there for only a second before she quickly hid it.

It was almost as if receiving a compliment from him was so strange that she didn't know what to do with it.

“She's easy to be good with,” Zoe said carefully.

“Kids don't pretend to be anything they're not.”

The meaning behind her words was clear.

Unlike some people.

Julian felt those words hit him somewhere deep inside.

“I'll take her to bed,” Zoe said.

She picked Sophie up before Julian could answer.

Before he could even figure out what he wanted to say.

He wanted to say something that could close the distance between them.

But he didn't know what.

“Dinner's ready for eight,” Zoe continued. “I made sure it wasn't too salty.”

There was a dry tone in her voice.

It should have annoyed him.

But it didn't.

Julian watched as she carried his goddaughter down the hallway.

Zoe said something quietly to Sophie, and Sophie started laughing again.

Julian remained alone in his large, quiet sitting room.

For some reason, he had the strange feeling that he had just watched something important walk away from him.

Something he hadn't even known he wanted.

Not until it was already gone.

His phone buzzed in his pocket.

Julian pulled it out.

It was a message from Marcus.

Marcus: Need five minutes tomorrow. Something's come up with building security. I think you should know about it.

Julian frowned as he looked at the screen.

His thumb stayed over the phone for a moment.

Then he typed a reply.

Julian: Everything alright?

A few seconds later, Marcus replied.

Marcus: Probably nothing. Just want to be careful.

Julian should have felt better after reading that.

Instead, he didn't.

He couldn't explain why, but a small feeling of worry moved down his back.

Something didn't feel right.

And three floors below him, inside a locked room with the door pushed shut, Zoe Hart stood with her back against it.

She stared down at the flash drive in her hand.

Her heart was beating fast.

She couldn't stop wondering one thing.

Had she just picked up something that could get someone killed?