CHAPTER FORTY EIGHT**ALEXANDER**The second contractor meeting on Monday ran long. The guy talked too much about timelines and budgets, but his numbers were solid. Sophia sat beside me on the folding chairs we’d brought to the lot, legs crossed, listening with that quiet intensity that always made me pay attention. Every time he paused, she asked one sharp question that cut straight to the heart of what mattered for the studio space.By the time he left, the afternoon had turned gray and damp. I packed up the plans while she stood at the edge of the lot, hands in her coat pockets, staring at the bare ground like she could already see walls rising.“Dessa was better,” she said without turning around.“Yeah. She was.”“She listened. He just wanted to sell himself.” Sophia glanced over her shoulder at me. “I like people who listen before they talk.”I walked over and stopped close enough that our arms brushed. “You do the same thing in the studio. You watch a piece for ten minutes befor
Last Updated : 2026-04-24 Read more