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CHAPTER THIRTY ONE, Cold

Damian got through Monday on autopilot.He sat in meetings and said the right things and signed what needed signing and answered emails with the efficiency of a man who had been running a company long enough to do it without thinking. His body was at Greystone Capital. His head was in a café on a Sunday morning with cold coffee and a woman who had told him she would have understood.James caught him staring at nothing between meetings."You alright," James said."Fine," Damian said."You have said three words in four hours," James said. "For you that is basically silence.""I am thinking," Damian said."About what," James said.Damian looked at him. "Work."James looked back at him with the expression of a man who did not believe that for one second but had enough sense not to push it."Okay," James said. "There is a two o clock with the Harlow group. Try to be present for that one.""I will be present," Damian said.He was not entirely present.He called Marcus at lunch from his offi

CHAPTER THIRTY TWO, Fifteen Years

Camila chose Tuesday evening.She cooked properly. Lit the candles. Opened the good wine. When Damian walked through the door and saw the table he stopped."What is this," he said."Dinner," she said. "Sit down.""Camila.""Damian. Sit down."He sat.They ate. She kept the conversation light for the first hour. Work. A trip she had been thinking about. Something funny that happened at her lunch on Monday. He responded. He was present enough. But she could feel the distance in him the way you feel a draught from a window that is not fully closed.She let him finish his food.Then she set her glass down."Do you remember the summer after the lake," she said.He looked up slowly. "Why are you bringing that up.""I am not bringing it up to start something," she said. "I just want to talk about it. Do you remember.""Yes," he said carefully. "I remember.""Do you remember what you said to me on the bank," she said. "After."He was quiet."You were shaking so badly you could not hold a cup,

CHAPTER THIRTY THREE, The Invitation

CHAPTER THIRTY THREE, The InvitationCamila found out about the showcase on Wednesday morning.She saw it the way she saw most things. Quietly. Through the right channels. A contact who moved in industry circles mentioned it in passing over coffee and Camila had smiled and said how wonderful and filed every word of it carefully before the cup was halfway finished.Helena Graves. Jordan Park's production. Industry showcase next month. Three productions selected. Her name on the programme.She drove home with the radio off and her hands steady on the wheel and her mind already moving.She called Patricia Bloom at eleven.Patricia was a journalist. Not the tabloid kind. The industry kind. The kind whose name appeared in the right publications and whose opinion was taken seriously by people who mattered. She and Camila had known each other for four years and had an understanding that worked well for both of them."Patricia," Camila said when she picked up. "I have something that might int

CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR, Her Name

Patricia Bloom called Camila on Thursday morning."I found something," Patricia said.Camila was at her kitchen table with her second coffee. She set the cup down slowly. "Tell me.""Nothing criminal," Patricia said. "Nothing that obvious. But interesting." A pause. "Helena Graves grew up in a very ordinary neighbourhood. Single mother. Modest background. She met Damian Graves at a charity event six years ago. Married within eight months. No career before the marriage. No profile. Nothing.""I knew most of that," Camila said."Here is what you did not know," Patricia said. "Before the marriage she was in a small community theatre group. Nothing serious. Amateur productions. But she was there for two years before she met Damian. Then the moment she married him she stopped completely. No explanation. Just stopped."Camila was quiet."So the discovery story Jordan Park is selling," Patricia continued. "This raw untrained talent who walked into an audition and blew everyone away. It is no

CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE, what the article knew

Patricia called Camila on Friday morning with the name. "Marcus Reeves," Patricia said. "He is the one who got her into the audition. He has a relationship with Jordan Park going back four years. Two productions together. He called Jordan directly and recommended Helena Graves for the casting call. Jordan agreed as a personal favour." "Are you certain," Camila said. "Two sources," Patricia said. "Independent of each other." "Send me everything," Camila said. She ended the call. She stood at the bedroom window for a long time. Marcus Reeves. Damian's closest friend. The man who had been sitting at their dinner table for years. The man Damian spoke to more honestly than he spoke to almost anyone. The man who had been quietly working against her the whole time. She thought about what this meant. Not just as information but as a weapon. The right weapon used at the wrong moment was wasted. She had learned that already. The rumour had backfired. The article was still settl

CHAPTER THIRTY SIX, The Space Between

The week passed quietly.No articles. No calls. No moves.Camila was warm and present and completely herself. She made dinner on Tuesday and Thursday. She laughed at the right things. She asked about his day and listened to the answers. She was attentive in the way she had always been attentive and there was nothing Damian could point to and call wrong.And that was the problem.He watched her.Not obviously. Not in a way she could feel. Just the quiet watchfulness of a man who has started paying attention to things he used to let pass through without examining them.The way she always knew things slightly before he did.The way her answers were always precisely as much as the question required and never a word more.The way she never asked follow up questions about Helena. Not because she was not thinking about her. But because she already had the answers.He watched and he said nothing and he went to work and came home and sat across from her at dinner and looked for something he co

CHAPTER THIRTY SEVEN, The Call He Made

Damian got Patricia Bloom's number from James on Monday morning.He did not explain why he needed it. James did not ask. That was one of the things Damian valued about James. He understood when a question was not welcome.Damian made the call from his car at lunch with the engine off and the city going about its Monday outside the windscreen.Patricia picked up on the second ring."Patricia Bloom," she said."Ms Bloom," Damian said. "My name is Damian Graves. I am going to assume you know who I am."A short pause. "I know who you are Mr Graves.""Good," he said. "Then I will be brief. The article that ran last week about the Jordan Park production. The one questioning the casting process. I know where it came from."Silence."I am not calling to make threats," he said. "I am calling to have a conversation between two professional people. The article was sourced from someone with a personal agenda. I think you already know that. I think you published it anyway because the information w

CHAPTER THIRTY EIGHT, The Night Before

Camila brought up the weekend on Tuesday evening.They were washing up after dinner. Easy domestic routine. She handed him a plate and said it casually the way you say something you have already decided is settled."I was thinking we should leave Friday evening," she said. "Beat the traffic. The place I booked has a terrace that faces the water. I thought we could have dinner out there the first night.""It sounds good," Damian said."I made a reservation at that restaurant you like," she said. "The one with the tasting menu.""Good," he said.She handed him another plate. He dried it. She moved on to the glasses and talked about the drive and what to pack and whether the weather would hold. He listened and responded and said the right things and nothing about the conversation was wrong.He did not tell her about the showcase.Not yet.He filed it for later and told himself it was because the timing was not right.He knew that was not entirely true.Across the city Helena finished her

CHAPTER THIRTY NINE, The Room

Camila was already dressed when Damian came out of the bedroom.She was sitting at the kitchen table with her coffee and her phone and she looked up when he walked in and something crossed her face before she managed it.He was not dressed for a weekend away."The showcase is tonight," he said. He said it simply. No apology in it.Camila set her phone down. "You said you would come away this weekend.""I know," he said. "I should have told you sooner. I am sorry for that.""Damian." She stood up. Her voice was measured. Careful. "I planned this. I booked the place. I made the reservation at the restaurant.""I know," he said."We have not had a weekend away in months," she said. "I have been patient. I have not pushed. I have just been here and waited and I am asking for one weekend." She looked at him. "One weekend Damian. Is that too much."He looked at her.He heard the words. He knew the shape of them. He had heard them before. The same register. The same appeal to everything she

CHAPTER FORTY, Her Name Everywhere

They stood on the steps for a moment without speaking.The city moved around them. Cars. People. A Friday evening that did not know or care what had just happened inside that building.Helena pulled her coat around her."I did not know you were going to be here," she said."I know," he said."Camila is inside," she said."I know that too," he said.She looked at him. Not with warmth and not with coldness. Just looking. The way she looked at things now. Directly and without flinching."What are you doing out here Damian," she said."I needed air," he said. Then after a moment. "I wanted to say something to you.""Say it then," she said.He looked at her."You were extraordinary in there," he said. "I do not mean the clip. I mean you. Standing in that room. The way you spoke. The way you held it." He paused. "I have known you for six years and I did not know you could do that.""You never asked," she said. Simply. No accusation in it.He took that."No," he said. "I did not."They were

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