Harbor street

"We're closed."Laurent Beaumont didn't look up from the tray of bread he was sliding into the display case.Dante stood inside the door of the little bakery on Harbor Street. The bell above him was still swinging. Behind the counter, the sign on the wall read OPEN, SAT 6 A.M. TO 2 P.M. The clock said 11:40."Your sign says open, sir.""Not to you.""That's the Russo boy," one of the old women at the window whispered, not quietly enough. "Mira's husband.""Not for long," said the other.The two old women stopped talking and looked from Laurent to Dante with great interest.Dante didn't move. "I'll wait until you're closed, then."Laurent slid the last loaf into place. He wiped his hands slowly on his apron. Then he looked up."What do you want, son?""A caramel tart."Laurent's jaw worked. He looked at the two old women, who looked back at him with their eyebrows up. He sighed through his nose, took a small tart from the case, and put it in a white box."Four dollars." Laurent set the

Last Updated : 2026-09-26

Sugar and salt

"Beaumont. You're with me."Julien didn't stop walking as he said it. He carried a crate of butter past Mira's station toward the small practice kitchen at the back, the one with a lock on the door and CASTEL written on a strip of tape.Mira looked at Adèle. Adèle mouthed, Go.The practice kitchen was hot and narrow, and every sketch on the wall had been crossed out in black marker."Moreau has decided you're the school's candidate." Julien dropped the crate on the counter. "Which means that if you embarrass yourself in five months, you embarrass me. So you'll train here, with me, three nights a week.""You don't want me here.""No." He tossed her an apron. "But if you lose, the whole city will say I trained you. So you won't lose. Tie that."They worked for three hours without talking much.Once, reaching past her for a whisk, he turned his arm, and she saw the scar clearly under the light. It was old and wide and shiny, running from his wrist almost to his elbow."Hot sugar?" she as

Last Updated : 2026-09-26

Unopened

"You're married?"Julien said it so loudly that a pan lid rattled somewhere in the main kitchen."Separated," Mira said. "Almost divorced. I signed the papers.""Almost." Julien leaned back against the counter and folded his arms. "And he writes to you. On paper. With a pen.""Every week, apparently.""And you don't open them.""No."Julien looked at the envelope in her hands. Then at her face. "Does he know where you are?""He knows I'm in Paris.""Does he know you're good?" Julien tipped his head toward the tray of chocolates cooling on the marble. "Really good. Does he know that?"Mira looked at the tray. At her own hands, pink with small burns."He never asked," she said.Julien turned a spoon over in his fingers. "Is that why you flinch?"Mira put the letter in her bag and zipped it closed."Tell me what's wrong with my chocolate," she said.He looked at her for another second. Then he told her what was wrong with her chocolate.That night, at home, she took down her grandmother'

Last Updated : 2026-09-26

The chairman’s source

"Where did these come from, Aldo?"Dante caught the finance director in the corridor after the meeting, the fourth page crumpled in his fist.Aldo Ferri looked at the paper. Then at the elevator. Then back at Dante. A drop of sweat ran from his hairline into his collar."Dante, I have two kids in college.""Then you'd better tell me the truth before somebody sues this company."Ferri pressed the elevator button three times."I'd rather not say, Dante.""I'm not asking what you'd rather." Dante held the page up so the gray footer showed. "This is Sucre Doré's internal report. From their strategy office. Somebody inside that company stole this and handed it to us. Where did it come from?"Ferri lowered his voice. "The chairman's source.""My father's.""I don't ask him where he gets things. I haven't asked in twenty years." Ferri straightened his tie. "And I'd advise you not to either."The elevator doors opened. Ferri stepped inside without another word.Dante stood in the corridor wit

Last Updated : 2026-09-26

Late

"I'm fine. Please. I'm fine."Celine sat on a bench in the lobby of the Sucre Doré building with a paper cup of water in both hands. A security guard hovered beside her. A woman with silver glasses stood a few feet away, frowning at her phone.Dante came through the glass doors fast, his coat open.Celine looked up. Her face was gray. Her lips were almost white."You came," she whispered."What happened?""She fainted," said the woman with glasses. Margaret Hale, from the badge on her jacket. "Right at her desk. Her head hit the edge of the filing cabinet. She was out for almost a minute."There was a red lump on Celine's temple. Dante crouched in front of her."We're going to the hospital.""No." Celine grabbed his wrist. Her fingers were ice cold. "No hospitals. Please. I just want to go home.""You hit your head.""I haven't been eating. That's all. I've been working late, I forgot lunch." She tried to smile. "Please, Dante. Just take me home."He looked at Margaret Hale. The woman

Last Updated : 2026-09-26

All Chapters of Too Late To Love Me : Chapter 21 - Chapter 25

Harbor street

Sugar and salt

Unopened

The chairman’s source

Late