Julian.

Merger terms. Page forty-seven, subsection twelve, clause regarding asset liquidation in the event of…

I read the same sentence four times and retained nothing.

Across my desk, the photograph from my safe sat face-down in the locked drawer. I'd taken it out this morning. Looked at it. Put it away again.

Twelve-year-old Lena, bruised and crying.

Twenty-four-year-old Lena, sitting with Nate in a restaurant, smiling at something he said. Really smiling, not the careful, practiced expression she used at business dinners. Genuine warmth.

The kind of warmth she never showed me.

My intercom buzzed. "Mr. Blackwood? Your 10 o'clock is here."

I shoved the merger documents aside and stood....