ed, her mouth dry. She lay still for a moment, orienting
he rem
nny's breathing continued, deep and even. She slipped into the bathroom, b
ed, she went t
her dark hair tangled on the pillow. Six years old. Old enough to understand that
edge of the bed and
ld Brittany carried. T
camisole. They had talked about a second child. Next year, Denny ha
i
r eyes flutterin
ack to sle
g up and rubbing her eyes. "Wh
ng. I just want
a held her, breathing in the smell of strawberry shampoo and
mumbled into her shoulder. "We were a
tened. "That sounds
ing this weeken
e, baby.
aby her own mother had sung, her voice barely audible. When
when she entered, reading
ession carefully neutr
keeping her movements economical. "Co
ne might approach a skittish animal, and placed his hands
d. "I was concerned. You n
de, reaching for a mug. "
u bette
her coffee between them like a s
had always been good at this-controlling her expressions, managing her emotions. He ha
ision. He straightened,
ents in the Hamptons-real estate, some art collections. I need to
"Of course," she said. "Tho
resistance. He had prepared arguments, just
"Brittany is... she's not handling this well. Being alone in that
atures into an expression she hoped resembled understanding. "Yo
ed his uncertainty dissolve into self-satisfaction. He believed
he actually sounded grat
ps dry and brief. She stood at the counter
.
ing twelve blocks south. Christa's private laboratory was a fortress of glass
morized. Running diagnostics that needed no running. Her assistant Zoe Vance h
ultant" or "advisor." The list was longer than she expected. Fourteen patents. Three ongoing research initiatives. Two milli
by contribution percentage. She created folders after folders, a
s asleep when she finally returned to the apart
ching her breathe, feeling the weight of the
of wine and sat in
y in the Hamptons, in the bed where his brother had slept, with the wo
didn't know what she hoped to prove. Perhaps only that she was right. T
up the phon
ive. She was preparing to
that answered
el
eepy, confus
nd tightened
reading the caller ID, her voice changed. I
ving room. He's in the study going over some urgent estat
masterful, casting herself as a helpful, innocent assistant
inued, her voice soft with manufactured
t belonged to someone else, someone calm a
the morning. There's a documen
ile. "I'll tell him you called. And Christ
wless. The grieving wid
the call witho
pressed to her ear. Then she stood, walked to the win
t, lawyers were drafting contracts, bankers were moving fortune
seven years be
nded h
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