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