THE FOLLOWING DAY
9:47 A.M. — CROFT ESTATE
Allison woke late.
Not scandalously late.
Not Theo-on-a-Sunday late.
But late enough that 9:47 glowing on the bedside clock made her sit upright with the immediate conviction that something had gone wrong.
Nothing had.
No ringing phone.
No Lucian.
No Elias appearing on a screen with another financial catastrophe.
No Rachel Kim informing her that a footnote had personally destroyed forty minutes of her life.
Just sunlight slipping through the curtains and a suspicious amount of peace.
Allison stared at the empty side of the bed.
Then she noticed the note on Lucian's pillow.
You were asleep. I committed the radical act of letting you remain that way.
Beneath it:
Board calls until noon. Rachel moved your next review session to tomorrow at nine. You are not employed by her. Apparently this needed repeating.
Then:
Eat breakfast.
Allison smiled.
Then she saw the final line.
