HIS TO KEEP

the penthouse w

oppre

alth and forgotten to add a dash of character. White or black or silver, ever

corridor of doors op

ng up against smooth walls, her reflection always s

s a wi

t the pape

. Not the absence of love. Not even the abse

cold. Businesslike. Detached. Like a CEO orchestrating a merger. Not a m

nd commanding as he spoke. She passed in front of his study

she could

ay long. Shuffl

yed by

-

t nine. Exactly. On point. Always

g her a tablet. "Mr. Lancaster would like you to be ph

n eyebrow. "Th

"You are the wife. Tha

-

a door. That was not how she was raised. She had

this home was not the

calcu

r warmth within thes

-

ky stretched out before the city, and the wind tugged at her sil

the buildin

on

ffee. Not for air.

t terri

ge chairs and tried to remember

behind her father's back. When she'd filled notebooks with cha

became her f

voice sta

get su

look

oor, one hand in his pocket

d. "It's not

olled back, tie removed, for once not look

ft this apartment

ounded more astonished

tion to thin

arms. "Do you observe, too, th

somber. "You kne

ow and to feel are not

rade on the railing at the far side of the balcony and stared

d is cruel

. "And that excuses

rned

it make

ach other for a

urned and

e he alw

-

Elise coul

d barefoot before the window, staring out at the headlights coilin

sn't c

exac

ached in a gri

what she

at she had

-

nt days, she tried

enthouse. She had short exchanges with the house staff-wh

timetables and made h

a specter who appear

to shoot. A boa

bly dressed. A

ever

-

afternoon, that Elise

ing to clear her head, when she saw the mass

ory. Literature. Business. Philosophy. It was th

nd was flipping through the pages when a deep voice sp

around,

rway, jacket off, sleev

rontë?" sh

oom. "Not now. B

rst time he'd t

r head. "Is thi

was

a moment o

around in her hand.

plied. " Married the wrong ma

lly. "And you're punishing t

ted. A ghost of a

ack as much as I

of playing dumb

l. Not tense.

o the window a

nt this eith

ked. "Then

efends. And appe

"Do you ever get ti

over his

get tired of

ords

y weren

ere tr

but tr

er head. "

And then, quietly, he said, "Then stop wai

walke

-

the library long

idn't

se it did

t last, she kn

ot with t

ith c

was the beginni

ng not

thing au

more powerful than de

-

ning, she awoke w

Ate breakfast at the long, lonely table

edule, Elise handed it back and said,

linked. "Mr

d," Elise said.

nthouse, heels clicking on the ma

couldn't change he

tart by taking